The regiment traces its origins to 1768, when it was raised as the 5th Battalion, Bombay Sepoys.

The regiment's first action was during the Mysore Campaign in the Third Anglo-Mysore War.

During World War I it was attached to the Aden Brigade, which was formed to protect the important naval refueling point at Aden.

[1] After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single- to multi-battalion regiments.

After independence it was one of the regiments allocated to the Indian Army.