Pugri badge, 79th Carnatic Infantry, 1903-1922

Brass badge with regimental number, '79', within a circlet inscribed with the title, 'Carnatic Infantry', surmounted by a King's Crown, within a laurel wreath.

The pugri or pagri is a form of headdress.

The battalion was originally raised in 1777 as the 20th Carnatic Battalion, becoming the 19th Madras Native Infantry in 1824. In the 1903 reorganisation of the Indian Army, it became the 79th Carnatic Infantry with its establishment reduced to 600 men and officers and earmarked for garrison duties. During the World War One (1914-1918), the regiment served in Mesopotamia and then in North West Persia from 1916 until 1920.

In the 1922 reorganisation of the Indian Army the regiment became the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment which was disbanded the following year. The battalion was reconstituted in 1941, during the World War Two (1939-1945,) from the 13th Territorial Battalion.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.