1st Brahmans

The 1st Brahmans was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised at Oudh by Captain T Naylor in 1776 for service in the army of Nawab Wazir of Oudh, and was known as the Nawab Wazir's Regiment. It was transferred to the East India Company in 1777. In 1922, it was designated as the 4th Battalion 1st Punjab Regiment. The regiment was disbanded in 1931.

Designations

Over the years the regiment was known by a number of different designations:
*1776 Nawab Wazir's Brahaman Regiment
*1777 30th Battalion of Bengal Sepoys
*1781 23rd Regiment of Bengal Sepoys
*1784 29th Regiment of Bengal Sepoys
*1786 29th Bengal Sepoy Battalion
*1796 2nd Battalion 9th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1824 21st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1861 1st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1885 1st Regiment of Bengal Infantry
*1901 1st Brahman Infantry
*1903 1st Brahmans
*1917 2nd Battalion raised
*1922 4th Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment

History

East India Company service

While in the service of the East India Company the regiment was awarded battle honours for service in the Second Maratha War 1803–05, the Anglo-Nepalese War 1814–16, the Second Anglo-Burmese War 1824–26 and the Bhurtpore Campaign 1826.

Post First War of Independence 1857

The regiment was the senior-most among the twelve Bengal Native Infantry regiments that survived the Great Indian Rebellion of 1857–58. It was accordingly one of the small number of Bengal regular infantry regiments to retain the traditions of East India Company service in the new post-Mutiny army. Renumbered as the 1st of the Bengal line, it subsequently saw active service in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885–87. Following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army, when the names of the presidencies were dropped, the regiment became the 1st Brahman Infantry in 1901.Barthorp p.15

World War I

In 1914, the regimental centre of the 1st Brahmans was located at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) and it was linked with the 3rd Brahmans. The regiment recruited mostly from the Gaur, Kanyakubja and Saryuparin Brahmin communities. Full dress uniform of the sepoys included a high khaki turban with red fringe, a scarlet kurta (long coat) with white facings, white waist-sash, dark blue trousers and white leggings.Barthorp p.15

The regiment spent part of World War I in India before being posted to Aden, then under threat from Ottoman forces. A second battalion raised in 1917 saw service in the Persian Gulf.

Post-war service and disbandment

After the war, a major reorganisation was undertaken in the Indian Army and the various single-battalion infantry regiments were grouped together to form larger regiments of four to six battalions each. The 1st Brahmans became the 4th Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment in 1922. It was disbanded in 1931 due to retrenchment in the Indian Army.

Deployments

* -1888 Upper Burma
* 1888-1891 Nowgong
* 1891-1895 Jabalpur
* 1895-1896 Peshawar
* 1896-1898 Jhansi
* May 1898-1901 Mauritius
* 1901-1905 Allahabad
* 1905-1910 Jabalpur
* 1910-1914 Bolarum
* 1920-1921 Aden
* 1921-1922 Fatehgarh
* 1922-1923 Delhi
* 1923-1926 Waziristan
* 1926-1927 Jhansi
* 1927-1928 Overseas
* 1928- Jhansi
* 1929-1930 Fort Sandeman (Zhob)
* 1930-1931 Loralai

2nd Battalion

* 1920-1921 Overseas

Uniform

* 1890-1894 Uniform Red, Facings White.
* 1894-1925 Uniform Scarlet, Facings White, Lace Gold, Turban Khaki with Red fall.
* 1925-1931 Uniform Scarlet, Facings Grass Green.

Regimental Centre

* 1890-1922 Allahabad
* 1922-1931 Jhelum

Class composition

* 1895-1916 8 companies Brahmins.
* 1917-1921 4 companies Brahmins.
* 1921-1922 2 companies Brahmins from United Provinces, 1 company Jats from United Provinces, 1 company Hindustani Muslims
* 1922-1923 2 companies Brahmins from United Provinces, 1 company Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims
* 1923 1 company Brahmins from United Provinces, 2 companies Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims
* 1923-1925 Brahmins from United Provinces, Garhwali Brahmins, Punjabi Muslims
* 1925-1928 1 company Brahmins from United Provinces, 2 companies Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims
* 1928-1929 3 companies Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims
* 1929-1931 Garhwali Brahmins, Punjabi Muslims

2nd Battalion

* 1917-1921 1 company Kanaujia Brahmins, 1 company Gaur Brahmins, 1 company Sarwariya Brahmins, 1 company Sanadhya Brahmins.

See also

*1st Punjab Regiment
*Bengal Native Infantry

References

Sources

*
*{{cite book, last=Sumner, first=Ian, title=The Indian Army 1914–1947, year=2001, publisher=Osprey Publishing, isbn=1-84176-196-6
*Qureshi, Maj MI. (1958). ''The First Punjabis: History of the First Punjab Regiment, 1759-1956''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.

British Indian Army infantry regiments
Military units and formations established in 1776
Military units and formations disestablished in 1922