Indian Army; 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse cap badge.

Small cast brass cap badge with centre white metal rose.

Skinner's Horse is one of the oldest and most famous cavalry regiments of the Indian Army. It is still serving today.

The founder
James Skinner was born in Calcutta in 1778. His father, Hercules Skinner, was Scottish and his mother was Rajput. At eighteen he joined the Maratha army under de Boigne and stayed under Perron until 1803. When the Maratha War broke out, he refused to fight against his own countrymen and joined Lord Lake instead. Later in life he was known as "Sikandar Sahib."

Raising the regiment
The regiment was raised at Hansi, in present-day Haryana, on 23 February 1803 for the East India Company. The first men were 800 troopers from Perron's Horse, who had served the Scindia. They became known as the "Yellow Boys" because of their uniform colour. Skinner is said to have chosen yellow because of Rajput tradition. He raised a second regiment, which became 3rd Skinner's Horse.

Service and changes of status
The regiment served at the siege of Bharatpur. In 1818 Skinner was made a lieutenant-colonel in British service and a CB. It began as local horse and became an irregular unit in 1840. After the Bengal regular cavalry mutinied in 1857, its strong record led to it becoming a regular regiment in 1861. Skinner died at Hansi on 4 December 1841 and was buried in the Delhi church he built, St James.

Title history (1st regiment)

• 1803: Captain Skinner's Corps of Irregular Horse
• 1823: 1st Regiment of Local Horse
• 1840: 1st Bengal Irregular Cavalry
• 1861: 1st Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
• 1899: 1st (The Duke of York's Own) Regiment of Bengal Lancers
• 1903: 1st Duke of York's Own Lancers (Skinner's Horse)

Amalgamation and after
The 1st and 3rd were amalgamated in 1921 as the 1st/3rd Cavalry. The title changed again in 1922 to 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse. The old 1st wore yellow, a uniform colour unique worldwide, while the old 3rd wore blue. At independence in 1947 it passed to the Indian Army, where it serves today as 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse).