72nd Punjabis

The 72nd Punjabis were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1759, when they were raised as the 16th Battalion Coast Sepoys.

The regiments first battle was the Battle of Sholinghur in 1781, during the Second Anglo-Mysore War. They were next involved in the Battle of Ava during the First Burmese War. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857 they were stationed in Hong Kong and Singapore. There next action was during the Third Burmese War. With the defeat of King Thibaw Min the regiment remained in Burma, being renamed the 2nd Burma Battalion in 1891.

During World War I they were deployed along the North West Frontier with the 1st (Peshawar) Division to prevent incursions by the Afghan tribes, but they were later sent to Egypt and Palestine and took part in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign attached to the 75th Division. After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. In 1922, the 72nd Punjabis became the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Punjab Regiment. After independence they were one of the regiments allocated to the Indian Army.

Predecessor names

 * 16th Battalion Coast Sepoys - 1759
 * 13th Carnatic Battalion - 1769
 * 12th Carnatic Battalion - 1770
 * 12th Madras Battalion - 1784
 * 2nd Battalion, 8th Madras Native Infantry - 1796
 * 12th Madras Native Infantry - 1824
 * 2nd Burma Infantry - 1890
 * 12th Regiment (2nd Burma Battalion) Madras Infantry - 1891
 * 12th Burma Infantry - 1901
 * 72nd Punjabis - 1903