7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry

The 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was a British Indian cavalry regiment of the Bengal Army. The regiment remained in existence from the year 1846 to 1922, after which it was merged with the regiment of 6th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry to form the 18th King Edward`s Own Cavalry unit. The Bengal Army 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. In the year 1903, the 3 separate presidency armies were united to form the combined British Indian Army. The 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was also known as the 17th Irregular Cavalry and the 7th Hariana Lancers regiment.

History of 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
The 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was founded as the 16th Irregular Bengal Cavalry by Captain Liptrott at Cawnpore (Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh) and Meerut in the year 1846. The regiment was developed after the >First Anglo Sikh War in 1845, in prevision of commencement of a Second War. When the Second Anglo Sikh War began, the army unit was not engaged in any military operations but served as a reserve force. During the Great Revolt of 1857 in British India, the battalion was posted on the North West Frontier. Unlike various other regiments in the Bengal Army, the 7th Hariana Lancers maintained their loyalty to the British East India Company and did not participate in the Mutiny.

As an effect of the Indian rebellion of 1857 and the re-organisation of the army of Bengal province, the 8th to 16th regiments of the Irregular Bengal Cavalry were dissolved. Moreover the 17th Irregular Cavalry was re-designated as the 7th Bengal Cavalry regiment. In the year 1886, the army unit was stationed in Burma during the 3rd Burmese War. During the First World War, the 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was sent to Mesopotamia, along with other British Indian forces that took part in the Battle of Shaiba.

The British Indian army decided to reduce the volume of cavalry regiments after the culmination of the First World War. Instead of dissolving the surplus regiments, the various army regiments were amalgamated together in pairs. Consequently, the whole cavalry line was renumbered and re-designated. In the year 1922, the 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was merged with 6th King Edward`s Own Cavalry (6th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry) in order to raise the 18th King Edward`s Own Cavalry regiment.

Designations of 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry
Like the other regiments of the British Indian Army, the 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry was renamed a number of times in the various re-organisations in the Army. These are mentioned as follows-
* 16th Irregular Cavalry - 1846
* 17th Irregular Cavalry - 1847
* 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry - 1861
* 7th Regiment of Bengal Lancers - 1900
* 7th Bengal Lancers - 1901
* 7th Lancers - 1903
* 7th Hariana Lancers - 1904

The re-designation of the 7th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry in the year 1904 was primarily based on the large volume of army personnel from that British Indian District.