The Jat Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army, of which it is one of the longest-serving and most decorated regiments. The regiment has won 19 battle honours between 1839 and 1947, and post-independence it has won five battle honours, including 2 Victoria Cross, 8 Mahavir Chakra, 8 Kirti Chakra, 34 Shaurya Chakras, 39 Vir Chakras and 170 Sena Medals. During its 200-year service history, the regiment has participated in various actions and operations in India and abroad, including the First and the Second World Wars. Numerous battalions of the Jat Regiment, including the 14th Murray's Jat Lancers, fought in the First World War. History The Regiment claims its origins from the Calcutta Native Militia that was raised in 1795, which later became an infantry battalion of the Bengal Army. The 14th Murray's Jat Lancers was formed in 1857. After 1860, there was a substantial increase in the recruitment of Jats into the British Indian Army. The Class Regiment(The Jats) was initially created in 1897 as infantry units from old battalions of the Bengal Army. In January 1922, at the time of the grouping of the Class Regiments of the Indian Army, the 9th Jat Regiment was formed by merging four active battalions and one training battalion into a single regiment. The 1st Battalion was raised as the 22nd Bengal Native Infantry in 1803. The 2nd and 3rd Battalions were raised in 1817 and 1823 respectively. All three battalions had distinguished records of service, including the winning of many honours during World War I. Objective The British had a policy of recruiting the martial Indians from those who had less access to education as they were easier to control, so the British raised regiments of those martial races who were considered politically subservient, intellectually inferior, lacking the initiative or leadership qualities to command large military formations. According to modern historian Jeffrey Greenhunt on military history, "The Martial Race theory had an elegant symmetry. Indians who were intelligent and educated were defined as cowards, while those defined as brave were uneducated and backward". According to Amiya Samanta, the martial race was chosen from people of mercenary spirit (a soldier who fights for any group or country that will pay him/her), as these groups lacked nationalism as a trait. Battle cry The battle cry, adopted in 1955, in Hindi, is जाट बलवान, जय भगवान (IAST: Jāt Balwān, Jai Bhagwān) (The