Button, service dress, 106th Hazara Pioneers, 1904-1922

Large, white metal, ball button by J H Johnson and Company, Aligarh, United Provinces.

The 106th Hazara Pioneers was formed in 1904 by Major (later Field Marshal) Claud William Jacob (1863-1948). Hazaras are an ethnic group of Mongolian origin and Muslim in religion, present in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Iran. The unit was raised in Quetta, a centre for Hazara refugee settlement, and was drawn largely from Hazara men from the 124th Duchess of Connaught's Own Baluchistan Infantry and the 126th Baluchistan Infantry. The regiment served in Persia and Mesopotamia during World War One (1914-1918) and in Waziristan (1919-1920). The 106th Hazara Pioneers became the 1st Battalion, 4th Pioneers, in 1922 and the Hazara Pioneers in 1929. The unit was disbanded in 1933.

From the Field Marshal Sir John Chapple Indian Army Collection.