The Death of Colonel Moorehouse at the Storming of the Pettah Gate of Bangalore, 7 March 1791 an assault which included Highland troops (with no tartan in their uniforms) Robert Home South India, 1793 National Army Museum, 1971-07-5-1

The design similarities between Madras and Scottish tartan have lead to several theories about their relationship. Some have suggested that Madras weavers were influenced by the Scottish tartans worn by British Highland Regiment soldiers in South India. However, South Indian multi-coloured checked cottons were being made and traded worldwide long before the first Highland regiments landed in the region in 1780, and Highland uniforms in India did not incorporate tartan until many years after their initial arrival. Similarly, Madras’ popularity in the Caribbean has been ascribed to the influence of Scottish enslavers dressing the people they enslaved in tartan. Research into this practice and its possible impacts is ongoing, however evidence suggests that West African influence played a more significant role in the development of Greater Caribbean Madras fashions than Scotland.