Button, 15th Ludhiana Sikhs, 1901-1922

Small brass button with the regimental number, '15', within a quoit bearing the title, 'Ludhiana Sikhs', surmounted by a crown. Quoits, or chakram, are a traditional edged weapon from the Indian subcontinent, particularly associated with Sikh fighters. They take the form of a flattened metal ring of varying circumference, with a sharpened outer edge, which can be thrown or used in hand-to-hand combat. The regiment was raised in 1846, drawing on disbanded Sikh forces, defeated in the 1st Sikh War (1845-1846). As The Regiment of Ludhiana, the unit remained loyal to the British during the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859). The regiment was numbered the 15th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry in 1861, becoming the 15th (The Ludhiana) Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry in 1864. The regiment fought in the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880) and in the 1st Sudan War (1884-1885).

It was stationed on the North West Frontier during much of the 1890s and 1900s, taking part in the Relief of Chitral (1895) and the Malakand and Tirah Operations (1897-1898). The regiment was active on the Western Front and in the Middle East during World War One (1914-1918). It fought the Senussi tribe in Egypt and Turkish forces in Mesopotamia. After the First World War the regiment was amalgamated with other units, and formed the 2nd Battalion of the 11th Sikh Regiment in 1922, eventually becoming part of the Indian Army after independence from Britain was gained in 1947.

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