Richard Head was born in London in 1937 and spent his professional career as a Quantity Surveyor in the capital. He first became interested in the Indian State Forces as a result of listening to his grandfather's tales of India. From this came the desire to investigate further and this modest beginning became a lifetime pursuit of research culminating in this collaboration with Tony McClenaghan. He now lives in Warwickshire with his wife. Tony McClenaghan was born in 1946 and started collecting badges and medals while at a military boarding school. Upon leaving the British Army after 12 years service he took a degree in International Relations before entering British government service. Latterly he has been working with the oil and gas sector identifying and mitigating risks in various parts of the world. His interest in the Indian State Forces began with the gift of a medal to a Sowar in the RIS Lancers. It was many years before he was able to identify the State as Patiala, but by then had become engrossed in the study of these units. He and Richard Head have collaborated on this project for the last 2 years. Tony lives in Cambridgeshire with his wife and has three adult children, who take no interest in his hobby whatsoever!