398:. The Bengal Army, Madras Army, and Bombay Army were quite distinct, each with its own Regiments and cadre of European officers. All three armies contained European regiments in which both the officers and men were Europeans, as well as a larger number of 'Native' regiments, in which the officers were Europeans and the other ranks were Indians. They included Artillery, Cavalry and Infantry regiments, so historical sources refer to the Bengal/Madras/Bombay Artillery/Cavalry/Infantry (the latter often termed "Native Infantry" or "N.I."). From the mid-eighteenth century onwards, the Crown began to dispatch regiments of the regular
438:
29:
426:" (British soldiers), and commanded by a nucleus of British officers. The Madras Presidency followed suit with six battalions in 1759, followed by the Bombay Presidency in 1767. Recruitment in all cases was done locally, with battalions each drawn from single castes, and from specific communities, villages, and families. Regular cavalry regiments were raised in 1784, of which only three survived the
261:
449:. The number of British officers went up to 22 per battalion, which diminished the importance of native officers. Control by Regimental commanders was excessive and exasperating to the battalions, and the system was reverted in 1824. Thereafter, units were formed into single battalion regiments, which were numbered per their seniority of raising.
480:
In 1895, the separate
Presidency Armies were at last abolished and a fully unified Indian Army came into being. As before, its British officers were not members of the British Army, though as young subalterns they did serve for a year with a British Army regiment as part of their training before
465:, its European regiments were amalgamated in 1860 with the British Army, but its 'Native' regiments were not. The three separate Presidency Armies therefore continued to exist, and their European officers continued to be listed as members of the Bengal, Madras or Bombay Army rather than the
315:. Initially, only Europeans served as commissioned or non-commissioned officers. In time, Indian Army units were garrisoned from Peshawar in the north, to Sind in the west, and to Rangoon in the east. The army was engaged in the wars to extend British control in India (the
366:
The origin of the
British Indian Army and subsequently the army of independent India lies in the origins of the Presidency Armies which preceded them. The first purely Indian troops employed by the British were watchmen employed in each of the Presidencies of the
405:
By 1824, the size of the combined armies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay was about 200,000 and had at least 170 sepoy and 16 European regiments. In 1844 the combined average strength of the three armies was 235,446 native and 14,584 European.
794:
In the "silladar" system, the soldier provided his own horse, weapons, and military attire as prescribed, for which he received in exchange from the state a lump sum grant and maintenance grants from time to
434:" employed by rulers of Indian states. Irregular cavalry regiments had very few British officers. In addition, native artillery and pioneers (referred to later as Sappers and Miners) were also raised.
924:
944:
221:
445:
Between 1796 and 1804, a regimental system on a two battalion basis was introduced. The battalions were only theoretically linked together and shared no
226:
206:
744:
939:
929:
814:
320:
231:
138:
934:
477:
system. Another change resulting from the Indian
Rebellion of 1857 was that henceforward artillery was confined to the British Army.
580:
437:
246:
236:
402:
to India, to reinforce the
Company's armies. These troops are often referred to as "H.M.'s Regiments" or "Royal regiments".
354:, when the Crown took over the Company and its three armies. In 1895, the three presidency armies were merged into a united
415:
383:
276:
241:
211:
643:
382:
From the mid-eighteenth century, the East India
Company began to maintain armies at each of its three main stations, or
470:
423:
28:
422:
battalions for the Bengal
Presidency. These would be Indian soldiers, armed, dressed, and trained the same as the "
368:
372:
557:
532:
458:
427:
351:
178:
760:
Sykes, W. H. (May 1847). "Vital
Statistics of the East India Company's Armies in India, European and Native".
