The 73rd Carnatic Infantry was an infantry regiment originally raised in 1776 as the 13th Carnatic Battalion (using drafts of men from the 4th, 7th and the

11th Carnatic Battalion 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested ...

) as part of the Presidency of Madras Army which was itself part of the Honourable East India Company Army. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

until the

Government of India Act 1858 The Government of India Act 1858 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (21 & 22 Vict. c. 106) passed on 2 August 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company (who had up to this point been rulin ...

(passed in the aftermath of the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 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 fo ...

) transferred all three presidencies to the direct authority of the

British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

. In 1903 all three presidency armies were merged into the British Indian Army. The unit was transferred to the Indian Army upon Indian Independence.

History

The regiment's first action was in 1781, during 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 ...

and the

Battle of Seringapatam 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 forc ...

in 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. They had to wait just over 100 years for their next action which was during the

Third Anglo-Burmese War The Third Anglo-Burmese War ( my, တတိယ အင်္ဂလိပ် – မြန်မာစစ်, Tatiya Anggalip–Mran cac), also known as the Third Burma War, took place during 7–29 November 1885, with sporadic resistance conti ...

in 1885. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, they remained in India on training and internal security duties attached to the

9th (Secunderabad) Division The 9th (Secunderabad) Division was an infantry division formation of the British Indian Army. It was part of the Southern Army and was formed in 1904 after Lord Kitchener was appointed Commander-in-Chief, India between 1902 and 1909. He in ...

. After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. In 1922, the 73rd Carnatic Infantry became the 1st Battalion,

3rd Madras Regiment The 3rd Madras Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army formed after the World War I reforms of the Indian Army. The infantry regiments were converted into large regiments with four or five battalions in each regiment plus a ...

. After independence they were one of the regiments allocated to the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

.Sharma, p.28

Present Day

Today the battalion is the 1st Battalion,

Mechanised Infantry Regiment The Mechanised Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, comprising 27 battalions dispersed under various armoured formations throughout India. Together with the 21 battalions of Brigade of the Guards, they form part of the '' ...

of the Indian Army.

Changes in designation

*13th Carnatic Battalion - 1776 *13th Madras Battalion - 1784 *2nd Battalion, 3rd Madras Native Infantry - 1796 *13th Madras Native Infantry - 1824 *13th Madras Infantry - 1885 *73rd Carnatic Infantry - 1903 *1st Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment - 1922 *1st Battalion, the Madras Regiment - 1947 *1st Battalion, the Mechanised Infantry Regiment - 1979

References

Sources

* * * * *Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. British Indian Army infantry regiments Honourable East India Company regiments Military history of the Madras Presidency Military units and formations established in 1776 Military units and formations disestablished in 1922 {{India-mil-stub