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[[File:14th_Murrays_Jat_Lancers_(Risaldar_Major)_by_AC_Lovett_(1862-1919).jpg|right|300px|thumb|Risaldar Major Ramji Lal of 14th Murray's Jat Lancers '', c. 1909, by AC Lovett (1862-1919)'']]
The '''14th Murray's Jat Lancers''', also sometimes known as the '''Murray's Jat Horse''', was a [[cavalry]] regiment of the [[British Indian Army]].

The regiment was first raised at [[Aligarh]] as an irregular cavalry unit in 1857 as the Jat Horse Yeomanry, for the [[East India Company]] by Captain [[John Irvine Murray]] (later Sir John Murray)<ref name="times">{{cite news |title= Obituary – Sir John Irvine Murray|work=[[The Times]] |date=22 May 1902 |page=4 }}</ref> then serving with the [[Gwalior Contingent]]. It was raised from 250 [[sepoy]]s and 120 ''sowars'' (cavalrymen) recruited from the [[Jat]]s of the rural areas of [[Hathras]], [[Mathura]], [[Bulandshahr]], [[Aligarh]], and [[Khurja]] in UP, and [[Palwal]] and [[Hodal]] in Haryana, who were offered by Thakur Gobind Singh, a Jat chieftain of [[Khair]] in Aligarh, to combat the 1857 uprising, and thus became the first regiment to be manned completely with [[Jat]] troops in the British Indian Army. Until 1861, it was paid for by private funds of the British officers and Indian Risaldars. Later the Regimental Centre and Officers' Mess was established at [[Palwal]]. It participated in a number of actions in 1857–58, especially at [[Meerut]], [[Delhi]] and [[Lucknow]], but did not qualify for any battle honour. Subedar Pratap Singh was the first Subedar of the HQ Squadron of the regiment in 1857–61. Murray's Lancers subsequently served in the [[Bhutan Field Force]].<ref name="Nath2009">{{cite book|last=Nath|first=Ashok|title=Izzat: historical records and iconography of Indian cavalry regiments, 1750-2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGQeQwAACAAJ|year=2009|publisher=Centre for Armed Forces Historical Research, United Service Institution of India|isbn=978-81-902097-7-9|chapter=14th Murray's Jat Lancers|pages=106–107}}</ref>

The regiment formed part of the cavalry brigade of the [[Kabul Field Force]] during the 1878–79 Afghanistan War. The regiment participated in a difficult cavalry charge over extremely difficult ground and routed the Afghan line at Charasiah, 15 km from Kabul, on 6 October 1879 for which the regiment was awarded the [[battle honour]] "Charasiah" and the theatre honour "Afghanistan 1878–79".<ref name="Sandhu1981">{{cite book|last=Sandhu|first=Gurcharn Singh|title=The Indian Cavalry: History of the Indian Armoured Corps|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qTeAAAAMAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Vision Books|isbn=978-81-7094-013-5}}</ref><ref name='Sarbans'>{{cite book |title=Battle Honours of the Indian Army 1757 - 1971 |last=Singh |first=Sarbans |year=1993 |publisher=Vision Books |location=New Delhi |isbn=8170941156 |pages=138, 139}}</ref>

The regiment was mentioned in despatches by General Sir [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Frederick Roberts]], [[Victoria Cross|VC]] who wrote:<ref name="Sandhu1981"/>
{{quote|I always remember the good work done by the regiment (14th Jat Lancers) when we were hard pressed by the Afghans in the Chardeh valley on the 11th December 1879. The retirement by squadrons was carried out as if on parade.}}
The regiment was merged in 1922 with the [[15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis)]] to form the [[20th Lancers (British Indian Army)|20th Lancers]] which was transferred to India after [[Partition of India|partition]] in 1947.<ref name="Nath2009A">Nath (2009), pp 581-583.</ref>

==Designations==
Like all regiments of the Indian Army the 14th Murray’s Jat Lancers underwent many name changes in the various reorganisations:<ref name="Nath2009"/>
*1857 The Jat Horse [[Yeomanry]]
*1859 Murray’s Jat Horse
*1861 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
*1864 14th Bengal Cavalry (Lancers)
*1874 14th Bengal Lancers
*1901 14th Bengal Lancers (Murray’s Jat Horse)
*1903 14th Murray’s Jat Lancers
*1921 Amalgamated with 15th Lancers (Cureton's Multanis) to form 14th/15th Cavalry.
*1922 [[20th Lancers (British Indian Army)|20th Lancers]]

==Battle honours==
The regiment has the following battle honours :<ref name="Nath2009"/>
* Charasiah.
* Kabul 1879.
* Afghanistan 1878–80.
* Northwest Frontier India 1915.
* Kut-al-Amara 1917.
* Sharqat.
* Mesopotamia 1916–18.

==In popular culture==
The 14th Murray's Jat Lancers appear as ''(Jat Lancer)'' in the [[computer game]] [[Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ageofempires3.com/asiandynasties/consulates.html |title=Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, Consulates and mercenaries |access-date=2008-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914132430/http://www.ageofempires3.com/asiandynasties/consulates.html |archive-date=2008-09-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Sikh Regiment]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Chris. Kempton: ''A Register of Titles of the Units of the H.E.I.C. & Indian Armies 1666-1947''
*John Gaylor: ''Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903- 1991.''
*Woodward & Van Slyke: ''The Times History of the War: The Battlefield of Europe.''

{{British Indian Army Cavalry Regiments 1903 - 1946}}

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[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1857]]
[[Category:British Indian Army cavalry regiments]]
[[Category:Honourable East India Company regiments]]
[[Category:Jat]]
[[Category:1857 establishments in India]]

14th Murray's Jat Lancers - Revision history

CleanupBot at 04:24, 8 July 2023