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{{Use Indian English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox Military Unit
| unit_name = 1st Brahmans
| dates = 1776-1931
| country = [[British India]]
| branch = Army
| role = Infantry
| size = 1 battalion (2 battalions during World War I)
| nickname = Neelwar ki Paltan
| battles = [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]] 1803-05 [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] 1814-16 [[First Anglo-Burmese War]] 1824-26 Siege of [[Bhurtpore]] 1826 [[First Afghan War]] 1839 [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] 1885-87 [[First World War]] 1914-18
| battle_honours = Laswari
Bharatpur
Burma 1885-1887
}}
The '''1st Brahmans''' was an infantry regiment of the [[British Indian Army]]. The regiment fought in numerous conflict as part of [[Presidency armies]] of the [[East India Company]] as well as the British Indian Army. It was later incorporated into the [[1st Punjab Regiment]] and was ultimately disbanded in 1931.<ref>{{Cite book |last=India |first=Army Headquarters |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RVi-BAAAQBAJ&dq=1st+Brahmans&pg=RA1-PA61 |title=Indian Army List January 1919 — Volume 2 |date=3 February 2012 |publisher=Andrews UK Limited |isbn=978-1-78150-257-0 |language=en}}</ref>

==Designations==
Over the years the regiment was known by a number of different designations:
*1776 Nawab Wazir's Brahaman Regiment
*1777 30th Battalion of Bengal Sepoys
*1781 23rd Regiment of Bengal Sepoys
*1784 29th Regiment of Bengal Sepoys
*1786 29th Bengal Sepoy Battalion
*1796 2nd Battalion 9th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1824 21st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1861 1st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1885 1st Regiment of Bengal Infantry
*1901 1st Brahman Infantry
*1903 1st Brahmans
*1917 2nd Battalion raised<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285012 |title=Indian Army List For July I -1918 |date=July 1918 |pages=469b}}</ref>[[File:Officers 1st Brahmins, 1922.jpg|thumb|right|British and Indian officers of the 1st Brahmans, 1912.|340px]]
*1922 4th Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment

==History==
===East India Company service===
The EIC recruited Brahmins who were designed as a [[martial race]]. The 1st Brahmins was one of the earliest EIC regiments categorised solely on [[racial]] homogeneity.

The Nawab Regiment was previously raised at [[Oudh]] by Captain T Naylor of the EIC in 1776 to bolster the army of Nawab Wazir who was planted by the EIC. The regiment was later differentiated by the company along its ethnic composition when it was incorporated to the East India Company in 1777. In 1922, it was designated as the 4th Battalion [[1st Punjab Regiment]].

While in the service of the East India Company the regiment was awarded [[battle honours]] for service in the [[Second Maratha War]] 1803–05, the [[Anglo-Nepalese War]] 1814–16, the [[Second Anglo-Burmese War]] 1824–26 and the [[Bhurtpore]] Campaign 1826.

===Post First War of Independence 1857 ===
The regiment was the senior-most among the twelve [[Bengal Native Infantry]] regiments that survived the Great [[Indian Rebellion]] of 1857–58. It was accordingly one of the small number of Bengal regular infantry regiments to retain the traditions of East India Company service in the new post-Mutiny army.<ref>Lt. Gen. Sir George Macmunn, page 106 "The Armies of India", {{ISBN|0-947554-02-5}}</ref> Renumbered as the 1st of the Bengal line, it subsequently saw active service in the [[Third Anglo-Burmese War]] of 1885–87. Following the [[Kitchener Reforms|Kitchener reforms]] of the Indian Army, when the names of the presidencies were dropped, the regiment became the 1st Brahman Infantry in 1901.<ref name=ba15>Barthorp p.15</ref>

===World War I===
In 1914, the regimental centre of the 1st Brahmans was located at [[Allahabad]] (now Prayagraj) and it was linked with the [[3rd Brahmans]]. The regiment recruited mostly from the [[Gaur Brahmins|Gaur]], [[Kanyakubja Brahmin|Kanyakubja]] and [[Saryuparin Brahmin]] communities.<ref>{{cite book |first=John |last=Gaylor |page=130 |title=Sons of John Company. The Indian & Pakistan Armies 1903-1991 |year=1992 |publisher=Spellmount |isbn=0-946771-98-7}}</ref> Full dress uniform of the sepoys included a high khaki turban with red fringe, a scarlet kurta (long coat) with white [[facings]], white waist-sash, dark blue trousers and white leggings.<ref name=ba15>Barthorp p.15</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Wendell|last=Schollander|page=339|title=Glory of the Empires 1880-1914|date=9 July 2018 |publisher=History Press Limited |isbn=978-0-7524-8634-5}}</ref>

The regiment spent part of World War I in India before being posted to [[Aden]], then under threat from Ottoman forces. A second battalion raised in 1917 saw service in the Persian Gulf.

