The 9th battalion of the Madras Regiment (Travancore) is the oldest extant unit in the Indian Army. It has been in service for over 300 years. History The battalion was raised in 1704 at Padmanabhapuram, the capital of the erstwhile kingdom of Travancore. Raised as personal bodyguards to the Maharaja of Travancore, the unit, though redesigned through the ages, continues to retain its individual identity with no history of disbandment or re-raising. The Travancore Army, known as the Nair Brigade, completely exterminated the superior and better equipped Dutch Forces which landed at Colachal in July 1741 during the reign of Anizham Thirunal Veer Bala Marthand Varma. In the Battle of Colachel, during the Travancore–Dutch War, Capt Eustachius De Lannoy, the Dutch Naval Forces Commander, was captured and was asked later to train the Travancore Army. From 1741 to 1758, Capt De Lannoy remained in command of the Travancore Forces and was involved in annexation of small principalities. In 1935, the Travancore State joined the Indian State Forces Scheme and the battalion was named 1st Travancore Nair Infantry, Travancore State Forces. The unit was reorganised as an Indian State Infantry Battalion by Lieutenant Colonel H S Steward who was appointed Commandant of the Travancore State Forces. World War II In 1940, the battalion left for Padmanabhapuram and arrived at Military Station, Cannanore. The battalion served overseas in the 1940s. In 1945, Major General V.N. Parameswaran Pillai was appointed GOC Travancore State Forces. In the same year, the unit was asked to move to South East Asia Command. Embarked on at Taima, the unit sailed to Hong Kong. Disembarked at Kowloon Harbour, it was placed under the command of the 150th Indian Infantry Brigade. While at Kowloon, the unit was assigned the task of guarding Japanese prisoners of war, airfields and docks. It also looked after the repatriation of POWs to Japan. The unit left Hong Kong, disembarked at Madras and arrived at Trivandrum on 31 January 1947. Indian Army In April 1951, the battalion was integrated with Indian Army and on 1 May 1954, it was merged with the Madras Regiment and was re-designated 9th Battalion of the Madras Regiment (Travancore). After the integration of Travancore State Force with the Indian Army, the State Forces Colours were ceremonially laid up at Chetwode Hall, Indian Military Academy, Dehradun in 1956. The then-incumbent President of India, V. V. Giri, presented Colours to the