Indian Army

The official (British) Indian Army was formed in 1895. Prior to this date there were three separate Presidency armies (which after 1861 were sometimes unofficially referred to as the Indian Army), which were all part of the Government of the time. Just as India, as part of the British Empire, was controlled by Great Britain, the Indian Army was part of the British Army, which had ultimate control.

Indian Army regiments can be viewed here.

See also

• Armies in India - an overview
• Auxiliary Regiments (Volunteer Regiments)
• Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
• Courts-martial
• Indian Army Artillery
• Indian Army Images
• Indians in the British Army
• Medals
• Medal Rolls
• Unattached List
• Category:Organisations has links to a number of military historical societies which publish journals containing articles about India, including the now closed Indian Military Historical Society, which published the journal Durbar.
• Postal Service for some details during Military Campaigns.
• 5th Light Infantry for 1915 Singapore Mutiny
• Indian Army Educational and Training Establishments c 1945‎

FIBIS resources

• FIBIS research guide No. 3: Researching ancestors in the Indian Army, 1858-1947 by Peter A Bailey 2014.

The book guides the reader through the various stages of the development of the Indian Army and covers aspects including the structure of the army, campaigns, the various regiments, as well as details of how to find information on officers, NCOs and other ranks; attestation, training, service history, leave, pensions, wills, etc. There is also a soldier’s detailed career path illustrating what can be found in the various records cited in the book. Available from the FIBIS Store.

• FIBIS database: Facsimile of Book - Deeds of Valour, 1860-1925. A Compilation of Deeds of Valour performed by Indian Army Officers & Soldiers (European only).
• FIBIS database: Soldiers’ and Widows’ Pension details -1896 IOR/L/MIL/14/214 & 215. Includes previous members of the Bengal, Madras and Bombay Armies, including men from the Unattached List. May also include a few members of the Indian Army which officially was formed in 1895. These records are available on LDS microfilm 2029979 Items 1-2 with catalogue entry, however the FIBIS database record contains all the information available in the microfilm.
• FIBIS database: WW1 British Officers of the Indian Army and Royal Marine. Casualty lists of British Officers and Civil Servants in the Indian Army and Royal Marine who died in the Great War (1914-1920).
• FIBIS database: Post Office of India during the Great War 1914-1920. Honour roll of those who died in the Great War in addition to those who received honours and awards from the book by Hubert A Sams.
• FIBIS database transcriptions taken from WW1 War Diaries WO 95 series. Indian Army and Imperial Service Troops provided by Princely States.
• FIBIS database: Officers of the 5th Battalion, 8th Punjabi Regiment 1926 From the Publication - Indian Army List 1926. Govt of India.
• FIBIS database: Indian Army - RIASC 1938 - Mechanical, Supply and Animal Transport
• Review by Richard Morgan of A Soldier’s Story in FIBIS Journal Number 26 Autumn 2011, page 52. For details of how to access this article, see FIBIS Journals. The review may also be read in this link, along with other reviews.

Details of the book A Soldier’s Story-From the Khyber Pass to the Jungles of Burma: The Memoir of a British Officer in the Indian Army 1933-1947 by John Archibald Hislop, edited by Penny Kocher 2010.

British Indian Army Cavalry

The British Indian Army maintained about forty regiments of cavalry, officered by British and manned by Indian sowars (cavalrymen). The legendary exploits of this branch lives on in literature and early films. Among the more famous regiments in the lineages of modern Indian and Pakistani Armies are:

• Governor General's Bodyguard (now President's Bodyguard)
• Skinner's Horse (now India's 1st Horse (Skinner's)
• Gardner's Horse (now India's 2nd Lancers (Gardner's)
• Hodson's Horse (now India's 4th Horse (Hodson's) of the Bengal Lancers fame
• 6th Bengal Cavalry (later amalgamated with 7th Hariana Lancers to form 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry) now 18th Cavalry of the *Indian Army
• Probyn's Horse (now Pakistani)
• Royal Deccan Horse (now India's The Deccan Horse)
• Poona Horse (now India's The Poona Horse)
• Queen's Own Guides Cavalry (now partitioned between Pakistan and India).
• Several of these formations are still active, though they now are armoured formations, for example Guides Cavalry in Pakistan.

Details of the book Izzat: Historical Records and Iconography of Indian Cavalry Regiments 1750-2007 by Ashok Nath 2009, published by the United Service Institution of India. It consists of over 800 pages and includes information about badges, buttons and shoulder titles. See Military reading list. Further details about the book are available in the Tribune India review and the review by SASNET - Swedish South Asian Studies Network, Lund University, now an archived webpage. This book is available at the British Library.

Reserve of Officers

The official title was Army in India Reserve of Officers or A.I.R.O, but it was also known as the Indian Army Reserve of Officers, or I.A.R.O. Applications to the I.A.R.O are held in the British Library and itemised online in the Catalogue Browse by searching under term IARO or by entering name of soldier (surname first!)

Some, or perhaps all, appointments were promulgated in the London Gazette, which may be searched online.

There are India Office Records at the British Library called Collection 397 Reserve of Officers IOR/L/MIL/7/16215-16279 1886-1940 .Another item is the publication Regulations for the Army in India Reserve of Officers 1939. Delhi: Defence Dept, 1939. IOR/L/MIL/17/5/654 1939

The British Library has the book, in five volumes, covering the First World War, Alphabetical list giving particulars of officers of the Indian Army Reserve of Officers / [issued by] Army Headquarters, India, Military Secretary’s Branch. The catalogue entry states "Contents: [v.1]. 26th June 1916 _ v.2. 24th January 1917 _ v.3. 31st December 1917 _ v.4. 30th June 1918 _ v.5. 31st December 1918". The shelfmark is OIR 355.37 Open Access. There are also the records, Applications for appointments to the India Army Reserve of Officers ‎ (1916-1918) IOR/L/MIL/9/552 to IOR/L/MIL/9/552. Search by name, for link see section Records.

FIBIS database: A List of Officers (I.A.R.O.) recruited to or Re-engaged during the Year 1916 and up to the middle of January 1917

For conditions of service, see the letters of Thomas Gilbert, in External links, below.

The Army in Burma Reserve of Officers (A.B.R.O.)

The commencement of the ABRO is not on record; a suggested date is the separation of India and Burma in 1937. See External links below.

British in the Indian Army

British in this context refers to those of British/European background.

• Officers were British, although there were additionally lower ranked native Indian Officers who were Viceroy Commissioned Officers.

An attraction for British officers in the Indian Army, at least for some periods, was that an officer of the Indian Army could, if careful, live off his pay. In the British Army officers were expected to have a private income of some sort to supplement their pay.

• There were some British support staff, mainly Warrant Officers and Sergeants. Most of them were not attached to a regiment, however at times a British soldier could be in a role such as Quartermaster Sergeant in a Native Infantry Regiment. See Unattached List for further details.
• Generally, all members of the volunteer or auxiliary regiments were British, including Anglo-Indians (formerly known as Eurasians). See Auxiliary Regiments.

Indians in the British Army

Some Indian served in the British Army, or were attached to the British Army. See British Army - Indians in the British Army.

Indian Army Followers

Indian Army followers were regarded as non combatants, and received lesser benefits than those in the Indian Army. There were two main categories of followers:

Higher ranks of followers were listed in Rule 8 under the Indian Army Act (Act VIII of 1911) as the mule, bullock and camel drivers (singular drabi, or draby, a corruption of the English word driver) of the Supply and Transport Corps, the Transport veterinary dafadars, lascars in Arsenals and Depots of the Ordnance Department, and men of the Army Bearer Corps. They usually worked in their own distinct units.

The second category, the menial followers, were the attached followers, including regimental followers, the latter being those attached to infantry or cavalry regiments. These were either public or private followers. The public followers were those deemed essential to the mobilization of a unit as a fighting formation and therefore paid from the central exchequer, such as a langri (cook for Indian troops), bhisti (sweeper) and mocha (saddler). Private followers were paid from mess funds, deductions in wages etc- barbers, dhobis (washer men), mess bearers (waiters), tailors and blacksmiths. Officers paid for their own servants, a personal bearer (valet) and a syce (groom)

20 March 1917: the conversion of mule drivers from follower to combatant service.
23 April 1918: a set of concessions were announced for the Army Bearer Corps.

Also see Historical books online, below.

Records

British Library

• Explore the British Library for book titles relating to Indian Army in British Library catalogue.
• The British Library’s "Search our Catalogue Archives and Manuscripts" Search by name, or search by catalogue reference.
• British Library’s Help for Researchers: European Officers; Indian Officers and Other Ranks now archived webpages.

