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{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=123rd Outram's Rifles
| image= Rajputana infantry aclovett.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption=A depiction of a Lance Naik of the 123rd Outram's Rifles (fourth from right) amongst other British Indian Army troops.
|dates=1820–1922
|country=[[British Raj|Indian Empire]]
|branch=Army
|type=Infantry
|size=
|command_structure=[[Bombay Army]] (to 1895)<br>[[Bombay Command]]
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=Red; faced dark green, 1882 emerald green
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Third Anglo-Maratha War]]<br />[[Anglo-Persian War]]<br />[[Second Afghan War]]<br />[[Second Burmese War]]
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}

The '''123rd Outram's Rifles''' was an [[infantry]] [[regiment]] of the [[British Indian Army]].

==History==
It traced its origins to the [[12th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry]], part of the [[British East India Company]]'s [[Bombay Army]]. It fought in the [[Battle of Khadki]] on 5 November 1817 in the [[Third Anglo-Maratha War]] and became the regiment's 1st Battalion in 1820. It was made a separate regiment in 1824, titled the '''23rd Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry'''.

The regiment took part in the [[First Anglo-Afghan War]] in 1839 and was renamed as the '''23rd Regiment of Bombay Native Light Infantry''' in 1841 . Just before the [[Indian Mutiny]] began in 1857, the 23rd took part in the [[Anglo-Persian War]] between 1856-1857. During the Indian Mutiny, the regiment remained loyal, like nearly all of the [[Bombay Army]].

The regiment took part in the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] from 1879 and the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] from 1885 to the end of the war in 1887. It dropped "native" from its title in 1885 and was designated a [[rifle regiment]] in 1889, to become the '''23rd Regiment (2nd Rifle Regiment) of Bombay Infantry'''.

The 1900s also brought change to its title. The regiment became the '''23rd Bombay Rifles''' in 1901, but only two years later it became the '''123rd Outram's Rifles''' in 1903 as part of the Kitchener reforms of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]]. The renaming was in honour of Lieutenant-General [[James Outram (British officer)|Sir James Outram]] who had served with the regiment as its first [[adjutant]]. In the early 1900s the regiment saw service against [[Las Anod#Diiriye Guure|Diiriye Guure]]<ref name="scr">{{cite book |last1=Omar |first1=Mohamed |title=The Scramble in the Horn of Africa |date=2001 |page=402 |quote=This letter is sent by all the Dervishes, the Amir, and all the Dolbahanta to the Ruler of Berbera ... We are a Government, we have a Sultan, an Amir, and Chiefs, and subjects ... (reply) In his last letter the Mullah pretends to speak in the name of the Dervishes, their Amir (himself), and the Dolbahanta tribes. This letter shows his object is to establish himself as the Ruler of the Dolbahanta}}</ref> and his followers in [[British Somaliland]], where it was transferred in late 1902,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence - Reinforcements for Somaliland|date=29 October 1902 |page=3 |issue=36911}}</ref> while a company was sent to [[Aden]] in 1903.

===First World War===
[[File:123rd outrams.jpg|thumb|Sepoys of the 123rd during the campaign in Palestine, 1917]]
The regiment raised further battalions during the course of the [[First World War]], seeing extensive service in the [[Middle East]], with some soldiers attached to other units. Many of the regiment's soldiers also saw service on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] while attached to other units.

After the [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|Palestine campaign]] began in 1917, the regiment joined the [[234th Brigade (United Kingdom)|234th Brigade]], [[75th Division (United Kingdom)|75th Division]]. Outram's Rifles were involved in, among others, the [[Third Battle of Gaza]], begun on 31 October 1917, and the [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Megiddo Offensive]] in September 1918. War came to an end in the Middle East with the signing of an [[Armistice]] with the Ottomans on 30 October 1918.

===Post-War===
After the war ended, the regiment was involved in efforts to quell an [[Arab]] rebellion that broke out in 1920 in the [[Mandatory Iraq|British Mandate of Iraq]] against the British administration. As part of the reforms of the Indian forces, Outram's Rifles were amalgamated in 1922 with five other regiments, including the [[125th Napier's Rifles]], to form the [[6th Rajputana Rifles]]. The 123rd became the '''4th Battalion (Outram's)'''.

The 4th Battalion/6th Rajputana Rifles had the distinction of earning two Victoria Crosses during WWII.<ref>Sharma 1990, p. 106.</ref>

== Famous Soldiers of the battalion ==
*[[Chhelu Ram]]
*[[Subedar]] [[Muhammad Zaman Khan]]

==Battle honours==
*[[Battle of Kirkee|Kirkee]], [[Anglo-Persian War|Persia]], [[Second Anglo-Afghan War|Afghanistan 1879-80]], [[Third Anglo-Burmese War|Burma 1885-87]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indianinfantry/123rdoutram.htm Britishempire.co.uk - 123rd Outram's Rifles]
*{{cite web| url=http://www.regiments.org/regiments/southasia/inf/1903-123.htm |publisher=Regiments.org |title=123rd Outram's Rifles |date=11 October 2005 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070911170824/http://regiments.org/regiments/southasia/inf/1903-123.htm |archivedate=11 September 2007}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Military units and formations established in 1824, British Indian Army infantry regiments, Bombay Presidency, Military units and formations disestablished in 1922, 1824 establishments in the British Empire
|description=
}}

[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1824]]
[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Bombay Presidency]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1922]]
[[Category:1824 establishments in the British Empire]]

123rd Outram's Rifles - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:34, 8 July 2023