74th Punjabis

The 74th Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1776, when they were raised as the 14th Carnatic Battalion.

The regiment first saw action during the Carnatic Wars. This was followed by the Battle of Sholinghur in the Second Anglo-Mysore War and the Battle of Mahidpur in the Third Anglo-Mysore War. Their next destination was China for the First and Second Opium Wars then in 1885 they took part in the Third Burmese War.

During World War I they were part of the 8th Lucknow Division which remained in India on internal security and training duties they were then posted to the 10th (Irish) Division in 1918, and took part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign.

After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.^[1] In 1922, the 74th Punjabis became the 4th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment.^[2] This new regiment was disbanded in 1947.

Predecessor names

• 14th Carnatic Battalion - 1776
• 14th Madras Battalion - 1784
• 2nd Battalion, 6th Madras Native Infantry - 1796
• 14th Madras Native Infantry - 1824
• 14th Madras Infantry - 1885
• 74th Punjabis - 1903

References

Bibliography

• Barthorp, Michael; Burn, Jeffrey (1979). Indian infantry regiments 1860-1914. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-307-0. 
• Rinaldi, Richard A (2008). Order of Battle British Army 1914. Ravi Rikhye. ISBN 0-9776072-8-3. 
• Sharma, Gautam (1990). Valour and sacrifice: famous regiments of the Indian Army. Allied Publishers. ISBN 81-7023-140-X. 
• Sumner, Ian (2001). The Indian Army 1914-1947. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-196-6. 
• Moberly, F.J. (1923). Official History of the War: Mesopotamia Campaign, Imperial War Museum. ISBN 1-870423-30-5