The 107th Pioneers were an infantry regiment of the
British Indian Army
The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...
. Their origin can be traced back to 1788, when they were raised as the 4th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys.
The regiments first action was in the
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War (1790–1792) was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company, the Travancore, Kingdom of Travancore, the Maratha Empire, Maratha Confederacy, and the Nizam of Hyderabad ...
. They also took part in the
Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
The Fourth Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan in 1798–99.
This was the last of the four Anglo-Mysore Wars. The British captured the capi ...
being at the two major battles the
Battle of Seedaseer
The Battle of Seedaseer was a battle of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War on 6 March 1799 at Seedaseer (near present-day Siddapura, Karnataka), a hill and pass on the border of the Coorg and Mysore country seven miles from Piriyapatna and with a view ...
and the
Battle of Seringapatam
The siege of Seringapatam (5 April – 4 May 1799) was the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore. The British, with the allied Nizam Ali Khan, 2nd Nizam of H ...
.
Their next action was at
Beni Boo Ali against
pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
in Eastern
Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world.
Geographically, the ...
and the
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
region led the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
to carry out a
punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...
in 1819 to
Ras al Khaimah
Ras Al Khaimah (; ), often referred to its initials RAK, is the largest city and capital of the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah in the U.A.E. The city had a population of 191,753 in 2025, and is the sixth-most populous city in UAE after Dubai, Abu ...
which destroyed the pirate base and removed the threat from the Persian Gulf. They were also part of the forces involved in the annexation of Burma in the
Second Burmese War
The Second Anglo-Burmese War or the Second Burma War ( ; 5 April 185220 January 1853) was the second of the Anglo-Burmese Wars, three wars fought between the Konbaung dynasty, Burmese Empire and British Empire during the 19th century. The war res ...
. In 1903 they were part of the British force in the
Somaliland campaign
The Somaliland campaign, also called the Anglo-Somali War or the Dervish rebellion, was a series of military expeditions that took place between 1900 and 1920 in modern-day Somaliland. The British were assisted in their offensives by the Ethiop ...
.
After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. In 1922, the 107th Pioneers became the 1st Battalion
2nd Bombay Pioneers
The 2nd Bombay Pioneers was a regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1922, when the infantry of the Indian Army moved from single battalion to multi battalion regiments. They were renamed The Corps of Bombay Pioneers in 192 ...
, which was disbanded for reasons of economy in 1933.
[Boris Mollo, page163 "The Indian Army", Blandford Press 1981, ]
Genealogy
*4th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys - 1788.
*1st Battalion, 4th Bombay Native Infantry - 1796.
*7th Bombay Native Infantry - 1824.
*7th Bombay Infantry - 1885.
*7th Bombay Infantry (Pioneers) - 1900.
*107th Pioneers - 1903.
*1st Battalion,
2nd Bombay Pioneers
The 2nd Bombay Pioneers was a regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1922, when the infantry of the Indian Army moved from single battalion to multi battalion regiments. They were renamed The Corps of Bombay Pioneers in 192 ...
- 1922 until disbandment (1933).
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum.
British Indian Army infantry regiments
Military history of the Madras Presidency
Military units and formations established in 1788
1788 establishments in British India
{{BritishIndia-mil-stub