The Jat Regiment also known as The Royal Jats is an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment 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 ...

, of which it is one of the longest-serving and most decorated regiments.Army's Jat Regiment Best Marching Contingent in Republic Day 2007 Parade , India Defence
http://www.dsalert.org/gallantry-awards/shaurya-chakra The regiment has won 19

Battle Honours 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 operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military ...

between 1839 and 1947, and post-independence it has won Five

, including 3 Ashok Chakra, 2

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

, 2

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational Courage, gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, ...

, 13

Kirti Chakra The Kirti Chakra () is an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the field of battle. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the ...

, 8

Mahavir Chakra The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) () is the second highest military Medal, decoration in India, after the Param Vir Chakra, and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It replaced ...

, 3

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

, 53

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 ...

s, 39

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 ...

s and 343

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 ...

s. During its 200-year service history, the regiment has participated in various actions and operations in India and abroad, including the First and the

Second World War 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 ...

s. Numerous battalions of the Jat Regiment, including 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 ...

, fought in the First World War.

History

The Regiment claims its origins from the Calcutta Native Militia that was raised in 1795, which later became an infantry battalion of the

Bengal Army The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Gover ...

. The

was formed in 1857. After 1860, there was a substantial increase in the recruitment of

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 ...

into 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 ...

. The Class Regiment(The Jats) was initially created in 1897 as infantry units from old battalions of the Bengal Army. In January 1922, at the time of the grouping of the Class Regiments of the Indian Army, the 9th Jat Regiment was formed by merging four active

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

s and one training battalion into a single regiment. The 1st Battalion was raised as the 22nd Bengal Native Infantry in 1803. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were raised in 1817 and 1823 respectively. All three battalions had distinguished records of service, including the winning of many honours during World War I.

Battle cry

The battle cry, adopted in 1955, in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, is ''जाट बलवान, जय भगवान'' (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Brahmic family, Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that ...

: Jāt Balwān, Jai Bhagwān) (The Jat is Powerful, Victory Be to God!).

Composition and recruitment

Soldiers of the Jat Regiment are recruited 89% from the Hindu Jat community of

Northern India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

and rest from Sikh Jats and other castes of North India.

Battalions

Jat Regiment having a size of 27 Battalions in

. Numerous battalions of the Jat Regiment, including the

, fought in the First World War. * 21 Regular infantry battalions * 4

Rashtriya Rifles The Rashtriya Rifles (RR; ) is a counter-insurgency force in India, formed in 1990, to deal with internal security in the Jammu and Kashmir (region), Jammu and Kashmir region. They maintain public order by drawing powers from the Armed Forces ...

battalions (5 RR, 34 RR, 45 RR and 61 RR) * 2 Territorial Army battalions (114 and 151)

Regimental battalions

Stamp of India - 1983 - Colnect 168540 - Jat Regiment

The Jat regiment has 25 regular battalions, 4 Rastriya Rifles battalions and 2 territorial army battalions, as of August 2020.

Gallantry awards

Battle honours

Pre-1947

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, 1839 *Ghuznee (

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

, Ali Masjid &

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

), 1842 *Cabool (

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

), 1842 * Maharajpore,

Sobraon Sobraon () is a village in Punjab, India. It is located west to Harike village in Tarn Taran district. The Sutlej river is to the south of this village. The village is located at 31°10'39N 74°51'10E with an altitude of 192 metres (633 feet). ...

, Mooltan, Goojrat (

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

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 ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, 1858–59 *Kandahar 1880 *

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 ...

1885–87 *Afghanistan 1879–80 *China 1900 *La Bassée 1914 * Festubert 1914–15 * Shaiba,

Ctesiphon Ctesiphon ( ; , ''Tyspwn'' or ''Tysfwn''; ; , ; Thomas A. Carlson et al., “Ctesiphon — ܩܛܝܣܦܘܢ ” in The Syriac Gazetteer last modified July 28, 2014, http://syriaca.org/place/58.) was an ancient city in modern Iraq, on the eastern ba ...

, Khan al Baghdadi & Kut al Amara, 1915 * Neuve-Chapelle,

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 ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, 1914–15 *Kut al Amara 1916 *

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

1914–18 *

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

1914–15 & 1917 *Afghanistan 1919 *Razabil & Burma, 1942–45 *

Jitra Jitra is a town and a mukim in Kubang Pasu District, in northern Kedah, Malaysia. It is the seat for the district. Jitra is the fourth-largest town in Kedah after Alor Setar, Sungai Petani and Kulim. History During World War II, when the Japane ...

, Kanglatongbi & Malaya, 1941–42 *Ninshigum, the Muars & North Africa, 1940–43

Post-1947

Zoji La Zoji La (sometimes Zojila Pass) is a high mountain pass in the Himalayas. It is located in the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir and the Kargil district of Ladakh, both union territories of India. This pass connects the Kashmir Valle ...

