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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= Nilgiri Malabar Battalion
|image=File:Nilgiri Malabar Battalion Badge engraving on a spoon.jpg
|caption=Nilgiri Malabar Battalion Badge engraving on a spoon
|dates= 1878–1947
|country= British India
|allegiance= United Kingdom
|branch= [[Auxiliary Force (India)]]
|type= Rifle Battalion
|role=
|size= ~ 300 men
|command_structure=
|garrison= [[Ootacamund]]
|garrison_label= Headquarters
|motto=
|colors=
|colors_label=
|march=
|mascot=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=[[Moplah Rebellion]]
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=
|disbanded=
}}

The '''Nilgiri Malabar Battalion''' ('''NMB''') was an [[Auxiliary Force (India)]] of the [[British Colonial Auxiliary Forces]] of the [[British Indian Army]], composed of Eurasians/[[Anglo-Indians]]. Enrollment in the Auxiliary Force was open to all European British subjects and to persons of European descent.<ref>{{cite book |first=Vithalbhai Jhaverbhai |last=Patel |author-link=Vithalbhai Patel |title=Selected Works of Vitalhai J. Patel |volume=3 |page=448}}</ref> After the Mutiny of 1857, a Volunteer Force was created, whose primary function was to protect British families in India. The Volunteer Force units were later absorbed into the Auxiliary Force India, which was created in 1920 for internal security duties. Its terms of service were similar to the Territorial Army of the UK. The Auxiliary Force India, which provided officers to the Army during World War II, was disbanded in 1947.<ref>{{cite book |first=V. K. |last=Singh |title=Leadership in the Indian Army: Biographies of Twelve Soldiers |page=88 |publisher=[[Sage Publications]] |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=9780761933229 }}</ref>
==Eurasians of Peninsular India==
The first Europeans who came to India were the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch, British and the French. In 1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed at [[Kozhikode|Calicut]]. Calicut was the capital of the Zamorin, the most powerful ruler in south-west India.<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Neil |title=A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707 |page=91 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780521548854 }}</ref> Portuguese women in the east were few in number, and Portuguese men began to live with local women.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Stuart B. |editor-last=Schwartz |title=Implicit Understandings: Observing, Reporting and Reflecting on the Encounters between Europeans and Other Peoples in the Early Modern Era |page=305 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=25 November 1994 |isbn=978-0521458801 }}</ref> The Portuguese, Dutch and British instituted systems of encouraging their men to marry local women, paying a gold mohur for each child born of such unions. This young generation was seen as a cornerstone, a bulwark of empires.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Australian people: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins |editor-first=James |editor-last=Jupp |page=434 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780521807890 }}</ref>
[[File:European settlements in India 1501-1739.png|thumb|left|European settlements in India]] The Portuguese used the term ''mestico'' from about 1546. The British introduced the derisive term ''half-caste'' from about 1789.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first1=SanSan |editor-last1=Kwan |editor-first2=Kenneth |editor-last2=Speirs |title=Mixing It Up: Multiracial Subjects |page=77 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-74345-8 }}</ref> According to [[Edgar Thurston]] 'The influence of the various European nations-Portuguese, Dutch, British, Danish, and French-which have at different times acquired territory in peninsular India, is clearly visible in the polyglot medley of Eurasian surnames.'<ref>{{cite journal |first=Edgar |last=Thurston |author-link=Edgar Thurston |title=Eurasians of Madras and Malabar |page=71 |journal=Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum |volume=2 |year=1898 }}</ref> Later in the nineteenth century Eurasian took its place until the official acceptance of [[Anglo-Indian]] as the community name in 1911.<ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher J. |last=Hawes |title=Poor relations: the making of a Eurasian community in British India, 1773-1833 |page=89 |publisher=Curzon Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0700704255 }}</ref> The descendants of these Eurasians who came to be known as Anglo-Indians constituted the Nilgiri Malabar Battalion.

