This is a remarkably beautiful British cavalry officers 'mameluke' saber from a very famous British cavalry unit, who were most famed for their charge at the Battle of Aliwal against Sikh forces in 1846. In this fateful charge half of the 300 men in the 16th were lost.
During action, the lance pennons were furled, but after, as men tried to unfurl these, they had become crimped with the dried blood. In a regimental tradition, in honor of the men and that charge, the 16th always crimped their pennons.
In the early days of the regiment 1760s, they were known as the 16th Light Dragoons, and with Queen Charlotte as their patron, they became 'Queen Charlotte's Own' in the British honorary convention.
The device with Latin inscription is the Order of the Garter, the British highly honored award, not in particular to the Queen.
The words 'Honi Soit qui Mai y Pense' = shame on him who thinks evil of it'. This has to the medieval beginnings of the order.
The blade, etched decoration etc. suggests this was a saber mounted in India with outfitters in the key locations of administration during the Raj.
The 'mameluke' saber became popular after the Napoleonic campaigns, as sort of an unofficial dress saber of officers in the early 19th c.
In 1822 lancer officers adopted this form.
Given the long presence of the 16th in India, in my view there is little doubt this is 'a saber of the Raj'.
The Order of the Garter is commemorative and does not signify an award to a particular officer, but in association with Queen Charlotte and the regiments tradition.
In 1831 the mameluke became regulation for British officers of high rank, but remained popularly worn by cavalry officers, especially in India.
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