& Rajauri, 1947 * Jammu and Kashmir 1947–48 *Phillora & Dograi 1965 *Jammu and Kashmir &

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

1971

Unit citations

When a unit is decorated for counter-insurgency operations, unit citations are given instead of battle or theatre honours. *4th battalion,

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

1995 *7th battalion, J&K 1997, J&K 2003 & Operation Rhino 2016 *11th battalion,

Operation Rakshak Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir include security operations such as Operation ''Rakshak'', which began in 1990, Operation ''Sarp Vinash'' in 2003 and Operation ''Randori Behak'' in ''2020''. Other operations include humanitarian m ...

2011 *34th battalion

, J&K 1997 *17th battalion, Operation Vijay 1999 *16th battalion, Operation Rakshak 2005 & 2011 *21st battalion, Operation Rhino 2009 *22nd Battalion (JAGUARS), Operation Rakshak 2018

Victoria Cross

* Risaldar Badlu Singh,

attached to 29th Lancers (Deccan Horse),

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

1918. *

Havildar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British sergea ...

Abdul Hafiz, 9th Jat Regiment,

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

1944.

George Cross

* Lance Naik Islam-ud-Din, 9th Jat Regiment,

1945 *

Abdul Rahman, 9th Jat Regiment,

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

1946

Maha Vir Chakra

* Brig. (later Lt. Gen.) Joginder Singh Bakshi, 16 Jat, 1971 * Lt. Col. (later Brig.) Desmond Hayde, 3 Jat, Dograi 1965 * Maj. Asaram Tyagi, 3 Jat, 1965 * Maj. Ajit Singh, 5 Jat, Indo-China 1962 * Capt. Anuj Nayyar, 17 Jat,

Kargil Kargil or Kargyil is a City in Indian-administered Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir region. The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the WP:TERTIARY, tert ...

1999 * Capt. Kapil Singh Thapa, 3 Jat, 1965 *

Fateh Singh, 3 Jat, J&K 1948 * Naik Sis Pal, 2 jat, J&K 1948

Vir Chakra

* Brig. Umesh Singh Bawa, 17 Jat, Kargil 1999 *Lt. Col Raj Kumar Suri, 4 Jat, 1971 war *Maj. Sukhpal Singh, 4 Jat, 1971 war *Maj. Harish Chandra Sharma, 4 Jat 1971 war *Maj. Narain Singh, 4 Jat 1971 war *Maj. Deepak Rampal, 17 Jat, Kargil 1999 *Havildar Kumar Singh Sogarwal, 17 Jat, Kargil 1999 *Havildar Shish Ram Gill, 8 Jat, Kargil 1999 *Lance Havildar Ganga Dhar, 4 JAT, 1971 *Sep Dharajit Singh Chahar, 4 Jat, 1988 *Sub (later Capt.) Pahlad Singh, 2 Jat, 1971 war *Sub Brijendra Singh, 4 Jat, 1971 war

Ashok Chakra

*Col

Jojan Thomas Colonel Jojan Thomas, Ashoka Chakra (military decoration), AC (22 May 1965 – 22 August 2008) was an Indian military officer with the Jat Regiment and later the 45 Rashtriya Rifles unit. He was a native of Kuttoor in Thiruvalla, Kerala and liv ...

, 45

*Maj Dinesh Raghu Raman, 34 Rashtriya Rifles, PU 19 Jat, *Lance Naik

Nazir Ahmad Wani Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, Ashoka Chakra (military decoration), AC, Sena Medal, SM Medal bar, & Bar was an Indian Army soldier and a recipient of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration), Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime military decora ...

, 34 Rashtriya Rifles

Others

*The Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar – 2010 (Organisation Category) was awarded to 21st Battalion, the Jat Regiment. *The launch of the 'Maujiram helpline' by the Jat Regiment Centre in June 2013.

Battles fought

* The Regiment saw a great deal of fighting in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, Malaya,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, and

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. A large number of gallantry awards including a

and two

es were won. * Gates of Somnath temple After the Battle of Kabul (1842), Governor General Lord Ellenborough had ordered Major General William Nott, who was commanding British-Indian forces, to recover a set of ornate gates known as the Somnath Gates, which had been looted from India by the Afghans and hung at the tomb of Sultan

Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...

. A whole

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 ...

regiment, the 43rd Bengal Native Infantry—which later became the 6th Jat Light Infantry after the

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

—was tasked with carrying the gates back to India. * WW1 *

WW2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

* 1947 Indo-Pakistani War * 1962 Sino-Indian War * 1965 India-Pakistan War ** Battle of Dograi In 1965 India-Pakistan War, 3 soldiers from Jat regiment under Lt Col (now Brig Retd) Desmond Hayde on 1 September and then again on 21–22 September, crossed the Ichhogil Canal and in the Battle of Dograi captured Dograi right up to Batapore-Attocke Awan, advancing towards

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 ...

. * 1971 India-Pakistan War ** Battle of Beriwala Bridge *

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

In the 1999

, five of the regiment's battalions took part. The regiment has also contributed battalions to UN missions in Korea and Congo. It was also involved in counter-insurgency operations that have kept the Indian Army busy ever since independence.

References

External links

6th Jat Light Infantry
{{Indian Army Infantry Regiments J British Indian Army infantry regiments Military units and formations established in 1795