The 9th Jat Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1795 and again in 1922, after the Indian government reformed the army, moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.
World War II
The Regiment saw a great deal of fighting with the Jats showing their mettle in North Africa, Ethiopia, Burma, Malaya, Singapore, and Java-Sumatra. A large number of gallantry awards were won including a Victoria Cross (by JemadarAbdul Hafiz) and two George Crosses (by Islam-ud-Din and Abdul Rahman). At the end of the war the Regiment, in company with other regiments of the Indian Infantry, dropped the numeral 9 from its title and became simply the Jat Regiment. After independence it was allocated to the new Indian Army. The Regiment at independence had about 1/4th or 25% Muslims recruited from Panwar Rajput Muslims from around Rohtak and Hisar, Haryana and from Muslim Jats in Montgomery and Okara in West Punjab, in all-Muslim companies of the 10th Jats and 6th Jat Light Infantry. The Muslim companies and platoons were merged into the Bahawalpur Regiment and the 130th Baluchis as the families of the soldiers moved to Pakistan upon partition. They were replaced by Hindu Jat and Tarkhan soldiers from Bahawalnagar and Minchinabad serving in 127th Baluch Light Infantry and widened recruitment of Haryana Gujjars and Ahirs from around Rohtak and Gurgaon.
