India's Desert Maharaja: While his Camel Corps fought the enemy, he fought to sign the Treaty Of Versailles on behalf of India

A brass plate from North India, pre-1947, engraved with the coat of arms of the princely state of Bikaner – now a part of the Indian state of Rajasthan.

In 1889 Maharaja Ganga Singh of Bikaner founded the Bikaner Camel Corps, more famously known as the Ganga Risala. From then on they rode into action, often with the Maharaja riding along: Protecting the foreign legation during the Boxer Rebellion in China; fighting in East Africa against the Somali uprising; routing Turkish Ottoman forces with a camel cavalry charge at the Suez Canal. But perhaps the biggest battle the Maharaja fought and won was to give India a place at the table at the Paris Peace Conference, and sign the Treaty Of Versailles. And his gallant camel corps? After independence in 1947 it became a part of the Indian Army, and subsequently India's Border Security Force. And every year its camels can still be seen padding up to the ramparts of Rashtrapati Bhavan during Beating Retreat, quietly standing guard over all that their founder fought for.