==Nilgiri and Malabar==
[[File:Nilgiri Hills Tamil Nadu.jpg|thumb|left|The Nilgiris]]
Two main mountain systems of Southern India are respectively called the eastern & western ghats, which include between them the great table land of the Deccan and Mysore, and meet at an angle in the Nilgiri Hills. The name Nilgiri or Blue Mountains (nila-giri)is probably derived from the blue haze, which hangs over the hills when viewed from the distant plains. The ghats of the Nilgiris lead to the plains of Malabar and [[Coimbatore]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Edgar |last=Thurston |author-link=Edgar Thurston |title=The Madras Presidency with Mysore, Coorg and the Associated States |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924021471002/page/n28 13]& 15 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1913 |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924021471002 |accessdate=31 July 2014 }}</ref>
[[File:Nemmara-paddy.jpg|thumb|right|Paddy fields fringed with coconut palms at Palghat in the erstwhile district of [[Malabar district|Malabar]]]] The name Malabar in Malayalam means the hill country.The first two syllables are almost certainly the ordinary Dravidian word ''mala'' (=hill, mountain) and ''bar'' is probably the Arabic word ''barr'' (=continent) or the Persian word ''bar'' (=country).<ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Logan |author-link=William Logan (Malabar Manual) |title=[[Malabar Manual]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/malabarmanual0000loga/page/1 1] |origyear=1887 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |location=New Delhi & Madras |year=1989 |isbn=9788120604469 }}</ref> [[Kozhikode|Calicut]] was the headquarters of the British District of Malabar.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Mansel Longworth |editor-last=Dames |editor-link=Mansel Longworth Dames |title=[[Duarte Barbosa|The Book of Duarte Barbosa]] |page=86 |publisher=[[Hakluyt Society]] |year=1921 }}</ref> The district of the Nilgiris ([[Nilgiris District]]) and the district of Malabar ([[Malabar District]]) were part of the Madras Presidency.<ref>{{cite book |title=Southern India: Its History, People, Commerce, and Industrial Resources |url=https://archive.org/details/southernindiaits00some |last=Playne |first=Somerset |author2=J. W. Bond |author3=Arnold Wright |location=London |publisher=Foreign & Colonial Compiling and Publishing Co. |year=1914 |page=[https://archive.org/details/southernindiaits00some/page/229 229]}}</ref>

==Origins==
[[File:NMB Medals.jpg|thumb|right|Nilgiri Malabar Battalion, Auxiliary Force India No.2480 Pte Ambrose G (Gregory Ambrose) of [[Kannur|Cannanore]], [[Efficiency Decoration]]s awarded for meritorious service.]] The Volunteer Force in India came into organized existence in 1860.<ref>{{cite book |first=Harbans Singh |last=Bhatia |title=Military History of British India 1607–1947 |publisher=Deep & Deep Publications |location=New Delhi |year=1977 |page=85}}</ref> Besides the regular European and Native military forces, the Europeans and Eurasians of civil life formed volunteer regiments.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Indian Encyclopedia |volume=1 |editor-first=Subodh |editor-last=Kapoor |page=349 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Cosmo Publications |year=2002 |isbn=9788177552577 }}</ref> The Nilgiri Malabar Battalion began life as the Nilgiri Volunteer Rifles in October 1878. In 1892 it incorporated the [[Coimbatore]] Volunteer Corps (formed August 1885).<ref name="Carman">{{cite book |first=W. Y. |last=Carman |title=Indian army uniforms, under the British from the 18th century to 1947 |volume=2 |pages=92–93 |publisher=Hill |year=1961}}</ref> [[File:Regimental Spoon of Nilgiri Malabar Battalion.jpg|thumb|left|Spoons were often awarded as prizes in regimental and other competitions. Some spoons were made of silver, others Electro-Plated Nickel Silver featuring regimental designs. This Spoon awarded to Pte. Edmund Frank Boother of [[Kozhikode|Calicut]] has the Regimental Sign of the Nilgiri Malabar Battalion, Auxiliary Force, India.]] In 1885 the European and Eurasian inhabitants of Calicut organised themselves into two companies of Volunteer Rifles. These companies and others located at [[Thalassery|Tellicherry]], [[Wayanad]] and [[Kochi|Cochin]], with a section at [[Palghat]] and numbering altogether about 300 men, were amalgamated into the "Malabar Volunteer Rifles" under a Major Commandant with headquarters at Calicut.<ref>{{cite book |first=William |last=Logan |title=Malabar Manual |page=CCCL }}, Appendix XXI.</ref> With Calicut as its headquarters, the regiment recruited mainly from the populous Eurasian community, and has detachments at [[Kannur|Cannanore]], Tellicherry and Cochin.<ref>{{cite book |first=B.S. |last=Baliga |year=1957 |publisher=Government Press |location=Madras |title=Madras District Gazetteers |page=409}}</ref> The Malabar Volunteer Rifles was formed on 14 August 1885, from the Calicut and Tellicherry Volunteer Corps and was amalgamated as the 29th Nilgiri Malabar Battalion on 1 April 1917.<ref>{{cite book |first=Frank |last=Antony |title=Britain's Betrayal in India: The Story of the Anglo-Indian Community |page=146 |publisher=Simon Wallenburg Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1843560104 }}</ref> The badge was a stag's head inside a garter inscribed 'Auxiliary Force India'. A crown was above, the wreath was coconut palm and the scroll below read 'Nilgiri Malabar Battalion'.<ref name="Carman"/> The battalion uniform was khaki and their HQ base was at [[Ootacamund]] the headquarters of the Nilgris district.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Indian Army List |publisher=Defense Dept. |year=1922 |page=833}}</ref>

