Risaldar
in India, a cavalry officer in command of a Ressalah, or a squadron of cavalry
Risaldar, meaning the commander of a risala or risalah (a body of horse, regardless if troop or regiment) 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. Risaldar was also a viceroy's commissioned officer's rank in the British Indian Army, until 1947.
Indian and Pakistan Armies
The Indian Army and Pakistan Army have a unique set of ranks, called junior commissioned officers (JCO). They stand between non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers. A risaldar ranks above a naib risaldar and below a risaldar major.
British Indian Army
The JCO evolved from the Viceroy's commissioned officers (VCO), established during the British Raj in 1885. The VCOs themselves succeeded the so called native officers holding a commission of the Governor General.
In the late 19th century, the spelling risaldar was uncommon, and the rank was usually listed as ressaldar or russuldar (e.g. in the Bombay Cavalry).
“Risaldar” enters the record as in India, a cavalry officer in command of a Ressalah, or a squadron of cavalry. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Risaldar, India and cavalry can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Risaldar” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Risaldar, India and cavalry provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7335817. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1947 and 1885.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Risaldar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.