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| {{italic title}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Badluram Ka Badan]] |
| {{short description|Indian military regimental song}}
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| {{use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
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| "'''Badluram ka Badan'''" ("Badluram's Body") is the [[Marching song|regimental song]] of the [[Assam Regiment]] of the [[Indian Army]]. Major M. T. Proktor created the song in honour of Rifleman Badluram, a soldier of the [[Assam Regiment]] of the [[British Indian Army]] who died while fighting against the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] in World War II. After Badluram's death, the [[quartermaster]] Sub Kandarpa Rajbongshi IDSM (Indian Distinguish Service Medal) did not remove his name from the rations roster and the company continued to draw rations in Badluram's name. This extra ration helped the company survive through a siege when Japanese troops surrounded them during the [[Battle of Kohima]] and supplies were cut. Accordingly, the song was composed in Badluram's honour with the lyrics "We get rations because Badluram's body is buried beneath".
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| ==Background==
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| [[File:Assam Regiment Insignia (India).svg|200px|thumb|Assam Regiment Insignia]]
| | {{R from move}} |
| Badluram was a [[rifleman]] in the 1st Battalion, [[Assam Regiment]] of the [[British Indian Army]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.catharsismagazine.com/2017/05/26/badlu/|title=Badlu Ram and The Assam Regiment: The Legend that Lives On|last=Sarkar|first=Abhinaba|date=2017-05-26|website=CATHARSIS Magazine|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> In 1944 the 1st Assam Regiment was posted in and around [[Kohima]] and were part of the first line of defence between the [[Fifteenth Army (Japan)|Fifteenth Army]], a formation of the [[Imperial Japanese Army]] led by [[Renya Mutaguchi|Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi]], and the rest of [[British India]]. In what would go on to be labelled "Britain's Greatest Battle" by a popular vote conducted by the British [[National Army Museum]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/battle-imphal|title=Battles of Imphal and Kohima|website=National Army Museum, United Kingdom|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=MacSwan|first=Angus|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-battles-idUKBRE93K03220130421|title=Victory over Japanese at Kohima named Britain's greatest battle|date=2013-04-21|work=Reuters|access-date=2020-04-23|language=en}}</ref> the [[Battle of Kohima]] and the [[Battle of Imphal]] was also called the "British-Indian [[Battle of Thermopylae|Thermopylae]]" by Earl [[Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma|Louis Mountbatten]], the [[Supreme Allied Commander]] in the theatre,<ref name=":1">Ministry of Defence (April 2004). [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/30002/ww2_kohima.pdf ''The Battle of Kohima, North East India 4 April – 22 June 1944'']. British MOD, World War Commemorative Booklets. Retrieved 23 April 2020. pg - 3, 6</ref> and is also referred to as "[[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] of the East"''.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://usiofindia.org/publication/usi-journal/75th-anniversary-of-the-battle-of-kohima/|title=75th Anniversary of the Battle of Kohima|last=Goswami|first=Major General PK|date=2019|website=[[United Service Institution]]|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Copping|first=Jasper|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10008053/Second-World-War-clashes-named-as-Greatest-British-Battle.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131026135422/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/10008053/Second-World-War-clashes-named-as-Greatest-British-Battle.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2013-10-26|title=Second World War clashes named as 'Greatest British Battle'|journal=Daily Telegraph|date=2013-04-20|access-date=2020-04-23|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
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| Badluram was killed in the early days of the battle from a gunshot wound. After Badluram's death, the [[quartermaster]] did not remove his name from the rations roster and the company continued to draw rations in Badluram's name. (Some say the Quartermaster purposely did not report Badluram's death while others say he forgot to. The wireless also would give a lot of problems.)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/badluram-ka-badan-origins-of-indian-armys-favourite-marching-song-and-why-it-retains-its-iconic-status-7347391.html|title='Badluram ka badan': Origins of Indian Army's favourite marching song, and why it retains its iconic status|date=16 September 2019|website=Firstpost|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> But by 6 April, the Japanese troops of the Fifteenth Army had Kohima under [[siege]], and supply lines were cut.<ref name=":0" /> A [[Royal Berkshire Regiment|1st Royal Berkshires]] company commander at the time penned down in this diary "Water was short and restricted to about one pint per man per day [...] Air supply was the key, but the steep terrain and narrow ridges meant that some of the drops went to the Japs".<ref name=":1" /> The Japanese also brought anti-aircraft guns with them, breaking the supply chain even more.<ref name=":0" />
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| For Badluram's company, because of the extra supplies that had been arriving in the days leading up to the siege, things were easier. This extra ration helped the company survive through the siege.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thedarjeelingchronicle.com/tagra-raho-the-legend-of-badlu-ram/|title=Tagra Raho - The Legend of Badlu Ram|date=2019-01-18|website=The Darjeeling Chronicle|language=en-GB|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> The song was composed in his honour with the lyrics "''Badluram ka badan zameen ka neeche hai/ toh humey uska ration milta hai''" ("Badluram's body is buried but we get his rations").<ref name="indiatimes">{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/badluram-ka-badan-the-fascinating-assam-regiment-song-and-the-story-behind-it/articleshow/70655275.cms|title=Badluram ka Badan: The fascinating Assam Regiment song and the story behind it|date=13 August 2019|newspaper=The Economic Times|access-date=2019-09-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thequint.com/news-videos/2017/08/13/badluram-ka-badan-assam-regiment-song|title=Celebrate Army Day With Assam Regt Dancing to 'Badluram Ka Badan'|date=2017-08-13|website=The Quint|language=en|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref> Created in 1946 by Major M. T. Proktor, the song was inspired by and set to the tune of "[[John Brown's Body]]" – "[[Battle Hymn of the Republic]]".