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{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=25th Punjabis
| image=25 Punjabis badge.jpg
| image_size = 160
|caption=
|dates=1857 - 1922
|country=[[British Raj|British India]]
|branch=Army
|type=Infantry
|size=2 Battalions
|command_structure=
|garrison=
|ceremonial_chief=
|ceremonial_chief_label=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=
|motto=
|colors=Red; faced white
|colors_label=Uniform
|march=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Mutiny]] 1857-58 <br> [[Second Afghan War]] 1878-80 <br> [[Chinese Revolution of 1911]]<br>[[First World War]] 1914-18<br>[[Third Afghan War]] 1919
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
}}
The '''25th Punjabis''' was an [[infantry]] [[regiment]] of the [[British Indian Army]]. It was raised in 1857, as the 17th Regiment of Punjab Infantry. It was designated as the 25th Punjabis in 1903 and became 1st Battalion [[15th Punjab Regiment]] in 1922. In 1947, it was allocated to the [[Pakistan Army]], where it continues to exist as '''9th 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><ref name="Shearer 1937">Shearer, Lt Col JE. (1937). ''A History of the 1st Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment, 1857-1937''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.</ref>

==Early history==
The regiment was raised by Captain R Larkins at Mian Mir, [[Lahore]] on 8 June 1857, during the upheaval of the [[Indian Mutiny]], as the Lahore Punjab Battalion. The recruits were mostly Punjabi Muslims, [[Sikh]]s and [[Dogra]]s from other infantry battalions in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. For the next two years, it remained engaged in suppressing the rebellion in numerous actions in North India. The regiment's next opportunity for active service came in 1878, when it took part in the [[Second Afghan War]], where it fought in the Battles of Ahmad Khel and [[Battle of Kandahar (1880)|Kandahar]]. In 1895, it took part in the [[Chitral Expedition|Relief of Chitral]], while in 1897, it operated with the Tochi Field Force during the great tribal uprising on the [[North-West Frontier (military history)|North West Frontier]] of India.<ref name="Shearer 1937"/>

==25th 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 25th 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>[[File:25th Punjabis (9 Punjab) Band, Miran Shah 1917.jpg|thumb|right|25th Punjabis band at Miran Shah, 1917.|330px]]
In 1911, the 25th Punjabis moved to [[Hong Kong]] to protect British interests following the [[Chinese Revolution of 1911]]. On the outbreak of the [[First World War]], the regiment returned from Hong Kong to India. In December 1917, it moved to [[Mesopotamian Campaign|Mesopotamia]] as part of the [[54th Indian Brigade]], [[18th Indian Division]]. In September 1918, the 25th Punjabis moved to [[Macedonian front (World War I)|Salonika]] in [[Greece]] and then to [[Turkey]] as part of the Allied occupation forces. It returned to India in 1921. The regiment raised a second battalion on 1 November 1917. The 2/25th Punjabis served in the [[Third Afghan War]] of 1919. The battalion was disbanded in 1922.<ref name="Shearer 1937"/>

==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 15th Punjab Regiment, formed by grouping the 25th Punjabis with the [[26th Punjabis|26th]], [[27th Punjabis|27th]], [[28th Punjabis|28th]] and [[29th Punjabis]]. The battalion's new designation was 1st Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment.<ref name="Gaylor 1991"/> During the [[Second World War]], the battalion fought in the [[Burma Campaign]]. In 1947, the 15th Punjab Regiment was allocated to Pakistan Army. In 1956, it was merged with the [[1st Punjab Regiment|1st]], [[14th Punjab Regiment|14th]] and [[16th Punjab Regiment]]s to form one large [[Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)|Punjab Regiment]], and 1/15th Punjab was redesignated as 9 Punjab. During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, it fought in Chhamb-Jaurian Sector, while in 1971, it fought in the Hussainiwala Sector.<ref name="Rizvi 1984"/>

==Genealogy==
[[File:25th Punjabis - Delhi Durbar, 1911.jpg|thumb|right|British and Indian officers of 25th Punjabis at the Delhi Durbar, 1911.|250px]]
*1857 The Lahore Punjab Battalion
*1857 17th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
*1861 29th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1861 25th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1864 25th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
*1885 25th (Punjab) Regiment of Bengal Infantry
*1901 25th Punjab Infantry
*1903 25th Punjabis
*1917 1st Battalion 25th Punjabis
*1922 1st Battalion 15th Punjab Regiment
*1956 9th Battalion The Punjab Regiment

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Shearer, Lt Col JE. (1937). ''A History of the 1st Battalion, 15th Punjab Regiment, 1857-1937''. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.
*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=Stroud: 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=London: Osprey|isbn=0-85045-307-0}}
*{{cite book|last=Sumner|first=Ian|title=The Indian Army 1914-1947|year=2001|publisher=London: Osprey|isbn=1-84176-196-6}}

==See also==
*[[15th Punjab Regiment]]
*[[Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)|Punjab Regiment]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}

[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Honourable East India Company regiments]]
[[Category:Punjab Regiment (Pakistan)]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1857]]
[[Category:1857 establishments in India]]

25th Punjabis - Revision history

Bot at 01:15, 2 October 2022