==Operations==
[[File:2nd Dorsets to deploy from Baird Barracks, Bangalore to Malabar.jpg|thumb|Second Dorsets deployed at Malabar in 1921 jointly with other Auxiliary Forces India, including the Nilgiri Malabar Battalion, quelled the Moplah Rebellion]]
The [[Moplah Rebellion]], which remained confined to Ernad, Walluvanad and Ponnani taluks of South Malabar, began in August 1921.<ref name="Kumar">{{cite book |first=Y. Ashok |last=Kumar |title=Struggle for Economic Freedom and Social Justice of Scheduled Castes in South India |page=148 |publisher=Kalpaz Publications |location=Delhi |year=2005 |isbn=9788178353166 }}</ref> Following an incident in Pookhottur village a major rebellion broke out with the government deploying the army to take control of the civil administration.<ref name="Ind26th">{{cite book |title=Indian History |edition=26th |year=2010 |editor-first=V. K. |editor-last=Agnihotri |page=C-112 |publisher=Allied Publishers |location=Mumbai |isbn=978-81-8424-568-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MazdaWXQFuQC&pg=SL1-PA112 }}</ref> Between August and November there were two major battles between the Moplahs and the armed forces.<ref name="Kumar"/> By the end of December 1921, the Moplah Rebellion was completely suppressed.<ref name="Ind26th"/> Four officers along with hundred and eighty four men of The Nilgiri Malabar Battalion were part of the armed forces unit that quelled the Moplah Rebellion of 1921.<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Gaylor |title=Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903-91 |page=40 |publisher=Spellmount |location=Tunbridge Wells |year=1992 |isbn=9780946771981 }}</ref> Members of the [[Kannur|Cannanore]] and [[Thalassery|Tellicherry]] detachments of the Nilgiri Malabar Battalion took part in a combined Naval and Military exercise in December 1924 at Cannanore.<ref>{{cite book |title=Annual Report on the Administration of the Madras Presidency |year=1926 |page=94 |publisher=Government Press |location=Madras }}</ref> [[George Goschen, 2nd Viscount Goschen|Lord Goschen]], Governor of [[Madras Presidency]] (1924–29), inspected the annual camp of exercise of the Nilgiri Malabar Battalion at [[Podanur]] in 1925.<ref>''[[The Pioneer (India)|Pioneer Mail and Indian Weekly News]]'', Volume 52, 1925, p. 1.</ref> During the Second World War members of the Auxiliary Force (India) continued to function as part-time soldiers while contributing to the war effort by carrying on their normal occupation.<ref>{{cite book |first=T.A. |last=Heathcote |chapter=The Army of British India |title=The Oxford History of the British Army |editor-first1=David |editor-last1=Chandler |editor-first2=Ian |editor-last2=Beckett |page=364 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0192803115 }}</ref> The Nilgiri Malabar Battalion was disbanded together with all Auxiliary Force regiments following partition and India's independence in 1947 .<ref>{{cite book |first=Ian |last=Sumner |title=The Indian Army 1914-1947 |page=57 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-1841761961 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url= http://www.patriotfiles.com/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=6700&page=1 |title=The Auxiliary Force, India (AFI) on 3 September 1939 |work=patriotfiles.com |year=2014 |accessdate=31 July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:Military units and formations of British India]]
[[Category:British Indian Army regiments]]

Nilgiri Malabar Battalion - Revision history

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