In 1843, the British conquered
Sindh after defeating the ruling confederacy of Baloch chieftains.
General Sir Charles Napier, the British commander, was much impressed by the ferocious courage of his Balochi opponents and decided to recruit two irregular battalions of
Bombay Army for local service within Sindh. The first of these was raised at
Karachi as the Scinde Bellochee Corps or the Bellochee Battalion by Major F. Jackson in 1844. Its manpower was mostly drawn from
Balochis,
Sindhis and
Pathans from Sindh. Later, it also recruited
Brahuis and Punjabi Muslims, while the recruitment area was extended to include
Baluchistan,
North-West Frontier Province and the
Punjab. On the raising of the 2nd Battalion in 1846, the regiment was designated as the 1st Belooch Battalion. When the
Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857, the 1st Belooch Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Farquhar was dispatched across the Sindh desert to join the Delhi Field Force. It was engaged in several actions during the siege and capture of Delhi. During the next two years, it fought in numerous engagements in
Oudh and
Rohilkhand, as the British systematically stamped out all resistance. The regiment was brought into line for its services in North India as the 27th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry or the 1st Belooch Regiment. In 1868, it took part in the long and arduous
Expedition to Abyssinia. The splendid performance of 1st Belooch Regiment in Abyssinia was much appreciated and as a reward, it was converted into
Light Infantry. In 1879-80, the 1st Beloochees participated in the
Second Afghan War, followed by the
Third Burmese War of 1885-87, where they earned the nickname of
Capital Campaigners for their excellent performance. In 1897-99, the regiment was sent to
British East Africa to quell an insurgency in areas now forming
Uganda. ==127th (Queen Mary's Own) Baluch Light Infantry==