Active 1776-1922 Branch Army | Country Indian Empire Type Infantry | |
Part of Madras Army (to 1895)
Madras Command Colors Red; faced buff, 1882 white, 1905 green, 1911emerald green | ||
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. In 1922, the 74th Punjabis became the 4th Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment. This new regiment was disbanded in 1947.