Pugri badge, 2nd Madras Infantry, 1885-1903

Brass badge with an elephant surmounting the unit abbreviation, '2MI', within a garter bearing the inscription, 'Carnatic Mysore', surmounted by Imperial Crown, with a scroll below bearing the battle honours, 'China', Assaye' and 'Nagpore', surmounting a Chinese dragon.

The pugri or pagri is a form of headdress.

The 2nd Madras Infantry was originally raised in 1759 as the 3rd Battalion Coast Sepoys, part of the old Madras Army. The unit fought the French in India during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) and participated in the 2nd Mysore War (1780-1784); service acknowledged by the battle honours 'Carnatic' and 'Mysore' respectively. The unit was designated the 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment of Madras Native Infantry in 1796. It was involved in the 2nd Mahratta War (1803-1805), fighting under the command of Arthur Wellesely, the future Duke of Wellington. The regiment was rewarded with the elephant insignia and the battle honours 'Assaye' and 'Nagpore'.

The regiment became the 2nd Regiment of Madras Native Infantry in 1824 and fought in the 1st China War (1839-1842), For its service overseas the regiment received the battle honour, 'China', and its dragon insignia. In 1885 the term 'Native' was removed from the regimental name as the unit was deployed to Burma. In 1901 the regiment became the 2nd Madras Infantry. Further reform of the Indian Army in 1903 led to amalgamation with other units to form the 62nd Punjabis. The regiment fought in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Persia during World War One (1914-1918). In 1922 the regiment formed the 1st Battalion, 1st Punjab Regiment.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.