View source for 77th Moplah Rifles

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox Military Unit
|unit_name=77th Moplah Rifles
|image=
|caption=
|dates=1777-1907
|country=[[British Raj|Indian Empire]]
|branch=Army
|type=Infantry
|size=
|command_structure=[[Madras Army]] (to 1895)<br>[[Madras Command]]
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=Red; faced white <br />1903 Green; faced Scarlet
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Carnatic Wars]]<br>[[Second Anglo-Mysore War]]<br>[[Third Anglo-Mysore War]]<br>[[Third Burmese War]]
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}
The '''77th Moplah Rifles''' were an infantry regiment of the [[British Indian Army]]. They could trace their origins to 1777, when they were raised as the 17th Carnatic Battalion.

==Early history==
The regiment's first action was during the [[Carnatic Wars]] followed by the [[Battle of Sholinghur]] in the [[Second Anglo-Mysore War]]. They also took part in the [[Battle of Nagpore]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indianinfantry/77thmoplahrifles.htm|title = The British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Colonies}}</ref>

==Predecessor names==
*17th Carnatic Battalion - 1777
*16th Madras Battalion - 1784
*2nd Battalion, 5th Madras Native Infantry - 1796
*16th Madras Native Infantry - 1824
*17th Madras Infantry - 1861
*1st Moplah Rifles - 1902
*77th Moplah Rifles - 1903

==As Moplah Rifles==
In 1902 the basis of recruitment for this regiment and one other (the [[78th Moplah Rifles]]) was changed from Madrasis to Moplahs. The latter were Muslim immigrants of Arab origin who had settled along the coastal region of [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]]. In initial encounters the British had found the Moplars to be a warlike race<ref>John Gaylor, page 9 ''Sons of John Company'', {{ISBN|0-946771-98-7}}</ref> and in 1901 it was decided to try and recruit them for the Indian Army.<ref>page 813, Volume 18, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition</ref> The 77th and 78th Moplar Rifles were accordingly raised as battalion-sized units 

A problem from the beginning was that with a population basis totalling only one million the number of Moplah males available for recruitment was limited. In addition few British officers were immediately familiar with the language and culture of the community.<ref>W.Y. Carman, page 226, ''Indian Army Uniforms Under the British - Artillery, Engineers and Infantry'', Morgan-Grampian London 1969</ref> While the 77th MR remained in Madras on garrison duty the 78th were assigned to active service on the North West Frontier in 1905. Used to a moist and humid environment the Moplah sepoys encountered difficulty in acclimatising to the harsh dry climate of the frontier region.

The two regiments of Moplah Rifles were assessed negatively in their final annual reports for both field and garrison service. 
Accordingly both were disbanded between April and July 1907 and their British officers reassigned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indianinfantry/78thmoplahrifles.htm|title = The British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Colonies}}</ref>

==Uniform==
The Arab origin of both Moplar regiments was reflected in the adoption of red fezs - an unusal item of uniform in the Indian Army of the period where turbans of various patterns were the norm. The uniforms of the 77th MR from 1903 to 1907 were of dark green serge with scarlet facings.<ref>W.Y. Carman, page 226, ''Indian Army Uniforms Under the British - Artillery, Engineers and Infantry'', Morgan-Grampian London 1969</ref> The 78th MR revereded this pattern with scarlet jackets faced in grren.

==Memorial at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore==
{{main|St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore}}
After the regiment's disbandment, the military colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles was buried within the west wall of St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore. There is also a memorial for the lives lost in the [[Malabar rebellion|Moplah revolt]].<ref name=IndiaToday>{{cite news|last1=David|first1=Stephen|title=200 years of Bangalore's oldest Christian landmark|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/200+years+of+Bangalore's+oldest+Christian+landmark/1/24820.html|access-date=27 January 2015|publisher=India Today|date=9 January 2009}}</ref>

<gallery class="center" widths="150px" heights="200px">
File:77th Moplah Rifles Colours 01.jpg|The Colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles with the Royal Mace at the [[St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore]]
File:77th Moplah Rifles Colours 02.jpg|The Colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles at the [[St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore]]
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite book|last1=Barthorp|first1=Michael|last2=Burn|first2=Jeffrey|year=1979|title=Indian infantry regiments 1860-1914|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=0-85045-307-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Rinaldi|first=Richard A|year=2008|title=Order of Battle British Army 1914|publisher=Ravi Rikhye|isbn=978-0-9776072-8-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Sharma|first=Gautam|year=1990|title=Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army|publisher=Allied Publishers|isbn=81-7023-140-X}}
*{{cite book|last=Sumner|first=Ian|title=The Indian Army 1914-1947|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-84176-196-6}}
*Moberly, F.J. (1923). ''Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign'', Imperial War Museum. {{ISBN|1-870423-30-5}}

{{Islam in Kerala}}

[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Mappilas]]
[[Category:Military history of the Madras Presidency]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1777]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1907]]


{{BritishIndia-mil-stub}}