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This regiment was raised as the 29th Dragoons on 25th March 1795 and remained in Nottingham throughout 1795 and 1796. It was at several stations in England and initially, its uniform was blue with buff facings. It sailed for India in the latter half of 1798, and at that time its uniform was changed to grey with scarlet cuffs and collars. By June 1799 it was stationed at [[Fort William]], [[Calcutta]].
The 29th Dragoons (as they then were), along with the 8th and 27th Dragoons, formed part of an army commanded by [[Gerard Lake|General Gerard Lake ]] which fought the Mahratta forces under Scindia in the [[2nd Maratha War]]. The fighting began in August 1803 and continued with short intermissions until 1805. During these years, Lake's men stormed and captured the strong places of [[Aligarh]], [[Agra]] and [[Deig]]; fought pitched battles at [[Delhi]], [[Laswaree]] and outside [[Deig]], four times unsuccessfully assaulted the fortress of [[Bharatpur]], marched many hundreds of miles and engaged in numerous skirmishes and minor actions. On 1st November 1803 the regiment displayed 'exemplary valour' in the action fought near [[Laswaree]]. As a result, it was awarded the Battle Honour 'Leswarree'. The Elephant (the symbol of India) was placed in the centre of the Regimental Standards and the troops had the word 'Leswarree' inscribed on the front of their helmets.
On 16th July 1804 the regiment was renumbered the 25th Dragoons. From 1806 to 1813 it was stationed at [[Bangalore]]. In August 1810, a troop of the 25th proceeded on an Expedition to the Île de France (now known as Mauritius), landing there on 30th November and defeating the French three days later. They returned to India in February 1811.
