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{{Short description|Military unit, 1917 to 1920}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = The 49th Bengalee Regiment
| native_name = {{lang|bn|৪৯তম বেঙ্গলি রেজিমেন্ট}}
| image = 49th Bengal Infantry.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = [[Cap badge]] of The 49th Bengalee Regiment
| start_date = 26 June 1917
| end_date =
| disbanded = 30 August 1920
| country = {{flag|British India}}
| allegiance = {{flag|British Empire}}
| branch = [[File:Purported flag of the Royal Indian Army.svg|20px]] [[British Indian Army]]
| type = [[Infantry]]
| role = 
| size = 2 companies; each consisting of 228 soldiers
| command_structure =
| garrison = [[Fort William, India]]
| garrison_label =
| nickname = {{hlist|Bengali Double Company|The 49th Bengalee|49th Bengal Infantry|Bengali Platoon|Bangali Paltan}}
| patron =
| motto =
| colors = 
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| march =
| mascot =
| anniversaries = 26 June
| equipment = [[Lee–Enfield]]
| equipment_label =
| battles = {{tree list}}
* [[World War I]]
** [[Mesopotamian campaign]]
** [[Kurdish rebellions during World War I|Kurdish rebellions]]
{{tree list/end}}
| battles_label =
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| flying_hours =
| website =

| current_commander =
| commander1 = [[Lieutenant|Lt.]] S. G. Taylor
| commander1_label = [[Commanding officer|Regiment Commander]]
| commander2 =
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}}
[[File:Monument of bengali regiment.jpg|thumb|Monumental Plaque of The 49th Bengalee Regiment, [[College Street (Kolkata)|College Street, Kolkata]]]]
'''The 49th Bengalee Regiment''' ({{langx|bn|৪৯তম বেঙ্গলি রেজিমেন্ট}}), also known as '''The 49th Bengalee''', '''49th Bengal Infantry''', '''Bengali Double Company''', '''Bengali Platoon''' and '''Bangali Paltan''' ({{lang|bn|বাঙালি পল্টন}}), was a [[military unit]] of the [[British Indian Army]] raised during [[World War I]] with [[Lieutenant|Lt.]] S. G. Taylor as the [[Commanding officer|Regiment Commander]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Nath |first=Ashok |title=The British Indian Army: Virtue and Necessity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ipJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA65 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2014|isbn=9781443853965|location=|pages=65–76}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bangali_Paltan|title=Bangali Paltan - Banglapedia|website=en.banglapedia.org|language=en|access-date=2018-06-22}}</ref> In the beginning of the First World War, the army began to recruit many [[soldier]]s, [[non-combatant]]s, and skilled and unskilled laborers from [[Bengal]]. In middle 1916, the [[British government]] decided to create a regiment of [[Bengalis|Bengali]] soldiers. At first, it was called ''Bengali Double Company.''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1090712/jsp/calcutta/story_11220903.jsp|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411223825/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090712/jsp/calcutta/story_11220903.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 April 2013|title=The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) {{!}} Metro {{!}} Tears for subaltern|website=www.telegraphindia.com|access-date=2018-06-22}}</ref> These double companies, each consisting of 228 soldiers, were integrated into the British Indian Army. The Bengali Double Company raised the first Bengali battalion on 26 June 1917. It was named ''The 49th Bengalee Regiment'' or briefly ''The 49th Bengalee''. It was disbanded in 1920.<ref name=":1" />

They fought in [[Mesopotamian campaign]], and were stationed in [[Baghdad]]. After the end of World War I, they were used to crush a [[Kurdish rebellions during World War I|Kurdish rebellion]] in the [[Middle East]]. 63 soldiers in the unit died. Most of the recruits came from middle-class Bengali families. Notable soldiers in the unit included [[Khwaja Habibullah]], [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]], [[Ranadaprasad Saha]], [[Mahbubul Alam (author)|Mahbubul Alam]], [[Mohit Kumar Munshi]] and [[Narendra Nath Dutta]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Huq|first1=Muhammad Lutful|title=Bangali Paltan|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Bangali_Paltan|website=Banglapedia|access-date=8 December 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Nazrul Islam: Forerunner of Muslim Renaissance in Bengal |magazine=Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan |volume=20 |date=26 May 1968 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXscAQAAMAAJ&q=Bangali+Paltan |quote=He [Kazi Nazrul Islam] joined ... the Bangali Paltan that was raised during the First World War.}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Mostakim |first=Golam |title=Kazi Nazrul Islam: His Life and Works (1899-1976) |magazine=Bangladesh Quarterly |volume=29 |issue=2 |date=October–December 2008 |publisher=Department of Films & Publications, Government of Bangladesh |page=66 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=স>{{cite book|title=সংসদ বাঙালী চরিতাভিধান|language=bn|page=244|publisher=Sahitya Sansad|year=1976}}</ref><ref name=b>{{Cite Banglapedia|article=Datta, Narendra Nath|author=Golam Kibria Bhuiyan}}</ref>

==Formation==
Governor of Bengal '''''Lord Carmichael''''' announced to form Bengali Army companies at the concluding session of the Legislative Council in [[Dhaka]] On 7 August 1916.<ref name=":1" /> That time the leaders of [[Bengal]] also decided to form a Bengali [[Regiment]] Committee to extend cooperation to the government in recruiting companies. 90% of Soldiers of Bengal regiment were [[Bengali Brahmans]] of [[Varendra]] clan and region too, And then the central office was established in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] (now [[Kolkata]]) and many branch offices were formed at all districts and at some major subdivisions. The committee ran campaigns through public meetings, newspaper publicity, and other means to enthuse people to join the Bengali Double Companies where important leaders, [[zamindar]]s, and social leaders also attended these meetings. The government very earnestly solicited their cooperation. The programme to recruit Bengalis for the Double Companies began on 30 August 1916 at the Fort Williams Cantonment in Calcutta. The first ten soldiers of the Bengali Double Company left Calcutta on September 12 for [[Naushera, Punjab|Naushera]] for training. Subsequently, more groups of recruits left for [[Naushera, Punjab|Naushera]]. There the 46th Punjab Regiment was in charge of their training. The first regiment of 228 soldiers of the Bengali Double Company arrived in [[Karachi]] in January 1914 after four months of training at [[Naushera, Punjab|Naushera.]]{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

