the 1st punjab regiment had its antecedents in the old madras army of the british east india company, which was largely responsible for the establishment of british rule in south and central india. its senior battalion was raised as the 3rd battalion of coast sepoys in 1759, making it the senior-most surviving infantry battalion of the british indian army. the 2nd battalion was raised in 1761 as the 7th battalion of coast sepoys, while the 3rd battalion was raised in 1776 as the 16th carnatic battalion. this was followed by the 5th battalion in 1788 as 29th madras battalion and the 10th battalion in 1794 as 34th madras battalion. these battalions underwent several changes in nomenclature until 1824, when they were designated as the 2nd, 6th, 16th, 22nd and 24th regiments of madras native infantry. their men were mostly enlisted from south india and consisted of muslims and hindus. the 4th battalion was an oddity as being a survivor of the bengal army, most of whose units were disbanded following the indian rebellion of 1857–58. it was raised in 1776 as the 30th battalion of bengal sepoys. in 1861, it was designated as the 1st regiment of bengal native infantry. it mostly recruited hindu brahmans from oudh.