902:
949:
592:
563:
551:
538:
526:
513:
501:
344:
586:
507:
495:
158:
807:
Swords
Trembling in Their Scabbards. The Changing Status of Indian Officers in the Indian Army 1757–1947
690:
630:
324:
284:
168:
890:
Roy, Kaushik. "The hybrid military establishment of the East India
Company in South Asia: 1750–1849",
897:
Roy, Kaushik. "Military
Synthesis in South Asia: Armies, Warfare, and Indian Society, c. 1740–1849",
624:
216:
163:
355:
777:
462:
328:
280:
153:
148:
57:
864:
The Military in British India: The Development of British Land Forces in South Asia, 1600–1947
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656:
376:
316:
201:
173:
133:
118:
769:
611:
431:
340:
332:
350:
The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the Company until the
732:
605:
336:
123:
843:
Bryant, G. J. "Asymmetric Warfare: The British Experience in Eighteenth-Century India",
878:
Fidelity & Honour: The Indian Army from the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Century
853:
Gilbert, Arthur N. "Recruitment and Reform in the East India Company Army, 1760–1800",
576:
143:
918:
128:
474:
466:
399:
441:
An officer of Col Gardiner's irregular Cavalry, composed of Hindustani Mussalmans
678:
669:
660:
312:
308:
304:
296:
80:
75:
70:
47:
909:
From Hydaspes to Kargil: A History of Warfare in India from 326 BC to AD 1999
473:. Following the Rebellion recruitment of 'Native' Regiments switched to the
292:
93:
469:. However, the Presidency Armies began to be described collectively as the
371:
to protect their trading stations. These were all placed in 1748 under one
260:
387:
461:
and the consequent takeover of power by the British government from the
848:
838:
781:
264:
856:
395:
391:
300:
773:
871:
Britain's Army in India: From its Origins to the Conquest of Bengal
436:
419:
288:
259:
885:
Red Coats to Olive Green: A History of the Indian Army, 1600–1947
481:
taking up permanent commissions with their Indian Army regiment.
739:(8th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 223.
303:. The presidency armies were named after the presidencies: the
833:
Barua, Pradeep. "Military developments in India, 1750–1850",
379:
who is regarded as the "Father of the Indian Army".
855:Journal of British Studies (1975) 15#1 pp. 89–111
192:
187:
111:
99:
89:
63:
53:
43:
35:
21:
925:Military history of the British East India Company
107:"By command of the King and Parliament of England"
945:Military units and formations of British India
8:
762:Journal of the Statistical Society of London
485:Operational history of the Presidency armies
712:
710:
708:
706:
267:of the 21st Bengal Native Infantry (1819)
873:(London: George Allen & Unwin, 1978)
430:. Irregular cavalry were raised by the "
702:
18:
721:. London: Low, Marston. pp. 1–8.
7:
866:(Manchester University Press, 1995)
14:
581:European influence in Afghanistan
104:Auspicio Regis et Senatus Angliae
16:Armies of the East India Company
27:
717:Jackson, Major Donovan (1940).
651:List of presidencies and armies
299:, composed primarily of Indian
1:
847:(2004) 68#2 pp. 431–469
837:, (Oct 1994) 58#4 pp 599–616
384:Presidencies of British India
275:were the armies of the three
894:, (July 2011) 6#2 00 195–218
899:Journal of Military History
845:Journal of Military History
835:Journal of Military History
291:, later the forces of the
966:
940:History of the Indian Army
930:British East India Company
901:, (2005) 69#3 pp 651–690,
574:
369:British East India Company
935:Military of British India
892:Journal of Global History
880:(New Delhi: Viking, 1993)
418:came up with the idea of
26:
805:Creese, Michael (2015).
558:Second Anglo-Burmese War
533:Second Anglo-Maratha War
459:Indian Rebellion of 1857
428:Indian Rebellion of 1857
352:Indian Rebellion of 1857
179:Indian Rebellion of 1857
644:Expedition to Abyssinia
593:Second Anglo-Afghan War
564:Third Anglo-Burmese War
552:First Anglo-Burmese War
539:Third Anglo-Maratha War
527:First Anglo-Maratha War
514:Fourth Anglo-Mysore War
502:Second Anglo-Mysore War
410:Regimental organisation
345:Expedition to Abyssinia
887:(Bombay: Allied, 1974)
737:A New History of India
587:First Anglo-Afghan War
508:Third Anglo-Mysore War
496:First Anglo-Mysore War
442:
268:
159:First Anglo-Afghan War
691:Company rule in India
631:Second Anglo-Sikh War
440:
263:
169:Second Anglo-Sikh War
625:First Anglo-Sikh War
164:First Anglo-Sikh War
869:Lawford, James P.