The links for the following catalogue references are National Archives Discovery links. For British Library equivalent links, search directly in the British Library’s "Search our Catalogue Archives and Manuscripts" link above.

There are India Office records in the British Library, reference IOR L/MIL/14. The records include Indian Army Records of Service IOR/L/MIL/14/239-72481 c 1901-1947, stated to "cover mainly European personnel". It appears unlikely that these records contain men in the Volunteer or Auxiliary Regiments. Previously the catalogue entry advised that the closure period for these files has been set at 75 years from the date of entry of the serviceman/woman into the service. The files are opened on an annual basis. On 1 January 2010, files relating to persons joining the service in 1934 were opened. However, this wording does not now appear. A complete alphabetical index to the opened files is now available on open access in the Asian & African Studies Reading Room at the British Library or it can be searched by name on British Library Archives and Manuscripts search. Note *The majority of files date from the 1930s. * "It was the policy for a very long time that on retirement of a regular IA officer to give them their service record when they did retire, and in the case of officers died in service the papers were sent on to the family as a rememberence. That is why if you are researching a regular IA officer of the period say 1900 - 1930 the papers will not be there. After 1930 you get a selection of papers but not the full lot - these seem to be a mixed bag. This policy is illustrated by a researcher who found a relative’s British Army, and Indian Army service records through to 1947, in an old family suitcase. *It is not known whether the search facility only locates names where there is an open file.
Note, index records for this database are also available on Findmypast in the dataset "Indian Army Records Of Service 1900-1947" located in Military, Armed Forces & Conflict/Regimental & Service Records.

Additionally, there are publications from the Military Department Library in respect of the Indian Army, catalogue entry IOR/L/MIL/17/5 1854-1947 including

• Indian Army List IOR/L/MIL/17/5/1-219 1889-1947 These are readily available on the open shelves. War Services are a particularly valuable feature of the List and the volumes in which they appear or with which they were issued separately are marked within the link with an asterisk. After 1892 the war services of Indian Officers are included in January issues only. A few editions have been reprinted. See below.
• Stations of the Army in India Distribution Lists/Lists of Units IOR/L/MIL/17/5/771-1132 1908-1947

Earlier Indian Army Lists may be found in India Office Serials IOR/V/6 1768-1948 including

• Indian Army and Civil Service List, from January, 1861 IOR/V/6/125-156 1861-1876
• India List Civil and Military, from January, 1877 IOR/V/6/157-191 1877-1895

For online editions see Indian Army List online.

The Military Department Library at the British Library also contains Indian Army First World War - War Diaries, which are printed volumes, series IOR/L/MIL/17/5/2421-4246. Also contained in this series are some Indian Army Casualty Returns. See First World War-Records-British Library holdings for more details.

The book Index of Indian Army Regimental Titles by Anthony Farrington, published 1982 is on the open shelves at the British Library

India’s Army by Major D. Jackson 1940 contains a "potted history" of every Regiment & Corps (including the auxiliary & princely state forces). With 70 chapters, over 100 B & W photos & illustrations, 14 full Colour plates. Now available online, refer below, but the inclusion of, and/or standard of, photographs and illustrations is unknown.

Regiments : Regiments and Corps of the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1758-1993 : a critical bibliography of their published histories by Roger Perkins 1994, is available at the BL UIN: BLL01009529783. Also searchable but not viewable on the HathiTrust Digital Library. (A few sample pages.) An expanded edition, originally published 1989 as Regiments of the Empire: A Bibliography of their published histories. The 1994 publication is also available in a reprint edition as part of a CD-ROM. For books published after 1993, see External links below, for a page from Durbaronline, the website of the Indian Military Historical Society.

A good source of military information is the annual publication of Indian Army Orders IOR/L/MIL/17/5/245-299 1903-1947, issued by the Adjutant General's Department and Army Headquarters India. Volumes 245-85 (to 1942, and partially 1943) contain annual indexes. This publication includes at least some information from the official Gazettes (see the following item). Some editions of Indian Army Orders are available online, see Military periodicals online -Indian Army Orders, or see Historical books online below.

The India Office Records at the British Library include Government Gazettes IOR/V/11 1831-1947 which contain much military information.
The Government Gazettes were the official newspapers of the Government of India and its provincial governments. The series held are: Gazettes of India 1865-1947, Calcutta 1832-1947, Assam 1874-1947, Bihar and Orissa 1912-1947, United Provinces, 1850-1947, Fort St George 1832-1947, Bombay 1831-1947, Punjab 1872-1947, North-West Frontier Province 1932-1947, Central Provinces 1875-1947, Coorg 1885-1947, Sind 1869-1947, Burma 1875-1947. Summaries of the contents of each series are to be found in the handlists in the Reading Room of the British Library

Some editions of the Gazette of India are available online, see Gazette of India online. For online editions of the Calcutta Gazette, see Newspapers and journals online - Calcutta Gazette.

National Archives of India

Indian armed forces personnel records are held at the National Archives of India with the contact email address given as: archives@nic.in

"I enquired at the National Archives in Delhi and received 150 pages of my grandfather's service record. An enquiry doesn't cost any money until they copy documents for you. The process is slow but well worth the wait". D. Fielder 14 April 2011. Subsequently he advised "My grandfather was in the IMS… I received it [the record] within 3-4 months". Some earlier advice is contained in “How to Retrieve Indian War Records” a WW2Talk Forum post dated 2 July 2009.

The writer of this section sent an email request in October 2013, using the email address previously quoted. A reply was received seven weeks later, but unfortunately no record is available, (nor is there a record at the British Library).

A researcher visiting India was advised to contact the Adjutant General's Office in Delhi. Eventually she found the actual address to be Adjutant General's Office, Indian Headquarters of the Ministry of Defense (Army), Room No. 280, South Block, New Delhi 110011. Email address agbrancharmyhq@gmail.com. The Adjutant General's Office files in Delhi are filed by the service record numbers, so it is necessary to have this information.

It seems probable that the files accessible through the National Archives of India and the Adjutant General's Office, both located in Delhi, are the same files, but this is not yet known.

Note: Refer comment under British Library records above that generally there will not be files for officers who retired, as officer papers were presented to them on retirement.

Regarding other records about the Indian Army at the National Archives of India, a researcher commented: "There is a lot on the Indian Army at the NA of India. Most of it is of course part of the Army/Military Department collection but one can find some interesting files every now and then in the Home Department or the Foreign and Political Department. Unfortunately they do not allow researchers to make copies of the indexes and to the best of my knowledge there is no online reference. The only way to get to it is to go there yourself or engage a local researcher...Sadly they do not allow photography".

Abhilekh Patal, digital collection of NAI

Abhilekh Patal hosts the digital collection of the National Archives of India.
Includes a collection of digitised Defence documents.
Also includes at least one naturalisation request, see Naturalisation in India for details.
Registration is required to view the documents.
Note, a researcher had issues in the past with this website and although certain the website is legitimate, suspected a hacker may have been involved.

Other records in India

• The Centre for Military History and Conflict Studies (CMHCS), The United Service Institution of India. There is a drop down menu at the top of the webpage. This Centre perhaps may be able to offer advice about military records in India. There is a Publications section.
• Article "Treasure trove: Awesome collection in awful condition" by Sonia Malik 8 July 2011, The Tribune, Pakistan, gives details of records held at the Lahore Museum in respect of over 100,000 Indian soldiers who served in the British Army during the First World War.

Update "Registers accessed from Lahore Museum digitised, records of WW-1 soldiers from undivided Punjab now a click away" by Divya Goyal 10 November 2021. indianexpress.com. Phase-1 of the platform Punjab & World War One will be launched with details of three districts – Ludhiana, Jalandhar (then Jullundur) and Sialkot (now in Pakistan).

• State Archives in India, such as West Bengal State Archive, may have records. See Indian Libraries and Archives. Note however, access may be restricted to persons connected with a university or recognised institution.

British Army records after January 1921/April 1922

If you are looking records for British personnel who served in the Indian Army , either officers whose service ended after April 1922 or soldiers whose service ended after January 1921, and there is no record in the series "Indian Army Records of Service IOR/L/MIL/14/239/1-72481", or at the National Archives of India, (refer above for both these sources), you could try contacting the Army Personnel Centre Historical Disclosures Section, whose details are set out in the article British Army-Army personnel serving after January 1921. This is not a confirmed source, but some other British Army records include British officers from the Indian Army. Note: Refer comment under British Library records above that generally there will not be files for officers who retired, as officer papers were presented to them on retirement.

