77th Moplah Rifles
Active1777-1907
CountryIndian Empire
BranchArmy
TypeInfantry
Part ofMadras Army (to 1895)
Madras Command
ColorsRed; faced white
1903 Green; faced Scarlet
EngagementsCarnatic Wars
Second Anglo-Mysore War
Third Anglo-Mysore War
Third Burmese War

The 77th Moplah Rifles were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1777, when they were raised as the 17th Carnatic Battalion.

Early history

The regiment's first action was during the Carnatic Wars followed by the Battle of Sholinghur in the Second Anglo-Mysore War. They also took part in the Battle of Nagpore.[1]

Predecessor names

  • 17th Carnatic Battalion - 1777
  • 16th Madras Battalion - 1784
  • 2nd Battalion, 5th Madras Native Infantry - 1796
  • 16th Madras Native Infantry - 1824
  • 17th Madras Infantry - 1861
  • 1st Moplah Rifles - 1902
  • 77th Moplah Rifles - 1903

As Moplah Rifles

In 1902 the basis of recruitment for this regiment and one other (the 78th Moplah Rifles) was changed from Madrasis to Moplahs. The latter were Muslim immigrants of Arab origin who had settled along the coastal region of Malabar. In initial encounters the British had found the Moplars to be a warlike race[2] and in 1901 it was decided to try and recruit them for the Indian Army.[3] The 77th and 78th Moplar Rifles were accordingly raised as battalion-sized units

A problem from the beginning was that with a population basis totalling only one million the number of Moplah males available for recruitment was limited. In addition few British officers were immediately familiar with the language and culture of the community.[4] While the 77th MR remained in Madras on garrison duty the 78th were assigned to active service on the North West Frontier in 1905. Used to a moist and humid environment the Moplah sepoys encountered difficulty in acclimatising to the harsh dry climate of the frontier region.

The two regiments of Moplah Rifles were assessed negatively in their final annual reports for both field and garrison service. Accordingly both were disbanded between April and July 1907 and their British officers reassigned.[5]

Uniform

The Arab origin of both Moplar regiments was reflected in the adoption of red fezs - an unusual item of uniform in the Indian Army of the period where turbans of various patterns were the norm. The uniforms of the 77th MR from 1903 to 1907 were of dark green serge with scarlet facings.[6] The 78th MR revereded this pattern with scarlet jackets faced in green.

Memorial at the St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore

After the regiment's disbandment, the military colours of the 77th Moplah Rifles was buried within the west wall of St. Mark's Cathedral, Bangalore. There is also a memorial for the lives lost in the Moplah revolt.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "The British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Colonies".
  2. ↑ John Gaylor, page 9 Sons of John Company, ISBN 0-946771-98-7
  3. ↑ page 813, Volume 18, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition
  4. ↑ W.Y. Carman, page 226, Indian Army Uniforms Under the British - Artillery, Engineers and Infantry, Morgan-Grampian London 1969
  5. ↑ "The British Empire, Imperialism, Colonialism, Colonies".
  6. ↑ W.Y. Carman, page 226, Indian Army Uniforms Under the British - Artillery, Engineers and Infantry, Morgan-Grampian London 1969
  7. ↑ David, Stephen (9 January 2009). "200 years of Bangalore's oldest Christian landmark". India Today. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  • 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 978-0-9776072-8-0.
  • 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


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