President’s Bodyguard older than US

NEW DELHI - The President’s Bodyguard, which ceremonially welcomed US President Barack Obama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, took birth in 1773 — three years before the US became independent.

The Corps was raised at Benares, now Varanasi, in Uttar Pradesh, by then governor general Warren Hastings with a strength of 50 men and horses, according to the presidentofindia.nic.in

It is today made up of four officers, 14 Junior Commissioned Officer and 161 bodyguards — all men. Besides their ceremonial role, they are trained as tankmen and airborne troops.

Since its raising in 1773, the Corps had various titles and came to be known as “the Governor General’s Bodyguard” in 1784. On Jan 26, 1950, with India’s declaration as a republic, it became the President’s Bodyguard.

The US adopted the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776.