FamilySearch [LDS] Microfilms

Note: Microfilm ordering services ceased 7 September 2017, however selected microfilms have been digitised and are currently available for viewing on a FamilySearch computer at a FamilySearch Centre. Locate these records through the FamilySearch catalogue. It is expected that in time all microfilms will be similarly available in this format. Please take this into account when reading the information below.

Indian Army List equivalent publications, under different titles, are available as Familysearch, previously known as LDS, microfilms, for the period to 1895. Refer the Fibiwiki page Indian Army List online and select the relevant period.

A limited number of additional FamilySearch microfilms are available in respect of the Indian Army: Search the FamilySearch Library catalogue using keywords “Indian Army” and “India Office”. For viewing details, see FamilySearch Centres.

The National Archives (TNA) (UK)

The National Archives at Kew house a good run of Indian Army Lists available on open shelves. There is a full run from 1902-1939 but also some earlier volumes dating from 1860s.

Online records

• See Indian Army List online
• Refer Directories online and Military periodicals online for Army Lists available online. On the latter page, there is information about British, Indian Army Officers in the New Annual Army List, also known as Hart's Annual Army List which is searchable through the National Library of Scotland website. There may be references to Indian Army Officers in British Army Quarterly Lists available online to 1946.

• The [London] Gazette contains details of (some/all?) appointments and promotions for officers. See British Army - The [London] Gazette for more details of this source. As an example of the information which can be found, see a Great War Forum topic (Details).

• Some issues of the Gazette of India and the Calcutta Gazette (refer British Library above) are available online, refer Newspapers and journals online and Gazette of India online.

• Some Officers were of high social status/the Landed Gentry class and genealogical and other resources relating to this social class such as school and Sandhurst records may provide Army details. See British Army - Landed Gentry/high social status for sources of records, including online.

• For Prisoner of War records from the First World War which include members of the Indian Army, see Prisoners of War on the British Army page.

• WW1 Casualty Lists on the British Army page includes British personnel in the Indian Army.

• "British" Indian Army Officers 1939-1945 from World War II Unit Histories & Officers

National Army Museum

The National Army Museum in London had the following guide on its website:

• Information Sheet No 1: Researching soldiers of the East India Company’s Armies and the Indian Army, now available as an archived page.

The collection at the NAM includes the card index by Hodson and Percy Smith which includes details of officers who joined the Indian Army from Sandhurst, warrant officers and some Emergency Commissioned Officers of the Second World War. The NAM collection also includes 3,400 questionnaires completed in the 1960’s, 70s and 80s by former India Army Officers about their careers and families.

The NAM also holds some Indian Army regimental histories.

Prince Consort's Library

The Prince Consort's Library, Aldershot, Hampshire contains a large number of pre Independence Indian Army regimental histories.

Uniform items

Also refer Externals links, Uniforms below.

The turban

The turban provided protection from sun, wind, cold and minor blows to the head. When it was windy, with sand being blown around, an end of the turban could be used to cover face, nose, ears and beard.

Dress Regulations 1913 refer to the lungi and the pagri.
British Officers serving with Indian units are permitted to wear a lungi in place of a helmet with khaki dress…All officers of a unit must be dressed alike. (Page 7)

The Pashtu language word is lungi, (lungee,) while the Hindi/Punjabi word is pagri, (pugri, pugrie, puggaree, pagree, pagg, pagh, pagari).

The lungi was often wrapped around a kullah, (kulla, khulla), a dome shaped scull cup, which however is not worn by Sikhs. Sikhs in the Army, as part of their uniform, were issued a 5 metre turban, and a half size, smaller, under turban called a "fifty" which was usually in a contrasting colour. The smaller cloth was also known as a pag, (pakta), (which could also be a bandana type cloth) and shows as a small triangle of contrasting colour in the centre of the forehead under the lungi.

In Army terminology, the term lungi was usually used for the cloth the turban was constructed from, and a pagri usually referred to the cloth which was wound around a sun helmet, the latter worn both by British in the Indian Army, and in the British Army. However, in some contexts, a lungi and kullah together formed a pagri, and in other contexts the words lungi and pagri have the same meaning.

The lungis were of “regimental pattern” which often differed between officers and O.R.s, and also could differ from one decade to the next. . This means it may be difficult to identify the regiment from the pattern.

The kurta

The kurta was a kaftan like garment which could be knee length or longer.

Indian Military Academy and other Training Schools

Indian Military Academy

The Indian Military Academy was established at Dehra Dun in 1932. The course was designed to be parallel to the course at Sandhurst, UK.
During WW2 it provided an eight month training course for soldiers from the rank, or for civilians who had graduated from a prior eight week program at Datta Officers Training School, Lahore. The successful participants were graduated as Second Lieutenants.

Other Officer Training Schools

• To meet the urgent needs for officers, the Daly College at Indore was converted to an Officer Training School in 1918. There was one batch of graduates.
• C 1943, there were Officer Training Schools at Bangalore, Belgaum , Mhow and Datta, (Dutta) Lahore. Dutta O.T.S was situated in one wing of the Foreman Christian College campus on the bank of the canal which ran through the suburbs of Lahore.

Staff College

The Army Staff College moved to Quetta in 1907. Established in 1905, it was a training college for existing officers to become eligible for Staff appointments.

Officers trained in countries other than UK or India

Top officer cadets in both Australia and Canada could opt for service in the Indian Army. The Australians liked the cavalry and the Canadians liked the infantry.

Language skills

It appears language qualifications for officers were required before being sent on active service. For an example, see 128th Pioneers.

Dogs

"In the Indian Army dogs were practically part of the Officers equipment, because they slept on our beds and ensured that marauders didn’t steal our arms and gave the alarm if anybody came in".

External links

Wikipedia

• British Indian Army (1895-1947)
• List of Indian Army Regiments 1903
• List of Indian Army Regiments 1922
• Indian Army during World War II

Other

• "Making A Virture Out Of Necessity: The Indian Army 1746-1947" by Dr Rob Johnson BCMH Summer Conference 2012 – Indian Armies (The British Commission for Military History bcmh.org.uk. now an archived webpage.)

Foreword, Introduction and Chapter 1 of The British Indian Army: Virtue and Necessity Edited by Rob Johnson cambridgescholars.com

• The Indian Army’s British Officer Corps, 1861-1921 by Adam John Prime. 2018 PhD Thesis University of Leicester. The final section: "the social lives enjoyed by officers will be evaluated; sport, marriage, and family all impacted on an officer’s career". University of Leicester website.
• Historical Orders of Battle and TOEs 1900-1938. Includes Indian Army. orbat.com, now archived.

Historical Orders of Battle and TOEs 1939-1945. Includes Indian Army. orbat.com, now archived.

