Sepoy

Sepoy
Hyder Ali as a sepoy
Active16th to 21st centuries
CountryMughal Empire
Maratha Empire
India
Pakistan
Nepal
Branchinfantry and artillery
EquipmentMusket

Sepoy (/ˈspɔɪ/), related to sipahi, is a term denoting professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire and the Maratha Army.

In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its other European counterparts employed locally recruited soldiers within India, mainly consisting of infantry designated as "sepoys". The largest sepoy force, trained along European lines, served the British East India Company.[1][2]

The term "sipahi" (or sometimes "sepoy") continues in use in the modern Indian, Pakistan and Nepalese armies, where it denotes the rank of private.

  1. ^ Gerald Bryant (1978). "Officers of the East India Company's army in the days of Clive and Hastings". The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History. 6 (3): 203–227. doi:10.1080/03086537808582508. S2CID 159458449.
  2. ^ Presidency armies