British India: Assam Rifles. Blackened brass cap badge. Circa 1920--1945

The reverse of the badge complete with 2 x original loop fittings, as issued The AR referred to as the 'Sentinels of the North East' is the oldest paramilitary force in India. It was raised in 1835 as the Cachar Levy, a militia to protect tea gardens and the fertile plains of Assam against unruly hill-tribes. Its scope increased with the expansion of the 'British Raj' in Northeast India, and it was used continuously to counter insurgencies in the region. The force was redesignated as Assam Frontier Police in 1883, Assam Military Police in 1891, and East Bengal and Assam Military Police in 1913. It got its present name in 1917 Prior to the independence of India, in 1947, the cap badge comprised crossed 'Kukri's' - a bow to the largely 'Gurkha' ethnicity of the units recruits - with a subsidiary title scroll 'Assam Rifles'. After independence the cap badges of Assam Rifles were modified to incorporate 'Asoka's Lion' emblem on top of the crossed Kukri's, and retaining the subsidiary tile 'Assam Rifles' Condition: GVF