• The Army In India – July 1914 by Prof Charles Tustin Kamps Orders of Battle, now archived.
• East and Central Africa Medal 1897-99 with clasp: Uganda 1897-98, awarded to Sepoy Ahmad Khan, 27th (1st Baluch Battalion), Regiment of Bombay Light Infantry. The 27th (1st Baluch Battalion), Regiment of Bombay Light Infantry were one of three Indian Army regiments that took part in the suppression of a mutiny by the Sudanese troops used by the Colonial Government in Uganda. National Army Museum.
• This article briefly states that "in South Africa [2nd Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902] there were a large number of officers and natives lent by India" and favourably mentions the Indian Military Accounts Department. Indian Army units in the Boer War from "Ladysmith History & The Boer War". (archive.org link). Also see Boer War
• Center for Indian Military History from Orders of Battle (orbat.com). now archived, is an index page which has links to articles such as “British-Indian Army: Imperial Service Troops 1888-1918”, “Indian Infantry Regiments of World War I: 1st Brahmans through 30th Punjabis “, “Indian Army, 1939” and the “British Indian Army”. The page History also has some links about the Indian Army pre 1947 which do not appear to be included in the previous index page. As this site is now archived, some articles may not be available.
• King-Emperor.com The Indian Army on campaign 1901-1939, now archived. Photos, histories, profiles etc.
• "British colonial experience in Waziristan and its applicability to current operations" by Matthew W Williams, 2005 from Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library. Archive.org mirror version.
• "The Indian Army in Africa and Asia 1940-1942 Implications for the planning and execution of two nearly- simultaneous campaigns" by Major James Scudieri, 1995 from Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library. Archive.org mirror version.
• Indian Cavalry British Empire website
• Bengal Cavalry Regiments 1857-1914 Google Books
• A register of titles of the units of the H.E.I.C. & Indian armies, 1666-1947 by Chris Kempton published by the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, c1997. Copy can be found via the British Library catalogue
• The United Service Institution of India was founded in 1870 . It was founded for 'furtherance of interest and knowledge ...of the Defence Services.' It has published a Journal since that time, with the following (pdf) indexes which may be searched. Index Part 1: 1871-1921, Index Part 2: 1922-1970. The Journals are available at the British Library from 1883 (Volume 12)
• Empire, Faith & War: The Sikhs and World War One Includes categories Tell their Story/Research Your Soldier. A project of the United Kingdom Punjab Heritage Association.
• "Finding Indian soldiers who served in World War One": Casualty Appendices to the War Diaries by Dorota Walker 09 September 2014. British Library Untold lives blog. Retrieved 11 September 2014
• Researching a Soldier who served in the Indian Army in the First World War researchingww1.co.uk
• Photographs: World War I: Indian Army by H D Girdwood British Library on flickr.com. Mainly taken in France on the Western Front. Also available through the BL Digitised Manuscripts Search using keyword Girdwood.
• "How The British Raj’s Army Opened Its Doors For ‘Indian’ Officers" by Srinath Raghavan June 26, 2016 swarajyamag.com. Includes mention of the establishment of the Royal Indian Military Academy in Dehradun in October 1932.
• "Indianization of Officer Ranks of Army. Quaid-i-Azam MA. Jinnah : Second Phase 1924-34" Pakistan Journal of History and Culture Vol.XXVIII No. 2 Jul-Dec 2007. This appears to be Chapter IV from the book Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah: Second phase of his freedom struggle 1924-1934 by Riaz Ahmad 1994.
• The Army in Burma Reserve of Officers (A.B.R.O.) by Vivian Rodrigues. angloburmeselibrary.com
• Letters written by Thomas Gilbert to his parents and other family members, chiefly from India. State Library of South Australia. Catalogue link.

Page 12. 13 June 1915. He is not allowed to join the Indian Army Officers reserve; Page 28. 18.6.16. Indian Army Reserve of Officers; Page 33. Conditions of Service for IARO; Page 34. 7.8.16 Attached to 27th Light Cavalry at Lucknow; Page 49. At the end of 1916 he joined the Royal Flying Corps.

• Audio: 1980 Interview Lt Col R. Banks, with transcript Indian Army life and career 1914-c 1937 Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. He transferred to the Indian Army in 1917, initially he was with the 15th Sikhs, then joined the Judge Advocate General’s Department, part of the Indian Army dealing with court martial work, military law and any uprisings, and subsequently officiated as Judge Advocate General in India, until he was medically retired in 1937 (rabies related). His experience with riots resulted in an appointment to Palestine c 1938-39.
• Indian Tales by Patrick O‘Meara (born 1930) describes his childhood in India, spent in Army cantonments. His father was in the Royal Indian Army Service Corps (RIASC). Indian-tales.com, now archived.
• Obituary of Charles Chenevix Trench, c 1914 -2003 (telegraph.co.uk, archive.org link) He served as an Indian Army officer in the 1930s, commissioned into Hodson's Horse, and winning an MC during the Second World War . In 1946 he retired from the Army to follow his father into the Indian Political Service for the 18 months until Partition. His 19 books included three classic accounts of British India: The Indian Army and the King's Enemies, 1900-1947; The Frontier Scouts; and The Viceroy's Agent, all published in the 1980s and available at the British Library
• "Ethnicity, Religion, Military Performance and Political Reliability - British Recruitment Policy and The Indian Army - 1757-1947" by Maj (Retd) Agha Humayun Amin Defence Journal [Pakistan] February 2001, now an archived webpage. Major Agha Humayun Amin is the author of Pakistan Army till 1965.
• "'Punjabisation' in the British Indian Army 1857-1947 and the Advent of Military Rule in Pakistan" by Syed Hussain Shaheed Soherwordi, School of History & Classics, University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh Papers In South Asian Studies Number 24 (2010).
• "Recruitment History of Indian Army: Historical Perspective" by Col Deepak Joshi (Retd) June 7, 2010 recruitmenthistory.com
• "The Martial Races of India: Recruitment by Ethnicity in the British Indian Army" by Jasdeep Singh, recorded on 22 February 2016. YouTube video. nam.ac.uk. Transcript of the video nam.ac.uk, now an archived page.
• Page 60, "Front Lines and Status Lines: Sepoy and Menial in the Great War 1916-1920" by Radhika Singha, a chapter in The World in World Wars: Experiences, Perceptions and Perspectives from Africa and Asia 2010 Google Books. This article includes information about Indian Army Followers. Radhika Singha is the (later) author of The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict, 1914–1921. "Interview: Radhika Singha" by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan c 16 July 2021. amp.scroll.in .
• First page of an article The Rare Infliction: The Abolition of Flogging in the Indian Army, circa 1835-1920 by Radhika Singha says it was abolished in 1920. Law and History Review, August 2016, Vol 34, No 3.
• Pay to view British Pathe Film, Good News From China 1927, an indication that Indian troops were leaving China in 1927 "owing to marked improvement of situation in Shanghai."
• India: Regimental histories stonebooks.com
• Books: Beyond Perkins Updates of Indian Army regimental histories etc relating to India and Pakistan, published after Roger Perkins' 1994 book Regiments : Regiments and Corps of the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1758-1993. Durbaronline, the website of the Indian Military Historical Society, archived page at 14 October 2020. IMHS closed at the end of 2020.
• Swords trembling in their scabbards': A study of Indian officers in the Indian Cavalry, 1858 – 1918 by Michael John Creese 2007 PhD thesis University of Leicester (retrieved 27 April 2014)
• "Introduction" from The Indian Army 1939-1947: Experience & Development edited by Alan Jeffreys and Patrick Rose.
• Partition of the Indian armed forces between India and Pakistan by Sharmila Singh 1994. PhD Thesis Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Shodhganga - A reservoir of Indian Theses.

Uniforms

• Also see Historical books online, below.
• Illustrations: Indian Native Cavalry and Indian Native Artillery and Infantry, originally from Our Armies by Richard Simkin 1891 soldierssoldiers.com, archived.
• Military costume. Indian army, 1757-1903 [Watercolours] by Charles James Lyall c 1903. Brown Digital Repository, Brown University Library. The pre 1857 illustrations are perhaps based on historical sources. The artist was a member of the Bengal Civil Service, and an Arabic scholar. Wikipedia entry. Includes
  • 1896. 18th Bengal Lancers. The Commandant, Lieu. Col. Richardson
• 35th Scinde Horse: British officer, c. 1903 Gouache drawing by Jack Challenor. Brown Digital Repository, Brown University Library.
• Illustrations (thumbnails) from The Armies of India painted by Major A. C. Lovett 1911 Archive.org. Click to enlarge. The image title is generally on the page prior to the image. Also see below for this book. Some images are on soldierssoldiers.com tagged armies of india, page 2, archived.
• Photograph: Officer's full dress uniform worn by Major J A C May-Somerville, 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse), 1913 (c) includes a separate image of a kurta. National Army Museum.
• Photograph: Full dress kurta, 1st Duke of York's Own Lancers (Skinner's Horse), 1902-1914. National Army Museum.
• "Turbans of the Indian Army" by Peter Suciu MilitarySunHelmets.com. Provides details of the various styles.
• Photograph: Pugri, 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse), 1913 (c) Also known as a lungi. Additional photograph shows a kullah. National Army Museum
• Photograph: Pagri (Turban): O/Rs, 36th Sikhs, Indian Army. First World War. Imperial War Museums.
• Photograph: Kullah, other ranks' (Sepoys'), Field Service Order, Universal pattern, Indian Army, 13th Frontier Force Rifles, 1937 (c). National Army Museum
• Photograph: Officers of the 4th Cavalry [Neuf Berguin, France, WW1]. Photographer: H. D. Girdwood . To enlarge photograph, click on "View item at: The British Library"
• Photograph: Lt.Col.H.W.Grace M.C., Probyn’s Horse King-Emperor.com, The Indian Army on campaign 1900-1939, now archived. Photograph is located in Photos/Officers & Other Ranks/Indian Army British Officers.
• Photograph: Francis Ingall when commanding the bodyguard to H E the Governor of the Punjab, Governor’s Cup Day, 1934 [Lahore Racecourse] and Photograph: Francis Ingall at Miri Khel Camp, October 1930 (6th Lancers) following page 92 The Last of the Bengal Lancers by Francis Ingall 1988 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• "British Puggarees 2, 3, 4 and 6 Folds" by Stuart Bates. MilitarySunHelmets.com
• 1895 photograph of two British officers wearing Peshawari, or North West Frontier Chaplis (military sandals) made of thick leather with studded sole, as favoured by PFF [Punjab Frontier Force] (‘piffer’) units.
• "Cap Badges of the Indian Army" by Sergeant H H Booker, article from page 36 of a 1990 magazine, probably Military Collector Magazine (Phoenix Militaria Corporation) Archive.org. A series of images, not a book format.

