after the conquest of sindh and the punjab in the 1840s, british focus shifted towards the northwest and the madras army was largely reduced to garrison duties. this greatly affected its morale and efficiency. by the turn of the century, the reputation of madrassi units had suffered considerably and they were either disbanded or reconstituted with northerners. among the latter were the five battalions, which would go on to form the 1st punjab regiment in 1922. in 1902, the south indians were mustered out and replaced with punjabi muslims, jat sikhs and rajputs in the 1st, 2nd and 10th battalions. next year, the 3rd and 5th battalions were also reconstituted with punjabi muslims, sikh jats and hindu jats. under the kitchener reforms of 1903, these battalions were redesignated as the 62nd, 66th, 76th, 82nd and 84th punjabis; thus severing almost a hundred and fifty years of association with madras. meanwhile, the 1st bengal infantry was redesignated as the 1st brahmans.