For more than fifty years, the Madras Army was engaged in the struggle for control of South India and was largely responsible for the British defeat of Tipu Sultan and the French.

It also took an active part in the wars against the Mahrattas, dispatched a number of overseas expeditions and played a major role in the conquest and pacification of Burma.

In 1838, as the 24th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry, it stormed and captured the city of Aden (Yemen) as part of a punitive expedition sent to rid the area of pirates.

General Sir Charles Napier, the British commander, was much impressed by the ferocious courage of his Balochi opponents and decided to recruit them for local service within Sindh.

In 1856, the 2nd Belooch Battalion was dispatched to fight in the Persian War in 1856–57, a campaign frequently overshadowed by the events of the Great Indian Rebellion of 1857.

The battalion was brought into line in 1861, for its services in North India and it became the 27th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry in the post-Mutiny realignment.

All Baloch battalions took part in the Second Afghan War of 1878–80, where Jacob's Rifles suffered heavy casualties at the Battle of Maiwand.

The 24th and 27th Regiments saw active service in British East Africa in 1896–99, while the 26th and Jacob's Rifles went to China in 1900 to suppress the Boxer Rebellion.

[16] The 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica commented that "The remarkable Baluchi uniforms (green and drab with baggy red trousers) are unique in the British Empire".

[17][18] On 13 April 1919, British Brigadier-General R E H Dyer ordered his troops to fire on thousands of unarmed protestors in Amritsar at Jallianwala bagh, without giving the crowd any warning to disperse.

At Hollebeke, during the First Ypres, Sepoy Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to win the Victoria Cross; Britain's highest decoration for valour.

The battalion would go on to serve with distinction in German East Africa alongside 127th QMO Baluch Light Infantry and 130th KGO Baluchis.

These included Aden, where they carried out the first opposed sea-borne assault landing in modern warfare, Egypt, Gallipoli, France, Mesopotamia, North-West Frontier of India, Salonika and Russian Transcaucasia.

[17] After the First World War, a major reorganization was undertaken in the British Indian Army leading to the formation of large infantry groups of four to six battalions in 1922.

During the inter-war period, the regiment saw continuous employment on the North West Frontier of India, keeping it in fighting trim for the great test ahead.

It suffered 6572 casualties and won numerous gallantry awards including two Victoria Crosses to Naik Fazal Din and Sepoy Bhandari Ram.

[4][8] Captain Mahmood Khan Durrani of 1st Bahawalpur Infantry was awarded the George Cross "for outstanding courage, loyalty and fortitude whilst a Prisoner of War" of the Japanese.

The battalion has the distinction of providing the first guard of honour to Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as he stepped on the soil of Pakistan.

Officers and men of the Baloch Regiment earned the honoured title of 'Ghazi Balochi' for protecting Muslim refugees fleeing India from marauding bands of Sikhs and Hindus.

Officers' winter mess kit was of French grey cloth with black cuffs and facings with and blue overalls.

The cap badge of gilding metal consisted of a pelican surmounted by a star and crescent, the whole surrounded by a date palm wreath, with a scroll below, inscribed 'Bahawalpur Regiment'.

The new line up of the regiment was:[18] In 1955, Pakistan raised the Special Service Group (SSG) from the old 17/10th Baluch at Cherat, a hill station near Peshawar.

[1] Based at Abbottabad since December 1957, the Balochis have fought with distinction in every operation/engagement of the Pakistan Army since independence, winning numerous awards for gallantry.

In 1948, 11 Baluch captured the strategic heights of Pandu in Kashmir,[1] while Balochis played a vital role in blunting the Indian offensive against Lahore in 1965.

[26] The regiment has also produced the two most successful field commanders of Pakistan Army, namely, Major General Abrar Husain, Commander of 6 Armoured Division in 1965, who blunted the Indian offensive in Sialkot Sector, and Major General Eftikhar Khan Janjua, who captured the strategic town of Chhamb in 1971.

[3] Since then, the regiment has continued to uphold its reputation and rendered valuable services in the country's defense; in aid to civil authorities during natural disasters and insurgencies, including the recently concluded counter-terrorism operations; and as United Nations Peacekeepers.

The present badge of the Baloch Regiment, adopted in 1959, depicts crossed Mughal swords within a crescent, under the Islamic Star of Glory, appearing above a title scroll.

[29] A photograph of 1st Belooch Regiment (10 Baloch) from 1868, shows it on parade in Abyssinia with a 16-strong drum and bugle corps made up of buglers, snare and bass drummers.

In 1946, the honour of being the best in the Army was claimed by the pipe band of 8th Punjab Regimental Centre, which was selected to lead the Indian infantry contingent in the Victory Parade in London on 8 June 1946.

Led by the renowned piper Jemadar Ghulam Haider, the band received much acclaim during its visit to the United Kingdom.