Indian Army Badge Collection. Earlier archived pages may contain different/more images qcmilitaria.

Historical books online

• See Medal Rolls for online books in respect of Deeds of Valour and Awards and Honours.
• See individual regiment pages for online regimental histories.

There are a number of Indian Army regimental histories available online on the Ancestry owned pay website fold3, in the category Military Books, (in the Search use the search term "Military Books") subcategories India, and Britain, covers various periods. Also includes some Divisional histories. The books are online editions of Naval & Military Press reprints.

• See Indian Army List online.
• See Army List for British Army online‎‎ particularly Monthly Army List. This series of publications contains sections relevant to the Indian Army. As an example, noted for 1921 Jan. "Commands of the Army: East Indies" Google Books.
• Our Indian Army: a Military History of the British Empire in the East by Captain Rafter [1855] Archive.org
• A digest of the vital statistics of the European and native armies in India : interspersed with suggestions for the eradication and mitigation of the preventible and avoidable causes of sickness and mortality amongst imported and indigenous troops by Joseph Ewart, Bengal Medical Service 1859 Archive.org.
• Copy of any Correspondence with the Government of India, relating to the Number and Expenses of the European Troops now doing Duty in India. Returns to an address of The Honourable The House of Commons, dated 22 May 1862. East India (European Troops) Pdf download, Digital Repository of GIPE (Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune])
• Articles of War for the Government of the Native Officers and Soldiers in Her Majesty's Indian Army Revised third edition 1863 Google Books
• East India Military and Budget Estimates. Session 5 February-21 August 1867 House of Commons Accounts and Papers, Volume 15 Google Books
• Abolition of the bonus system in the Indian Army compiled by Lt.-Col. J.C. Phillips, retired list, late Bengal Army. 1869 Google Books
• The Victoria Cross in India by Major Knollys 1886, first published c 1877. Awards for the Indian Mutiny. HathiTrust Digital Library. Archive.org version.

The Victoria Cross in the Colonies and Gallant Sepoys and Sowars by William Wallingford Knollys. Catalogued 1880. (Note: catalogued title includes Soward.) Link to a pdf download PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version. Includes details of the Victoria Cross awarded in India after the Indian Mutiny. First part to page 85; 2nd part to page 176, or 91 pages of text.

Gallant Sepoys and Sowars by Major Elliott and Lieut-Col. Knollys 1882 (although catalogued 1889). 176 pages of text. Google Books. Archive.org version. All books were part of the series Deeds of Daring Library.

• Series title Her Majesty's Army; a descriptive account of the various regiments now comprising the Queen's forces, from their first establishment to the present time, by Walter Richards. [Volume III] Her Majesty's Army: Indian And Colonial Forces With Coloured Illustrations. 2nd file, Vol III c 1891 Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection.
• "Part III The Army in India and Colonial Forces" page 442 The Army Book for the British Empire: A Record of the Development and Present Composition of the Military Forces and their Duties in Peace and War by William Howley Goodenough R A and James Cecil Dalton R A. 1893. HMSO. Archive.org. Includes Indian Army.
• "Army" Chapter 11, page 326 Imperial Gazetteer of India. The Indian Empire Volume 4 Administrative 1907. Archive.org
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India. Compiled in the Intelligence Branch, Army Headquarters, India. c 1907-11. Volumes 1-3, see North West Frontier Campaigns. Volumes 4 and 7, see Assam. Volume 5: Burma 1907 Archive.org. Volume 6: Expeditions Overseas. 1911 Archive.org. Africa and the Mediterranean. Persia and Arabia. Ceylon and the Islands of the Indian Ocean. The Malay Peninsula and Archipelago. China.
• Proceedings Of The Committee On The Obligations Devolving On The Army In India. (Short Title) The Army in India Committee, 1912. British Library catalogue reference IOR/L/MIL/17/5/1751, in seven volumes, of which four are available online.

Volume I-A Minority Report; Volume II Minutes of Evidence; Volume V Digest of Evidence; Volume VI Appendices I to VIII. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

Not available online Vol 1 Majority report; Vol 3, Minutes of evidence; Vol 4, Minutes of evidence (including written evidence and index). There are also further related volumes in IOR/L/MIL/17/5/1752- 1756, at the British Library.

• Famous Fights of Indian Native Regiments by Reginald Hodder 1914 Archive.org
• Indias Fighters Full title: India's Fighters: their Mettle, History and Services to Britain by Saint Nihal Singh 1914 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.
• Five Years in India: Comprising a Narrative of Travels in the Presidency of Bengal, a Visit to the Court of Runjeet Sing, Residence in the Himalayah Mountains, an Account of the Late Expedition to Cabul and Affghanistan, Voyage Down the Indus, and Journey Overland to England by Henry Edward Fane, late Aide-de-Camp to his Excellency the Commander-In-Chief in India. Volume I, Volume II 1842 Archive.org. The author travelled with his regiment to Ceylon in 1835, where he was soon appointed to the staff of his uncle, General Sir Henry Fane, who was Commander-In-Chief in India.
• Leaves from the Diaries of a Soldier and Sportsman during twenty years’ service in India Afghanistan Egypt and other countries 1865-1885 by Lt.-General Sir Montagu Gilbert Gerard 1903 Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Biographical details from Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement wikisource. Born 1842, he had a varied Army career, including Royal Artillery, Bengal Staff Corps, various missions and commissions, and took part in many military campaigns.
• A varied life: a record of military and civil service, of sport and of travel in India, Central Asia and Persia 1849 -1902 by Gen. Sir Thomas Edward Gordon. 1906 Archive.org. He initially served in the British Army with the 61st Regiment of Foot, with the 52nd (briefly), became on attachment, 2nd in command, and then in command, of the 7th Punjab Infantry, Bengal Army for approximately 20 months, during the Indian Mutiny, page 21, was then with the 25th (in England) and exchanged into the 95th in order to return to India, which he did in in 1860, appointed to the Indian Army Indian Staff Corps 1862, appointed to the Kashgar Mission in 1873. Finished his service in India in February 1887. To Persia in 1889, as Military Attache and Oriental Secretary to Her Majesty’s Legation at Tehran until late 1892.
• A fly on the wheel; or, How I helped to govern India by Lieut.-Col. Thomas H Lewin 1912. 1885 edition with illustrations. Archive.org. He arrived in India 1857, expecting to join the Bengal Army, but was appointed as an officer in the British 34th Regiment; was with the Police from 1861. In 1866 he was appointed to officiate as Superintendent of Hill Tribes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, then permanently appointed Deputy Commissioner and Political Agent of the Hill Tracts of Chittagong. He was also appointed as a Captain in the Bengal Staff Corps, so he appears to have been "attached" as a Political Agent. He retired due to health issues c mid 1870s.
• The Life And Opinions Of Major-General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor Edited by Lady MacGregor 1888 Archive.org Volume I, Volume II, An overview of his career page 395. Charles MacGregor arrived in India in December 1856, aged 16, served in the Bengal Army in many wars and campaigns, and explored in Eastern Persia. He was Quartermaster General 1880-1885, retired on medical grounds in 1886 and died 1887, aged 46. Wikipedia
• My Service Days: India, Afghanistan, Suakim '85, and China by Maj.-Gen. Sir Norman Stewart 1908 Archive.org The author initially came to India in 1872 with the 68th Regiment of Foot and subsequently joined the Indian Army where he held many positions, retiring in 1904
• Reminiscences of an Indian Cavalry Officer by Colonel John Sutton Edward Western 1922 Archive.org. Born in India in 1857, he returned after schooling in England in 1876 , the greater part of his service being with the Punjab Frontier Force.
• From Kabul to Kumassi: Twenty-Four Years of Soldering and Sport by Brigadier-General Sir James Willcocks 1904 Archive.org. He arrived in India in 1878 with the 100th Regiment of Foot. He later joined the Indian Army, and served until 1897, when he transferred to West Africa.

