Bangladesh Army

Early history

The martial tradition of Bengal has its roots in the army of Kings and their chiefs who were called Senapati or Mahasenapati. Armies were composed of infantry, cavalry, war elephants and war boats. The arrival of Muslims and the establishment of the Bengal Sultanate further strengthened the military. The sultanate had well organised disciplined armies. During Mughal rule Cannons and artillery were introduced to Bengal. During the Colonial Rule of the British, Bengal was principally a bulwark of British power and trade in the South Asian region. The British under Robert Clive defeated a 50,000 strong Bengal Army of Nawab Siraj-ud-daullah in the Polashey(Plassey) in 1757 and later the forces of Nawab Mir Qasim at the Battle of Buxar in 1764. The Army of Bengal was formed, which later became part of a united Indian Army from 1895 to 1947. The eastern part of the British India was a prominent place for military and police recruitment, with entire horse-mounted cavalry and lancer units being recruited there prior to the Bengal Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. Post-mutiny, units with the epithet "Bengal" in their name, such as Bengal Sappers and Bengal Cavalry, were largely recruited from non-Bengali peoples from Bihar, Varanasi and Uttar Pradesh which were technically still part of Bengal Presidency at that time. During the First World War, the Bangali Paltan was formed to recruit soldiers from Bengal. In 1916, the British Government created Bengali Double Company. They soldiers were trained in Karachi and shipped to the Bagdad. They fought in the war and after the war helped crush a rebellion by Kurds in 1919.

During the Second World War, British Armed Forces Eastern Command created an auxiliary force who were part engineers and part infantry named as Indian Pioneer Corps. Most of the soldiers were recruited from both West and East Bengal. This force assisted the main war effort by building roads, airfields, fortifications and, when needed, fought the Japanese in an infantry role. These force was organised in company groups attached to various regiments of Indian Army in direct support role. Captain Abdul Gani was a Company Commander in the Burma front and led his troops in battle. After the war these Pioneer Troops were concentrated in Jalna, India, waiting to be demobilised and return home. In 1946 Captain Ghani the then Adjutant and Quartermaster of Indian Pioneer Corps Centre at Jalna envisioned and generated the idea of forming an Infantry regiment out of the Pioneer soldiers from East Bengal who would be returning home demobilised, to the Centre Commander. After receiving permission from the Chief of Staff of Pakistan Army General Sir Frank Messervy, he organised his men to form the nucleus of an Infantry Regiment, the Bangali Paltan (Platoon).

Pakistan period

At the time of the creation of Pakistan Captain Ghani got the approval of the then newly appointed Commander in Chief to Pakistan Army General Messervey to form the East Bengal Regiment composed solely of youths from East Bengal, would be East Pakistan. On 17 August 1947 General Messervey while bidding farewell to the Pioneer Corps soldiers from Bombay the General endorsed the views of Captain Ghani and said' you will prove to the world that Bengali soldiers are equally competent as other nations of the world.' With these inspiring words Captain Ghani moved to Dhaka in September 1947 with two Pioneer Companies and was temporarily located in Pilkhana now the Headquarters of Border Guards Bangladesh. He was later told by the administration to find a suitable place to accommodate the soldiers. He moved to the north of the Capital and found Kurmitola as the perfect place for a cantonment. Toiling day in and day out the barracks were constructed and jungles cleared, parade ground prepared.

On 15 February 1948 the flag of First East Bengal Regiment the pioneer of Bangladesh Army was raised with Captain Ghani on the lead of all the affairs though the first commanding officer was British Lt Col V J E Patterson. After the raising of the first battalion the second battalion was approved Captain Gani began to recruit the personnel for the regiment. On 7 February 1949 the flag of the Second East Bengal was raised with the newly recruited soldiers and from personnel from First East Bengal. Before the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, a total of 8 battalions of the East Bengal Regiment were formed.

Bangladesh Liberation War 1971

In 1970 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman lead Bangladesh Awami League to win the General Elections of Pakistan. The Pakistan Army which was then in power refused to handover power and unrest broke out. On 25 March 1971 Pakistan Armed Forces cracked down on the civilian population of East Pakistan through the start of Operation Searchlight and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh. The Pakistan Army and allied paramilitaries killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and uniformed personnel. As a result, in March 1971, Bengali soldiers in East Pakistan revolted and the Bangladesh Liberation War started. There was a Bangladesh Army Sector Commanders Conference during 11–17 July 1971. The conference was held three months after the oath of the newly formed Bangladesh Government at Meherpur, Kushtia. During this conference the structure and formation as well as resolving issues surrounding the organisation of the various sectors, strategy and reinforcements of the Bangladeshi forces was determined. It was of considerable historical importance from a tactical point of view, as it determined the command structure of the Bangladeshi forces throughout Bangladesh Liberation War.

This conference was presided over by the Bangladesh interim government in exile, headed by then Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed and Colonel (Retd.) M. A. G. Osmani was made the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. M. A. G. Osmani was reinstated into active duty from his retirement. Principal participants of this conference included: Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan, Major Ziaur Rahman, Major Abdul Jalil, Captain ATM Haider, Lt. Col. MA Rab and Major Khaled Mosharraf. As a result of this meeting, Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors. These sectors were placed under the control of Sector Commanders, who would direct the guerilla war against Pakistani occupation forces. For better efficiency in military operations each of the sectors were also divided into a number of sub-sectors. As a point of note, the 10th Sector was under direct command of the Commander-in-Chief and included the Naval Commando Unit as a C-in-C's special force.

Following the conference a period of prolonged guerrilla warfare was launched by Bangladesh Forces, which continued for a number of months. A further restructuring was undertaken and the Bangladesh Forces were organised into three brigade size combat groups:[4]

    K Force, under Major Khaled Mosharraf, was created with 4th, 9th and 10th East Bengal Regiment.
    S Force, under Major K M Shafiullah, was created with 2nd and 11th East Bengal Regiment.
    Z Force, under Major Ziaur Rahman, was created with 1st, 3rd and 8th East Bengal Regiment.

Post 1971: The emergence of the Bangladesh Army

During the sensitive and formative years after the end of the war, personnel of the Mukti Bahini were absorbed into different branches of Bangladesh Army. In 1974 Bangladeshi soldiers and officers repatriated from Pakistan after the Bangladesh Liberation war were absorbed into Bangladesh Army.

During the 1972-73 tenure, engineers, signals, army services, ordnance, military police, remount veterinary and farm and medical corps was established in Bangladesh Army. Bangladesh military academy was established in Cumilla cantonment in 1974. On 11 January 1975, the passing out parade of the first Bangladesh Army short course took place. In 1975 the President Guard Regiment (PGR) was established.