33 Regiments Madras Infantry, and a Madras Medical Department, etc.
The Army of Bombay numbers—
7 Regiments Cavalry, 2 of which are Lancer regiments.
2 Mountain Batteries.
Corps of Bombay Sappers.
30 Regiments Bombay Infantry, and a Bombay Medical Department, etc.
Natives enlist for any period of service, from three years to thirty. Most of the troops enlist for nine or fifteen years. They must be physically fit and physically equivalent to a full-grown man. They are for the most part very keen soldiers, especially those that come from the North-West Provinces and Punjab. In many regiments the men have to find everything except firearms—even horses, accoutrements, and food, on their pay of about eighteenpence a day; and yet in some popular regiments there are several hundred candidates waiting for admission.
The Infantry is armed and equipped similarly to the British Infantry. Their rifle is of the Snider pattern, and is being exchanged for the Martini-Henry rifle. The uniforms of the Indian Army are very variegated, ranging from scarlet to yellow, and drab to green. The usual head-dress is the turban, but the other details of costume vary too much for description. The English officers wear in some regiments the native uniform, in others an English one.
A Native Cavalry regiment consists of 4 squadrons of 2 troops each, with an establishment of 10 English officers, Native officers, N. C. O.’s, and about 540 privates.
A Native Infantry Regiment consists of 1 battalion of 8 companies, with an establishment of 9 English officers, Native officers, N. C. O.’s, and about 820 privates. Each Infantry regiment is linked with two others, one of them supplying the other two with men, etc., in time of war.