Assam Regiment

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The Assam Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment consists of 25 battalions: 15 regular battalions, 3 Rashtriya Rifles battalions, 5 Territorial Army battalions (including 2 ecological battalions) and 2 Arunachal Scouts battalions. It recruits exclusively from all the eight Northeastern states of India. The regiment was raised on 15 June 1941 in Shillong by Major (later Brigadier) Ross Cosens Howman OBE to meet the claim of the then undivided state of Assam for its own fighting unit and to counter the threat of the Japanese invasion of India. The area of Elephant Falls in Shillong was chosen to raise the first battalion and it was there, under British instructors, that the first troops were trained. The initial draft of the regiment was drawn from undivided Assam, and consisted of the doughty Ahoms of Assam who had proved their martial prowess by defeating the Mughals at the Battle of Saraighat. The Assam Rifles provided a trained nucleus of 500 JCOs, NCOs and men to raise the newly formed regiment. The hardy, tough and cheerful Misings, Boros, Nagas, Kukis, Khasis, Karbi, Garos, Meiteis and later on, the Adis, Nishis, Monpas, other tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, northeast India domiciled Gorkhas and Sikkimese and other tribes were also drafted into the regiment and, today, the regiment can boast of being composed of troops of diverse customs, cultures, languages, traditions and ethos belonging to all the eight Northeastern states of India. Two battalions currently also have Dogras, Garhwalis, Gorkhas and South Indian classes. Within six months of its raising, the regiment was ordered to move to Digboi to defend the oil fields.