The uniform of the 2nd Bengal Irregular Cavalry was basically green with red facings and silver lace. The alkalak was the basis of the uniform, which in 1850 was somewhat shorter than that worn by Lt-Col Hearsey in the 1839 portrait. The turbans, or pagris, differ in this illustration, and would have suited the particular religion or race of the soldier. The standing figure is an Indian officer, probably a Jemadar, as shown by his pouch-belt which has a plate for chains and pickers. He has a medal for one of the Sikh Wars of the 1840s, and holds a tulwar, the preferred sword of the irregular cavalry. The mounted man is a sowar, armed with a lance as well as a tulwar. The sowars of the regiment were issued with percussion carbines in 1846 but if he does have one it would be kept on his right side.
The illustration is by Major A C Lovett, published with other drawings and paintings by him in Armies of India
by Major G F MacMunn in 1911.
