The infantry of the Indian army is the largest arm of the Indian army. It consists of personnel, who historically have engaged in ground combat on foot. It presently also consists of mechanised and airborne infantry.
The infantry was historically the first combat arm in any army. The present regiments of the Indian Army trace their origin to the British East India Company, when Indians were employed to protect their trading stations. From the middle of the eighteenth century, the three presidencies of the company began to maintain armies at Calcutta (Bengal Army), Madras (Madras Army) and Bombay (Bombay Army). The presidency armies had their own Regiments and cadre of European officers. There were European regiments, where both the officers and men were Europeans, as well as 'Native' regiments, which were officered by Europeans, but the other ranks were Indians. The recruitment of Indians was usually done locally, with battalions each drawn from single castes, or and from specific communities or geographical areas. This pattern of recruitment continues to this day in many of the older regiments. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, 55 out of 70 infantry regiments of the Bengal Army were disbanded and more infantry regiment raised from Punjab and those including Gorkhas. Indian troops maintained internal security in the country, fought for the defence of the North-West Frontier and were sent abroad to take part many conflict zones of the British empire. The infantrymen subsequently served in the two world wars with distinction.[1][2][3]
Each regiment consists of more than one infantry battalion. A battalion is commanded by an officer of the rank of Colonel. The battalion is further divided into four rifle companies, one headquarters company and at times a support company. Each company is commanded by an officer of the rank of a Major or a Captain. A company will have three platoons, which in turn will have three sections. In addition, each battalion has a Ghatak platoon, which is a special operations capable reconnaissance platoon. An infantry battalion usually has a strength of 15-20 officers and 650-800 other ranks. The latter includes Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and other ranks (ORs).[4][5][6]
The Indian Army has four types of regiments based on class composition[7][8] -
Based on role, the regiments can be classified as-
The regiments, date of formation, regimental centre, number of battalions (regular, Territorial Army (TA) and Rashtriya Rifles (RR), motto and war cry are as follows.[7]
¶ The Dogra Regiment, Garhwal Rifles, Kumaon Regiment have a scout battalion each, in addition to the above-mentioned battalions. Arunachal Scouts is affiliated to Assam Regiment, Ladakh Scouts to Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and Sikkim Scouts is to 11 Gorkha Rifles.
§ Since the Gorkha Regiments have relatively smaller number of battalions, 1 Gorkha Rifles and 4 Gorkha Rifles provide troops for 15 Rashtriya Rifles battalion, 3 Gorkha Rifles and 9 Gorkha Rifles for 32 Rashtriya Rifles battalion, and 5 Gorkha Rifles and 8 Gorkha Rifles for 33 Rashtriya Rifles battalion. 3 Gorkha Rifles and 9 Gorkha Rifles are affiliated to 137 Composite Eco-Task Force Battalion (Territorial Army).
The Infantry School is the oldest and largest training institution of the Indian Army, training over 7,000 Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers annually.[9][10] The origin of the present school can be traced to The School of Musketry at Changla Gali (now in Pakistan), which was established in the year 1886. Between 1886 and 1948, before it inherited its present name and came to be located at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh,[11] it passed through various names and locations:[12] -
In 1964, the Commando Wing was raised under The Infantry School in Mhow, which along with the Platoon Commanders' Wing was moved to Belgaum (Karnataka) under Junior Leaders' Wing. In 1971, The College of Combat was carved out of The Infantry School. In 1993, Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) was raised under The Infantry School, as a consequence of which the erstwhile Army Shooting Team (AST) was reorganised into AMU. The shooters of AMU are trained in precision shooting and have secured recognition at both national and international levels.[13]
The Infantry School has three training wings namely Weapons and Trial Wing, Young Officers Wing and Junior Leaders Wing (at Belgaum). The Faculty of Studies (FOS) raised in 1992 undertakes conceptual studies. Trials of Infantry weapons, ammunition and equipment are also carried out at The Infantry School. A modern and a well-developed information technology setup at The Infantry School is utilized to provide latest training on IT and cyber awareness. The Infantry Museum and Research Centre has also been established in 2019.
The Infantry School is the alma mater of all infantrymen and is cradle for Infantry tactics and small arms training for the Indian Army. It is the seat of learning and the think tank of the Infantry. It keeps abreast with the tactical and technical development in India and abroad on all matters pertaining to the Infantry war fighting. The following courses are conducted at the Infantry School[14] -
Infantry Day is celebrated on 27 October every year to commemorate the landing of infantry troops at Srinagar airport in 1947. This momentous act turned back the Pakistani invaders from the outskirts of Srinagar and was a turning point in the 1947 War.[15]
The Infantry (India) Journal is the professional journal of the Infantry fraternity. It was first published in 1950.[16]