Mahar Regiment
The Mahar Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. Although it was originally intended to be a regiment consisting of troops from the Mahar community of Maharashtra, today the Mahar Regiment is composed of different communities from mainly states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
| Mahar Regiment | |
|---|---|
 Mahar Regiment Insignia | |
| Active | 1815 - present |
| Country |  |
| Branch |  |
| Type | Line Infantry |
| Role | Infantry |
| Size | 21 battalions |
| Regimental Centre | Sagar, Madhya Pradesh |
| Motto(s) | Yash Sidhi Success & Attainment |
| War cry | Bolo Hindusthan Ki Jay Say Victory to India[1] |
| Decorations | 1 Param Vir Chakra, 4 Maha Vir Chakra, 32 Vir Chakra,1 Ashok Chakra, 4 Kirti Chakra, 39 Shaurya Chakra,1 Padam Shri, 9 PVSM, 3 UYSM, 16 AVSM,4 Yudh Seva Medals, 49 Vishisht Seva Medals and 221 Sena Medals,107 M-in-D,2 Jeevan Raksha Padak.[2] |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Major General Sudhakar G VSM |
| Notable commanders | General K. V. Krishna Rao, PVSM General Krishnaswamy Sundarji, PVSM |
| Insignia | |
| Regimental Insignia | A pair of crossed Vickers medium machine guns, mounted on a tripod with a dagger. The dagger was initially the Pillar of Koregaon, where the combined British and Mahar troops defeated the overwhelming Peshwa Army. The pillar was subsequently removed and was replaced with a dagger.[2] |
History
Martial Races theory and disbandment
After the Revolt of 1857, the British officers of the Indian Army, particularly those who had served in the First and Second Afghan Wars, began to give currency to the Martial Races Theory. This theory was that some races and communities among Indians were naturally warlike, and more suited to warfare than others. A major proponent of this theory was Lord Roberts, who became Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army in the November 1885. There was a gradual "Punjabisation" of the Indian Army to the detriment of the other communities. The final blow for the Mahar troops came in 1892, when it was decided to institute "class regiments" in the Indian Army. The Mahars were not included in these class regiments, and it was notified that the Mahars, among with some other classes, were no longer to be recruited in the Indian army. The Mahar troops, who included 104 Viceroy's Commissioned Officers and a host of Non-commissioned officers and Sepoys were demobilised. This event was regarded by the Mahars as a betrayal of their loyalty by a government they had served for over a hundred years.
Raising of the Mahar Regiment
After the demobilisation of the Mahar troops, there were many attempts by the leaders of the Mahar community to persuade the Government to let them serve in the Army once again. Petitions to this effect were drafted by ex-soldiers such as Gopal Baba Walangkar in 1894, and Shivram Janba Kamble in 1904.[3] These petitions were supported in principle by the politician and social reformer Gopal Krishna Gokhale, who was opposed to the Martial Races theory. They were also supported by the Indian National Congress, who were also opposed to the recruiting policies of the Army. The recruitment policies of the British Indian Army continued until the beginning of the First World War in 1914. The shortage of men forced the Government to begin more broad-based recruiting, and the Mahars were at last allowed to enlist in the Army. One battalion of Mahar troops, the 111th Mahars was raised in the June 1917.[4] However, the battalion did not see much service during the War, and in 1920 it was merged with the 71st Punjabis. Finally, the battalion was disbanded in March 1921, and the Mahars were once again demobilised.
World War II forced the British to broaden their recruitment and the Mahar Regiment was raised in 1941.[4] In that year B. R. Ambedkar was appointed to the Defence Advisory Committee of the Viceroy's Executive Council.He also appealed to the Mahars to join the Army in large numbers. In October, the Army gave in, and the 1st battalion of the Mahar Regiment was raised in Belgaum under Lt. Col. H.J.R. Jackson of the 13th Frontier Force Rifles and Sub. Maj. Sheikh Hassnuddin. The 2nd battalion was raised in Kamptee in June 1942 under Lt. Col. J.W.K. Kirwan and Sub. Maj. Bholaji Ranjane. A cap badge was designed for the regiment by Capt. E.E.L. Mortlemans, an officer of the 2nd battalion. The badge featured the Koregaon Pillar over the word "Mahar". The third battalion, the 25th Mahars, was raised in Belgaum in the August 1942 by Lt. Col V. Chambier and Sub. Maj. Sardar Bahadur Ladkojirao Bhonsale, and the 3rd Mahars were raised in Nowshera by Lt. Col. R.N.D. Frier and Sub. Maj. Bholaji Ranjane. During the Second World War, the 1st and 3rd Mahars served in the North-West Frontier Province, while the 2nd and 25th were employed on internal security duties within the country. The 2nd battalion also saw service in the Burma Campaign as a part of the 23rd Indian Division, where they suffered 5 casualties and had one officer mentioned in dispatches. They also served in Iraq after the war as a part of PAIFORCE.
