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In November 1902 Lord Kitchener became Commander-in-Chief, India and put into effect a series of far-reaching military reforms. He was at odds with the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, over this. His objective was to complete the unification of the Indian Army which had begun in 1895. He abolished the Indian Staff Corps to which all British officers, absurdly, belonged. In future officers were to be directly gazetted to regiments.
The Cavalry regiments from the three Presidencies were renumbered to form a unified line. The Bengal regiments were the most numerous and took the first 19 numbers. This upset the Madras and Bombay regiments who felt that they had an older lineage, and had not been involved in the Mutiny.
An attempt was made to retain a significant digit in the new number so that, for instance, the 1st Punjab Cavalry became the 21st and the 2nd became the 22nd etc. As a result the 24th had to be left blank to retain the 5th Punjab as the 25th. The Madras Regiments lost their numbers but they had always been a little different. They rode government horses instead of conforming to the silladar way. Three regiments from the army of the Nizam of Hyderabad were also included although the 3rd Lancers of the Hyderabad Contingent were disbanded in 1903.
| Indian Bodyguards |
| The Governor General's Bodyguard |
| The Governor's Bodyguard, Madras |
| The Governor's Bodyguard, Bombay |
| Indian Cavalry Regiments |
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1st (Duke of York's Own) Bengal Lancers Skinner's Horse |
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2nd Bengal Lancers Gardner's Horse |
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3rd Bengal Cavalry Skinner's Horse |
| 4th Bengal Lancers |
| 5th Bengal Cavalry |
| 6th Prince of Wales's Bengal Cavalry |
| 7th Hariana Lancers |
| 8th Lancers |
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9th Bengal Lancers Hodson's Horse |
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10th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Bengal Lancers Hodson's Horse |
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11th (Prince of Wales' Own) Bengal Lancers Probyn's Horse |
| 12th Bengal Cavalry |
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13th Duke of Connaught's Bengal Lancers Watson's Horse |
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14th Bengal Lancers Murray's Jat Horse |
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15th Bengal Lancers Cureton's Multanis |
| 16th Bengal Lancers |
| 17th Bengal Lancers |
| 18th Tiwana Lancers |
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19th Bengal Lancers Fane's Horse |
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20th Deccan Horse 1st Hyderabad |
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21st (Prince Albert Victor's Own) Punjab Cavalry (Frontier Force) |
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22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) 2nd Punjab |
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23rd Cavalry (Frontier Force) 3rd Punjab |
| 4th Punjab - Disbanded 1885 |
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25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) 5th Punjab |
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26th Prince of Wales's Own Light Cavalry 1st Madras |
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27th Light Cavalry 2nd Madras |
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28th Light Cavalry 3rd Madras |
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29th Lancers (Deccan Horse) 2nd Hyderabad |
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3rd Lancers Hyderabad Contingent (disbanded 1903) |
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30th Lancers (Gordon's Horse) 4th Hyderabad |
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31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers 1st Bombay |
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32nd Lancers 2nd Bombay |
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33rd Queen's Own Light Cavalry 3rd Bombay |
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34th Prince Albert Victor's Own Poona Horse 4th Bombay |
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35th Scinde Horse 5th Bombay |
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36th Jacob's Horse 6th Bombay |
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37th Lancers (Baluch Horse) 7th Bombay |
| 38th Central India Horse |
| 39th Central India Horse |
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