The 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was a military cavalry regiment of the Bengal Army under the British Indian Army. The army of the province of Bengal was the armed forces of Bengal Presidency and was amongst the 3 main Presidency Armies in British India. The British Presidency Armies belonged to the British East India Company until the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The Government of India Act 1858, which was authorized after the Sepoy Mutiny in the year 1857, transferred the authority of the 3 Presidency Armies to the British Empire in India. In the year 1903, the 3 separate presidency armies were united to form the combined British Indian Army. The 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was also known as the 14th Bengal Lancers and the 14th Murray`s Jat Lancers.
History of 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
The 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was formed by Captain J I Murray as the Jat Horse Yeomanry at Aligarh in the year 1857 for the British East India Company. It was raised with the purpose of providing service during the great Revolt of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The 14th Bengal Lancers consisted of only Hindu Jats. During the Bhutan War from the year 1864 to1865, the military battalion was included as a part of the Bhutan Field Force. The cavalry regiment also participated in the Second Afghan War from 1878 to 1880. The 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry operated in Mesopotamia during the First World War.
The 14th Bengal Lancers was merged together with the 15th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry, also known as 15th Lancers (Cureton`s Multanis) on 21 September 1920 at Sialkot in order to form the armoured regiment of the 20th Lancers under the British Indian Army. The 20th Lancers remained in service from the year 1922 to 1937 and contained one unit each of Hindu Jats, Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims.
Designations of 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry The 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was renamed a number of times during the restructuring in the British Indian Army, like all other regiments. These designations are mentioned as follows-
* The Jat Horse Yeomanry - 1857
* Murray`s Jat Horse - 1859
* 14th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry - 1861
* 14th Bengal Cavalry (Lancers) - 1864
* 14th Bengal Lancers - 1874
* 14th Bengal Lancers (Murray`s Jat Horse) - 1901
* 14th Murray`s Jat Lancers - 1903
