It is the oldest regiment in the Pakistan Army, tracing its lineage to as far back as 1751, during the reign of the Mughal Empire.[2] The regiment's battalions have a distinguished record of military service, spanning the rise and decline of British colonial rule in South Asia, both World War I and World War II, as well as post-independence Pakistan.
Early history
The Punjab Regiment of Pakistan traces its origins back to the Madras Army of the British East India Company. The senior-most battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment (which existed separately before 1956) was raised in 1759 as the 3rd Battalion of Coast Sepoys, and became the oldest-surviving infantry battalion of the erstwhile British Indian Army. Their first major engagement saw a decisive victory at the Battle of Wandiwash in 1760, when the British East India Company, led by Sir Eyre Coote, effectively ended French colonial ambitions in South Asia. All of the regiment's battalions subsequently played an important role in the early military campaigns of the East India Company and were actively engaged in the wars against the French, the Kingdom of Mysore and the Maratha Empire.[3]
The numbers and titles of the battalions changed during the successive reorganizations of the MadrasPresidency Army, the British Indian Army and the Indian Army during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The names changed from Coast Sepoys to Carnatic Infantry, Madras Native Infantry, Punjabis and finally to the Punjab Regiment. After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the new colonial administration applied the martial races concept, following which north Indian soldiers overwhelmingly supplanted the south Indians. The regiment was eventually renamed to the Punjab Regiment.
Between 1903 and 1922, the British Indian Army included 28 numbered Punjabi Regiments. In 1922, these were amalgamated into six numbered regiments, namely:
In 1947, the British Raj announced the independence of British India, which would be split into two separate countries: a Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. Likewise, the British Indian Army was also to be divided between the two states. Out of the six existing Punjab Regiments, the 1st Punjab, 8th, 14th, 15th and 16th were allotted to the newly raised Pakistan Army, while the 2nd went to the Indian Army.
The Punjab Regiment of the Pakistan Army was raised in its present form in 1956, when four of the five Punjab Regiments allocated to Pakistan were merged into a unified unit.
Punjab Regiments allocated to Pakistan in 1947 (now part of the Pakistan Army Punjab Regiment)
The 1st Punjab's regimental centre was located in the city of Jhelum. In early September 1947, Pakistani personnel arrived from the 2nd Punjab's regimental centre in Meerut (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) and Indian personnel were dispatched to either the 11th Sikhs or the 6th Rajputanas regimental centres depending on whether they were Sikhs or Hindu Rajputs.
The Punjab Regiment at its height totalled 58 battalions; however, 11 were transferred in 1980 to the Pakistan Army's newly raised Sind Regiment.
The Punjab Regiment holds the maximum number of War Medals (Decorations) in Pakistan Army. Following are the details:
Victoria Cross - 12
Nishan-e-Haider - 5
Hilal-e-Jurrat - 12
Sitara-e-Jurrat - 113
Sitara-e-Basalat - 67
Tamgha-e-Jurrat - 121
Tamgha-e-Basalat - 357
The above medals (decorations) are apart from hundreds of other citations.
Shuhadas of Punjab Regiment
The brave lions of the Punjab Regiment has laid their lives for the country :
War 1948 - 130 Shaheed
War 1965 - 408 Shaheed
War 1971 - 1292 Shaheed
Operation Al Mizan - 613 Shaheed
Internal/ External Security Duties - 677
Recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider
The Nishan-e-Haider is the highest gallantry award awarded by Pakistan to those who show an incredible amount of valour and courage on the battlefield in the face of staunch adversity. To date, only ten soldiers have been awarded this honour, of which five belonged to the Punjab Regiment:
Naïk Muhammad Mahfuz, 15th Punjabis (1944 – December 17, 1971)
Sowar Muhammad Hussain, 20 Lancers Punjabis (1949 - December 10, 1971)
As a form of respect, deceased recipients are given the honorary title of Shaheed (Arabic: شهيد; šahīd), which denotes martyrdom, whilst living recipients are dubbed Ghazi (Arabic: غازي; ġāzī), the Islamic term for warrior.
^"Punjab Regiment – Pakistan Army". www.pakistanarmy.gov.pk. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
^ a bRizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759–1981. Lahore: Wajidalis.
^Qureshi, Maj MI. (1958). The First Punjabis: History of the First Punjab Regiment, 1759–1956. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.
^Stokes, Cyril Lovesy Lawrence. "Commonwealth War Graves". Commonwealth War Graves.
^"Army can defend every inch: Musharraf" Archived 2008-06-11 at the Wayback MachineDaily Times, March 22, 2003
^"General Khalid Shameem Wynne promoted to Col-in-Chief : AsiaNet-Pakistan". asianetpakistan.com. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^ a b c"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 16 June 2021. p. 243. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II. Notifications issued by the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Defence Production" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 9 September 2020. p. 492. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^Hussain, Naveed. "Untold tales from the battlefront". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 11 December 2022. An assault party of 12 Punjab Regiment and 15 Baloch Regiment
^ a b c d e f"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part III" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^ a b c d e fAhmad, Kabir; Al Aziz, Saud; Kanwal, Kiani. "The Peace Force: (An Overview of Pakistan Army Contributions to UN Peacekeeping Missions)". Hilal: The Pakistan Armed Forces Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^ a b c d e f g"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^Iqbal, M. Javed. "Long Live Pakistan: Joint Services Pakistan Day Parade 23rd March 2019". Hilal: The Pakistan Armed Forces Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^"In the news: Pakistan: India's Modi greets PM on Pakistan Day". Pakistan & Gulf Economist. 27 March 2017.
^Aslam, Mahmood. "Memories of Sacrifices of a Few; and Many!". Hilal: The Pakistan Armed Forces Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^"COAS Attends the Closing Ceremony of 42nd Pakistan Army Rifle Association Central Meet". Hilal: The Armed Forces Magazine. Government of Pakistan. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 19 May 2021. p. 192. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^ a b"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 7 April 2021. p. 98. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^Tariq, Sardar Muhammad; Raja, Asif Jehangir. "Spirits Rekindled – Joint Staff Pakistan Day Parade - 2015". Hilal: The Pakistan Armed Forces Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
^ a b"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 3 June 2020. p. 201. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
^"The Gazette of Pakistan. Part II" (PDF). Government of Pakistan. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
Further reading
Brig. Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi (Ret.) (1984). Veteran campaigners: a history of the Punjab Regiment, 1759–1981 (Pakistan Army). Lahore: Wajidalis. A comprehensive and detailed history of the Punjab Regiment.