Officer's full dress uniform worn by Major J A C May-Somerville, 11th King Edward's Own...

Officer's full dress uniform worn by Major J A C May-Somerville, 11th King Edward's Own Lancers (Probyn's Horse), 1913 circa. The regiment was raised in Lahore in 1857 as the 1st Regiment of the Sikh Irregular Cavalry. It was under the control of the Government of the Punjab but in 1860 authority was transferred to the Commander-in-Chief, India and it was re-designated the 11th Bengal Cavalry. Officers of the Irregular Cavalry wore loose-fitting Indian dress rather than the European-style uniforms of the Regular Cavalry. They continued to wear native dress after their assimilation into the Bengal Line Cavalry. This handsome uniform includes a ‘kurta’, a traditional item of clothing worn on the Indian sub-continent. It is a tunic or shirt falling either just above or somewhere below the knees of the wearer. Indian cavalry regiments were famed for their colourful dress uniforms and their ‘kurtas’ were often decorated with splendid facings.