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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=125th Napier's Rifles
|image=125th Napiers Rifles, by Lovett.jpg
|caption=Four men of the 125th Napier's Rifles, by A. C. Lovett (1911)
|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 pale yellow, 1882 yellow<br />1890Green; faced red, 1898 scarlet
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=Meanee, Hyderabad, Central India, ABYSSINIA,BURMA 1885-87
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}

The '''125th Napier's Rifles''' was an [[infantry regiment]] of the [[British Indian Army]]. At various points in history it was also known as the '''1st Extra Battalion Bombay Native Infantry''', the '''25th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry''' (1826–1889) and the '''25th Bombay Rifles'''. Amalgamated with five other regiments in 1922, it is now the 5th Battalion, [[Rajputana Rifles]]. The Battalion celebrated its bicentenary on 17 Feb 2020.

==History==
===Origins===
The regiment traced its origins to the 1st Extra Battalion of Bombay Native Infantry, raised in 1820 out of the Poona Auxiliary Force as part of the [[Honourable East India Company]]'s [[Bombay Army]]. In 1826, this battalion was elevated into a separate regiment called 'The 25th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry'.<ref name=sharma>Sharma, Gautam, ''Valour and Sacrifice: Famous Regiments of the indian Army'' (Allied Publishers, 1990, {{ISBN|978-81-7023-140-0}}) [https://books.google.com/books?id=xLrTzZd0j1kC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=%22The+5th+(Napier's)%22&source=web&ots=bLaCC5ZUWm&sig=BTIKbGaeQjWXeD8lZmeCq-XQfmA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result page 99] at books.google.co.uk, accessed 4 August 2008</ref><ref name=empire/>

After serving in [[First Anglo-Afghan War|Afghanistan]] and in the [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier Province]], the regiment joined the [[Sindh]] Expedition, coming under the command of [[Charles James Napier|General Sir Charles James Napier]], who conquered Sindh in 1843 and sent back to the [[Governor General of India|Governor General]] the one-word message ''"Peccavi"'' – [[Latin]] for ''"I have sinned"''. At the [[Battle of Meeanee]], a bond was cemented between Napier and the regiment, which sixty years later was given his name.<ref name=sharma/><ref>[http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/napier.html General Charles Napier and the Conquest of Sind] at victorianweb.org</ref><ref>[[Priscilla Napier|Napier, Priscilla]], ''I Have Sind: Charles Napier in India, 1841-1844'' (Michael Russell Publishing, 1990)</ref> Napier later wrote: "The 25th played a distinguished part in the engagement. Had the 22nd (The Queen's Regiment) and the 25th given way, all would have been lost."<ref name=sharma/>

During the [[Indian Mutiny]], the regiment was in [[Chanderi]] and at [[Gwalior]]. There, on 20 June 1858, two of its officers, Lieutenants Rose and [[W. F. F. Waller]], organized a surprise attack by night on the Gwalior Fort, their party succeeding in breaking open a number of gates and, after hand-to-hand fighting, taking the fort. Rose was killed, but for his part in the action Waller was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]].<ref name=sharma/>

In a despatch dated 5 September 1858, the regiment's commanding officer Lt Col. G. H. Robertson reported from a camp near [[Bijapur, Karnataka|Beejapoor]] that he had led a column of the 25th with men of other units out of Powree on 27 August in pursuit of [[Maun Singh]], on the 29th engaged a party of Singh's infantry, and early on 5 September arrived near Beejapoor where he caught up with Singh, attacked him at 5.15 and had routed him by 7 a.m., destroying "at least 450 mutineers". Robertson reported only four of his men killed, and twenty men and fifteen horses wounded. He recommended Havildars Ram Lal (10th Bengal Light Infantry) and Dowlut Sing of the 25th "to the consideration of the Brigadier-General commanding" as they had "acted as spies and risked their lives in procuring information in a country where Maun Sing's influence is paramount". On the advice of [[Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala|Brigadier-General Sir Robert Napier]], commanding the Gwalior Division, the Commander in Chief recommended that the two Havildars should receive the [[Indian Order of Merit|Order of Merit]], 3rd class, "for their exertions in procuring intelligence of the movements of the enemy".<ref>Supplement to the ''[[London Gazette]]'', issue 22224 (31 January 1859) [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=22224&geotype=London&gpn=360&type=ArchivedIssuePage&exact= page 360],[http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=22224&geotype=London&gpn=361&type=ArchivedIssuePage&exact= page 361] and [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=22224&geotype=London&gpn=362&type=ArchivedIssuePage&exact= page 362], accessed 4 August 2008</ref>

