The 34th Sikh Pioneers was 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...

. They could trace their origins to 1857, when they were raised as the Punjab Sappers.
The regiment took part in the Siege of Delhi

Siege of Delhi

The Siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian rebellion of 1857.The rebellion against the authority of the British East India Company was widespread through much of Northern India, but essentially it was sparked by the mass uprising by the sepoys of the units of the Army which...

, the Siege of Lucknow

Siege of Lucknow

The Siege of Lucknow was the prolonged defense of the Residency within the city of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After two successive relief attempts had reached the city, the defenders and civilians were evacuated from the Residency, which was abandoned.Lucknow was the capital of...

 and the Capture of Lucknow

Capture of Lucknow

The Capture of Lucknow was a battle of Indian rebellion of 1857. The British recaptured the city of Lucknow which they had abandoned in the previous winter after the relief of a besieged garrison in the Residency, and destroyed the organised resistance by the rebels in the Kingdom of Awadh The...

 during the Indian Rebellion of 1857

Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

. They were next in action during the Second Afghan War in 1878 and the Battle of Chitral in 1897. To honour the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Indian they took part in the Rawalpindi Parade 1905

Rawalpindi Parade 1905

The Rawalpindi Parade 1905 was a parade by the British Indian Army held in Rawalpindi, India on 8 December 1905 to honour the Prince and Princess of Wales. The troops were under the Command of Horatio Herbert, Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum, G.C.B., O.M., G.C.M.G., Commander-in-Chief India...

.

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...

 they were part of the 3rd (Lahore) Division

3rd (Lahore) Division

The 3rd Division was an infantry division of the British Indian Army, first organised in 1852. It saw service during World War I as part of the Indian Corps in France before being moved to the Middle East where it fought against troops of the Ottoman Empire.-Pre-Mutiny:The Lahore Division first...

 and served on the Western Front

Western Front (World War I)

Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...

 in the Mesopotamia Campaign and in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign

Sinai and Palestine Campaign

The Sinai and Palestine Campaigns took place in the Middle Eastern Theatre of World War I. A series of battles were fought between British Empire, German Empire and Ottoman Empire forces from 26 January 1915 to 31 October 1918, when the Armistice of Mudros was signed between the Ottoman Empire and...

.

After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. In 1922, the 34th Sikh Pioneers now became the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Sikh Pioneers

3rd Sikh Pioneers

The 3rd Sikh Pioneers was a regiment of the British Indian Army formed in 1922, when the Indian army moved from single battalion regiments to multi-battalion regiments. The 3rd Sikh Pioneers were one of four Pioneer units in the 1922 reorganisation, including the 1st Madras Pioneers, 2nd Bombay...

. The regiment was allocated to the new 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...

on independence.

Predecessor names

• Punjab Sappers - 1857
• 24th (Pioneer) Regiment of Punjab Infantry - 1858
• 32nd Bengal Native Infantry - 1861
• 32nd (Punjab) Bengal Native Infantry (Pioneers) - 1864
• 32nd (Punjab) Bengal Infantry (Pioneers) - 1885
• 32nd Punjab Pioneers - 1901
• 34th Sikh Pioneers - 1903