This Bengali Battalion was not like an ordinary army unit. Basically, young men from educated middle-class families had joined as soldiers. Many of them were in jobs with good salaries before joining the army. Some had [[graduation]], masters or law degrees. Some young sons of [[nawab]]s and [[zamindar]]s and of rich families also joined the Bengali [[Battalion]]. Although Indian soldiers were not allowed to rise as commissioned officers, but £115 million was paid from the Indian exchequer.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

==In the war==
[[File:Monument of the 49th Bengalee Regiment (Bangali Platoon) in Kolkata.jpg|thumb|Monument in [[College Street (Kolkata)|College Square]]]]
The first battalion of the Bengali Regiment divided into three groups left [[Karachi]] in July 1917 to take part in the [[Mesopotamia]]n war and by mid-September reached [[Baghdad]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}} But in [[Baghdad]] a good number of soldiers became sick and some of them died. So that the 49th Bengalis were transferred from [[Baghdad]] to the city of [[‘Aziziya|Azizia]] and by mid-March to [[Kut|Al Kut]]. Still, there was no significant improvement in their health in [[Kut|Al Kut]]. Then, towards the end of October, they were sent to [[Tanuma]] near [[Basra]]. While at [[Kut|Al Kut]], Tanuma and [[‘Aziziya|Azizia]], the Bengalis performed mainly security duties alongside receiving military training.

By November 1918 armistice was declared. At Tanuma the Bengalis performed the post-war rehabilitation duties. Some of the soldiers were engaged in [[Baghdad]] and elsewhere. After the [[Mesopotamia]]n war, there was a revolt in [[Kurdistan]] in April 1919. As many as 235 Bengalis were engaged in suppressing this rebellion. After coming back to Kolkata in August 1920, the Bengali Battalion got disbanded on 30 August 1920.<ref name=":1" />

After the first battalion of the 49th Bengali Regiment left for [[Baghdad]] in July 1917, its remaining soldiers stayed in [[Karachi]] and continued to receive military training. This group of the Bengalis was called Karachi Depot. A group of the Bengali Battalion that stayed in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]] was called Calcutta Depot where the new recruits stayed. The soldiers of the Karachi Depot also used to stay here while in transit from leave or on some duty. As a large number of soldiers from East Bengal were recruited in September 1918, a Depot was also opened in [[Dhaka]] called Dhaka Depot.<ref name=":0" />

===War diaries===
There are two war diaries for the 49th Bengalee regiment that have been digitalized by [[National Archives of India]].

● No 1:<br/>◆ Date: 1 July 1917 to 30 April 1918<br/>◆ Trigris Defences and Communication, Aziziyeh<br/>◆ References: WO95/5020/5<br/>◆ Notes:

==Monument in the memory of Bengalee Regiment==
{{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=300
| image1 = Monument of Bengali Regiment 4.jpg
| image2 = Monument of Bengali Regiment 3.jpg
| footer = Name of Soldiers inscribed in the three side of the monument at College square in [[Kolkata]]
}}
Sixty-three soldiers of the Bengali Battalion died of sickness and other causes. To honor their memory a commemorative statue was erected at Calcutta [[College Street (Kolkata)|College Square]] in August 1924.<ref>{{Cite web |last=OT Staff |title=5 Lesser-Known Monuments In Kolkata |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/outlooktraveller/explore/story/72481/5-lesser-known-monuments-in-kolkata-you-should-add-to-your-checklist |access-date=16 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bengalis who fought in World War I and the first 'only Bengali' British regiment |url=https://www.getbengal.com/details/bengalis-who-fought-in-world-War-I-and-the-first-only-bengali-british-regiment |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Get Bengal |language=en}}</ref> In one side of the monument, inscribed in the words:

{{Cquote
| quote =
In Memory of Members of The 49th Bengalee Regiment Who Died in the Great War 1914-1919. To the Glory of God, King, & Country.
}}

The other three sides of the memorial base contain the names of the 49 Bengalis killed in the Great War of 1914–1918. It also contains the following information of Reg. No., Rank, Date of Death, District from which come. The districts are [[Midnapore]], [[Mymensingh]], [[Murshidabad]], [[Nadia district|Nadia]], [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], [[Jessore District|Jessore]], [[Bardhaman|Burdwan]], [[Pabna]], [[Chittagong]], [[Khulna]], [[Barisal Division|Barisal]], [[Faridpur District|Faridpore]], [[Pabna]], 24-[[24 Parganas|Parganas]] and [[Tripura]] (Tipperah). Some Bengali soldiers and officers received awards and recognition for their meritorious services in [[Mesopotamia]]. These recognitions were published in the official gazette. In July 1919 a victory march (rally) and peace celebration were held in [[London]]. Soldiers and officers from different parts of the world took part in it. One British officer and one Indian officer and two soldiers represented the 49th Bengali Regiment at this celebration.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
;Citations
{{Reflist|30em}}

==See also==
* [[49th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry]]
* [[Bengal Native Infantry]]

[[Category:Bengal Native Infantry]]
[[Category:British Indian Army infantry regiments]]
[[Category:Indian World War I regiments]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1917]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1920]]

Bengali Regiment - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:55, 22 March 2026