The 117th Mahrattas 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 ...

. The regiment traces their origins to 1800, when they were raised as the Bombay Fencible Regiment. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the regiment was attached to the 6th (Poona) Division, served in the

Mesopotamian campaign The Mesopotamian campaign or Mesopotamian front () was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the British Empire, with troops from United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain, Australia and the vast major ...

, and delivered a setback at the Battle of Ctesiphon in November 1915. They were forced to withdraw back to

Kut Kūt (), officially Al-Kut, also spelled Kutulamare, Kut al-Imara, or Kut Al Amara is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about south east of Baghdad, and the capital of the Wasit Governorate. the estimated populatio ...

, and forced to surrender after the

Siege of Kut The siege of Kut Al Amara (7 December 1915 – 29 April 1916), also known as the first battle of Kut, was the besieging of an 8,000-strong British Army garrison in the town of Kut, south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army (1861–1922), Ottoman Ar ...

. After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments.Sumner p. 15 In 1922, the 117th Mahrattas became the 5th Battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry. After independence they were one of the regiments allocated to the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

Predecessor names

*Bombay Fencible Regiment - 1800 *1st Battalion, 9th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry - 1803 *17th Bombay Native Infantry - 1824 *17th Bombay Infantry - 1885 *117th Matrattas - 1903

References

Sources

* * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. British Indian Army infantry regiments Bombay Presidency Military units and formations established in 1800 Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 {{WWI-stub