Peccavi

[Kevin Rea]

Hello all,
I am looking for information on the Scinde Irregular Horse. I recently was given a silver commemorative belt buckle with the above inscription and "Meeanee Hyderabad 1843".
Perhaps this unit was involved in the Sikh wars in the early 1840s. Any info at all would be much appreciated.
Regards,
Kevin

[Tony Farrell]

I'm not sure exactly what information your looking for, but the Scinde Irregulars were formed in 1839 and were indeed involved in the Scinde campaigns of Meeanee and Hyderabad (on the side of the HEIC) - and much more besides, including both Sikh Wars. 'Peccavi' is actually Latin. It's a play on words, and reflected Napier's costly (to the Scindes) victory at Meeanee. Work it out. Anyhow, they were a very well respected outfit. Do a Google search and see what comes up - plenty I would wager.

This is a very interesting, albeit sanguinary period of British Indian history - and merits greater study. The Sihk Wars have already been touched upon on this forum (do a search on Sutlej & Punjab), but this predates the Sikh Wars by three years. Any chance of a gawp at this item?

Check out the link below for some mouth watering early Indian & First Afghan War gongs:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...hlight=Gwalior

[Kevin Rea]

I have sinned

Hello Tony,
Many thanks for the reply. I did indeed look on Google for some info and found very few references to the unit -- native cavalry with British officers, it seems. The unit is still in existance in the Indian army today.
I will search again for more info on the specific battles that are written on the buckle.
The term peccavi means "I have sinned" (Scinde), as you know. This is not written on the buckle, unfortunately. It is just something I remember from reading about that particular campaign.
I will try and get a pic of the buckle organized for you.
Regards,
Kevin

[Marc Sherriff]

Is this a belt buckle or a shoulder plate?