Maratha Light Infantry

2021-08-26T10:14:39Z

2409:4042:102:7567:E0:262:74EA:2A30:

{{Short description|Infantry regiment of Indian army}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Maratha Light Infantry
| image = Marathali.gif
| caption = Regimental Insignia of the Maratha Light Infantry
| dates = 1768 – present
| country = {{flag|India}}
| branch = [[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|24px]] [[Indian Army]]
| type = Light Infantry
| role = [[Light Infantry]]
| motto = ''Duty, Honour, Courage''
| nickname = Ganpats
| colors = ''Bola Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai (Hail Victory To King Shivaji Maharaj)''
| colors_label = War Cry
| identification_symbol =
| march = ''Sinhgad''
| decorations = 2 [[Victoria Cross]]es 5 [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]]s 29 [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal]] 4 [[Maha Vir Chakra]]s 15 [[Kirti Chakra]]s 1 ACCL II 35 [[Ati Vishisht Seva Medal]] 44 [[Vir Chakra]]s 63 [[Shaurya Chakra]]s 4 ACCL III 4 [[Yudh Seva Medal]] 440 [[Sena Medal]]s 1 [[Shaurya Chakra]] & Bar 23 [[Vishisht Seva Medal]] 1 [[Padma Bhushan]] 1 [[Arjuna award]] and 8 Unit Citations.
| battle_honours = Naushera, Jhangar, Burki, [[Hussainiwala]], Jamalpur, Burj, Suadih, Ruywa & more [...]<ref>https://www.indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTempSimple.aspx?MnId=4A5i0n/lnoudTQKxTYgDBg==&ParentID=QRS7gkyJRuS99oJ/172LUA==&flag=8CKP966uzg96kLov0aWdfQ==</ref>
| anniversaries = 4 February (Regimental Day)
| colonel_of_the_regiment = Lieutenant General Asit Mistry
| colonel_of_the_regiment_label = Commanding Officer
| notable_commanders = General [[Joginder Jaswant Singh]]
}}

The '''Maratha Light Infantry''' is a [[light infantry]] [[regiment]] of the [[Indian Army]]. It traces its lineage to the [[Bombay Sepoys]], raised in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army. The class composition of the regiment was and is primarily formed by [[Maratha]] recruits from the former [[Maratha Empire]]. The men are mostly drawn from all over the state of [[Maharashtra]], with some percentage from [[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking areas of [[Karnataka]] including [[Coorg]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianarmy.nic.in/Site/FormTemplete/frmTemp1P2C_1.aspx?MnId=I1VJZ6VRWPzBi6/whXzbbw==&ParentID=+/H11cmV3nr3o8q5eIr85A==|title=Official Website of Indian Army|access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref> The regimental centre has been in [[Belgaum]], Karnataka, since 1922, which was part of the [[Bombay Presidency]] at that time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n40BAAAAMAAJ&q=%22+maratha+light+infantry%22+Belgaum+1922+centre|title=Karnataka State Gazetteer: Belagavi|year=1965|access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref> The [[battle cry]] of Maratha Light Infantry is, ''"Bola Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai (Say Victory To King Shivaji)"''.
The regiment has won over 60 battle honours, including 21 in World War I.

==History==
===Pre-independence===
[[File:Mahratta infantry lovett.png|upright|thumb|375x375px|From left to right: Subedar, [[103rd Mahratta Light Infantry]]; Sepoy, [[110th Mahratta Light Infantry]]; Sepoy, [[116th Mahrattas]]; Sepoy, [[114th Mahrattas]], ''by AC Lovett (1862-1919)'']]
The [[Maratha]]s were a potent force in 16th, 17th, and 18th century India. Their military qualities were brilliantly optimised in their historic campaigns against the [[Mughals]] under the leadership of the Emperor (''Chhatrapati'') [[Shivaji]] Maharaj and succeeding Maratha rulers. Maratha armies, comprising both infantry and light cavalry, along with the [[Maratha Navy]] had dominated the military scene in India for three centuries. The 1st battalion of the regiment, known as ''Jangi Paltan'' ("the fighting unit"), was raised in August 1768 as the [[2nd Battalion, Bombay Sepoys]], to protect the [[British East India Company]]’s possessions on the islands of [[Bombay]].