===Post-war service and disbandment===
After the war, a major reorganisation was undertaken in the Indian Army and the various single-battalion infantry regiments were grouped together to form larger regiments of four to six battalions each. The 1st Brahmans became the 4th Battalion of the 1st Punjab Regiment in 1922. It was disbanded in 1931 due to retrenchment in the Indian Army.<ref name=ba15/><ref>Qureshi. ''The First Punjabis''.</ref><ref>Sumner, p.15</ref>

== Deployments ==

* -1888 Upper Burma<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Military Department |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278913 |title=The Quarterly Indian Army List For July I 1890 |date=July 1890 |pages=276}}</ref>
* 1888-1891 Nowgong<ref name=":0" />
* 1891-1895 Jabalpur<ref>{{Cite book |last=Military Department |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278920 |title=The Quarterly Indian Army List For Oct I 1891 |date=October 1891 |pages=284}}</ref>
* 1895-1896 Peshawar<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285004 |title=Indian Army List For July I -1895 |date=July 1895 |pages=297}}</ref>
* 1896-1898 Jhansi<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284968 |title=Indian Army List For April I - 1896 |date=April 1896 |pages=338}}</ref>
* May 1898 – 1901 [[British Mauritius|Mauritius]]<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Military Department |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278897 |title=The Quarterly Indian Army List For April I 1899 |date=April 1899 |pages=338}}</ref>
* 1901-1905 Allahabad<ref>{{Cite book |last=Military Department |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278898 |title=The Quarterly Indian Army List For April I 1901 |date=April 1901 |pages=339}}</ref>
* 1905-1910 Jabalpur
* 1910-1914 Bolarum<ref>{{Cite book |last=Military Department |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278915 |title=The Quarterly Indian Army List For July I 1910 |date=July 1910 |pages=311}}</ref>
* 1920-1921 Aden<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Army Headquarter India |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278912 |title=The Quarterly Indian Army List For January I -1920 |date=January 1920 |pages=1016–1019}}</ref>
* 1921-1922 Fatehgarh<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284991 |title=Indian Army List For July -1921 |date=July 1921 |pages=1016–1019}}</ref>
* 1922-1923 Delhi<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Army Department |first=Government of India |url=http://archive.org/details/indian-army-list-1922-april |title=The Indian Army List 1922 April |date=April 1922 |publication-date=April 1922 |pages=1050}}</ref>
* 1923-1926 Waziristan<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285030 |title=Indian Army List For Oct - 1924 |date=October 1924 |pages=1050}}</ref>
* 1926-1927 Jhansi
* 1927-1928 Overseas<ref>{{Cite book |last=Government Of India |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278902 |title=Indian Army List For April -1927 |date=April 1927 |pages=552}}</ref>
* 1928- Jhansi
* 1929-1930 Fort Sandeman (Zhob)<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284996 |title=Indian Army List For July -1930 |date=July 1930 |pages=552}}</ref>
* 1930-1931 Loralai<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284974 |title=Indian Army List For Jan -1931 |date=January 1931 |pages=552}}</ref>

=== 2nd Battalion ===

* 1920-1921 Overseas<ref name=":4" />

== Uniform ==

* 1890-1894 Uniform Red, Facings White.<ref name=":0" />
* 1894-1925 Uniform Scarlet, Facings White, Lace Gold, Turban Khaki with Red fall.<ref name=":2" />
* 1925-1931 Uniform Scarlet, Facings Grass Green.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285027 |title=Indian Army List For Oct -1925 |date=October 1925 |pages=803}}</ref>

== Regimental Centre ==

* 1890-1922 Allahabad<ref name=":0" />
* 1922-1931 Jhelum<ref name=":6" />

== Class composition ==

* 1895-1916 8 companies Brahmins.<ref name=":1" />
* 1917-1921 4 companies Brahmins.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285011 |title=Indian Army List For July I -1917 |date=July 1917 |pages=469}}</ref>
* 1921-1922 2 companies Brahmins from United Provinces, 1 company Jats from United Provinces, 1 company Hindustani Muslims<ref name=":5" />
* 1922-1923 2 companies Brahmins from United Provinces, 1 company Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284971 |title=Indian Army List For Jan -1922 |date=January 1922 |pages=1016}}</ref>
* 1923 1 company Brahmins from United Provinces, 2 companies Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims
* 1923-1925 Brahmins from United Provinces, Garhwali Brahmins, Punjabi Muslims<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285029 |title=Indian Army List For Oct - 1923 |date=October 1923 |pages=1050}}</ref>
* 1925-1928 1 company Brahmins from United Provinces, 2 companies Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims<ref>{{Cite book |last=Authority Of The Council |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.284992 |title=Indian Army List For July -1925 |date=July 1925 |pages=803}}</ref>
* 1928-1929 3 companies Garhwali Brahmins, 1 company Punjabi Muslims<ref>{{Cite book |last=Government Of India |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278903 |title=Indian Army List For April -1928 |date=April 1928 |pages=548–49}}</ref>
* 1929-1931 Garhwali Brahmins, Punjabi Muslims<ref name=":7" />

=== 2nd Battalion ===

* 1917-1921 1 company Kanaujia Brahmins, 1 company Gaur Brahmins, 1 company Sarwariya Brahmins, 1 company Sanadhya Brahmins.<ref name=":3" />

==See also==
*[[1st Punjab Regiment]]
*[[Bengal Native Infantry]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{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=Sumner|first=Ian|title=The Indian Army 1914–1947|year=2001|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=1-84176-196-6}}
*Qureshi, Maj MI. (1958). ''The First Punjabis: History of the First Punjab Regiment, 1759-1956''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.

[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1776]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1922]]

1st Brahmans - Revision history

2405:201:18:6108:30E7:5289:1092:C96A at 08:54, 22 October 2025