The 20th Lancers is an armoured regiment in the

Armoured Corps An armoured corps (also mechanized corps or tank corps) is a specialized military organization whose role is to conduct armoured warfare. The units belonging to an armoured corps include military staff, and are equipped with tanks and other arm ...

of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. It is considered to be the successor of the old 20th Lancers 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 ...

. As part of a reorganization of the

, the original 20th Lancers was formed in 1922 by the amalgamation of 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 ...

and the

15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) The 15th Lancers (''Cureton's Multanis'') was a cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army which existed from 1858 to 1921. Raised during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, 1857 uprising, the regiment later saw service in the Second Afghan War, Sec ...

. The modern regiment was formed in 1956 from Pakistan Punjab Regiment. 20 Lancers is also affiliated with Punjab Regiment and sometimes also called as 20 Lancers (Punjab)

Predecessor

After 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 cavalry regiments of the

were reduced in number from thirty-nine to twenty-one. Rather than being disbanded, the surplus units were amalgamated in pairs. This resulted in the renumbering and renaming of the entire cavalry line. The 20th Lancers was formed in 1922, after amalgamation of the

and the

on 21 September 1920, at

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 ...

. The 14th Murray's Jat Lancers was originally raised at

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Koil) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capital, New Delhi. ...

as the Jat Horse Yeomanry in 1857, during the

Indian Mutiny 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 ...

, and was composed entirely of Hindu

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 ...

s. The 15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) was formed at

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

Multani Multani may refer to: People With the surname * Ali Haider Multani (1690–1785), Punjabi Sufi poet * Ayn al-Mulk Multani, commander of the Delhi Sultanate in India * Har Karan Ibn Mathuradas Kamboh Multani, writer during the Mughal Empire Ethni ...

Pathans Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

, and had originally been raised in 1857 as The Multani Regiment of Cavalry. The new 20th Lancers regiment formed by their amalgamation comprised one squadron each of Punjabi Muslims,

Jat Sikhs Jat Sikh or Jatt Sikh (Gurmukhi: ਜੱਟ ਸਿੱਖ) is an ethnoreligious group, a subgroup of the Jat people whose traditional religion is Sikhism, originating from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in Pu ...

, and Hindu

Jats 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 ...

. The uniform of the 20th Lancers was dark blue with scarlet facings. Its badge consisted of crossed silver lances bearing pennons, with a crown at the intersection above "XX" and a scroll below. In 1937, the 20th Lancers became the training regiment of the 3rd Indian Cavalry Group 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 ...

. It was converted into a training centre in 1940, and transferred to India after Partition of India and Pakistan.Sandhu, Maj Gen GS. (1981). ''The Indian Cavalry: History of the Indian Armoured Corps till 1940''. New Delhi: Vision Books.

Reformation

On 20 June 1956, the 20th Lancers was re-raised by the Pakistan Army as a reconnaissance regiment of the

Pakistan Armoured Corps The Pakistan Army Armoured Corps is a Military administration, military administrative and combined arms service Military branch, branch of the Pakistan Army. Headquartered in Nowshera Cantonment, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ...

. Upon formation, it was equipped with

M24 Chaffee The M24 Chaffee (officially light tank M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the Algerian War, War in Algeri ...

light tanks. The same year, the Indian Army also raised an armoured regiment, the 20 Lancers, as the successor of the pre-independence 20th Lancers. Major Syed Azmat Ali Bokhari was given responsibility for raising the 20th Lancers for the Armoured Corps. Major Bokhari also commanded a squadron of the regiment during the 1965 war against India, serving on the Sialkot front. The regiment's original badge was retained when it was re-raised in 1956, with the exception of the crown.

Operations

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the regiment, equipped with M36B2

tank destroyer A tank destroyer, tank hunter or tank killer is a type of armoured fighting vehicle, predominantly intended for anti-tank duties. They are typically armed with a direct fire anti-tank gun, artillery gun, also known as a self-propelled anti-ta ...

s, served under the 15th Infantry Division in the

Sector. The regiment took part in the defence of the Sialkot Cantonment and Dallowali Railway Station, losing fifteen men. For its role in this action, the regiment was awarded the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or Military operation, operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In ...

"Sialkot 1965".''The Sabre & Lance: Journal of the Pakistan Armoured Corps''. (1997). Nowshera: The School of Armour & Mechanised Warfare. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the 20th Lancers was part of the 8th Infantry Division in the Shakargarh-Zafarwal Sector, and formed part of a delaying force tasked with preventing an intrusion of Indian forces between Deg Nadi and River Bein for 48 hours. The regiment held up the invading Indian divisions for two weeks against repeated attacks, with the loss of sixteen men. The 20th Lancers was subsequently awarded the battle honour "Shakargarh 1971". Sowar Muhammad Hussain was awarded a posthumous Nishan-i-Haider for outstanding gallantry, the only occasion on which this award was won by the Armoured Corps.

Affiliations & Alliances

The

Punjab Regiment Punjab Regiment may refer to the following existing units: *Punjab Regiment (India) *Punjab Regiment (Pakistan) From 1922 to 1947, the British Indian Army included 6 numbered Punjab Regiments: *1st Punjab Regiment * 2nd Punjab Regiment *8th Punj ...

In 1990, the 20th Lancers was given permission to add the suffix ''Haidri'' to its title. It was also affiliated with the

, as a mark of recognition of the battlefield camaraderie between the 13th Battalion, Punjab Regiment and the 20th Lancers in Shakargarh in 1971. The 20th Lancers now bears the extended title of 20th Lancers (Haidri) (Punjab).

Predecessor

Reformation

Operations

Affiliations & Alliances

References & Notes

Further reading