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).
Indian Army regiments can be viewed here.
See also
- Armies in India - an overview
- Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
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.
The book Izzat: Historical Records and Iconography of Indian Cavalry Regiments 1750-2007 by Ashok Nath 2009 is available at the British Library. It includes information about uniforms, badges and emblems. These two reviews give deails about the book: Tribune India review. SASNET review:html version, original pdf version Swedish South Asian Studies Network
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.
Some, or perhaps all, appointments were promulgated in the London Gazette, which may be searched online here
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
Records
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/14/239/1-72481 c1901-1947. 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. 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
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
- 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
These are available as LDS microfilms and appear in the LDS catalogue as An East-India register and directory. The LDS catalogue also has an entry for "The India Office list, 1886-1940 : containing an account of the services of the officers in the Indian service and other information" available on microfiche. These may be equivalent to the Indian Army Lists (see above), but the range of dates is slightly different, so the exact relationship between the two Lists is unclear.
A limited number of additional LDS (Mormon) microfilms are available in respect of the Indian Army with Library catalogue entries using keyword search “Indian Army” and “India Office”
Naval and Military Press has published the Indian Army List 1919, a four-volume comprehensive list of the Indian Army during the Great War. It includes British Officers and gives details of ranks, promotions, background, honours and awards of all who served in India and other theatres. It also includes Warrant Officers, including Medical Warrant Officers ie Assistant Surgeons.
Refer Directories online and Military periodicals online for Army Lists available online.
Indian Army Officers 1939-1945 from World War II Unit Histories & Officers
National Army Museum
The National Army Museum in London has the following guide on its website:
- Information Sheet No 1: Researching soldiers of the East India Company’s Armies and the Indian Army.
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.
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:
- The Cadet and Staff Registers of the Sandhurst Collection. The registers show the details for almost every officer cadet that attended the Royal Military Academy Woolwich and Royal Military College Sandhurst, England
- Military History Companion: Indian army-An overview from Answers.com
- Indian Army 1902 orbat.com
- Center for Indian Military History from Orders of Battle (orbat.com) 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.
- For the King-Emperor The Indian Army during 1901-1939. 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
- "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
- BBC website World War 2 People's War Stories involving the Indian Army and Stories in the Category India
- 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. Available at the British Library (catalogue entry)
- 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)
- 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
Historical books online
- East India Military and Budget Estimates. Session 5 February-21 August 1867 House of Commons Accounts and Papers, Volume 15 Google Books
- 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.