Irregular Cavalry in British India

Irregular Cavalry units, also known as Irregular Horse or Local Horse, were raised from local volunteers who provided their own horse and equipment - this was known as the Silladar system. Irregular horse were seconded to bolster the strength of the regular cavalry. They often formed whole units under a local leader and each unit would have two or three European Officers. In many cases the unit bore the name of the leader or place where they were formed, eg. Gardner's Horse, or Skinner's Horse.