|
Queen's Own Corps
of Guides (Punjab Frontier Force) - Indian Officers, 1880
These men look thoroughly
professional and self-assured as indeed they should have,
being the cream of the elite cavalry unit. They all wear
the drab coloured kurta with red facings and beige silk
lace and braid. On their chest there were three rows of
lace traced round with braid that formed close circles.
The cuffs are elaborately braided, becoming more so with
each ascending rank. The highest ranking officer here is
the one seated on the right, holding a mameluke sword. He
would be a risaldar-major. A cord hangs round their necks
attaching to the butt of a pistol in a holster. They have
a small ammunition pouch on the front of the belt and a
three bar hilted sword. Their epaullettes are small cords
that do not carry badges of rank. These would be replaced
in ten years time by the more familiar chain-mail epaullettes.
The turbans of Indian troops tended to be more loosely tied
at this time, but it is still possible to distinguish between
sikhs and pathans (the seated figure on the left looks very
much like a pathan while the man standing next to him in
a white beard is a sikh).
|
INDEXES