Indian Cavalry Badges

[peter monahan]

I have been playing around with a new digital camera - 50th birthday gift from a doting family - and put togehter these shots from a small collection of British Indian, Indian and Pakistani cavalry/armour badges. They've been in a bottom drawer for most of 20 years now and most, I think, are originals, though some of the casting is pretty primitive.

Anyway, I attach a few (if I can get it to work) for the interest of any members. Have about 30 more yet to photograph.

[Ed_Haynes]

I, for one (only), would love to see them.

Ed

[peter monahan]

I, for one (only), would love to see them.

Ed

Ed

The IOM badge on your ID would be a clue, no? I'll try to sort out the technical issues a.s.a.p. !

[Chris Boonzaier]

Ed

The IOM badge on your ID would be a clue, no? I'll try to sort out the technical issues a.s.a.p. !

Good!!! Would love to see anything to do with Skinners horse !

[peter monahan]

Would love to see anything to do with Skinners horse !

Chris et al

Apparently I didn't read the rules carefully enough! My hotos are all bigger than the size allowed new members, so they'll have to wait until I've won my spurs and been "regularized". Sorry if I got your hopes up.

There is are two one Skiner's Horse badge in the lot.

Th first I have labelled as "Br officer's collar dog, 1907-1922" based on the style, etc. It is a thin, cast, bi-metal and consists of crossed lances in highly polished/plated white metal, King's crown between the heads and a gold metal rose superimposed on the crossing of the lances. The scroll across the bottom of the lances reads "Himmat I Marden Madad I Khuda" The whole is about 1.2" tall by 1" wide. 2 copper lugs soldered on vertically on the back.

The detail on the lance pennons and crown is excellent, on the scroll less so - only half the letters can actually be made out. One lance tip is missing it's ferrule bu the whole is unscrathced, shiny and very attractive.

The second is labelled "O.R.s cap badge" (I say this as i did the research 15-20 years ago on both and haven't revisited the sources but my reasoning at the time was based on some pretty careful examination of available texts - I have Chris Rothero's "Skinner's Horse".

It is white metal, 1.25" high x 1" wide with 4 copper attachment lugs (at the lance tips and scroll ends). A "1"

at the junction of the lances, no crown and the title "SKINNER'S HORSE" on the scroll.

Both arrived with a single small rubber pad pushed over one lug, presumably to hold them onto a backing board, and were the only two in the lot with such so I'd guess they came from a single source originally.

There are some modern Indian and Pakistani badegs in the lot and the lovely thing - to me - is that many of the "new" ones are very like the old. For example, the 2nd Lancers (1922-1947) shows two sets of crossed lances behind a a garter with "HONI SOIT QUI MALYPENSE (sic)". There is a lion in the center of the scroll and a King's crown on top - overlapping the garter btw "Soit" and "QUI". The IA version has the same 4 lances, the same lion and, in place of the crown the Lions of Ashoka. The scroll now reads "SECOND LANCERS (G. H.)". At a glance, the only difference is the size and the fact that the lions are "skinnier and so don't touch the lance heads either side. Clearly, the proud traditions of the Raj have been preseved. (More on this later.)

[Ed_Haynes]

Look forward to seeing these, but don't expect image size to get very generous even when you "grow up". Learn and prepare to become intimately familiar with the "resize" command on your image editing software!

Certainly, any badge with British royal ("imperial") devices like crowns and Garters would date from before 1947 (or perhaps from the complex commonwealth era, 1947-50). Since 1950, all these old symbols have been consigned to the dustbin of history.

When Ashok Nath's book on badges comes out, much will be clarified. Also Durbar of the Indian Military Historical Society has occasional badge coverage.

Do you have any States' Forces badges?

You may also want to glance at the relevant sub-fora over at http://sagongs.ipbhost.com/ -- although our focus is medals, we do have threads on badges and other doo-dads.

Edited December 9, 2005 by Ed_Haynes

[peter monahan]

Ed

Actually, I was being perhaps too difident last post - I am fairly certauin my identifications are ok, but am never to old to learn! Especially now that the Net makes once remote locales easier to check with.

Michael Johnson and I founded the IMCS, back "in the day" as the kids say. I'm glad to hear that Ashok Nath has finally gotten a book together - been hoping for one for years.

I have several SF badges - 2 Hyderabad Lancers, a Jaipur Rissala badge and several others (at work now - forget). Also some wild and wonderful post-'47 units, including a huge rhinocerous badge to (I think) the Assam reg't and an IA missile battery with a running horse which looks for all the world like the Ford Mustang logo from the '60's.

[peter monahan]

Ed

I won't even talk about the @#** camera. Suffice it to say that technology ain't all it's cracked up to be. I will need to donwload some better editing software and get a tutorial on postring to this site before I put any images up.

I have visited your site - very interesting - goes on my favourites list! Clearly someone stays on top of who's who in the Indian forces - beautiful ribbon groups!

I have a few State Forces badges, besides the ones I've already mentioned. The lcomplete list: 2nd Hyderabad Cav; 3 Hyderabad Inf, Jaipur Kachawa Horse; Amb SF; 1st Bahwalpur Inf; Bahawalpur Mt Rifles ; Cooch behar SF; Idar SF Sir Partab Inf; Kairpur SF; Kalat SF; Ist Rampur Raza Inf; the "Rewa Vankat Bttn" and two I never identified. Plusa Firmin & Sons london blazer button marked "Mysore Lancers"! Some are crude sand-castings but many are nicely detailed and , I think, most are real.

The galloping horse badeg I mentioned earlier is actually marked "XXVI CAVALRY" (Indian Armoured Corps). Also have 23rd Cav, 24th Cav, 45th & 48th and a really crude 70th Armoured Missile Reg't, all IA, with 4th and 25th Cavalry Pakistani Armoured Corps.

Several of these latter have the loops cast integrally with the badges, as do a couple of the SF badges - protruding lugs with holes bodged through them. I wonder if these may be market copies made for collectors. Any thoughts on that?

[Ed_Haynes]

Peter, all of here are quite aware that, when it comes to technology, the Luddites were absolutely 100% correct.

Yours in struggle,

Ed

[Keith Blakeman]

Ed

I won't even talk about the @#** camera. Suffice it to say that technology ain't all it's cracked up to be. I will need to donwload some better editing software and get a tutorial on postring to this site before I put any images up.

Peter,

I can recommend a free photo editing programme called "IRFANVIEW". You can convert bitmaps to jpegs and it also has a very useful reducer.

Keith

[Chris Boonzaier]

Peter,

I can recommend a free photo editing programme called "IRFANVIEW". You can convert bitmaps to jpegs and it also has a very useful reducer.

Keith

Exactly ! With a digital camera and Irfanview you can take on the world ! you can determine the size, crop of the parts you dont need etc. etc.

[peter monahan]

Thanks Chris! I'm all over it!

[peter monahan]

One more try!

[leigh kitchen]

Does the camera work now it's been bounced off the walls for a couple of years?

I