The 8th Rajputs was an infantry battalion of the British Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

. They could trace their origins to 1798 when they were the 1st Battalion, 30th Bengal Native Infantry. Over the years the regiment became known by a number of different titles. The 59th Bengal Native Infantry 1824–1861, the 8th Bengal Native Infantry 1861–1897, the 8th (Rajput) Bengal Infantry 1897–1901, the 8th Rajput Infantry 1901–1903 and finally the 8th Rajputs after the Kitchener reforms

Kitchener Reforms

The Kitchener Reforms of the Indian Army began in 1903 when Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, newly appointed Commander-in-Chief, India, completed the unification of the three armies of the former Presidencies , and also the Punjab Frontier Force, the Hyderabad Contingent and other local forces, into one...

 of the Indian Army. During this time the regiment took part in the First Afghan War, the First Sikh War and World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. After World War I the Indian Government reformed the Indian Army again, moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments. The 8th Rajputs now became the 4th Battalion, 7th Rajput Regiment

7th Rajput Regiment

The 7th Rajput Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was formed in 1922, after the Indian government decided to reform the army moving away from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments...

. After Indian gained independence in 1947, this was one of the regiments allocated to the new Indian Army

Indian Army

The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

.