The 8th Lancers were the last cavalry regiment to be established before the Great Mutiny of 1857, being raised by Captain W. H. Ryves at Sultanpore in 1846. The regiment served in Peshawar in 1857 and in the 2nd Afghan War. They were issued with lances in 1899 to become the 8th Bengal Lancers, later changed to the 8th Lancers.