The 16th Light Cavalry is a regiment of 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 ...

, a primary combat arm of 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 ...

. Prior to India gaining independence from the British in 1947, it was a regular cavalry 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 ...

. It was formed in 1776 and is the oldest

armoured regiment Armoured regiments are units provided by the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. History The first armoured regiments - known at the time as "tank battalions" - were formed in the First World War, first in the Machine Gun Corps and later a ...

raised in India. The 16th Light Cavalry saw service in a number of conflicts ranging from the

Second Anglo-Mysore War The Second Anglo-Mysore War was a conflict between the Kingdom of Mysore and the British East India Company from 1780 to 1784. At the time, Mysore was a key French ally in India, and the conflict between Britain against the French and Dutch in t ...

in 1781 to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It has a number of battle honours including "Punjab 1965" earned during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

History

Formation

The regiment was raised prior to 1776 as the 3rd Regiment of Native Cavalry in the service of the

Nawab of Arcot The Carnatic Sultanate ( Persian: ; Tamil: ; Urdu: ) also known as Carnatic State or Arcot State was a kingdom in southern India between about 1690 and 1855, ruled by a Muslim nawab under the legal purview of the Nizam of Hyderabad, until thei ...

Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, or Muhammed Ali, Wallajah (7 July 1717 – 13 October 1795), was the Nawab of the Carnatic from 1749 until his death in 1795. He declared himself Nawab in 1749. This position was disputed between Wallajah and Cha ...

. In 1780, while under service with the

British 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 ...

, it formed part of the force that defeated

Hyder Ali Hyder Ali (''Haidar'alī''; ; 1720 – 7 December 1782) was the Sultan and ''de facto'' ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born as Hyder Ali, he distinguished himself as a soldier, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's ...

during the

and was awarded battle honours for the ''

Battle of Sholinghur The Battle of Sholinghur was fought on 27 September 1781 at Sholinghur, West of Chennai (Madras), between forces of the Kingdom of Mysore led by Hyder Ali and East India Company forces led by General Eyre Coote. Haider Ali's forces were surpri ...

'', '' Battle of Mysore'', ''

Battle of Carnatic A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

'' 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 ...

'' for service during the Anglo-Mysore Wars. After the Anglo-Mysore Wars the regiment was next in action during the

Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War (), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance continuing into 1887. It was the final of three wars fought in the 19th century between the Burmese and the Br ...

and were awarded the Battle Honour of ''Burma 1885-87''.

Early 20th Century

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 ...

(1914–1918) the regiment remained in India for the defence of the North West Frontier but they did send drafts to other Indian cavalry regiments serving in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and 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 ...

. In 1919 the regiment was involved in the brief

Third Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War was a short war which began on 3 May and ended on 8 August 1919. The new Amir of the Emirate of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan declared a Jihad against the British in the hope to proclaim full independence, as well as ...

, for which they were awarded the battle honour of ''Afghanistan 1919''. In 1923, the regiment was selected for ‘Indianisation’, wherein British officers were finally replaced by Indian officers and this became one of the first Indian cavalry regiment to be officered by Indians.

World War II

In September 1939, when World War II broke out, the regiment was still mounted on horses. The process of mechanisation (converting from horses to armoured vehicles) began in Peshawar in October 1940 when the last mounted parade was held and the process completed in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

in 1941. From 1941 to 1945 the regiment was retained in India. In 1945, they were selected to undertake operations in

Burma Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...

. Within three weeks, the regiment covered a distance of 3,500 miles from Quetta to the banks of

Irrawaddy River The Irrawaddy River (, , Ayeyarwady) is the principal river of Myanmar, running through the centre of the country. Myanmar’s most important commercial waterway, it is about 1,350 miles (2,170 km) long. Originating from the confluence of the ...

and was personally complimented by General Slim, the Fourteenth Army commander. In Burma the regiment were controlled directly by the 14th Army and were also attached to the 255th Indian Tank Brigade, the brigade formation was; * 116 Royal Armoured Corps (formed from the

Gordon Highlanders The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...

