The British East India Company raised a 2nd Battalion for the 15th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) in 1798.

For its service under General Lake during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the battalion was granted an honorary colour; an additional jemadar was employed on its strength to carry it.

In the Indian rebellion of 1857, the regiment did not mutiny and fought in the Central India Campaign, holding a Sangor fort under attack for six months.

[1] Almost the entire Bengal Army had mutinied and in the ensuing disbandment of its regiments, the 31st became the second most senior.

[3] The regiment later served in the Second Afghan War and contributed to the international force that intervened in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.