It was raised by Brevet MajorWilliam Stephen Raikes Hodson during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and exists today as the 4th Horse Regiment in the Indian Army. The first risala or troop was raised by Sardar Man Singh. The force was raised as an irregular cavalry regiment to assist with putting down the rebellion, and continued as part of the British Indian Army. The official designation has changed several times since the regiment's inception in 1857. In 1859, the regiment was split up into two regiments which survived broadly as the 9th Bengal Lancers and 10th Bengal Lancers. In 1878, the 10th Bengal Lancers came to be known as the "Duke of Cambridge's own." In 1921, the British decided to cut down on the number of cavalry regiments, and re-amalgamated the two as the 10th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers. The regiment fought at the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Cambrai in the First World War. It still recalls the latter as the regiment's most splendid battle, and celebrates Cambrai Day every year. The regiment is now an armoured regiment of the post-independence Indian Army.
Name changes
1857 Hodson's Horse
1858 2nd Regiment of Hodson's Horse
1861 10th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
1864 10th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
1874 10th Regiment of Bengal Lancers
1878 10th Bengal Lancers
1901 10th Bengal Lancers
1903 10th Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers
Notable officers
Colonel George Lindsay Garstin, joined the 9th Bengal Cavalry on 3 August 1877, and served in the Second Afghan War 1880 and led the regiment in the Chitral relief column. He possibly invented the wristwatch in the 1890s, getting a relative, Arthur Garstin to fashion him straps for his pocket watch. He commanded the Regiment 1894 - 1901.
This is a photograph about whose subjects there is disagreement in reputable academic circles. www.britishempire.co.uk states the Europeans to be: Lt. Clifford Henry Mecham ; Major Henry Dermot Daly ; The Sikh officer standing at the far left with long beard is given as Man Sing; the Sikh seated on floor as Jai Singh. National Army Museum, London, names the European officers as: Lt. Clifford Henry Mecham ; Asst. Surgeon Thomas Anderson. The Bridgman Art Library gives the European officer seated as Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson; officer standing: Lt. McDowell and seated on the ground is Sikh officer . The attribution to Hodson is surely incorrect, unfortunately, as there is apparently otherwise only one extant image of this famous officer, the engraving printed as frontispiece to his biography "Rider on a Grey Horse", by B.J. Cork, 1958. There appears to be no disagreement as to the title of the photograph, or its year. Reputable officers: Major Bhupinder Singh, Mahavir Chakra, Mirza Ahmed Bey.