) - Sherman tanks. *

7th Light Cavalry The 7th Light Cavalry, previously the 28th Light Cavalry, was a regular army cavalry regiment in the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1784 under the East India Company. The regiment later saw service on the North West Frontier and in World ...

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

*16th Light Cavalry -

Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Trent, Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms ...

and

Daimler Daimler is a German surname. It may refer to: People * Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900), German inventor, industrialist and namesake of a series of automobile companies * Adolf Daimler (1871–1913), engineer and son of Gottlieb Daimler * Paul Da ...

armoured cars (B squadron). In 1947, it was one of the regiments retained by India upon partition.

Post Independence

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the regiment was part of the 1 Armoured Brigade and took part in the Battle of Phillora and Battle of Gadgor. In a major tank battle fought at Gadgor on 8 September, and a subsequent engagement at Alhar Railway Station, they destroyed 16 Patton Tanks of the enemy, against a loss of 6 tanks of their own. 2 officers, 1 JCO and 14 other ranks of the unit were killed in these actions and many wounded. The regiment won the Theatre Honour 'PUNJAB 1965'. The gallantry awards won by its officers and men comprised 1

Vir Chakra The Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa, ) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of gallantry on the battlefield, on land or in the air or at sea. It is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and ...

, 1

Sena Medal The Sena Medal () is awarded to members of the Indian army, of all ranks, "for such individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage as have special significance for the Army." Awards may be made posthumously and a bar is authorized for ...

, 8 Mention-in-Dispatches and 3 Commendation Cards from the Chief of Army Staff. In the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the regiment with its

Centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

tanks fought the war under the 16th Independent Armoured Brigade in Shakargarh Sector. Seven Vijayanta tanks from 16 Cavalry fought in Amritsar during Operation Blue Star. At least three entered the Golden Temple compound to provide illumination and machine gun fire, but eventually deployed their main guns against the fortified Akal Takht building. During a terrorist attack in

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

on 26 September 2013, three terrorist attacked the officers' mess of the regiment. The three terrorists were killed, but the unit lost one officer and three men. Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh was conferred with

Shaurya Chakra The Shaurya Chakra () is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice while not engaged in direct action with the enemy. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthum ...

posthumously.

Affiliations

The regiment was affiliated with the

Madras Regiment The Madras Regiment is the oldest infantry regiment of the Indian Army, originating in the 1750s as a unit of the East India Company, British East India Company. The regiment took part in numerous campaigns with the British Indian Army and the po ...

in 2003 and with

INS Talwar The following ships of the Indian Navy have been named INS ''Talwar'': * was a Type 12, commissioned in 1959, which served in the Portuguese-Indian War The Annexation of Goa was the process in which the Republic of India annexed the Por ...

, the lead ship of the modern Talwar (modified Krivak) class frigates in 2005.

Composition

During its more than 200 years of existence, the regiment has seen many changes of organisations and designations. Manned originally by men from the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

, its composition was changed in 1903 to

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

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 ...

and

Deccani Muslims The Deccanis or Deccani people are an Indo-Aryan ethno-religious community of Deccani-speaking Muslims who inhabit or are from the Deccan region of India. The community traces its origins to the shifting of the Delhi Sultanate's capital from Del ...

. Since Independence, the regiment has retained its original

South Indian South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

composition.

Lineage

*1776 – Regiment of Cavalry (Stevenson's),

's Army *1784 – 3rd Madras Native Cavalry *1784 – 1st Madras Native Cavalry *1786 – 4th Madras Native Cavalry *1788 – 2nd Madras Native Cavalry *1819 – 2nd Madras Light Cavalry *1886 – 2nd Regiment of Madras Lancers *1901 – 2nd Madras Lancers *1903 – 27th Light Cavalry *1922 – 16th Light Cavalry *1947 – Allocated to India at independence and partition, continues in service as 16th Light Cavalry

Battle honours

The battle and theatre honours of the 16th Light Cavalry are: ;Pre-World War I *

Sholinghur } Sholinghapuram, shortened to Sholinghur (in Tamil: சோளிங்கப்புரம் or சோளிங்கர்) is a municipality under Sholinghur taluk in Ranipet District, Vellore region of Tamil Nadu, India. The town is fam ...