The second battalion known as ''[[Kali Panchwin]]'' followed the next year as the [[3rd Battalion Bombay Sepoys|3rd Battalion, Bombay Sepoys]]. These two battalions were at the forefront of virtually every major engagement fought on the west coast from [[Surat]] to [[Kannur|Cannanore]] during the last quarter of the 18th century. Prominent amongst these were the historic battles of [[Battle of Seedaseer|Seedaseer]] and [[Battle of Seringapatam|Seringapatam]] where in the words of [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Richard Wellesley]] their ''conduct and success were seldom equalled and never surpassed''.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Brief History of the Mahratta Light Infantry|last=Barr|first=James S.|publisher=G. Claridge and Co., Ltd|year=1945|location=Bombay|pages=52}}</ref>

The turn of the 19th century was witness to the expansion of the regimental group with the raising of the 3rd battalion as the 2nd battalion, 5th ([[Travancore]]) Regiment of the [[Bombay Native Infantry]] in 1797. The Maratha Light Infantry Regimental Centre was raised in March 1800 as the 2nd battalion, 7th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry; the 4th battalion in April 1800 as the 2nd battalion, 8th Regiment Bombay Infantry and the 5th battalion from the [[Fencibles#Bombay Fencibles|Bombay Fencibles]] as the 1st battalion, 9th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry in December 1800.

[[File:Maratha Light Infantry Indian Army.jpg|right|thumb|375x375px|Insignia of the 5th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry]]
In the second half of the 19th century, the battalions fought in various campaigns from the Middle East to China. In recognition of the gallant conduct of its detachments at the [[siege of Kahun]] and the defence of Dadar, in [[Baluch people|Baluch]] territory during the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] in 1841, the ''Kali Panchwin'' was created Light Infantry. Later, this honour was also bestowed on the 3rd and 10th Regiments of the Bombay Infantry (present 1st battalion, Maratha Light Infantry and 2nd battalion, [[Parachute Regiment (India)|Parachute Regiment]] respectively) for their gallantry in [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Sir Robert Napier]]’s [[1868 Expedition to Abyssinia|Abyssinian Campaign]] of 1867-1868. The regiment assumed the title [[5th Mahratta Light Infantry]] in 1922.

Three Maratha battalions distinguished themselves during the [[First World War]] (1914–1918) in the long drawn-out [[Mesopotamia campaign]]. The [[117th Mahrattas]] (present 5th battalion, Maratha Light Infantry) was made into a Royal battalion for its conspicuously distinctive service during its campaign in [[Mesopotamia]], particularly in the events leading to enemy capitulation after the bitter 146-day siege at [[Kut-el-Amara]]. The battalion was mostly composed of Marathas from the [[Khandesh]] region and [[Nashik district]]. For some unclear reasons even after winning, the regiment did not return to India. The [[114th Mahrattas]] (present Regimental Centre) was awarded 28 gallantry awards for their performance in the [[battle of Sharquat]], the highest earned by any unit in a single action. The other Maratha battalions, namely the [[105th Mahratta Light Infantry]], [[110th Mahratta Light Infantry]] and [[116th Mahrattas]] also acquitted themselves in Palestine and Mesopotamia.

The Second World War saw the Marathas in the forefront in almost every theatre of operations from the jungles of Southeast Asia to the deserts of [[North Africa]], and the mountains and rivers of Italy. The war also saw the expansion of the regiment when thirteen new war service battalions were raised. Most of these were later demobilised after the war, whilst two were converted into artillery regiments. During the war Nk. [[Yeshwant Ghadge]] and Sep. [[Namdeo Jadhav]] were decorated with the [[Victoria Cross]] in the Italian campaign, while 130 other decorations were awarded to the regiment.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Kay
| first = Robin
| year = 1967
| title = Italy Volume II : From Cassino to Trieste
| publisher = War History Branch, Department Of Internal Affairs, Wellington, New Zealand
| location = New Zealand
}}</ref>

Apart from being the first light infantry battalion, of the Indian Army, Kali Panchwin was the first Indian battalion to participate in World War II, first to have lost its commanding officer in action (Col. Chitty at the battle of Jebel Hamrin, 1917) and the first Maratha battalion to participate in a United Nations mission. Later, it earned the Indian Army's first [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] in India's [[Insurgency in Northeast India|northeast]].{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

===Post-independence===

[[Partition of India|Indian independence]] saw the regiment reverting to the original five battalions, with the 3rd Maratha Light Infantry converting to the airborne role and becoming the 2nd battalion, Parachute Regiment in April 1952. With the integration of the erstwhile princely states, the 19th, 20th, 22nd battalions were amalgamated, from the state forces of [[Satara district|Satara]], [[Kolhapur]], [[Baroda]], and [[Hyderabad State|Hyderabad]], with the regiment. The expansion of the Indian Army to meet the omnipresent threat to its borders has seen the regiment grow to its present strength of 18 regular battalions and two [[Territorial Army (India)|Territorial Army]] battalions whilst the period also saw the conversion of the 21st battalion into the 21st battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) and the 115 Infantry Battalion (TA) being transferred to the [[Mahar Regiment]].

