A British officer, an NCO and men of the 1st Gurkha Rifles.

Men of the Loodhiaanah (Ludhiana) Sikh Regiment in China during the Opium wars.

20th Punjab Infantry in Egypt 1882.

Sepoy (soldier) uniform of Madras Infantry 1887.

Is there an explanation for why the men in the first photo have shaven faces?

they are Gurka soldiers i think.... in first pic


and those are colonial army of Britain right?

Zucchini,
At the thread topic suggests these are 19th century pictures of the British Indian Army.
All Indian troops are clean shaven (mustash is optional), with the exception of Sikh troops whose religious beliefs are respected and permitted to wear beards. The Sikhs are the only troops that permitted to wear turbans (as per religous beliefs), and excused from wearing head gear that is standard for other troops.

Some more pictures....
The ruins of Saraghari signal post (NWFP now in Pakistan), where 22 men of 36th Sikh (now 4 Sikh) fought off thousands of afghani tribals, and perished to the last man. 1887.


Mountain arty in action in NWFP 1895.

British officers and Sikh soldiers of the 45th Sikhs, pose for a photograph after the relief of Chakdara Fort. Circa 1897. Defence of Chakdara Fort by six British officers and 240 Indian soldiers of the 45th Sikhs and 11th Bengal Lancers against 14,000 Pathan tribesmen, must rank as one of the greatest feats of arms in military history.
For six days and seven nights, these men drove off all attacks upon the fort and covered themselves and their regiment with glory. The officer on the extreme left is Haldane Rattray, who received a neck wound after leading a charge to retake the hospital in Chakdara Fort for which he was awarded the DSO. He later commanded the 45th Sikhs during World War I and was tragically killed in Kut, Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) after it was lost to Turks, during a long siege. The 45th Sikhs was decimated in this battle.


The next batch of pictures will be of WW1.

The 20th Punjab Infantry appear to have this rifle:

The 20th Punjab are equiped with the breech loading Snider-Enfield rifles, just as the other Indian troops were. The long barreled Lee-Enfield was issued in early 1900s.

WW1
VCOs (Viceroy's Commissioned Officers) and Other Ranks (ORs) of the 129th Duke of Connaught's Own Baluchis in Belgium, October 1914. The unit is today part of the Pak Army as 11 Baloch).

A long way from home: Indian troops at the first Battle of Ypres.

A Benet-Mercier MG section of 2nd (Queen Victoria's Own) Rajput Light Infantry in Flanders, winter 1914-15.

A Havildar (sargent) and Sepoys from the 39th Garwhal Rifles in France, 1915.

6th Anglo-Indian Division was besieged in Kut-al-Amara on the banks of the River Tigris by the Turks and their German advisors between 07 December 1915 and 29 April 1916. The siege would end in defeat when all relief efforts failed and the garrison surrendered due to starvation and disease. This image shows one of the few defences the garrison had against German-Turkish Air Force attacks.

....some more next time.

Originally Posted by lemontree

The 20th Punjab are equiped with the breech loading Snider-Enfield rifles, just as the other Indian troops were. The long barreled Lee-Enfield was issued in early 1900s.

There are clearly two different types of rifles in the photographs.

But that wasn't my point.

The rifle they are equipped with is superior to the one used by the USA at that time, and the USA used the inferior rifles right into the Spanish American War.

Nice AA pic