Corps of Guides

The Corps of Guides was a regiment of the British Indian Army which was formed and served mostly in the North-West Frontier Province of British India. It had a unique composition of being part infantry and part cavalry.

The idea for raising such a body of troops was Sir Henry Lawrence's. He appointed a young officer, Lt. Harry Lumsden as its commandant and on 6 February 1847 Lumsden took over his famous command. The class or tribal composition of the men recruited for 'The Guides' was mostly of Pathans of the region. The headquarters of the Guides was at Mardan (now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan).

After 1947 and the independence of Pakistan, the Guides regiment became part of the Pakistan Army. Its infantry section was incorporated into the Frontier Force Regiment while its cavalry side became the Guides Cavalry.