The regiment traces their origins to 1846, when they were raised as the 28th Bombay Native Infantry.

The regiments first action was in Afghanistan during the Second Afghan War in the Battle of Kandahar.

During World War I they were sent to Egypt, to guard the Suez Canal from Turkish forces.

William St. Lucien Chase was awarded the Victoria Cross when a lieutenant in the 28th Bombay Native Infantry during the Second Afghan War when, on 16 August 1880, at Deh Khoja, near Kandahar, Afghanistan, Chase, with the help of Private Thomas Elsdon Ashford, rescued and carried, for a distance of over 200 yards, under enemy fire, a wounded soldier who had taken shelter in a block house.

Several times they were compelled to rest, but they persevered and finally brought the wounded man to a place of safety.