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The 49th Bengalee Regiment (), also known as The 49th Bengalee, 49th Bengal Infantry, Bengali Double Company, Bengali Platoon and Bangali Paltan (বাঙালি পল্টন), was a military unit of the British Indian Army raised during World War I with Lieutenant S. G. Taylor as the Regiment Commander. In the beginning of the First World War, the army began to recruit many , , and skilled and unskilled laborers from Bengal. In middle 1916, the British government decided to create a regiment of Bengalis soldiers. At first, it was called Bengali Double Company. These double companies, each consisting of 228 soldiers, were integrated into the British Indian Army. The Bengali Double Company raised the first Bengali battalion on 26 June 1917. It was named The 49th Bengalee Regiment or briefly The 49th Bengalee. It was disbanded in 1920.
They fought in Mesopotamian campaign, and were stationed in Baghdad. After the end of World War I, they were used to crush a Kurdish rebellion in the Middle East. 63 soldiers in the unit died. Most of the recruits came from middle-class Bengali families. Notable soldiers in the unit included Khwaja Habibullah, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Ranadaprasad Saha, Mahbubul Alam, Mohit Kumar Munshi and Narendra Nath Dutta.
This Bengali Battalion was not like an ordinary army unit. Basically, young men from educated middle-class families had joined as soldiers. Many of them were in jobs with good salaries before joining the army. Some had graduation, masters or law degrees. Some young sons of and and of rich families also joined the Bengali Battalion. Although Indian soldiers were not allowed to rise as commissioned officers, but £115 million was paid from the Indian exchequer.
By November 1918 armistice was declared. At Tanuma the Bengalis performed the post-war rehabilitation duties. Some of the soldiers were engaged in Baghdad and elsewhere. After the war, there was a revolt in Kurdistan in April 1919. As many as 235 Bengalis were engaged in suppressing this rebellion. After coming back to Kolkata in August 1920, the Bengali Battalion got disbanded on 30 August 1920.
After the first battalion of the 49th Bengali Regiment left for Baghdad in July 1917, its remaining soldiers stayed in Karachi and continued to receive military training. This group of the Bengalis was called Karachi Depot. A group of the Bengali Battalion that stayed in Kolkata was called Calcutta Depot where the new recruits stayed. The soldiers of the Karachi Depot also used to stay here while in transit from leave or on some duty. As a large number of soldiers from East Bengal were recruited in September 1918, a Depot was also opened in Dhaka called Dhaka Depot.
● No 1:
◆ Date: 1 July 1917 to 30 April 1918
◆ Trigris Defences and Communication, Aziziyeh
◆ References: WO95/5020/5
◆ Notes:
The other three sides of the memorial base contain the names of the 49 Bengalis killed in the Great War of 1914–1918. It also contains the following information of Reg. No., Rank, Date of Death, District from which come. The districts are Midnapore, Mymensingh, Murshidabad, Nadia district, Kolkata, Jessore District, Bardhaman, Pabna, Chittagong, Khulna, Barisal Division, Faridpore, Pabna, 24-Parganas and Tripura (Tipperah). Some Bengali soldiers and officers received awards and recognition for their meritorious services in Mesopotamia. These recognitions were published in the official gazette. In July 1919 a victory march (rally) and peace celebration were held in London. Soldiers and officers from different parts of the world took part in it. One British officer and one Indian officer and two soldiers represented the 49th Bengali Regiment at this celebration.
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