'3rd Bombay Cavalry', 1908 (c)

Watercolour by Major Alfred Crowdy Lovett (1862-1919), 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment, 1908 (c).

Full-length uniform study of a dismounted sowar of the 3rd (The Queen's Own) Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry.

The 3rd Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry was first raised on 4 May 1820 at Sirur by Major Peter Delamotte. It was largely filled with volunteers transferred from the Poona Auxiliary Infantry. The regiment fought in the 1st Afghan War (1839-1842) earning the battle honours 'Ghuznee 1842', 'Cabool 1842'; in the Scinde War of 1843 it earned the battle honour 'Hyderabad'; and in the Persian War (1856-1857), the further battle honours 'Persia', 'Reshire', 'Khoosh-ab' and 'Bushire'.

During the Indian Mutiny of 1857 the regiment remained loyal and participated in the pacification of Central India, earning the battle honour 'Central India'. Following the Mutiny, in 1861 it was briefly renamed in the same style as its 1st and 2nd Bombay Light Cavalry counterparts, changing its title to 3rd Regiment of Bombay Silladar Light Cavalry, only to revert to 3rd Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry within the same year. The regiment was awarded the battle honour 'Abyssinia' for participating in the Abyssinian campaign (1867-1868), and 'Kandahar 1880', 'Afghanistan 1878-80' for the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880).

The last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was deposed following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and the process of transferring control of India from the East India Company to the British Crown began, culminating with Queen Victoria accepting the title of Empress of India in 1876. To mark this occasion, she granted the regiment the royal accolade of 'Queen's Own', changing its title to 3rd (The Queen's Own) Regiment of Bombay Light Cavalry.

In 1900, the regiment was deployed to the 3rd China War, also known as the Boxer Rebellion, which earned it the battle honour, 'China 1900'. In 1903, as part of Lord Kitchener's reforms of the Indian Army, the regiment had thirty added to its number as with all Bombay regiments, and was renamed as the 33rd Queen's Own Light Cavalry.