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=may1716/oth057|title=Why does AR still praise Badlu Ram?|last=Das|first=Raju|date=16 May 2016|website=The Assam Tribune Online|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhardwaj|first=Atul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_h1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT35|title=India-America Relations (1942-62): Rooted in the Liberal International Order|date=2018-11-02|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-18681-0|language=en}}</ref> It has become the regimental song of the Assam Regiment,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=153775|title=MoS (Home) Shri Kiren Rijiju attends the Platinum Jubilee Ceremony of the Assam Regiment|last=Ministry of Home Affairs|date=17 November 2016|website=Press Information Bureau, Government of India|access-date=2020-04-23}}</ref> and is sung by Assam Regiment recruits at their [[Passing out (military)|attestation parade]] in [[Shillong]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theprint.in/features/badluram-ka-badan-how-military-music-keeps-recruits-bang-on-the-beat/265660/|title=Badluram ka badan: How military music keeps recruits bang on the beat|last=Hazarika|first=Myithili|date=2019-07-21|website=ThePrint|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Alexander|first=Deepa|url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/A-documentary-on-Havildar-Hangpan-Dada-AC/article17175450.ece|title=The soldier's song|date=2017-02-03|work=The Hindu|access-date=2020-04-21|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> In September 2019, a video emerged of American and Indian soldiers singing the song together during a joint exercise at [[Joint Base Lewis–McChord|Joint Base Lewis-McChord]].<ref name="indiatoday">{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/american-indian-soldiers-sing-badluram-ka-badan-1599362-2019-09-15|title=When US soldiers sang and danced to Badluram ka badan with Indian armymen|date=15 September 2019|website=India Today|access-date=2019-09-16}}</ref>
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| ==Lyrics==
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| {{External media|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ8AiUcZXzI, Video of Badluram ka Badan by Assam Regiment (official YouTube channel of ADGPI Indian Army)]|title=Song video|width=210px}}
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| {|
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| !Romanised Hindi
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| !Translation (Approximate)
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| |-
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| |<poem>
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| Ek khubsurat ladki thi…
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| Usko dekh ke rifleman…
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| Chindi khichna bhul gaya…
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| Havaldar Major dekh liya…
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| Usko pittu lagaya…
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| Badluram ek sipahi thaa…
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| Japan war me mar gaya…
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| Quartermaster smart thaa…
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| Usney ration nikala…
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| Badluram ka badan zamin ke nichey hain…
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| Toh humein uska ration milta hain…
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| Sabashh… hallelujah…
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| Toh humein uska ration milta hain…
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| </poem>
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| |<poem>
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| There was a beautiful girl
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| Seeing whom the Rifleman
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| Forgot to pull the safety catch on a gun
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| The Havildar Major saw him
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| Sends him on a punishment run with a sack
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| Badluram was a soldier
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| Who died in the "Japan" War (WWII)
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| But our Quartermaster was "smart"
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| He got us rations
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| Badluram's body is now buried
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| Yet we continue to eat rations drawn in his name
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| Bravo!… hallelujah…
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| Yet we continue to eat rations drawn in his name
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| </poem>
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| |}
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| == Further reading ==
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| * {{cite book| author = Director of Public Relations | work = Ministry of Defence | year = 1991 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7B_f2KSJA0MC&q=BadluRam+Ka+Badan | title = Sainik Samachar | volume =38 | publisher = Government of India}}
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| * {{cite book| author = Gautam Sharma | year = 2000 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ziDfAAAAMAAJ&q=BadluRam+Ka+Badan | work = Indian Army | title = Reference Manual | publisher = Reliance Publishing House| isbn = 9788175101142 }}
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| == See also ==
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| * [[Bedu Pako Baro Masa]]
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| * [[Qadam Qadam Badaye Ja]]
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| * [[Sare Jahan se Accha]]
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| [[Category:Indian Army]]
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| [[Category:Indian military marches]]
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| [[Category:1944 in British India]]
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