The Romance of Soldiering and Sport by General Sir James Willcocks 1925 Hathi Trust Digital Library. Also available Archive.org. Covers the content of the previous book more briefly, together with his time in India from 1902-1914, and subsequently.

Also see Western Front for his WW1 book With the Indians in France.

• Life of Lord Kitchener by Sir Arthur George 1920. (Volume I); Volume II, including pages 114-284 Commander-in Chief in India, 1902-1909. (Volume III) Archive.org.

Kitchener by Brig.-General C R Ballard. A book in the series Private Lives Library. Probably a 1936 reprint, originally published 1930. Archive.org

Kitchener : the man behind the legend by Philip Warner 2006, first published 1985. Archive.org Texts to Borrow.

• The Autobiography of General Sir O’Moore Creagh V.C. … 1924 Archive.org. Born in Ireland in 1848, he joined the British Army 1866 and was posted to India in the trooping season 1868-9. He took part in the 2nd Afghan War and the Boxer Rebellion. He became Commander-in-Chief in India in 1909 (following Lord Kitchener), until March 1914. He died 1923.
• Khaki and Gown : an Autobiography by Field–Marshal Lord Birdwood 1941. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Born in India in 1865, he lived in England from age 3, and was then posted, aged 19 to the British Army regiment XII (12th) Lancers at Bangalore in 1885. In 1887 he joined the XI (11th) Bengal Lancers; 1893 The Viceroy’s Bodyguard. He served in the Boer War, appointed again to India 1902, where he was on Kitchener’s Staff until Kitchener left India in 1909; Commander of the Kohat Independent Brigade for 4 years; 1912 appointed Quartermaster-General; c 1913 appointed Secretary to Government in the Army Dept; 1914 Corps Commander Australian and New Zealand contingent in Egypt, Gallipoli, France; Commander of the Fifth Army In France c 1918; 1920 Commander of the Northern Army in India for 4 years; 1925-1930 Commander-in Chief in India.
• “The Simplicity of Yesterday” by Field–Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck page 8 The Times of India Annual 1949. Note missing pages 11-12. Then continues page 77 and pages 79 and 81. Archive.org, K.K. Venugopal Collection. This volume is also available at the British Library UIN: BLL01002827019 . Auchinleck joined the 62nd Punjabis in 1904. The latter pages include details about the structure of a regiment c 1904, and the training of men.
• Life in an Indian Outpost [Buxa Duar, North East India] by Major Gordon Casserly, Indian Army, first published c 1910. Archive.org. Also see Fiction, below.
• The Indian Army A B C : being a record of some of those depressing events that occur in the daily life of every Officer of the Indian Army by Myauk [John William Jerome Alves] 1915. With download link, State Library of Victoria. Direct link. Archive.org mirror version. The quoit mentioned in Q for Quoit is known as a Chakram or Chakkar. 'What The Heck Is A Chakram, Anyway?" by Bret Ryan Rudnick.
• Under Ten Viceroys: the Reminiscences of a Gurkha by Major-General Nigel Woodyatt 1922 Archive.org . The author, who was in a British Army regiment, arrived in India c 1883, and was subsequently appointed to the Indian Army where he held many positions.
• "The Defence of India" page 273 The Life of General Lord Rawlinson of Trent: from his journals and letters edited by Major-General Sir Frederick Maurice 1928 Archive.org. Rawlinson became Commander-in Chief in India at the end of 1920, until he died in March 1925. Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson Wikipedia.
• Hired to Kill: Some Chapters of Autobiography by [Charles] John Morris 1960. Link to a pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version. John Morris was in the British Army from 1914, commissioned in 1915 (Leicestershire Regiment), then an officer with the 3rd Gurkha Rifles from 1918 until 1934 in Palestine, Afghanistan (the Third Afghan War in 1919) and Waziristan, with headquarters at Lansdowne, near the Himalayas. He took part in the 1922 Mount Everest Expedition as transport officer, and trekked in Chinese Turkestan in 1927. John Morris (anthropologist) Wikipedia.
• Indian Cavalryman by Captain Freddie Guest, [Reginald Edwin Guest] 1959. Pdf download, PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.

Recommended by Peter Moore in Military reading list who says "Selected in England to be trained as an Officer Cadet in Wellington, Southern India, he was commissioned into the 8th King George’s Own Light Cavalry, Indian Army... This story covers the period between the wars and up to the end of the World War. He saw active service in the North-West Frontier; Africa; China and was the first prisoner-of-war to escape from the Japanese in Hong Kong; ending the war as the Equitation Instructor at the Officer Cadet School in Bangalore”. His earlier book Escape From The Bloodied Sun was a more detailed account of his escape from Hong Kong when he was an officer in the Middlesex Regiment.

• See John Masters for two online autobiographies covering his time in the Indian Army, c 1935-1947, initially with the 4th Gurkha Rifles, Bugles and a Tiger and Road Past Mandalay.
• Auchinleck: A Biography of Field-Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck by John Connell (pseud. John Henry Robertson) 1959 Archive.org. Auchinleck was appointed Commander-in Chief, India on 20 June 1943, but the role was restricted to not include operations against the Japanese.
• Friends Not Masters: A Political Autobiography by Mohammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan 1968 (first published 1967) Archive.org.”Early Days in the Army” page 9, he attended Sandhurst in 1926.
• The Untold Story by B M Kaul [Brij Mohan] 1967. Archive.org, , Public Library of India Collection. Page 16, he applies to join the Indian Army and is selected to go to train at Sandhurst where he passed out in July 1933. Brij Mohan Kaul He became Chief of General Staff (CoGS) in the Indian Army.
• While Memory Serves by Lieut.-General Sir Francis Tuker. Digital reprint edition reproduced by Sani H Panhwar, originally published 1950. Archive.org. Original edition Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India. Covers the two years 1946 and 1947, "told by one who watched events from the Headquarters of Eastern Command" of the Indian Army, (he was G.O.C. in C.), including riots and bloodshed in Calcutta, the Punjab and elsewhere.

The Pattern Of War by Lieut. General Sir Francis Tucker 1948 Archive.org.

• Life Among The Pathans (Khattaks) by Buster Goodwin 2nd edition 1999, first published 1969. Archive.org. Colonel Eric Goodwin of the Indian Army was posted to Jatta in the Kohat District, North West Frontier Province in 1927. He subsequently also held civilian roles. He remained in Pakistan after Partition, until he died in 1981, and appears in the following Qissa Khwani video. Obituary. Note: The book has been filmed two pages to each digital page, also some pages are "on the side" so difficult to read on a fixed computer screen.
• The Last of the Bengal Lancers by Francis Ingall 1988. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Memories of the British Raj: a Soldier in India by Brigadier R C B Bristow 1974. Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Born 1900, Bristow joined the Indian Army in 1918, and spent most of his career with the 38th/17th Dogras until he left India January 1948, having been involved with trying to protect refugees from the massacres which followed Independence.
• The Travels of Risaldar Shahzad Mir Khan of the 11th K E O Lancers (Probyn’s Horse), who enlisted 14th February 1882, died 1924. Translated extracts from his autobiography Shah Safar Sair-i-Dunya, in Urdu, official text-book for the elementary Urdu examination. Part I includes the Herat Boundary Commission under General Lumsden in 1885, page 326-340 and Part II, Journey to Tibet and China, with Capt. M S Wellby 18th Hussars 1895-1896, pages 543-553 Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volume 62, 1932 Archive.org; Part III Africa with Captain Wellby in 1898-99, pages 114-122; Part IV England, pages 204-214. Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volume 63, 1933 Archive.org. (Captain Wellby wrote two books about these expeditions, see 11th Prince of Wales's Own Lancers). Published later as The life & adventures of K.B. Risaldar Shahzad Mir : O.B.I. (1863-1924) : 11th (K.E.O.), Bengal Lancers (Probyn's Horse) with the contents given in this catalogue entry (nla.gov.au).
• "Indian Life: The Cantonment Magistrate" by Major-General de Berry, page 120 The Illustrated Naval and Military Magazine, Volume 8, 1888. Archive.org. The Cantonment Magistrate was invariably a military officer of one of the Indian Staff Corps.
• Training to be an officer at the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dunn c 1943 page 133 ‪One Hell of a Life: An Anglo-Indian Wallah's Memoir from the Last Decades of the Raj‬ by Stan Blackford. Google Books

Page 34 History of the Indian Military Academy by Brig M P Singh 2007 Google Books. Changes introduced at IMA on the outbreak of WW2.

