THE MAHAR REGIMENT
THE MAHAR REGIMENT Mahars have a long and proud tradition of bearing arms. They were the respected members of Shivaji's and later of the Maratha armies. Mahars formed part of the Bombay Presidency Army. They had particularly distinguished themselves in the battle for the defence of Koregaon in 1818. A Mahar battalion was raised in 1917 and took part in the Great War, but was later merged with another regiment. Between the two wars, the Mahars had persistently sought a regiment for themselves for service in the Army. These efforts, marked by the quality and level of arguments advanced by the Mahar leader, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar, resulted in the Mahar Regiment being raised in 1941. The Regiment fought in Burma, Persia and Iraq in World War II. In 1946, the Regiment converted to the specialist role of fielding medium machine guns, and for a decade and a half rendered most effective support in combat. The medium machine gun detachments were most warmly welcomed in