The Infantry of the Indian Army is the largest combat arm of the Indian Army. It consists of personnel, who historically have engaged in ground combat on foot. It presently also consists of mechanised and airborne infantry.
History
The infantry was historically the first combat arm in any army. The present regiments of the Indian Army trace their origin to the British East India Company, when Indians were employed to protect their trading stations. From the middle of the eighteenth century, the three presidencies of the company began to maintain armies at Calcutta (Bengal Army), Madras (Madras Army) and Bombay (Bombay Army). The presidency armies had their own Regiments and cadre of European officers. There were European regiments, where both the officers and men were Europeans, as well as 'Native' regiments, which were officered by Europeans, but the other ranks were Indians. The recruitment of Indians was usually done locally, with battalions each drawn from single castes, or and from specific communities or geographical areas. This pattern of recruitment continues to this day in many of the older regiments. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, 55 out of 70 infantry regiments of the Bengal Army were disbanded and more infantry regiment raised from Punjab and those including Gorkhas. Indian troops maintained internal security in the country, fought for the defence of the North-West Frontier and were sent abroad to take part many conflict zones of the British empire. The infantrymen subsequently served in the two world wars with distinction.
Regimental organisation
Each regiment consists of more than one infantry battalion. A battalion is commanded by an officer of the rank of Colonel. The battalion is further divided into four rifle companies, one headquarters company and at times a support company. Each company is commanded by an officer of the rank of a Major or a Captain. A company will have three platoons, which in turn will have three sections. In addition, each battalion has a Ghatak platoon, which is a special operations capable reconnaissance platoon. An infantry battalion usually has a strength of 15-20 officers and 650-800 other ranks. The latter includes Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) and other ranks (ORs).
Regiments
The Indian Army has three types of regiments based on class composition-
Single Class- These regiments have troops from a single class, e.g. Dogra Regiment Fixed Class - They are composed of troops from fixed ethnic groups. e.g. Rajputana Rifles All India All Class- These units contain a heterogeneous mix of all Indian classes and are generally those units, which have been raised after independence. e.g. Brigade of the Guards. Based on role, the regiments can be classified as- Regular infantry Airborne infantry Mechanised Infantry The regiments, date of formation, regimental centre, number of battalions (regular, Territorial Army (TA) and Rashtriya Rifles (RR), motto and war cry are as follows - Regular and airborne infantry
¶ The Dogra Regiment, Garhwal Rifles, Kumaon Regiment have a scout battalion each, in addition to the above-mentioned battalions. Arunachal Scouts is affiliated to Assam Regiment, Ladakh Scouts to Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and Sikkim Scouts is to 11 Gorkha Rifles.
§ Since the Gorkha Regiments have relatively smaller number of battalions, 1 Gorkha Rifles and 4 Gorkha Rifles provide troops for 15 Rashtriya Rifles battalion, 3 Gorkha Rifles and 9 Gorkha Rifles for 32 Rashtriya Rifles battalion, and 5 Gorkha Rifles and 8 Gorkha Rifles for 33 Rashtriya Rifles battalion. 3 Gorkha Rifles and 9 Gorkha Rifles are affiliated to 137 Composite Eco-Task Force Battalion (Territorial Army). Mechanised infantry
Infantry School
The Infantry School is the alma mater of infantry and rose from a small training establishment to its present form in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh on 1 April 1948. The headquarters and major training facilities are located at Mhow. It is also the location for the infantry museum. The Junior Leaders’ Wing is located at Belgaum, Karnataka and the Non Commissioned Officers’ Academy is at Binnaguri, West Bengal. In addition, officers and men might be sent to specialised training establishments like the High Altitude Warfare School and Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School.
Infantry Day
Infantry Day is celebrated on 27 October every year to commemorate the landing of infantry troops at Srinagar airport in 1947. This momentous act turned back the Pakistani invaders from the outskirts of Srinagar and was a turning point in the 1947 War.