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The Hyderabad Cavalry Contingent has a nominal total strength of some 2,200.  They are strictly speaking "corps under the orders of the Government of India", and recall - notably in the distinction of Central India - the loyal support rendered to the British Government during the Mutiny by the Nizam of Hyderabad.

The 5th Punjab Cavalry reached Kabul in 1880, and joined General Ross's column.  They were represented in the second engagement at Charasiah, and were subsequently employed in the Logar Valley and Maidan districts.  They fought under Colonel Vivian in the battle of 1st September 1880, at Kandahar, and greatly distinguished themselves, Lieutenant Baker and six others being wounded.

The 6th Bombay Cavalry date, according to the official list, from 1846.  The first of the regiment's distinctions relates to one of the most wearying but successful events in that war in Scinde, by which the robber chief Beja Khan, the "Scourge of the Indian Frontier", was compelled to tender absolute submission.  Also in the distinctions are Meanee, Hyderabad, Punjaub and Mooltan, ever associated with the name of Herbert Edwards.  At Goojerat they were with the cavalry before which fled the hopeless mass of fugitives, the wreck of the mighty army of the Sikhs.  Under their old commander, General Jacob, the 5th Bombay Cavalry took part in the Persian War, and subsequently rendered good service in the suppression of the Mutiny.  The Afghan campaign proved a fruitful harvest of honours for the Scinde Horse, though the regiment perhaps more than others identified with it - the 3rd Scinde Horse - is no longer to be found in the Army List.  At Baghas, Kandahar, Takht-i-pul, Khusk-i-Nakhud, Girishk, Maiwand, wherever cavalry could act, there we find recorded some gallant deed of the Scinde Horse, while the names of Reynolds, Currie, Malcolmson, Gordon and Monteith rise unbidden to the memory when we call to mind the gallant deeds done in that fierce and lengthy struggle.

The 7th Bombay Cavalry (Belooch Horse) date, as at present constituted, from 1885, and have not consequently had an opportunity of gaining any of the distinctions borne by the other cavalry regiments.  The origin and composition of the regiment, however, leave little room for doubt that, when occasion offers, they will be no whit behind in valour and endurance.

The 1st Bombay Lancers date from 1817.  They were amongst the earliest cavalry regiments of the Presidency, their particular designation of "Lancers" being of more recent date. Throughout the Afghan War - now intercepting convoys, now cutting off reliefs, now pursuing the foe scattered by the deadly rain of musket shot - we find the cavalry taking a prominent part.  When the Sikh war of 1845 occurred, with its teeming record of gallant actions, the 1st Bombay Lancers were amongst the troops engaged, and in numberless instances rendered most efficient service.  In the triumphs gained by Whish and Edwards throughout the campaign, and notably at Moultan, the regiment shared, though in some of the more prominent actions the cavalry were not very prominently engaged.  The last distinction on their standard commemorates their services during the Mutiny "in several trying campaigns, both within and without the borders of their Presidency", and the General Orders published by Sir Hugh Rose and others bear ample testimony to the sterling aid they rendered.

The Central Indian Horse was one of those magnificent bodies of irregular cavalry which the genius of individual Englishmen called into being at or shortly after the time of the rebellion.  Always associated with the Central Indian Horse must be the regiments raised by Beatson and Meade, and which, till their incorporation, were known by their names.  Beatson's Horse may almost be said to claim a connection of affinity with the Hyderabad Contingent, inasmuch as it was in the service of the Nizam of the latter state that Colonel Beatson showed his exceptional aptitude for organising cavalry.  In the first few years of their existence they numbered amongst their commanders the gallant Watson of Victoria Cross fame.  Later the Central India Horse were engaged in Afghanistan, distinguishing themselves at Charasiah.  Under Colonel Martin the 1st and 2nd Central Indian Horse reached Afghanistan in February 1880 and operated on the Khyber Line.  In the following May they were hotly engaged under General Doran against a large body of the enemy, in order to cross swords with whom they had to swim a swollen torrent.  With the loss of only three men they put hors de combat between twenty and thirty of their foes.  They reached Kanadahar by forced marches, and took a brilliant share in the battle.  Amongst those who particularly distinguished themselves may be mentioned Colonels Martin and Buller, Major College, and Lieutenants Chamberlain, Martin and Ravenshaw.

The 2nd Bombay Lancers date from 1817.  After various services which, though important and invaluable, are yet unrecorded in the official distinctions, we find them, like their predecessors in notation, amongst the Imperial troops which crushed, we must hope for ever, the terrible Mutiny of 1857.  They have been engaged since then in the Afghan War of 1879- 80, in which they served in the Reserve Division of the Kandahar Field Force in the early part of 1880, and subsequently joined in the advance on that city and on the line of communication.

The 3rd Madras Light Cavalry date from 1784, when they were raised by Major Campbell out of the disbanded 1st, 2nd and 4th Regiments.  Subsequently for a short time they were known as the 1st Native Cavalry, and were allotted their present position by the Order of February, 1788.  When war broke out against Tippoo in May, 1790, the 3rd were in Colonel Floyd's Cavalry and had some sharp fighting in Ciombatore, at Cheyur, and Suttiamungalum.  Colonel Floyd "spoke very highly of the conduct of the troops, especially of that of the cavalry".  They took part in the gallant but ill-judged cavalry charge at Bangalore, where they had five killed and three wounded.  They also fought in the battle before Seringapatam and throughout the campaign on 1792, commanded by Major Stevenson.  In the Pindaree war they took part in the capture of Talyne, and in the numerous operations covered by the distinction "Mahidpore".  Since that time they have served in various places, notable in Burmah.

The 29th (the Duke of Connaught's Own) Bombay Infantry, or 2nd Belooch Regiment, date from 1846, and gained their first laurels in the Persian War, all the distinctions gained in which are emblazoned on their colours.  They were amongst the troops detailed to stay for awhile in Bushire.  They joined the army in Afghanistan in the autumn of 1878, and were attached to General Biddulph's Division.  They fought at Takht-i-pul and Khushk-i-Nakhud, at Khelat-i-Ghilzie and Shah Jui, and in August 1880, joined the army under Sir F Roberts and fought in the battle of Kandahar.  On the outbreak of the Egyptian War, the 2nd Beloochees were amongst the regiments warned for service, and eventually joined Sir H Macpherson's column, fighting in the first phase of the war, and distinguishing themselves at Tel-el-Kebir.  H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught is Hon Colonel of the regiment.

The corps of Sappers and Miners (The Queen's Own) consist of eight companies, of an average strength of about a hundred and seventy of all ranks.  They represent two separate bodies - the Engineers and the Pioneers.  The former may be said to date from 1758, during the siege of Fort St George, and at the same time two new companies of Native Pioneers were formed.  The latter, however, seem to have been temporary, for in 1780 two new companies of Native Pioneers were formed.  These increased in strength, and in 1793 were consolidated into a corps.  Ten years later they had become sixteen companies and were formed into two battalions, and in 1831 the 1st battalion was "converted into a corps of Sappers and Miners, and transferred to the command of officers of the Engineers, continuing to bear on its colours and appointments the honorary distinction won as 'Pioneers' from the capture of Seringapatam in 1799 to the war in Ava, 1824-26.  The establishment was to consist of eight companies of eighty six non commissioned, rank and file, each.  The 2nd Battalion Pioneers was made over in a similar manner on the 1st February 1884."In 1876 the corps received the distinction of being styled "The Queen's Own", H.R.H. the Prince of Wales being at the same time appointed the Hon Colonel.  The Sappers an Miners in 1898 still wore the uniform of European pattern.

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