• The Armies of India painted by Major A. C. Lovett, described by Major G. F. MacMunn With 72 coloured illustrations 1911 Archive.org

The Romance Of The Indian Frontiers by Lt-Gen Sir George MacMunn, Colonel-Commandant Royal Artillery 1931 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.

The Martial Races Of India by Lieut-General Sir George MacMunn, Colonel Commandant, the Royal Artillery. c1932 Archive.org

Vignettes From Indian Wars by Lieut-General Sir George MacMunn, Colonel Commandant Royal Artillery 1932 Archive.org, Digital Library of India Collection.

Turmoil and Tragedy in India, 1914 and After by Lieut.-General Sir George MacMunn 1935. It is catalogued as Turmoil The Tragedy In India 1914. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

• The Sepoy by Edmund Candler 1919 Archive.org
  • "The Drabi" [Mule Driver] page 208
  • "The Indian Follower" page 227
• Report Of The Army In India Committee 1919-20 (1920). Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
  • "Conditions of Service of Followers" page 87 . Recommendations.

Report Of The Army In India Committee 1919-20 Part II Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.

• The Army in India and Its Evolution: Including an account of the establishment of the Royal Air Force in India 1924. Compiled Officially. Digital Repository of GIPE (Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune, India]). A pdf download to your computer. Also available Archive.org version.
• India's Army by Major Donovan Jackson 1940. Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi] Digital Repository. Archive.org mirror version.
• Short History of the Indian Army by Lieutenant Colonel B.N. Majumdar 1971. Reprinted from The Bulletin, Military Historical Society. Wellcome Library Digital Collection.
• A Matter of Honour by Philip Mason 1974. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Additional title on cover: An account of the Indian Army, its officers and men.
• The Indian Army : The Garrison of British Imperial India, 1822-1922 by T A Heathcote 1974. A volume in the series Historic Armies and Navies. A comment elsewhere said [contains] "... important detail concerning organisation, recruitment and pay". Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• Sons of John Company : the Indian and Pakistan Armies 1903-91 by John Gaylor 1992. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.
• The British Raj and its Indian Armed Forces, 1857-1939 edited by Partha Sarathi Gupta and Anirudh Deshpande 2002. Archive.org Books to Borrow.
• A catalogue of books relating to the military history of India drawn up by Maurice J.D. Cockle 1901 Archive.org
• Handbook For Indian Cavalry By F.W.P. [Frederick William Pakenham] Angelo 1898. Published at Allahabad. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• "The Silladar Cavalry of India" by Thistle page 376 The Cavalry Journal Volume 24 1934. Archive.org

A follow on article "The Indian Cavalry of To-day" by Major-General E D Giles page 192 The Cavalry Journal Volume 25 1935. Archive.org

• India Army Orders. Include Appointments, Promotions, Long Service Medals etc. Originally from the Digital Library of India, with mirror images on Archive.org. Based on catalogue details unless otherwise specified. Some volumes are catalogues as Indian Army Orders.

1908 (catalogued Jan,vi Th, 1945); 1910 (catalogued Jan,thired 1855); 1911; 1912; 1913; 1914; 1915; 1916; 1919, 1919 Special Orders; 1920; 1922; 1923; November 1924; 1925 1927; 1928; 1929; 1931; 1932; 1933.

Compendium of the More Important Army Order 1919. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Full title: Compendium of the More Important Orders of the Government of India, Army Department and India Army Orders issued from the 1st August 1914, to the 31st December 1917.

Additional editions are available at the British Library with catalogue entry Indian Army Orders ‎ (1903-1947) IOR/L/MIL/17/5/245-299

• Government Of India: Army Department Army Instruction (Instructions). Originally from Digital Library of India, now with mirror versions on Archive.org. Based on catalogue details. Note some years have multiple files which may, or may not, have different content.

1918, 1918, different format but incorrectly catalogued 1920; 1919; 1920; 1921; 1922, 1922; 1923, 1923; 1924, January-June Note very poor quality file. Some pages are upside down. In one part of the book every 2nd page is irrelevant (different book); 1926.

Additional editions are available at the British Library with catalogue entry Indian Army: Army Instructions (India) ‎(1918-1946) IOR/L/MIL/17/5/501-529

• Army Regulations, India.
  • Army Regulations, India. Volume II - Regulations and Orders for the Army. Corrected up to 1st January 1904. Published at Calcutta. Archive.org. Mirror from Wellcome collection
  • Army Regulations, India. Volume VI Medical. Corrected up to 1st April 1906 by Government of India Military Department. Archive.org
  • Army Regulations (India) 1913. Volume VII. Dress. [Dress Regulations are in respect of Officers]. There are two copies available, however both copies appear to be incomplete. The better copy is catalogued as army regulations, india, 1913 barcode 99999990265902, but is missing the rear index, pages 91-96. Archive.org version; Archive.org version, 2nd file. Mirrors from Digital Library of India. Also available 1991 reprint edition which is best copy. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.

  Dress Regulations India 1926. Archive.org version. Mirror from Digital Library of India. Print quality is poor for most pages. The text commences digital file page 8. Index, digital file page 106. It seems likely that pages are missing from the digital file.

  Dress Regulations For The Army(1934) Archive.org version. Mirror from Digital Library of India.

  • Army Regulations India Clothing Vol XI 1916 Archive.org version. Mirror from Digital Library of India. [Clothing Regulations are in respect of soldiers who are not officers]
  • Army Regulations India Barrack Synopsis India 1930 Archive.org version. Mirror from Digital Library of India.
  • The Army in India: [Regulations] Corrected up to, and including, amendments to Regulations, Books and Forms, dated 1st April 1930 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Field Service Pocket Book. Part II – India. Corrected to January 1928 Government of India publication Calcutta 1928. Archive.org, Vickers MG Collection & Research Association Collection.
• Armaments Year-Book : General and Statistical Information. Published by the League of Nations at Geneva from 1924. These books have been digitised separately in Chapters. Northwestern University Library Evanston, IL, USA, archived webpages. Chapters relating to British Empire/ India or India, which contain details about the structure of the Army, training schools etc. Catalogue entries for India, followed by pdf links.

Volume 1 1924, pdf; Vol. 2 1925/1926, pdf; Vol. 3 1927, pdf; Vol. 4 1928, pdf; Vol. 5 1928/1929, pdf; Vol. 6 1929/1930, pdf; Vol. 7 1930/1931, pdf; Vol. 8 1931/1932, pdf; Vol. 9 1933, pdf; Vol. 10 1934, pdf; Vol. 11 1935, pdf.

First Year 1924, 2nd Edition including "India" Page 240. "Great Britain and the British Empire" page 72 also includes some references to India. HathiTrust Digital Library. HathiTrust has editions for additional years which may become full view in time, at least for some areas.

1937 including "India" page 432. Google Books.

Armaments Year-Book 15th Year 1940 including "India" page 184. Archive.org.

National Library of Scotland Collection of Armaments Year-Book. 15 editions 1924-1940, volumes 1-15, complete series.

• A Handbook of the Fighting Races of India by P D Bonarjee, Assistant in the Military Department of the Govt. of India 1899 Archive.org
• Handbook on Sikhs for the use of Regimental Officers by Captain R W Falcon 4th Sikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force (lately Officiating District Recruiting Officer, Sikh District) 1896. British Library Digital. Archive.org version, mirror of DLI file.
• Handbooks for the Indian Army
  • "Recruiting" , Chapter V, page 106 Handbooks for the Indian Army: Sikhs by Captain A H Bingley, 7th (Duke of Connaught’s Own) Bengal Infantry. Compiled under the orders of the Government of India. 1899 Archive.org
    • "Recruiting Methods" [WW1] Chapter VI page 104 The Sikhs of the Punjab by R E Parry late Indian Army Reserve of Officers; sometime Acting Captain and adjutant 2/15th Ludhiana Sikhs. Sometime attached 35th Sikhs. [1921] Archive.org.
  • Handbook for the Indian Army: Sikhs by A E Barstow 2/11th Sikh Regiment (late 15th Ludhiana Sikhs) 1928. 1940 reprint of 1928 edition, is available to read on line on the Panjab Digital Library. Archive.org 1928 edition
  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Pathans by Major R. T. I. Ridgway, 40th Pathans. 1910. Archive.org, mirror from Granth Sanjeevani Asiatic Society of Mumbai.
  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Hindustan Musalmans and Musalmans of the Eastern Punjab by W. Fitz G. Bourne 1914 Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Gurkhas Compiled under the orders of the Government by Lieut- Colonel Eden Vansittart 2nd Bn 10th Gurkha Rifles. revised by Major B U Nicolay 1st Bn, 4th Gurkha Rifles 1915 (Reprint 1918), Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection, catalogued as Gurkhas (1915).

