The 15th Lancers (''Cureton's Multanis'') was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

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 ...

which existed from 1858 to 1921. Raised during the 1857 uprising, the regiment later saw service in the Second Afghan War of 1878–80 and the

First World War 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 one of the single class regiments, with all troops being recruited from the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. Cureton's Multanis had a blue uniform with scarlet facings. The badge comprised two crossed lances and a pennon with a star and crescent. The star was placed over the point of crossing of the lances and was inscribed with "XV". The crescent was placed lower down and had the words "CURETON"S MOOLTANEES" inscribed upon it. The regiment had a tradition of giving a Muslim salute, i.e. '' salaam'', a gesture of obeisance, instead of the regulation military salute. This departure from military regulations was permitted them by the Lord Napier of Magdala.

Early history

During the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

, risalas of

15th Lancers The 15th Lancers (Baloch) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 17th Cavalry and the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottab ...

horsemen had served with

Herbert Edwardes Major-General Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes DCL (12 November 1819 – 23 December 1868) was a British administrator, soldier, and statesman active in the Punjab region of British India. He is best known as the "Hero of Multan" for his pivot ...

and had distinguished themselves in the battles. During the

1857 rebellion The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

, Edwards requested for their service and Ghulam Hasan Khan with 300 horsemen reported for duty and were employed in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

where they helped suppress the rebel

sepoy ''Sepoy'' () is a term related to ''sipahi'', denoting professional Indian infantrymen, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha. In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its Euro ...

s in that district. When peace was restored on the West of the Indus, Khan petitioned for a regiment to be formed. The British agreed to the raising of a risala of 600 sabres and Captain Charles Cureton was placed in command. Formally instituted in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

in 1858 from six risalas from

, it was originally raised in 1857 by Ghulam Hasan Khan as The Multani Regiment of Cavalry. The first native commandant Nawab Ghulam Hassan Khan also served as the British Political Agent to Afghanistan. In 1859 the regiment received men from Khan's ''Khakwani Risala'', from Lind's Multani Horse and from Pathan Horse risalas of Sirdar Mohhamed Afzal Khan, Shahzadeh Sultan Jan Sadozai and Muhamad Tyfoor. The Multanis saw much action during the 1857 Uprising, mostly vigorous skirmishes including the charge on the cavalry of Prince Firoz Shah, a skilled warrior and cousin of the Mughal Badshah, which has been described as "one of the finest instances of shock action of cavalry which occurred during 1857". However, they were not awarded any battle honour for this conflict.

World War I

At the outset of World War I, 15th Lancers formed the divisional cavalry regiment of

3rd (Lahore) Division The 3rd (Lahore) Division was an infantry division of the Indian Army and before 1895, the Bengal Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where ...

. The formation was mobilised on 9 August 1914 and embarked at

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

at the end of the month. The division had a short halt in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

following which it embarked for France, finally disembarking in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

on 26 September, thus becoming the first British Indian cavalry regiment to land in France. The regiment served at

Neuve Chapelle Neuve-Chapelle () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France It was the site of a First World War battle in 1915 about northeast of Béthune and southwest of Lille. History In the Battle of Neuve Ch ...

Aubers Aubers () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is west of Lille. The parish church is dedicated to St Vaast. It was the site of a major World War I battle, the Battle of Aubers, during 1915. Aubers is twinned with the ...

Festubert Festubert () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France southwest of Lille. The village was on the Western Front during the First World War and was largely destroyed in the May 1915 Battle of Festubert ...

, in the

battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used Chemical weapons in World War I, ...

, at La Bassee,

Messines Ridge The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army (General Sir Herbert Plumer), on the Western Front, near the village of Messines ( Dutch: Mesen) in West Flanders, Belgium, during the First World War. The ...

Givenchy Givenchy (, ) is a French luxury fashion and perfume house. It hosts the brand of haute couture and ready-to-wear clothing, accessories, perfumes and cosmetics of Parfums Givenchy. The house of Givenchy was founded in 1952 by designer Hubert d ...

and in the

battle of St Julien The Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915, during the First World War, for control of the tactically-important high ground to the east and the south of the Flemish town of Ypres, in western Belgium. The First Batt ...

. In 1915, Cureton's Multanis were detached from the Lahore Division and sent to the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. On landing at

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

from Europe, 429 soldiers of Cureton's Multanis refused to fight fellow Muslims, i.e. the Turks, in the Holy Land of Islam but agreed to do so elsewhere. The regiment was later sent to Persia where they carried out patrolling duties in the rugged interiors, engaging in a number of clashes with local tribes. Their primary role was to patrol the

East Persia Cordon The Seistan Force, originally called East Persia Cordon, was a force of British Indian Army troops set up to prevent infiltration by German and Ottoman agents from Persia (Iran) into Afghanistan during World War I. The force was established to pr ...

, meant to prevent the infiltration of German and Turkish agent-provocateurs into Afghanistan. Of the soldiers who refused orders heavy penalties were awarded to 329, which were later commuted except in the case of the ring-leaders. This incident and shortage of suitable reinforcements led to the inclusion of two

Jat The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...

squadrons in 1916.

Battle honours

The battle honours of Cureton's Multanis are : * Afghanistan 1878–80 * Neuve Chappelle * France and Flanders 1914–15 * Persia 1916–19

Amalgamation

In the postwar reduction of cavalry, in 1921, the regiment was amalgamated with the

14th Murray's Jat Lancers The 14th Murray's Jat Lancers, also sometimes known as the Murray's Jat Horse, was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army. In 1921 it was renamed as 20th Lancers (British Indian Army), 20th Lancers, and after Partition of India in 1947 it e ...

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

to form 20th Lancers. The successor regiment, 20th Lancers, was de-listed in 1937 after being converted into the Indian Armoured Corps Training Centre at

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, which subsequently was allotted to India. Both India and Pakistan re-raised successors to this regiment in 1956.Nath (2009), pp 486–488, 581–583, 731–732. In 1921, a new

was raised by amalgamating the

17th Cavalry The 15th Lancers (Baloch) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 17th Cavalry and the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottab ...

and

37th Lancers The 15th Lancers (Baloch) is an armoured regiment of the Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 17th Cavalry and the 37th Lancers (Baluch Horse).Ahmad, Lt Col RN. (2010). ''Battle Honours of the Baloch Regiment''. Abbottab ...

which was separate from Cureton's Multanis and did not bear that epithet.

Changes in designation

Cureton's Multanis had the following changes of name : :1857 Independent Risalas of Pathan Horse :1858 Multani Regiment of Cavalry :1860 Cureton's Multani Regiment of Cavalry :1861 15th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry :1871 15th (Cureton's Multani) Regiment of Bengal Cavalry :1890 15th (Cureton's Multani) Regiment of Bengal Lancers :1901 15th (Cureton's Multani) Bengal Lancers :1903 15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) :1921 Merged with 14th Murray's Jat Lancers to form 14th/15th Cavalry :1922 20th Lancers

References

{{British Indian Army Cavalry Regiments 1903 - 1946 Military units and formations established in 1857 Military units and formations disestablished in 1921 British Indian Army cavalry regiments Honourable East India Company regiments 1857 establishments in British India