* Carnatic *

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Seringapatam Srirangapatna or Srirangapattana is a town and headquarters of one of the seven Taluks of Mandya district, in the Indian State of Karnataka. It gets its name from the Ranganthaswamy temple consecrated around 984 CE. Later, under the British ...

* Burma 1885-87 ;World War I and later * Afghanistan 1919 ;The Second World War *

Meiktila Meiktila (; ) is a city in central Burma on the banks of Meiktila Lake in the Mandalay Region at the junctions of the Bagan- Taunggyi, Yangon- Mandalay and Meiktila-Myingyan highways. Because of its strategic position, Meiktila is home to Myanm ...

* Capture of Meiktila * Defence of Meiktila *

Rangoon Road Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the military government relocated the administrative ...

* Pegu 1945 * Sittang 1945 * Burma 1942-45. ;Indo Pak Conflict 1965 * Punjab 1965

Notable Officers

*Major General Thakur Sheodatt Singh *Major General

Hira Lal Atal Major General Hira Lal Atal (26 January 1905 – 23 January 1985) was an Indian Army officer in the British Indian Army from 1925 until 1947 and the Indian Army from 1947. He became the first indigenous Adjutant General of independent India ...

- became the first Adjutant-General of independent India *Major General Enaith Habibullah - First Commandant of the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

, Khadakwasla *Major General Ghanshyam Singh *Lieutenant General Shiv Dev Verma - First Commandant of

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

, GOC 15 Corps *Lieutenant General Mohinder Singh Wadalia - the first Deputy Chief of the Army Staff *Lieutenant General Har Prasad - Commissioned into the 3rd Cavalry Regiment, commanded the regiment between 1949 and 1952, went on to become Adjutant-General and subsequently Vice Chief of the Army Staff *General

Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri (10 June 1908 – 6 April 1983) was an Indian army general who served as the 5th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1962 to 1966 and the Military Governor of Hyderabad State from 1948 to 1949. After his retirem ...

- 5th

Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Army Staff or Chief of Army Staff, which is generally abbreviated as COAS, is a title commonly used for the appointment held by the most senior staff officer or the chief commander in several nations' armies. * Chief of Army Staff ( ...

, commanded the unit from September 1944 *Lieutenant General

Khem Karan Singh Lieutenant General Khem Karan Singh, MVC (March 5, 1921 – July 26, 2016) was an Indian senior military officer. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan for his role in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War. He also received the Maha Vir Chakra for his servic ...

- General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Central Command *General

Vishwa Nath Sharma General Vishwa Nath Sharma, PVSM, AVSM, ADC (born 4 June 1930) was the 14th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, serving between 1988 and 1990. He was the first Indian COAS to have begun his career in the post-Independence Indian Army. ...

- 14th Chief of the Army Staff *Lieutenant General Arun Kumar Gautama - Commissioned into the regiment in June 1958, briefly commanded the regiment from May 1974 to October 1974. Later took over command of 81 Armoured Regiment. Commanded 34 Armoured Brigade, 29 Infantry Division and 33 Corps. GOC-in-C Central Command from April 1994 to April 1995 and GOC-in-C Western Command from April 1995 till October 1996.

Notes

References

* Kempton, C. (1996). ''A Register of Titles of the Units of the H.E.I.C. & Indian Armies 1666–1947.'' Bristol: British Empire & Commonwealth Museum. . * Gaylor, J. (1992). ''Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–1991.'' Stroud: Spellmount Publishers Ltd. .

External links

Uniforms of the late 19th Century

* https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182855/http://www.wolftree.freeserve.co.uk/Burma/Burma.html {{Indian Army Armoured Corps British Indian Army cavalry regiments Honourable East India Company regiments Indian World War I regiments Indian World War II regiments Military units and formations established in 1776 Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947 R