Ressaidar

Last updated

Ressaidar was a Viceroy's commissioned officer's (VCO) rank in the British Indian Army. Ressaidar denoted a junior commander of a risala or risalah (a body of horse, [1] regardless if troop or regiment [2] ) in Persian.

This native Officer's rank existed in Cavalry only, there was never a corresponding position in the other arms. A Ressaidar was a junior troop commander, so he could be regarded as native junior 'Captain'. [3] He was usually the head of the second troop of a squadron, while the first troop was led by a Risaldar, who was a native senior 'Captain'. [4]

During the British Raj, a Ressaidar ranked above Jemadar or Naib-Risaldar (rank abolished in 1865 [5] ) and below Risaldar (with the latter he was sometimes confused with, even by authors of military literature). A Ressaidar was roughly equivalent to a 'Captain, 2nd Class' or 'Captain lieutenant', but in World War I, he was classified as native 'Lieutenant'. [6] Nevertheless, all VCO's were always outranked by the lowest british Officer with a full commission.

The rank of Ressaidar was abolished with effect from 1st April 1921. Indian Officers then holding that rank were to be promoted to Risaldar. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

Risaldar, meaning the commander of a risala or risalah in Persian, is a mid-level rank in cavalry and armoured units of the Indian and Pakistan Army. In other arms, such as the infantry, the equivalent rank is subedar.

Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army.

Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) is a term used for a group of military ranks which is higher than havildar and lower than lieutenant. The term is only used by Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Senior havildars are promoted to JCO rank on the basis of merit and seniority, restricted by the number of vacancies. JCOs are treated as a separate class and hold additional privileges. Primarily the term was associated with armies but since the 2000s India and Pakistan's navies and air forces are using the term to indicate their Chief Petty Officers and Warrant Officers.

A viceroy's commissioned officer (VCO) was a senior Indian member of the British Indian Army. VCOs were senior in rank to warrant officers in the British Army, and held a commission issued by the viceroy. Also known as "Indian officers" or "native officers", they had authority only over Indian troops and were subordinate to all British King's commissioned officers, Indian Commissioned Officers (ICO) and King's commissioned Indian officers (KCIO).

Indian Army Ranks can be broadly classified into three categories: Commissioned Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks.

Subedar-major is the senior-most rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian and Pakistani Armies, formerly known as the Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army.

Risaldar-major was originally a cavalry officer rank of the British Indian Army. During the British Raj, it was the highest rank natives could achieve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Order of British India</span> Award

The Order of British India was an order of merit established in 1837 by the East India Company for "long, faithful and honourable service". The company's powers were removed after the Indian Mutiny, and the Order was incorporated into the British Honours System in 1859. The order became obsolete in 1947, after the partition of British India into the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4th Horse (Hodson's Horse)</span> Indian Army regiment

4th Horse (Hodson's Horse) is a part of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army, which had its beginnings as an irregular cavalry regiment during the time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Horse (Skinner's Horse)</span> Indian Army regiment

The 1st Horse (Skinner's Horse) is a regiment of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. It traces its origins as a cavalry regiment from the times of the East India Company, followed by its service in the British Indian Army and finally, after independence as the fourth oldest and one of the senior cavalry regiments of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)</span> Armoured regiment of the Indian Army

The 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) is one of the oldest and a highly decorated armoured regiment of the Indian Army. The regiment was formed by the amalgamation of two of the oldest regiments of the Bengal Army – the 2nd Royal Lancers (Gardner's Horse) and the 4th Cavalry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Army</span> Army of the Bengal Presidency of British India

The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal Native Infantry</span> Regular infantry component of the Bengal Army in British India

The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular infantry components of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing into law of the Government of India Act 1858. At this latter point control of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency passed to the British Government. The first locally recruited battalion was raised by the East India Company in 1757 and by the start of 1857 there were 74 regiments of Bengal Native Infantry in the Bengal Army. Following the Mutiny the Presidency armies came under the direct control of the United Kingdom Government and there was a widespread reorganisation of the Bengal Army that saw the Bengal Native Infantry regiments reduced to 45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Horse (Deccan Horse)</span> Regiment of the Indian Army

The Deccan Horse or 9 Horse is one of the oldest and most decorated armoured regiments of the Indian Army. The Royal Deccan Horse , which was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army was formed from the amalgamation of two regiments after World War I. They saw service from the Mutiny of 1857 up to and including World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">12th Cavalry (Frontier Force)</span> Military unit

The 12th Cavalry Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in the British Indian army in 1922 by the amalgamation of 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) and 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st Horse (Central India Horse)</span> Indian Army unit

The Central India Horse was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">45th Rattray's Sikhs</span> Military unit

The 45th Rattray's Sikhs was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. They could trace their origins to the 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion raised in April 1856, at Lahore, by Captain Thomas Rattray originally consisting of a troop of 100 cavalry and 500 infantry. The initial class composition of the troops was 50% Sikhs and 50% Dogras, Rajputs and Mussulmans (Muslims) from the Punjab and the North-West Frontier. It is said that he went through the villages challenging men to wrestle with him on the condition that they had to join up. Whatever the case, the regiment was raised and trained and developed as an elite corps, which soon saw action in Bihar in the Sonthal 'parganas'. After sterling service in Bihar, Bengal and Assam, and during the 1857 Mutiny, the cavalry portion was eventually disbanded in 1864 and the infantry section was taken into the line of Bengal Native Infantry as the '45th Native Regiment of Infantry'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Vaughan (East India Company officer)</span>

Colonel John Vaughan (1778–1830) was a senior British officer in the service of the Honourable East India Company’s Army. Through his military career he saw active service on the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War, Second Anglo-Maratha War and Third Anglo-Maratha War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20th Lancers (British Indian Army)</span> Military unit

The 20th Lancers was a regiment of the British Indian Army.

Muhammad Habib Khan Tarin, Risaldar-Bahadur, CSI, was a cavalry officer of Tarin descent, who lived in the Hazara region on the Punjab Frontier, in British India.

References

  1. Francis Joseph Steingass (1892). A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, Including the Arabic words and phrases to be met with in literature (5th [1963] ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 575. Retrieved 2022-07-06. Apparently there is a 2015 edition from Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, ISBN   81-7304-669-7
  2. Carman, W.(William) Y. (1961). Indian Army Uniforms Under the British from the 18th Century to 1947: cavalry. London: Leonard Hill. p. 226.
  3. Carman, W.(William) Y. (1961). Indian Army Uniforms Under the British from the 18th Century to 1947: cavalry. London: Leonard Hill. p. 225.
  4. Cardew, Lt. Francis Gordon (1903). A Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army to the Year 1895. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government, India. p. 161.
  5. Cardew, Lt. Francis Gordon (1903). A Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army to the Year 1895. Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government, India. pp. 165, 333.
  6. Plumon, Eugène (1914). Vade-mecum for the Use of Officers and Interpreters in the Present Campaign: French and English Technical and Military Terms. London: Librairie Hachette & Cie. p. 10.
  7. Kate Morris (2006), Illustrated Dictionary of History, New Dehli: Lotus press, p.173, ISBN 81-89093-37-1
  8. Journal of the United Service Institution of India, by the United Service Institution, Volume 50-51, New Delhi 1921, p. 365