Jammu & Kashmir Rifles

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The Jammu & Kashmir Rifles is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army.

The Jammu & Kashmir Rifles has a unique regimental history. It was not raised by the British but by an intrepid Indian ruler called Gulab Singh in 1821. Gulab Singh was one of the ablest Generals of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and later became the ruler of the Jammu & Kashmir state. He and his legendary General Zorawar Singh led many spectacular campaigns to add Ladakh, Baltistan, Hunza and Skardu to the State territories. Zorawar Singh mounted a breath-taking invasion of Tibet in 1841. The state forces fought as Imperial Service troops in both the First and Second World Wars (under their own native officers). They distinguished themselves in East Africa, Palestine and Burma.

However, the regiment's grimmest hour came during the Pakistani invasion of Kashmir in 1947. It was their heroic stand that gained time for the entry of the Indian Army and thus saved the Kashmir Valley. It may not be out of place to mention that the Indian people largely owe the State of Jammu & Kashmir to the heroic defensive stand made by the outnumbered and ill-equipped, but highly motivated, J&K State Force. They paid a steep price in blood and sacrificed over 76 officers, 31 JCOs and 1085 Other Ranks. For their gallant stand they earned three Maha Vir Chakra, 20 Vir Chakras and 52 Mentioned in Despatches.

Battle Honours

• Defence of Chitral
• The Great War: Megiddo, Sharon, Nablus, Palestine 1918, Kilimanjaro, Beho Beho, East Africa 1914-17
• The Second World War: Kennedy Peak, Defence of Meiktila, Burma 1942-45
• Punch, Skardu, Jammu and Kashmir 1947-48, Battle of Asal Uttar, Punjab 1965, Syamganj, East Pakistan 1971

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

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