Khaki was first invented in India by Lieutenant (later Lieutenant General) Lumsdon, who raised "The Queen's Own Corps of Guides" in December, 1846.He was of the view that boarder banditti could be best dealt with in a manner which they would well understand, if his own men wore their native style clothing, rather than adopt the semi-European dress which was then used in the Indian forces, and which the infantry battalion of the Punjab Frontier Force raised at the same time as the Guides were wearing.
No serious attempt of uniformity were made as the corps was in existence for more than a year, when were adopted a smock and pyjama trouser made of coarse home spun cotton material, a cotton turban and overall in the winters, jerkins of sheepskin and wadded cotton jackets. All were dyed locally with the product of a dwarf palm known as mazari which possessed the quality of colouring white cloth a drabbish grey; an indigenous method of producing camouflage clothing developed by the tribesmen as a result of constant vendetta and domestic wars. The leather jackets, however dyed unsuccessfully with mazari, so mulberry juice was used instead, which produced a yellow drab shade.
This is how the "Khaki" was born.
By the end of Boer war in 1899, the word "Khaki" had found its place in the English dictionaries. The Americans adopted "Khaki" in the early nineteen hundred, Japan in 1905, French in 1910 and the Belgian and Spanish armies in 1919. It gradually went on to become a universal pattern for militaries world over.
This coloured uniform is today the universal pattern of Indian police and para military forces across the line. However, the Indian armed forces have almost shed this pattern.
(Photo: Google)
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