Sikh Regiment

The Sikh Regiment is an 19 battalion strong, infantry regiment of the Indian Army, drawing a bulk of its recruits from the Sikh community. The regiment was officially raised just before the annexation of the Sikh Empire on August 1, 1846, by the British Empire. It is currently one of the highest decorated regiments in the Indian Army and was at one stage one of the highest decorated regiments in the British Empire. The Sikh Regimental Centre is located in Ramgarh Cantonment, 30 km from Ranchi, which is the capital of the state of Jharkhand in India. The Centre was earlier located in Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Over its life of more than 100 years in the British Empire, the regiment distinguished itself with loyalty to the crown in various actions and operations both in India and abroad, including frontier operations, internal mutinies, the First and the Second World War. The competence in operations earned the Sikh Regiment and in turn its intended recruitment pool 'the Sikh people' as a martial race and as a result disproportionate vacancies were reserved for Sikhs in military positions. At the height of these recruitment policies Sikhs made up one third of the British Indian Army, despite Sikhs making only less than 2% of India's entire population.

The modern Sikh Regiment traces its routes directly from the 11th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army. When transferred to the Indian Army; like its sister regiments, the numeral prefix (in the case of the...
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