463:East India Company
443:
373:Commander-in-Chief
327:) and beyond (the
281:East India Company
269:
232:Archibald Campbell
222:Charles Cornwallis
154:Anglo-Burmese wars
149:Anglo-Nepalese War
139:Anglo-Maratha Wars
58:East India Company
862:Heathcote, T. A.
746:978-0-19-533756-3
675:Madras Presidency
666:Bombay Presidency
657:Bengal Presidency
377:Stringer Lawrence
341:Second Opium Wars
273:presidency armies
255:
254:
202:Stringer Lawrence
174:Anglo-Persian War
134:Anglo-Mysore Wars
119:Battle of Plassey
22:Presidency armies
957:
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733:Wolpert, Stanley
729:
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612:Second Opium War
375:, Major-General
227:Arthur Wellesley
31:
19:
965:
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876:Menezes, S. L.
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828:Further reading
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816:9-781909-982819
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774:10.2307/2337686
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606:First Opium War
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447:esprit de corps
432:silladar system
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124:Battle of Buxar
106:
85:
17:
12:
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5:
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950:Private armies
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907:Roy, Kaushik.
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809:. p. 28.
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457:Following the
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883:Longer, V.
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844:
834:
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790:
765:
761:
755:
736:
727:
719:India's Army
718:
546:Burmese wars
521:Maratha wars
479:
475:Martial Race
467:British Army
456:
446:
444:
416:Robert Clive
413:
404:
400:British Army
381:
365:
349:
277:presidencies
272:
270:
242:James Outram
212:Robert Clive
103:
90:Headquarters
679:Madras Army
670:Bombay Army
661:Bengal Army
571:Afghan wars
490:Mysore wars
471:Indian Army
356:Indian Army
313:Bombay Army
309:Madras Army
305:Bengal Army
237:Gerard Lake
112:Engagements
81:Madras Army
76:Bengal Army
71:Bombay Army
919:Categories
768:(2): 120.
697:References
600:Opium wars
575:See also:
453:After 1857
390:(Bengal),
343:, and the
247:Hugh Gough
207:Eyre Coote
195:commanders
188:Commanders
54:Allegiance
646:(1867–68)
638:Abyssinia
633:(1848–49)
627:(1845–46)
619:Sikh wars
614:(1856–60)
608:(1839–43)
595:(1878–81)
589:(1839–42)
566:(1885–86)
560:(1852–53)
554:(1823–26)
541:(1817–18)
535:(1803–05)
529:(1775–82)
510:(1789–92)
504:(1780–84)
498:(1766–69)
424:red coats
414:In 1757,
325:Sikh wars
94:GHQ India
39:1774–1895
857:in JSTOR
849:in JSTOR
839:in JSTOR
735:(2009).
685:See also
388:Calcutta
311:and the
100:Motto(s)
782:2337686
321:Maratha
279:of the
265:Subedar
193:Notable
44:Country
911:(2004)
903:online
813:
780:
743:
677:, the
668:, the
659:, the
516:(1799)
396:Bombay
392:Madras
362:Origin
333:Afghan
317:Mysore
307:, the
301:sepoys
64:Branch
36:Active
795:time.
778:JSTOR
420:sepoy
386:, at
337:First
329:Burma
297:India
289:India
48:India
811:ISBN
741:ISBN
579:and
394:and
339:and
323:and
285:rule
271:The
770:doi
347:).
295:in
287:in
283:'s
921::
776:.
766:10
764:.
705:^
358:.
335:,
331:,
319:,
819:.
784:.
772::
749:.
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