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{{Short description|Indian Army regiment}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Jammu and Kashmir Rifles
| image = Rgt-jkr.gif
| caption = Regimental Insignia of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles
| dates = 1821 – present
| country = {{flagicon|India}} [[India]]
| branch = [[File:Flag of Indian Army.svg|24px]] [[Indian Army]]
| type = Light Infantry
| role = [[Infantry]]
| size = 22 battalions
| garrison = [[Jabalpur]], [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| garrison_label = Regimental Centre
| colors = ''Durga Mata Ki Jai''<br/>("Victory to Mother [[Durga]]")<ref name=bharat-rakshak/>
| colors_label = War Cry
| current_commander =
| colonel_of_the_regiment = Lt Gen [[Upendra Dwivedi]]{{Update inline||date=May 2019}}
| nickname =
| motto = ''Prashata Ranvirta''<br/>("Valour in Battle is Praiseworthy")<ref name=bharat-rakshak/>
| identification_symbol = An oval embracing the sun, the State emblem. The Sanskrit inscription around the sun, which cannot be read on the regimental insignia above, translates as, "Ever Victorious in War"<ref name=bharat-rakshak/>
| identification_symbol_label = Regimental Insignia
| march =
| anniversaries =
| decorations = ''[[#Decorations|See below]]''
}}
The '''Jammu and Kashmir Rifles''' is an [[infantry]] [[regiment]] of the [[Indian Army]]. Its origins lay in the '''Jammu and Kashmir State Forces''' of the princely state of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]. After the accession of the state to the [[Dominion of India|Indian Union]] in October 1947, the State Forces came under the command of the Indian Army. They remained in the original form until 1956 when [[Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly]] effectively ratified the state's accession to India. Then the State Forces became the '''Jammu and Kashmir Regiment''' of the Indian Army.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brahma Singh |first=K |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/history-of-jammu-and-kashmir-rifles-1820-1956-the-state-force-background/oclc/21760758 |title=History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1820-1956: The state force background |publisher=Lancer International |year=1990 |isbn=978-81-7062-091-4 |location=New Delhi |pages=110, 278, 279, 290 |language=English |oclc=21760758}}</ref> In 1963, the designation was changed to Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. After the conversion, the [[Ladakh Scouts]] came under the aegis of the Regiment, where it remained until raised as a separate Regiment in 2002.<ref name=globalsecurity>{{cite web |url= http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/rgt-jkr.htm |title=Jammu and Kashmir Rifles |work=globalsecurity.org |year=2014 |access-date=18 February 2014}}</ref>

==History==
The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles has a unique regimental history. Its antecedents go back to the Dogra Corps raised by Raja [[Gulab Singh]] of [[Jammu Division|Jammu]] in 1821. General [[Zorawar Singh Kahluria|Zorawar Singh]] led daredevil campaigns in northern areas like [[Ladakh]], [[Baltistan]], [[Gilgit]], [[State of Hunza|Hunza]] and [[Yagistan]], consolidating smaller principalities and making the northern areas a part of the expanding dominions of Gulab Singh. He also mounted an invasion of [[Tibet]] in 1841.

After the establishment of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] as independent princely state under the [[British Paramountcy]] in [[Treaty of Amritsar, 1846|1846]], these troops became the '''Jammu and Kashmir State Forces'''.

[[File:Indian officers with captured German flag and machine gun 1917.png|thumb|Officers of 2nd Kashmir Rifles with the German flag and machine gun captured in the [[East African campaign (World War I)|Action at Lukigura River]] on 24 June 1916.]]

The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir maintained a larger number of State Forces than any other ruler of an Indian State under the British Raj. These forces were organized into the Jammu and Kashmir Brigades. They comprised a bodyguard cavalry regiment, two mountain batteries, seven infantry battalions, one training battalions and a transport unit consisting of both pack and mechanized transport. Several of these units served with distinction on the North-West Frontier of India and overseas during the Great War.<ref name=globalsecurity/> The state forces fought as [[Imperial Service Troops]] in both the [[First World War|First]] and [[Second World War|Second]] World Wars (under their own native officers). They distinguished themselves in [[East Africa]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Burma]].

===Kashmir War of 1947===
{{main|Indo-Pakistani War of 1947}}
During the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]] fought primarily in the region, over 76 officers, 31 JCOs, and 1085 Other Ranks were killed in battle. 2 Param Vir Chakra, 3 Maha Vir Chakra, 20 Vir Chakras were earned, and 52 members of the regiment Mentioned in Despatches. Later the Jammu and Kashmir State Force was absorbed en bloc into the Indian Army as a separate regiment.

===Sino-Indian War of 1962===
{{main|Sino-Indian War}}
Two battalions of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles constituted the main fighting force of India in [[Aksai Chin]] during the [[Sino-Indian War]] of 1962. Supplemented by a battalion of the regular Indian Army, they fought "very well" according to scholar Steven Hoffman. China attacked them with a massive force of an entire division.<ref>{{citation |last=Hoffmann |first=Steven A. |title=India and the China Crisis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BpSRwC5_EPUC&pg=PA103 |year=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06537-6 |ref={{sfnref|Hoffmann, India and the China Crisis|1990}} |page=103}}</ref>

===UN Peacekeeping Operations===
A Jammu and Kashmir Rifles battalion was part of the [[UN]] force in [[Cambodia]] during 1990–93.<ref name=globalsecurity/>

==Recruitment==
Much of the Army's [[Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry]] and Jammu and Kashmir Rifles Regiments are made of recruits from the districts of [[Jammu district|Jammu]], [[Samba district|Samba]], [[Kathua district|Kathua]], [[Udhampur district|Udhampur]], and [[Reasi]], while other districts like [[Poonch district, India|Poonch]], [[Rajouri district|Rajouri]], [[Doda district|Doda]] and [[Kishtwar district|Kishtwar]] also contribute .<ref name=globalsecurity/> Soldiers from [[Himachal Pradesh]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[Uttarakhand]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[Bihar]] and [[Haryana]] also contribute to the ranks.

