The Presidency armies had no cavalry of any kind in the 1760s and were composed of contingents of European troops already in service of the East India Company as infantry.

The first commander of the unit was Captain Sweeny Toone, an officer of the East India Company, who had Lieutenant Samuel Black as his subaltern.

The regiment was also during the 3rd Mysore War (1790–92) against Tipu Sultan where it successfully thwarted an assassination attempt on the life of Governor-General Cornwallis.

In 1824, a detachment volunteered to sail over the kaala paani ("black water", or open ocean, which Hindu soldiers once refrained from crossing, for fear of losing their caste) to take part in the First Anglo-Burmese War and earned their second Battle Honour "Ava".

It was involved in the first engagement of the conflict, the Battle of Mudki (Moodkee), where the regiment's commanding officer, Lieutenant Charles Digby Dawkins, was killed.

Governor-General Canning asked the Indian officers and other ranks to serve without arms as a precautionary measure, which they did in good faith.

With their loyalty established, the Bodyguard later escorted Canning to the grand durbar at Allahabad where he proclaimed that India would be governed by the British Crown, and the title of Viceroy was conferred on the Governor General on 1 November 1858.

In the First World War, men of the regiment were deployed to the Middle East in the fight against the German-allied Ottoman Empire, seeing service in the Mesopotamian campaign.

During World War II, for a brief period of time, the Viceroy's Body Guard served as 44th Division Reconnaissance Squadron.

According to the book "Historical Records of the Governor General's Body Guards", published in 1910, the maximum strength of the unit was 529 all ranks on 12 February 1844, just before the first Sikh War.

This nucleus of the Bodyguard was later augmented by another 50 horsemen, provided by Maharaja Chait Singh, thus bringing the overall strength of the regiment up to 100 horses and men by the end of that year.

[6] By 1800, Hindus (Brahmins and Rajputs) were allowed to join the regiment along with Muslims, but the area of the recruitment remained the same Awadh and Bihar.

In 1815, the Governor-General Francis Rawdon-Hastings and his wife Flora presented a standard to the newly raised squadron.

Two more Standards were presented to the newly raised squadrons of the Body Guards in 1844, when the strength of the regiment was highest.

Standards were abolished in regiments of Indian Cavalry in 1864 and in 1931, a Guidon was presented to the Body Guards, which was last carried on escorts in 1936.

Two Silver state trumpets with banners were presented to the Bodyguard by the Viceroy and Governor-General Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading in 1923, on the 150th anniversary of the raising of the unit.

By 1799, strength of the regiment was raised to 100 men and it performed escort duty in Persia and Mysore war.

The regiment also took part in the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–1826), where it rescued the advance guard which had been surrounded by a large body of enemy force at Pagan.

During the First World War, the regiment served as a remount training center and also patrolled the beaches during the Bombardment of Madras by SMS Emden.

A combined force was also formed from detachment from Bombay and Madras Body Guards and was sent to serve in France.

The Governor's Body Guards, Madras also received a standard from Viceroy and Governor-GeneralFreeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon in March 1924 bearing its Battle Honour 'Seetabuldee'.

But 1781 onwards, South Indian classes dominated the regiment for most of the time, especially Deccani and Madrasi Muslims.