The 101st Grenadiers was a regiment of the British Indian Army. 1778–1878 The regiment was formed in 1778 after six grenadier companies (two companies each from the three battalions of the Bombay Army) were combined to form a composite battalion. During the First Mahratta War, the grenadier companies fought against the Mahratta Empire and was engaged in the Battle of Talegoan. In recognition of its conduct, the unit became a permanent unit, titled the 8th Regiment of Bombay Sepoys. In 1783 the regiment's title was amended to become the 8th Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Sepoys, known informally as the Bombay Grenadiers. The regiment thus gained the claim to be the oldest grenadier regiment in the British Empire; the British Army's Grenadier Guards did not gain its Grenadier title until after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Meanwhile, the Regiment took part in the numerous Mysore Wars. In 1783, the regiment formed part of the Mangalore garrison, which the Tipu Sultan's Mysore Army besieged. The garrison held out for nine months before negotiating a settlement which permitted it safe passage back to British territory. Its actions earned the regiment the battle honour "Mangalore". The regiment later gained the White Horse of Hanover, emblem of the Royal House of Hanover, as its cap badge. The regiment's second battle honour, "Mysore" for its involvement in the last of the Mysore wars, between 1789 and 1792. The regiment raised a 2nd Battalion in 1793 and became the 1st Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry. The 2nd Battalion would, in 1824, be separated from the 1st Grenadiers to become the 2nd Grenadier Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry (later the 102nd King Edward's Own Grenadiers). The regiment helped to besiege the fort of Bharatpur from December 1825 to its capture on 18 January 1826. In 1843, the 1st Grenadiers served in the Scinde War, being engaged at Hyderabad in March. The war's conclusion brought about the annexation of Scinde. The regiment was extensively employed during the First Anglo-Sikh War and was present at the decisive Battle of Sobraon in February 1846. The Second Afghan War After the outbreak of the Second Afghan War, the Bombay Grenadiers found itself initially employed initially in the vicinity of the Bolan Pass. It was not until March 1880 that the battalion, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Horace Anderson, entered Afghanistan as an element of a British-Indian column intent on quelling a revolt