  Handbooks for the Indian Army: Gurkhas Compiled under the orders of the Government by Major C J Morris, late 2nd Bn, 3rd QAO Gurkha Rifles Second edition 1936, revised by the author, first published 1933. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection, catalogued as Gurkhas (1936).

  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Garhwalis revised by Lt.-Col. K. Henderson 1924, original text by John Thorold Evatt. Pdf download PAHAR- Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. Archive.org mirror version.
  • Handbooks for the Indian Army: Kumaonis 1933 (1941 Reprint) by A Latham Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Page viii and page 44 A Short history of the lives of Bombay opium smokers by Rustom Pestanji Jehangir 1893 Archive.org. Details and a comment about the use of opium by Sikh soldiers.
• "The Regimental Durbar" by Major General Sir George Younghusband, page 617 Blackwood’s Magazine, no 209 January-June 1921. Archive.org
• Indian Army Uniforms under the British from the 18th century to 1947: Cavalry by W Y Carman 1961. Archive.org Lending Library. Includes a Regimental index, page 232.

Indian Army Uniforms by W Y Carman 1969. Full title: Indian Army Uniforms under the British from the 18th century to 1947 : Artillery, Engineers and Infantry. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection. Note: Original colour plates are in black and white and most illustrations are of poor quality.

Cavalry uniforms; including other mounted troops of Britain and the Commonwealth in colour by Robert and Christopher Wilkinson-Latham 1969 Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Also includes some Indian Army uniforms, scattered throughout the book, which may be located using the Index at the back of the book. Includes a seemingly incorrect description for Plate 94 (1938) of 13th (Duke of Cornwall's Own) Lancers, should be 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers.

Bengal Cavalry Regiments, 1857-1914 by R G Harris. Colour plates by Chris Warner. 2000 reprint, first published 1979. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Digital file is rather pale, so unfortunately images, particularly photographs, could be better.

• "Badges and Devices worn by the Sillidar Trooper" by Yusuf page 72 Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volume 68, 1938 Archive.org.
• Prevention of Disease and Inefficiency, with special reference to Indian Frontier Warfare by Lieut.-Col. Patrick Hehir IMS, Officiating Principal Medical Officer, Burma Division. 2nd Edition - Illustrated and Revised. 1911 Archive.org
• Notes on Sanitation for Indian troops by T. F. Paterson, Captain, Indian Medical Service. 2nd edition, edited by Major D.R. Thapar, 1933, originally published 1911. In English and Roman Urdu. Wellcome Library Digital Collection, catalogue reference RAMC/184
• Russian Advances in Asia Prepared at the Topographical and Statistical Department, War Office. (The first portion reprinted from a paper prepared by Colonel Cooke.) Great Britain. War Office. Intelligence Division. [London], 1873. British Library Digital. "For Official Circulation Only"

The Defence of India: a Strategical Study by Major-General Sir C M Macgregor Quartermaster General of India 1884 Archive.org

• India's Danger, and England's Duty with reference to Russia's Advance into the territory upon the borders of Afghanistan by Richard Russell 1885. PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download link does not display, locate under Books /Afghanistan. Archive.org mirror version.
• "The Defence of India" by Lieut.-General Sir Edwin Collen Proceedings of the Central Asian Society March 1906. Archive.org
• The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk 1992. Book File 1. Book File 2 Archive.org Lending Library. Published in the UK with title The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. “The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia… When play first began, the frontiers of Russia and British India lay 2000 miles apart; by the end, this distance had shrunk to twenty miles at some points.”

Like Hidden Fire : the Plot to bring down the British Empire by Peter Hopkirk 1994 Archive.org Lending Library. Published in the UK with title On Secret Service East of Constantinople: The Great Game and the Great War. WW1 period.

Setting the East Ablaze : Lenin's Dream of an Empire in Asia by Peter Hopkirk 1985 Archive.org Lending Library. 1920s-1930s.

Peter Hopkirk was with The Times of London for nineteen years, as chief reporter and Middle and Far East specialist.

• Tournament of Shadows : the Great Game and the Race for Empire in Central Asia by Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac 1999. Archive.org Lending Library. Also available as a pdf download PAHAR Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset. If the download link does not display, locate under Books/Central Asia. Archive.org mirror version.
• Indian Defence Problem: A Study by Capt G V Modak 1933 Archive.org. The author “spent many years in active military service in an important Indian State”. Contents, Statistical Contents
• The Duties of Judge Advocates: Compiled from Her Majesty’s and the Hon. East India Company’s Military Regulations… by Captain R M Hughes 12th Regiment Bombay Army, Deputy Judge Advocate General, Scinde Field Force. 1845 Google Books

Military and Cantonment Law in India by H.W.C. Carnduff, Indian Civil Service. 1904. Archive.org, mirror from Central Secretariat Library (CSL) [Delhi] Digital Repository.

Manual of Military Law War Office. 1907 Archive.org. 1914 printed by Superintendent Government Printing, Calcutta 1918. Pdf download Digital Repository of GIPE-Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics [Pune India].

Manual of Indian Military Law 1937 Reprint 1961, corrected to 1960. Archive.org.

• "Some Observations on the Principals of Military and Air Force Law – and on Courts-Martial" by Brigadier L M Peet, page 316 Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volume 68, 1938 Archive.org.

"The Quashing or Non-Confirmation of a Court Martial" by Brigadier L M Peet, page 75 Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Volume 69, 1939. Archive.org

• The Indian Engineers 1939-1947 by Lieut Colonel E. W. C Sandes, published 1956 Archive.org version. Mirror from Digital Library of India. It is catalogued as The Indian Engineers (1956).
• History of the Indian Army by Brigadier Rajendra Singh, Colonel, The Grenadiers 1963 Hathi Trust Digital Library
• The Indian Army: Its Contribution to the Development of a Nation by Stephen P Cohen 1971. Archive.org, Public Library of India Collection.
• Armies of the Raj: From the Great Indian Mutiny to Independence 1858-1947 by Byron Farwell 1989. Archive.org Lending Library.
• The Colonial Wars Source Book by Philip J Haythornthwaite 2000 reprint, first published 1995. Cover the period up to 1903. British Army and Indian Army. Archive.org Books to Borrow.
• Resume - Horse And Mule Breeding Operations In India, 1880 Government Central Branch Press Simla. Archive.org version. Mirror from Digital Library of India. Information about the Department of Horse-Breeding Operations under the Government of India, established March 1876.

"Horse-Breeding in India", page 52 Horse-Breeding in England and India: and Army Horses Abroad by Sir Walter Gilbey 1906 Archive.org

"Remounts" by "Horse Coper" page 452 USI Journal Vol LXIII 1933. Archive.org. The operation of the Army Remount Department in India in peace time. It was responsible for the supply of all army animals, except carrier pigeons.

• Indian Munitions Board : Industrial Handbook 1919 Archive.org
• "Military Phrases" page 96 A guide to Hindustani in Persian and Roman character : specially designed for the use of officers and men serving in India, including colloquial phrases, a collection of arzis, with transliteration and English translations by G S A Ranking Surg.-Lieut.-Col., Indian Medical Service. Fourth Edition, Revised and enlarged 1897, first published 1889. Archive.org.
• Dictionary: Language of the Camp. Army Hindustani and Other Soldier Slang by Charles Tustin Kamps 2022. Archive.org
• The Defence of Duffer's Drift by Major-General Sir Ernest Swinton with a foreword by Field Marshal Earl Wavell 1949 reprint, first published 1904. It is stated "Translated into Urdu for use of the Indian Army". 1986 edition Both Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library. Gutenberg.org 1905 USA edition A book on small unit tactics. Wikipedia article.
• Fiction
  • The Jungle Girl by Gordon Casserly 1922

Recommended reading

• A Matter of honour : an account of the Indian Army, its officers and men. By Philip Mason (London: Cape, 1974) Review in FIBIS Military reading list. Available online, see above.
• India’s Army by Donovan Jackson (pub 1940). Review in FIBIS Military reading list. Available online, see above.
• A Soldier’s Story-From the Khyber Pass to the Jungles of Burma: The Memoir of a British Officer in the Indian Army 1933-1947 by John Archibald Hislop, edited by Penny Kocher 2010. See FIBIS resources above.