Captain W. Rice of the 25th Bombay Native Infantry, commanding the Goonah Column, wrote from camp at [[Arone]] to Sir Robert Napier on 23 December 1858 to report the success of his men, after a moonlight march through dense jungle, in breaking up the camp near Sypoor of rebels led by Feroz Shah, capturing "100 horses, several camels, and many arms", causing the enemy to "flee with the utmost despatch, and seek shelter among the dense foliage, on all sides around their position". Napier wrote to the Chief of the Staff on Christmas Day of this action "Although they did not lose many men killed, the capture of their horses and property must tend greatly to cripple and break up the party. I hear that two of the elephants were left in the Arone jungles, and may be recovered; there are, therefore, only two remaining with the enemy.<ref>Supplement to the ''[[London Gazette]]'', issue 22251 (18 April 1859) [http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/ViewPDF.aspx?pdf=22251&geotype=London&gpn=1569&type=ArchivedIssuePage&all=&exact=&atleast=&similar= page 1569], accessed 4 August 2008</ref>

In 1861 the unit was constituted as a [[light infantry|Light Infantry]] regiment, and in 1889 it was renamed 'The 25th Regiment (3rd Battalion Rifle Regiment) of Bombay Infantry', then in 1901 'The 25th Bombay Rifles'.<ref name=empire>[http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/armyunits/indianinfantry/125thnapiers.htm 125th Napier's Rifles] at britishempire.co.uk, accessed 3 August 2008</ref><ref>Sharma, Gautam, ''op. cit.'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=xLrTzZd0j1kC&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=%22125th+Napier's%22&source=web&ots=bLaCC5XXSk&sig=VW16n9EBqLm6Apjoa4wgitDM76Y&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result page 100] at books.google.co.uk, accessed 4 August 2008</ref>

After the Mutiny, the regiment went on to serve in [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]], [[Poona]], [[Aurangabad, Maharashtra|Aurangabad]], [[Mhow]], [[Indore]] and [[Dhar]], remaining part of the army of the [[Bombay Presidency]] until a reorganization of the Indian Army by [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] in 1903 (the [[Kitchener Reforms]]) gave it the new name; '125th Napier's Rifles'.<ref name=sharma/><ref name=empire/>

===First World War===
During the [[First World War]], the regiment fought in both the [[European theatre of World War I|European]] and [[Middle Eastern theatre of World War I|Middle Eastern]] theatres of the war, from [[Western Front (World War I)|France]] to [[Mesopotamian campaign|Mesopotamia]], and participated as part of the [[Egyptian Expeditionary Force]] in [[Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby|General Allenby]]'s march to take [[Jerusalem]], getting the better of [[German Army (German Empire)|German]] and [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] opponents.

At the outbreak of the war, the regiment was an unbrigaded unit of the [[5th (Mhow) Division]] of the Indian Army.<ref>[http://orbat.com/site/history/historical/india/army1914.html Army 1914] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090909172657/http://orbat.com/site/history/historical/india/army1914.html |date=9 September 2009 }} at orbat.com, accessed 3 August 2008</ref> However, in 1914 it joined the Army's [[3rd (Lahore) Division]] as part of its [[9th (Sirhind) Brigade]], landing at [[Marseilles]] on 26 September 1914 and taking part in Winter Operations (1914–1915), the [[Battle of Neuve Chapelle]] (10–13 March 1915), the [[Battle of Aubers]], the [[Battle of Festubert]] (15–25 May 1915), and the [[Battle of Loos]] subsidiary attack at the Moulin-du-Piètre on 25 September 1915. The 125th left the 3rd Division in 1915 to join the [[7th (Meerut) Division]].<ref>[http://www.1914-1918.net/Lahore_div.htm Lahore Division] at 1914–1918.net, accessed 3 August 2008</ref><ref>[http://www.1914-1918.net/BATTLES/bat13_loos/bat.htm Battle of Loos] at 1914–1918.net</ref><ref>[http://freespace.virgin.net/howard.anderson/loospreparations.htm Preparations for the Battle of Loos] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120710094053/http://freespace.virgin.net/howard.anderson/loospreparations.htm |date=10 July 2012 }} at virgin.net, accessed 3 August 2008</ref> As part of the 7th Division's [[21st (Bareilly) Brigade]], the regiment sailed from Marseilles<ref>[http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=7&CATID=-990650&FullDetails=True&Gsm=2008-02-12&j=1 Admiralty, Transport Department: Correspondence and Papers (1915) ref. MT 23/376] at nationalarchives.gov.uk, accessed 4 August 2008:"Ships utilised for Conveyance of Indian Troops. 69th and 89th Punjabis from Egypt to Marseilles, the 9th Bhopal Infantry and 125th Napier's Rifles from Marseilles."</ref> to go to Mesopotamia, landing at [[Basra]] on 31 December 1915 and taking part in the attempt to relieve the besieged garrison of [[Siege of Kut|Kut al Amara]]. It proceeded under Allenby to Palestine, and arrived at [[Suez]] on 13 January 1918.<ref>[http://www.1914-1918.net/Meerut_div.htm Meerut Division] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724025904/http://www.1914-1918.net/Meerut_div.htm |date=24 July 2008 }} at 1914-1918.net, accessed 3 August 2008</ref>

