The 117th Mahrattas were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

. The regiment traces their origins to 1800, when they were raised as the Bombay Fencible Regiment.

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 the regiment was attached to the 6th (Poona) Division

6th (Poona) Division

For the World War II formation see 6th Infantry Division The 6th Division was a division of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1903, following the Kitchener reforms of the Indian Army.-World War I:...

 and served in the Mesopotamian campaign

Mesopotamian Campaign

The Mesopotamian campaign was a campaign in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I fought between the Allies represented by the British Empire, mostly troops from the Indian Empire, and the Central Powers, mostly of the Ottoman Empire.- Background :...

, delivered a setback at the Battle of Ctesiphon

Battle of Ctesiphon (1915)

The Battle of Ctesiphon was fought in November 1915 by the British Empire and British India, against the Ottoman Empire, within the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I....

 in November 1915. They were forced to withdrew back to Kut

Kut

Al-Kūt is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about 160 kilometres south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 374,000 people...

, and forced to surrender after the Siege of Kut

Siege of Kut

The siege of Kut Al Amara , was the besieging of 8,000 strong British-Indian garrison in the town of Kut, 100 miles south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. Its known also as 1st Battle of Kut. In 1915, its population was around 6,500...

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After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. In 1922, the 117th Mahrattas became the 5th Battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry

5th Mahratta Light Infantry

The 5th Mahratta Light Infantry was a regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, whenthe Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. The regiment fought in World War II and raised 30 battalions...

. After independence they were one of the regiments allocated to the Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

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Predecessor names

• Bombay Fencible Regiment - 1800
• 1st Battalion, 9th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry - 1803
• 17th Bombay Native Infantry - 1824
• 17th Bombay Infantry - 1885
• 117th Matrattas - 1903