Since independence, battalions of the Maratha Light Infantry have taken part in every Indian armed conflict — the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]], the [[Annexation of Junagadh]], the [[Indian annexation of Hyderabad|Annexation of Hyderabad]], the [[Annexation of Goa]], the [[Sino-Indian War]], the Indo-Pakistani wars of [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|1965]] and [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|1971]], against the Chinese on the [[Sikkim]] watershed in 1956, [[Operation Pawan]], the ongoing operations on the [[Siachen Glacier]] and in numerous counter insurgency operations.

The [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] awarded to Capt. Eric Tucker, Col. [[Neelakantan Jayachandran Nair|N.J. Nair]], Col. [[Vasanth Venugopal]] and Lt. [[Navdeep Singh (Ashok Chakra)|Navdeep Singh]], the five [[Maha Vir Chakra]]s and the numerous other war and peacetime gallantry awards bear testimony to the front-line leadership and courage of the regiment's officers and soldiers.

Gen. [[Joginder Jaswant Singh]] became the first Maratha Light Infantry officer to become the [[Chief of Army Staff (India)|Chief of Army Staff]] in February 2005.

==Units==
* 1st Battalion - (former [[103rd Mahratta Light Infantry]])
* [[2nd Battalion, Maratha Light Infantry Regiment|2nd Battalion]] - (former [[105th Mahratta Light Infantry]]) (Ashok Chakra Paltan)
* 4th Battalion - (former [[116th Mahrattas]])
* 5th Battalion - (former [[117th Mahrattas]])
* 6th Battalion
* 7th Battalion
* 8th Battalion
* 9th Battalion (Ashok Chakra Paltan)
* 11th Battalion
* 12th Battalion
* [[14th Battalion, Maratha Light Infantry|14th Battalion]]
* 15th Battalion
* 16th Battalion (Ashok Chakra Paltan)
* 17th Battalion
* 18th Battalion
* 19th Battalion - (former Kolhapur Raja Ram Infantry)
* 22nd Battalion - (former 2nd Hyderabad State Infantry)
* 23rd Battalion
* 24th Battalion
* 25th Battalion
* 26th Battalion
* 42nd Battalion
* 101 Infantry Battalion [[Territorial Army (India)|Territorial Army]] (Maratha Light Infantry) [[Pune]], [[Maharashtra]]
* 109 Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Maratha Light Infantry) [[Kolhapur]], [[Maharashtra]]
Others:
*3rd Battalion is now 2nd Battalion, [[Parachute Regiment (India)|Parachute Regiment]]
*20th Battalion (former Baroda State Infantry) is now 10th Battalion, [[Mechanised Infantry Regiment]]
*21st Battalion is now 21st Battalion, Parachute Regiment (Special Forces)

===Maratha Units in Rashtriya Rifles ===

Maratha Units in Rashtriya Rifles (RR) are:<ref>{{cite web | url=https://salute.co.in/maratha-units-in-rashtriya-rifles/ | title=Rashtriya Rifles (RR) the Maratha Units | first=Anil | last=Bhat | date=29 October 2015 | work=Salute Magazine | access-date=25 August 2020 }}</ref>
*The 17 (RR)
*The 27 (RR)
*The 41 (RR)
*The 56 (RR)

==Decorations==
<gallery mode=packed heights=150px>
File:Naik Yeshwant Ghadge VC (1921-1944), 3-5th Mahratta Light Infantry, 1944.jpg|{{small|Naik [[Yeshwant Ghadge]] was awarded a [[Victoria Cross]] posthumously for heroic actions in Upper Tiber Valley, [[Italy]], on 10 July 1944}}
File:133308Bladin1947.jpg|{{small|Sepoy [[Namdeo Jadav]] was awarded a [[Victoria Cross]] for heroic actions at [[Senio River]], Italy, on 9 April 1945}}
File:Subadar Ganpat Patil receiving the Military Cross from General Sir Claude Auchinleck, 1944 (c).jpg|{{small|Subadar Ganpat Patil receives the [[Military Cross]] from General [[Sir Claude Auchinleck]], 1944}}
File:Naik Narayan Sinde, 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, receiving the Indian Distinguished Service Medal from General Sir Claude Auchinleck, 1945.jpg|{{small|Naik Narayan Sinde receives the [[Indian Distinguished Service Medal]] from General Sir Claude Auchinleck, 1945}}
</gallery>

