The left side of the painting by ‘Green’ shows an Indian officer whose uniform has similarities with the other ranks but he has white breeches instead of shorts, and boots instead of being barefoot. The blue cummerbund, worn low on the hips, has a crimson officer’s sash over it, with a knot and loose ends to his left side. Most images of Indian officers show only one shoulder strap to support the sword on his left side. But this painting has a strap on the left shoulder, but we cannot see what is attached to it.
The officer’s blue sundail headdress is viewed from the front so the decoration on the upright oval can be seen. The cords hanging on the right side, ending in tassels are red and appear to come from the decorated oval.
This picture was reproduced in monochrome in Military Drawings and Paintings in the Royal Collection by A E Haswell Miller and N P Dawnay (Phaidon 1966). The authors speculate that the officer is a subedar, the most senior level that an Indian could reach until the introduction of the rank of subedar-major in 1817. The presence of a flag in the background caused the authors to doubt the 1790 dating of the scene. It is an Ensign with a Union flag in the canton which appears to have the red saltire of St Patrick which would date it as post-1800.
Regimental Details | Uniforms