In 1946, the 25th Mahars were disbanded, along with many other garrison battalions of the Indian Army. Its officers and men were largely absorbed by the other three battalions of the regiment. In the October 1946, the regiment was converted into a machine gun regiment, and the regimental centre was established at Kamptee. Following the conversion, the cap badge was changed. The new badge had two crossed Vickers machine guns over the Koregaon Pillar, over a scroll that said "The Mahar MG Regiment". The three surviving battalions of the regiment served as a part of the Punjab Boundary Force, and took part in escorting refugees during the Partition of India.
Border Scouts
The Border Scouts were an irregular force formed by the people of the border villages in East Punjab during Partition. Hailing as they did from the erstwhile greater state of East Punjab (which included the present states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh), the force had people hailing from a greater mix of ethnic, religious and caste backgrounds than was the norm in the Indian Army. They did some useful work defending villages from attacks during partition, and as a reward, were given a more permanent character as the East Punjab Frontier Scouts in 1948. They served along the border with Pakistan as border guards, and were regarded as a useful adjunct of the Punjab Armed Police. The unit was redesignated the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the Border Scouts in 1951, with recruitment from different North Indian communities. In 1956, the decision to convert this force into Machine-Gun Regiments was taken, and the three battalions were merged with the Mahar Regiment, the only Indian Machine Gun Regiment in existence at the time. They joined the Regiment as the 4th, 5th and 6th Battalions of the Mahar Regiment, and it is to these units that the Regiment traces its mixed-class composition. The three Battalions style themselves battalions of the Mahar Regiment (Borders) even today.
Operation Pawan : 8 Mahar playing as a important role
On 24 Nov 1987, 8 Mahar La Jaffna launched a search operation after receiving a tip-off that he was a terrorist. At the same time they started firing at the team. He was shot in the arm and chest but continued to fight.[5]
Composition and recruitment
The class composition of the Regiment also changed. While 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 8th and 13th battalions were all pure Mahar battalions, the others were mixed classes right down to the smallest sub-unit level. The conversion training started in November 1963 with 1st Mahar and completed in May 1964 with 10th Mahar. The year 1965 saw all the battalions of the regiment gearing up for operations. These included the newly raised 11th and 12th battalions that had the unique composition of Bengalis, Oriyas and Gujratis - the communities that had been stamped as non-martial by the British. Their entry into the Mahar fraternity added strength to national integration-the distinctive feature which the regiment has always been proud of.[6]
Battalions [2]
- 1st Battalion
- 2nd Battalion
- 3rd Battalion
- 4th Battalion (Borders)
- 5th Battalion (Borders)
- 6th Battalion (Borders)
- 7th Battalion
- 8th Battalion (Param Vir Chakra)
- 9th Battalion
- 10th Battalion
- 11th Battalion
- 12th Battalion
- 13th Battalion
- 14th Battalion (formerly 31st Mahar) & (UN Mission 2017 to 2018)
- 15th Battalion (formerly 32nd Mahar)
- 17th Battalion
- 18th Battalion
- 19th Battalion
- 20th Battalion
- 21st Battalion
- 22nd Battalion
Former battalions
- 25th Battalion (disbanded 1946).
- 16th Battalion (formerly 8th Parachute Regiment) (converted to 12th Mechanised Infantry in 1981)
Allied Units
- 108th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (based at Dehradun, Uttarakhand)
- 115th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (based at Belgaum, Karnataka)
- 136th Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Ecological) (based at Aurangabad, Maharashtra)
- 1st Battalion Rashtriya Rifles
- 30th Battalion Rashtriya Rifles
- 51st Battalion Rashtriya Rifles
References
- "Mahar Regiment War Cry".
- Bharat Rakshak :: Land Forces Site - The Mahar Regiment Archived 2012-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
- Ardythe Basham (2008). Untouchable Soldiers: The Maharas and the Mazhbis. Gautam Book Center. pp. 33–38. ISBN 978-81-87733-43-0.
- Ardythe Basham (2008). Untouchable Soldiers: The Maharas and the Mazhbis. Gautam Book Center. p. 12. ISBN 978-81-87733-43-0.
- "Mahar Regiment {Indian Army}". Retrieved 2020-06-19.
- Mahar Regiment