==Bastille Day 2009==
On the occasion of the 221st [[Storming of the Bastille|Bastille]] day celebrations, a unit from the Maratha Light Infantry led the parade on the Parisian boulevard of Champs-Élysées on 14 July 2009. The military parade was opened with a detachment of 400 soldiers from the three defence services of India, who were attired in ceremonial uniforms. The Indian Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]] was the guest of honour of the ceremony, an invitee of the French President.<ref>{{cite news
| title =L'Inde a défilé sur les Champs-Elysées
| language =fr
| publisher =[[Le Parisien]]
| date =14 July 2009
| url =http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/l-inde-a-defile-sur-les-champs-elysees-14-07-2009-579912.php
| access-date =16 July 2009 }}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150">
File:117th Mahrattas at a fort, 1909.jpg|{{small|[[117th Mahrattas]] at a fort in the [[North-West Frontier Province|North West Frontier]], India, 1909}}
File:Dekhani Mahrattas and Konkani Mahrattas.jpg|{{small|Dekhani and Konkani Mahrattas, [[World War I]]}}
File:Indian Army volunteers, 1943 (c).jpg|{{small|Recruits line up to enlist with the [[5th Mahratta Light Infantry]], 1943}}
File:A sepoy of the 5th Mahratta Light Infantry, 1943 (c).jpg|{{small|A soldier of the [[5th Mahratta Light Infantry]], 1943}}
File:Mahratta sniper in Italy 1943.jpg|{{small|[[5th Mahratta Light Infantry|Mahratta]] sniper on south bank of [[Trigno]], 1943}}
File:1-5MahrattaLightInfantryFlorence1944.jpg|{{small|[[5th Mahratta Light Infantry|1/5th Mahratta Light Infantry]] train in [[Florence]], 1944}}
File:Indian troops advance across the Aquino aerodrome 1944.jpg|{{small|[[5th Mahratta Light Infantry|1/5th Mahratta Light Infantry]] advance across [[Aquino, Italy|Aquino]] aerodrome, 1944}}
File:Brits-Indiërs van het 6th Battalion the Mahratta Light Infantry, Bestanddeelnr 100A-1-1.jpg|{{small|6th Battalion Mahratta Light Infantry in [[Jakarta]], 1946}}
File:14MARATHANCC.png|{{small|14th Battalion Maratha Light Infantry conduct range training for [[National Cadet Corps (India)|NCC]] cadets of [[Gwalior Division]]}}
File:Stamp of India - 2001 - Colnect 160746 - 4th Maratha Light Infantary - Bicentenary.jpeg|{{small|2001 postal stamp to commemorate the bicentenary of the 4th Maratha Light Infantry}}
File:The Maratha Light Infantry Marching Contingent passes through the Rajpath, on the occasion of the 69th Republic Day Parade 2018, in New Delhi on January 26, 2018.jpg|The Maratha Light Infantry marching contingent passes through the [[Rajpath]] during the [[Republic Day Parade|69th Republic Day Parade]], 2018
File:Indra 2017 closing ceremony 1.jpg|[[Indian Army]] soldiers of the Maratha Light Infantry during closing ceremony of Indra 2017 military exercise.
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090208025113/https://defenceindia.com/defenceind/maratha_lig_infantry.html Maratha Light Infantry - DefenceIndia.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070101204810/http://regiments.org/regiments/southasia/inf/1922-05.htm#assns 5th Mahratta Light Infantry | Regiments.org]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20030803071118/http://www.roa-mlirc.com/ Maratha Light Infantry Regiment | Regimental Officers Association]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071029004334/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/BANDSTAND/iafband.html Deshon Ka Sartaj, Bharat] by the Maratha Light Infantry Band
*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F7T9TVqBwPo Redetzky March I Maratha Light Infantry I Indian Army I The Peninsula Studios]

{{Indian Army Infantry Regiments}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Infantry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1922]]
[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Units of the Indian Peace Keeping Force]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials to Shivaji]]

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Maratha Light Infantry