The 73rd Carnatic Infantry was an infantry regiment originally raised in 1776 as the 13th Carnatic Battalion (using drafts of men from the 4th, 7th and the 11th Carnatic Battalion) as part of the Presidency of Madras Army which was itself part of the Honourable East India Company Army. The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 (passed in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857) transferred all three presidencies to the direct authority of the British Crown. In 1903 all three presidency armies were merged into the British Indian Army. The unit was transferred to the Indian Army upon Indian Independence.
After World War I the Indian government reformed the army moving from single battalion regiments to multi battalion regiments.[1] In 1922, the 73rd Carnatic Infantry became the 1st Battalion, 3rd Madras Regiment.[2] After independence they were one of the regiments allocated to the Indian Army.[3]