The unit suffered some problems and criticism during the First World War. A [[Rajput]] officer of the Indian Army, Amar Singh, who kept a diary in English from 1905 to 1921, paid particular attention to the regiment's wartime role. This diary was published in 2005 as ''Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905–21''.<ref>Ellinwood, DeWitt C., Jr., ''Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905–21; Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of Jaipur'' (University Press of America, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7618-3113-4}}), pages 152, 184, and Chapter 9</ref>

===Later===
In a further reorganization of the Indian Army in 1921–1922, the regiment was amalgamated with the [[104th Wellesley's Rifles]], [[120th Rajputana Infantry]], [[122nd Rajputana Infantry]] and [[123rd Outram's Rifles]] to become one of the six battalions of the new [[6th Rajputana Rifles]].<ref>[http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/Regiments/Rajputana.html The Rajputana Rifles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014122818/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/Regiments/Rajputana.html |date=14 October 2008 }} at bharat-rakshak.com, accessed 4 August 2008</ref> The 125th was renamed 'The 5th Battalion (Napier's)'.

In 1945, the regiments of the British Indian Army lost the numerals in their titles, and the Rajputanas arrived at their present name of [[Rajputana Rifles]]. In 1947, when the [[Empire of India]] gained independence from the [[British Empire]] and was [[Partition of India|partitioned]] into the [[Dominion of India]] and the [[Dominion of Pakistan]], the regiment was allocated to India and is now the most senior rifle regiment of the [[Indian Army]].

===Names===
* 1820–1826: 1st Extra Battalion of Bombay Native Infantry
* 1826–1889: 25th Regiment of Bombay Native (Light) Infantry, ''or'' 25th Bombay Native Infantry
* 1889–1901: 25th Regiment (3rd Battalion Rifle Regiment) of Bombay Infantry
* 1901–1903: 25th Bombay Rifles
* 1903–1922: 125th Napier's Rifles

;Successor unit
* 1922–1945: 5th (Napier's) Battalion, 6th Rajputana Rifles
* 1945–: 5th Battalion (Napier’s), [[The Rajputana Rifles]]

==Notable Soldiers==
* [[Colonel]] [[William Francis Frederick Waller]] [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (1840–1885)
* [[Major-General]] [[Thomas Wynford Rees]] [[Order of the Bath|CB]] [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] [[Military Cross|MC]] [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]] (1899–1959)
*General Sir [[Robert Phayre (British Army officer)|Robert Phayre]] [[Order of the Bath|GCB]] (1820-1897)
* Lieutenant General A.M. Sethna, PVSM, Padma Vibhushan
* Lt Gen Iqbal Singh Singha, AVSM, VSM

==Battle Honours==
*[[First Anglo-Afghan War]]<ref name=sharma/>
*[[Battle of Miani|Battle of Meeanee]], [[Sindh]], 1843<ref name=sharma/>
*[[Gwalior]], 1858<ref name=sharma/>
*[[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]], 1868<ref name=empire/>
*[[Burma]], 1885 to 1887<ref name=empire/>
*[[France]], 1914 and 1915
*[[Mesopotamian campaign]], 1915 and 1916
*[[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], 1917, including [[Jerusalem]]

==Bibliography==
* Cardew, F. G., ''Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army: To the Year 1895'' (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1903, reprinted by Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2005, {{ISBN|1-84574-186-2}})
* Macmunn, Lt General Sir George, ''The Armies of India'', with 72 plates in colour by Major A. C. Lovett (London: A. & C. Black, 1911, reprinted by Crecy Books, 1984, {{ISBN|0-947554-02-5}})
* Barat, Dr Amiya, ''The Bengal Native Infantry: Its Organization & Discipline, 1796-1852'' (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1962)
* Mollo, Boris, ''The Indian Army'' (Blandford Publ., 1981, {{ISBN|978-0-7137-1074-8}})
* [[Priscilla Napier|Napier, Priscilla]], ''I Have Sind: Charles Napier in India, 1841-1844'' (Michael Russell Publishing, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-85955-163-2}})
* Ellinwood, DeWitt C., Jr., ''Between Two Worlds: A Rajput Officer in the Indian Army, 1905–21; Based on the Diary of Amar Singh of Jaipur'' (University Press of America, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7618-3113-4}})
*Rawlinson H.G. , ''Napier's Rifles, The history of the 5th Battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles'' ( Humphrey Milford London University Press 1929 )

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

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[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1826]]
[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Bombay Presidency]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1922]]
[[Category:1826 establishments in British India]]

125th Napier's Rifles - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:34, 8 July 2023