*** Welcome to piglix ***

Scinde Horse

14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse
Active 1838-1947
Country British India
Allegiance British Crown
Branch British Indian Army
Type Cavalry
Size Regiment
Part of Indian Cavalry Corps
Engagements Second Sikh War
Second Afghan War
World War I
World War II

The 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army it can trace its formation back to The Scinde Irregular Horse raised at Hyderabad on 8 August 1838. It was named after the province of Sind now in Pakistan, where it was raised to protect the trade route from the Bolan Pass to Sukkur on the Indus River and fight against the marauding Baluchi warriors. It later expanded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Scinde Horse. These three regiments were absorbed into the regular forces after the Mutiny of 1857 and became the 35th Scinde Horse and the 36th Jacob's Horse. They saw active service in Northern and Central India, Persia, Afghanistan on the North West Frontier and, during World War I, where they served in France and Palestine. The two regiments were amalgamated in 1922, as the present 14th Prince of Wales's Own Scinde Horse which served in World War II. Scinde Horse is the only regiment known to honour its enemy till date (the Baluchi warrior on its badge) and has not changed its badge since its raising, unlike others who have done so-numerous times. At one point, the regiment carried 9 Standards while on parade (regiments normally hold 1), a unique privilege given to it for its valor. The regiment was the first Cavalry unit in the British Indian Army to get mechanized in the Indian sub-continent at Rawalpindi, in 1938. It was also the first Cavalry regiment to get the President of India's Standard post independence.

The Scinde Horse was raised on 08 Aug 1838, in the Province of Sind (Then spelt as Scinde) now in Pakistan. It was therefore, called the Scinde (Sind) Horse. It was raised to protect the British Caravans traversing the Spice Route (From the Bolan Pass in Afghanistan, to the Indus at Sukkur and then via Fort Abbas to Bikaner, Hissar and Delhi. The route through the Thar Desert via Jaisalmer was too difficult and dangerous). Since this involved corridor protection along the route, laying in ambush and also accompanying the caravans, they travelled mostly in civil dress with weapons hidden to look inconspicuous. As a result, they were popularly called “The Scinde Irregular Horse”. The term Irregulars is carried with pride amongst Scindehorsemen to this day as they have consistently surprised the adversary both in times of war and in competitions during peace to gain an upper hand. The Irregulars have always thought “out of the box” and accomplished the seemingly impossible. The Badge The adversary during the early days, were the Baloochi marauders of the hill tribe of “Jekhranis”. On numerous occasions the Irregulars raided their camps to recover the booty they had looted from the caravans. However, the Irregulars respected the Jekhranis for their skill and valour in combat, so they adopted a Badge, depicting a Baloochi warrior with his spear (Jezail) charging on a Stallion, to remind them of a brave and valiant enemy who they repeatedly vanquished. The Scinde Horse, apart from its unique Badge, also is perhaps the only Regiment to have retained the same badge since inception. It adopted its Garrison Town, Khangur, West of Sukkur on the Indus, which came to be called as Jacobabad, after its first Commandant. This Name still remains and Jacobabad is now a major Garrison Town and Airbase in Pakistan.


...
Wikipedia

...