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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=24th Punjabis
| image=Badge of 24th Punjabis.jpg
| image_size = 165
|caption=
|dates=1857 - 1922
|country={{flag|British India}}
|branch={{army|British India}}
|type=Infantry
|size=1 Battalion
|command_structure=
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=Colonel-in-Chief
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=Red; faced white
|colors_label=Uniform
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Indian Mutiny]] 1857-58<br>[[Second Afghan War]] 1878-80<br>[[Boxer Rebellion]] 1900<br>[[First World War]] 1914-18<br> [[Third Afghan War]] 1919
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}
The '''24th Punjabis''' were an infantry regiment of the [[British Indian Army]]. It was raised in 1857, as the 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 24th Punjabis in 1861 and became 4th Battalion [[14th Punjab Regiment]] in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the [[Pakistan Army]], where it continues to exist as '''8th Battalion The [[Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)|Punjab Regiment]]'''.<ref name="Rizvi 1984">Rizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). ''Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759-1981''. Lahore: Wajidalis.</ref>

==Early history==
The regiment was raised on 5 June 1857, at Peshawar by Capt G N Kave during the upheaval of the [[Indian Mutiny]], as the 16th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. The regiment participated in the [[Second Afghan War]] of 1878-80 and after taking part in [[Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts|Lord Roberts]]' 'Kabul to Kandahar' march, fought at the [[Battle of Kandahar (1880)|Battle of Kandahar]] on 1 September 1880. In 1897, during a general uprising of Pashtun tribes, the regiment was stationed at [[Malakand District|Malakand]]. In July, the garrison was attacked by hostile tribesmen, who were repulsed after a fierce engagement. Lieutenant [[Edmund Costello]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for conspicuous gallantry during the action. In 1900, the regiment was sent to China to suppress the [[Boxer Rebellion]].<ref name="Rizvi 1984"/>

==24th Punjabis==
Subsequent to the [[Kitchener Reforms|reforms]] brought about in the Indian Army by [[Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener|Lord Kitchener]] in 1903, the regiment's designation was changed to 24th Punjabis.<ref name="Gaylor 1991">{{cite book|last=Gaylor|first=John|title=Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–91|publisher=Stroud: Spellmount|year=1991}}</ref>
During the [[First World War]] the regiment served in [[Egypt]] and then in [[Mesopotamia Campaign|Mesopotamia]], where it fought the Battles of [[Battle of Shaiba|Shaiba]], [[Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)|Ctesiphon]] and the [[Siege of Kut|Siege of Kut al Amara]] in 1915, where it was captured by the Turks. The 24th Punjabis returned to Mesopotamia in April 1917, after reforming, and fought in the [[Battle of Khan Baghdadi]]. They later served in [[Salonika]] and the [[Russian Transcaucasia]].<ref name="Rizvi 1984"/>

==Subsequent history==
In 1921–22, a major reorganization was undertaken in the British Indian Army, leading to the formation of large infantry groups of four to six battalions. Among these was the 14th Punjab Regiment, formed by grouping the 24th Punjabis with the [[19th Punjabis|19th]], [[20th Punjabis|20th]], [[21st Punjabis|21st]] and [[22nd Punjabis]], and the [[40th Pathans]]. The battalion's new designation was 4th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment.<ref name="Gaylor 1991"/> During the [[Second World War]], the battalion fought in the [[Burma Campaign]].<ref>Haig, Brodie. ''Fourteenth Punjab Regiment 1939-1945''. London: Lund Humphries.</ref> In 1947, the 14th Punjab Regiment was allocated to Pakistan Army. In 1956, it was merged with the [[1st Punjab Regiment|1st]], [[15th Punjab Regiment|15th]] and [[16th Punjab Regiment]]s to form one large [[Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)|Punjab Regiment]], and 4/14th Punjab was redesignated as 8 Punjab. In 1948, the battalion fought in the war with India in [[Kashmir]], while during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, it served in [[Lahore]] and Chhamb Sectors. In 1971, it fought in East Pakistan.<ref name="Rizvi 1984"/> [[File:24th Punjabis, AC Lovett, 1910.jpg|thumb|right|24th Punjabis . Watercolour by Major AC Lovett, 1910.|240px]]

==Genealogy==
*1857 16th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
*1861 28th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1861 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1864 24th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1885 24th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
*1901 24th Punjab Infantry
*1903 24th Punjabis
*1922 4th Battalion 14th Punjab Regiment
*1956 8th Battalion The Punjab Regiment

==Prominent general officers ==
*Maj Gen Muhammad Mushtaq (DG Military Intelligence, GOC 11th Division, DG Rangers Sindh, GOC 21st Division)
*Gen Muhammad Shariff(Late),Jiont Chief of Staff Committee
*LtGen Muhammad Akam, VC UET Lahore
*MajGen Muhammad Arshad Ch (late)
*LtGen Syed Ather Ali, Comd 5 Corps, Def Secy
*LtGen Khalid Rabbani, Comd 11 Corps, Chairman AWT
*Maj Gen Khalid Zia, Designate GOC 33 Div
*Maj Gen Mumtaz Hussain, Designate GOC 7 Div

==See also==
*[[14th Punjab Regiment]]
*[[Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)|Punjab Regiment]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Haig, Brodie. ''Fourteenth Punjab Regiment 1939-1945''. London: Lund Humphries, n.d.
*Rizvi, Brig SHA. (1984). ''Veteran Campaigners – A History of the Punjab Regiment 1759-1981''. Lahore: Wajidalis.
*Cardew, Lt FG. (1903). ''A Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army to the Year 1895''. Calcutta: Military Department.
* {{cite book|last=Gaylor|first=John|title=Sons of John Company: The Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903–91|publisher=Spellmount|year=1991|isbn=978-0-946771-98-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Barthorp|first=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}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)]]
[[Category:Indian World War I regiments]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1857]]
[[Category:1857 establishments in India]]

24th Punjabis - Revision history

Delinker at 11:18, 31 July 2023