You are quite correct in the whole British Empire connection, Raph. The influences of the British Army on both the Indian Army & the Pakistani Army are still very much present, from insigina, uniforms, custom & tradition, and even bagpipes and tartans. Of course, the most famous example are the pipes & drums of the Ghurkas, the hillmen from Nepal who served (and still serve) in the British Army, as well as the Indian Army and for the Sultan of Brunei, but other units also adopted them, including the Sikhs and the Frontier Force, raised to guard the Northwest Frontier between India (today part of Parkistan) and the hostile tribes of Afganistan.

The pipers of the 3rd Battalion of the Sikh Regiment, for example, still wear the Rattray tartan in honour of the Scottish officer who raised the regiment, Thomas Rattray. The Frontier Force of the Pakistani Army is still "twinned" as a sister unit with the Argylls, and the Scots & the Gurkhas have had a long connection, hence the adoption of Scottish totems like the pipes and tartan by the Gurkhas. The Gurkhas, amalgamted from 11 regiments plus support corps (Engineers, signals, military police, etc.) into one, still wear the Douglas tartan (The Gurkhas are riflemen, and Douglas was chosen in honour of the Cameronian Regiment/Scottish Rifles), and the old 10th Princess Mary's Gurkha Rifles wore the Stewart Hunting as a patch on their distinctive slouch hats. There is a company of Gurkhas that are serving with the Royal Scots and the Highlanders.

And, you also have "volunteer" units in India, China and Burma made up of Scots, civil servants and businessmen, such as the Calcutta Scottish, the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force that had a Scottish company, and the Shanghai Volunteer Force. And, I shouldn't forget the police forces of South Asia, in Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. that all still have pipe bands and still have some Scots expats serving in them.

Check out this article on the Scottish Military Historical Society's web site:

http://www.btinternet.com/~james.mckay/commonwr.htm

I can also recommend several good books about the Indian Army & the Gurkhas if anyone is interested.

Cheers,

Todd