The unregulated dress of the Indian rank and file would have been difficult to define as uniform in the early days of the irregular cavalry, but this officer has adopted gold laced belts to assert his rank. The well-known red alkalaks worn by the regiment gave them an identity and by 1874 regulations were published. British officers wore red tunics with plaited gold cords looped across the chest as seen in the portrait of Colonel F E Smith. Indian offices had red alkalaks with blue kummerbunds.
