African Body Guard Hyderabad Army
 

Another badge (Collar or headress?) recently acquired, original hand written note accompanying the badges has,

'African Bodyguard (Silver Plated) (Hyderabad Army) 3/-' as its description.

Wonder if anyone could supply approximate dates of wear and confirm its use please.

Regards, Simon.

Meclenaghan and Head

Second page... difficult to upload on phone so please excuse ..
If you want to ever sell this let me know..I'm actually supposed to have stopped buying badges but still tempted occasionally ;) Not immediately though..funds crunch... enjoy.... lockdown in India so plenty of time for all this.. keeps my mind away from the misery all around...

Many thanks once again, could you supply the title of the book shown, one I feel I should acquire, expensive though I would imagine.:D

Hope things are starting to improve for you all over there soon.

Simon.

The Maharajahs Paltans. History of the Indian States Forces. 2 huge vols. Good if you are interested in princely states, otherwise save your money!

Thanks for the kind thoughts, Simon. It's a bit tough and a little scary out here but things will improve over time slowly...just need to hang on.
always glad to help.
Sunil

Thanks for that, I imagine the best book for me would be Ashok Nath's book I read so much about..........must start saving!

Regards, Simon.

This photo was recently posted on the South Asian Military heritage Facebook site. The caption read "2 guards from Delhi Durbar with James Recalton an American photographer who visited India in 1903." and the tentative identification of the two gurads was 'Kashmiris' from the Hyderabad state forces. I think that the giant on the right in the photo could very well be African. Thoughts?

Absolutely lovely photo Peter!
The guy on the left is most likely a Pathan..I've seen many 6 ft 6 in Pathans in Mumbai about 30-odd years ago ( wonder where they all went! They were numerous in colonial Bombay and often created law and order problems, but that's another story!) I once met a Pathan moneylender who was a veritable giant well over 6 ft 6 or so it seemed to puny 5 ft 11in me. I still have his card!

The giant on the right may well be an African, but though I can't really put a finger on it I still think it's most likely an Indian from the north..

Many of the Africans still resident in India are the Siddis who are still to be found in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Not particularly tall - and some of them might have found service with the Nizam. Some of the areas they now live in were part of the Nizams Dominions.

Great photo Peter, thanks for adding it to this thread.

Regards, Simon.

I thought it was pretty neat too.

Anyway, subsequent posts suggest that the two giants are just that - 7'4" and 7'9" apparently - and that their identities are definitley known and, yes, they are Kashmiris.

That is huge, the tallest Guardsman in my old Battalion was 7'2'' without bearskin cap! These Men would have made him look average, easy to spot the right hand man on the parade though!

Simon.