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 Posted by plbramham » Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:39 pm
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 General Global moderator Posts: 1369 |
| 2nd Battalion 1934 Ferozepore – where?
Ferozepore (or Firozpur,) is a city south of Lahore on the banks of the Sutlej River close to the present day Indo-Pakistan border and was a large British Army cantonment. In 1838, Ferozepore was the base from which British troops advanced to Kabul during the first Anglo-Afghan war. The First Sikh War (1845-46) began when the Sikh army crossed the Sutlej on the 11th of December 1845, and virtually declared war upon the British. The British authorities had foreseen the outbreak, and had massed sufficient troops at Ferozepore, Ludhiana and Umballa to protect the frontier. On the 13th the governor-general, Sir Henry Hardinge declared war on the Sikhs, and the first battle was fought at Mudki, 20 miles south-east of Ferozepore, and by the 18th the whole army had marched 150 miles to Moodkee, to protect Ferozepore from the Sikh attack. Prior to 1849, Ferozepore was where the British gathered intelligence about the "Lahore Darbar," and was also a base from where the British-Indian forces captured Lahore. Lahore and Amritsar were congested even in 1850 so senior British officers preferred to live in Ferozepore and built huge bungalows spread over acres of land in the cantonment area of Ferozepore. Kasur was the nearest town of Lahore district across the Sutlej so it used to get its supplies from Ferozepore, aided by the rail and road bridges over the Sutlej . The mile long Sutlej Bridge (known as the Kaiserin-i-Hind - 'Empress of India' Bridge between Ferozepur and Kazur), opened on 2 March 1887. On 13th May 1857, The Bengal Native Infantry mutinied in Ferozepore and were engaged by the 61st Regiment. Some were killed, about 100 surrendered and the remainder fled the town. The BNI were disarmed. After a trial 14 sepoys were sentenced to death. Two were hanged and the remainder blown from cannon. Ferozepore Sikhs have long been part of British Indian Army originating with The Regiment of Ferozepore formed in 1846. Later the 14th Bengal Native Infantry 1861–1864, the 14th Ferozepore Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry 1864–1885, the 14th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry (Ferozepore Sikhs) 1885–1901, the 14th (Ferozepore) Sikh Infantry 1901–1903, after the Kitchener 1903 Indian Army reforms the 14th Ferozepore Sikhs, 14th Prince of Wales's Own Ferozepore Sikhs 1906–1910, and the 14th King George's Own Ferozepore Sikhs 1910–1922. They they took part in the Rawalpindi Parade 1905 for the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales. In WW1 they served with 51st Brigade, 17th Indian Division, and post-WW1 they were amalgamated to become the 1st Battalion 11th Sikh Regiment. Ferozepur is called ‘Shaheedon ki dharti’ (the land of martyrs) Still exisiting in Toori Bazaar is the building which was the secret headquarters of revolutionary trio — Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev. Assistant Superintendent of Police Saunders was shot dead by Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev in Lahore on December 17, 1928. They were sentenced to death and hanged on March 23, 1931, at 7.30 p.m and buried in Ferozepur. |
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