The 81st Pioneers were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to 1786, when they were raised as the 28th Madras Battalion. The regiment was first called into action for the campaigns in the Third Anglo-Mysore War. They then took part in the Battle of Seringapatam in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Next they were involved in the Third Anglo-Maratha War, where they fought at the Battle of Nagpore in 1817. In 1879 they were involved in their first campaigns outside of India, when they took part in the Second Afghan War. This was followed in 1885 by the Third Burmese War. They returned to India and took part in the Tirah Campaign in 1897, attached to the Second Division, they did not see any serious fighting until late in the campaign, when they served as