==Units==
[[File:The Jammu & Kashmir Rifles contingents passes through the Rajpath during the 66th Republic Day Parade 2015, in New Delhi on January 26, 2015.jpg|thumb|The Jammu & Kashmir Rifles contingent passes through Rajpath during the 66th Republic Day Parade 2015 in New Delhi]]
In 1947, the force had 9 infantry battalions and a cavalry regiment. It was subsequently raised to 21 battalions. The 16th Battalion has been reassigned as 14th Battalion of the [[Mechanised Infantry Regiment]]<ref name=bharat-rakshak>{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Units/Infantry/115-Jak-Rifles.html |title=The Jammu and Kashmir Rifles |work=bharat-rakshak.com |year=2014 |access-date=18 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219194909/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/LAND-FORCES/Units/Infantry/115-Jak-Rifles.html |archive-date=19 February 2014 }}</ref>

==Battle honours==
* [[Chitral Expedition|Defence of Chitral]]
* The Great War: [[Battle of Megiddo (1918)|Megiddo]], [[Battle of Sharon|Sharon]], [[Battle of Nablus (1918)|Nablus]], [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|Palestine 1918]], [[Battle of Kilimanjaro|Kilimanjaro]], [[Battle of Behobeho|Beho Beho]], [[East African Campaign (World War I)|East Africa 1914–17]]
* The Second World War: [[Kennedy Peak (Burma)|Kennedy Peak]], [[Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay|Defence of Meiktila]], [[Burma Campaign|Burma 1942–45]]
* 1947-48: Ponch, Skardu,
* 1965: [[Battle of Asal Uttar|Asal Uttar]], [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1965|Punjab 1965]]
* 1971: Shyam Ganj, [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971|East Pakistan 1971]]
* 1999: [[Battle of Tiger Hill|Point 5140]], Point 4875, Rocky Knob

Note: Pre-1948 honours inherited from several battalions of Jammu & Kashmir State Forces.

==Decorations==
===[[Param Vir Chakra]]===
* [[Captain (land)|Captain]] [[Vikram Batra]] (posthumous) 13th Battalion – Kargil, 1999{{sfn|Rawat|2014|p=264}}
* [[Rifleman]] [[Sanjay Kumar (soldier)|Sanjay Kumar]], 13th Battalion – Kargil, 1999{{sfn|Rawat|2014|p=254}}

===[[Maha Vir Chakra]]===
* [[Brigadier]] [[Rajinder Singh (brigadier)|Rajendra Singh Jamwal]], J&K Rifles – Kashmir, 1947
* [[Brigadier]] [[Sher Jung Thapa]], 13th J&K Rifles – Skardu, 1947

===Other Awards===
*2 × [[Param Vir Chakra]]
*2 × [[Ashok Chakra Award|Ashok Chakra]]
*1 × [[Padma Bhushan]]
*3 × [[Param Vishisht Seva Medal]]s
*5 × [[Maha Vir Chakra]]s
*11 × [[Kirti Chakra]]s
*4 × [[Ati Vishist Seva Medal]]s
*44 × [[Vir Chakra]]s
*46 × [[Shaurya Chakra]]s
*1 × [[Uttam Yudh Seva Medal]]
*313 × [[Sena Medal]]s
*2 × [[Yudh Seva Medal]]s
*31 × [[Vishisht Seva Medal]]s
*52 × [[Mentioned in Despatches]]
*243 × [[Chief of the Army Staff (India)|COAS]] Commendation Cards
*101 × Army Commanders Commendation Cards<ref name=bharat-rakshak/>
* COAS Unit Citation to 4 Jak Rif

==See also==
* [[Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Regiment]]
* [[Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Notes==
* {{cite book |last=Rawat |first=Rachna Bisht |year=2014 |title=The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories |publisher=Penguin Books India Private Limited |isbn=9780143422358 }}
* {{citation |last=Singh |first=K. Brahma |title=History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles, 1820-1956: The State Force Background |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psTeAAAAMAAJ |year=1990 |publisher=Lancer International |isbn=978-81-7062-091-4 |ref={{sfnref|Brahma Singh, History of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles|1990}}}}

==Further reading==
* {{citation |last=Palit |first=Dharitri Kumar |title=Jammu and Kashmir Arms: History of the J & K Rifles |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/jammu-and-kashmir-arms-history-of-the-j-k-rifles/oclc/1099928567 |year=1972 |publisher=Palit & Dutt |oclc=1099928567 |ref={{sfnref|Palit, Jammu and Kashmir Arms|1972}}}}
* Manju Khajuria, [https://www.dailyo.in/politics/world-war-i-dogra-regiment-sikh-battalion-jammu-and-kashmir/story/1/7215.html Why we must not forget J&K state forces who fought World War I], Daily O, 7 November 2015.
*{{cite journal |title=Summary of world broadcasts. Part 3, Part 3 |page=4|journal=Summary of World Broadcasts. Part 3, Part 3 |date=1993 |issue=3012–3024 |oclc=28685680|url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/summary-of-world-broadcasts-part-3-asia-pacific/oclc/28685680 |access-date=11 April 2022 |language=English |issn=1352-139X}}

{{Indian Army Infantry Regiments}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jammu and Kashmir Rifles}}
[[Category:Infantry regiments of the Indian Army from 1947]]
[[Category:Rifle regiments]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in the 1940s]]
[[Category:Military units and formations in Burma in World War II|R]]

Jammu and Kashmir Rifles - Revision history

Bot at 19:18, 2 December 2022