Abstract
The British came to India for trade. With the expansion of trade, they made some security arrangements to protect their commercial interests. They initially engaged guards and armed them with local weapons to protect their trading posts. Commercial rivalry with the French led the East India Company to bring soldiers from Britain. However, the experience was found inconvenient and costly. The traders, therefore, recruited the locals and organised them in an European pattern. This laid the foundation for the future army of the Indians. The organisation gradually grew according to the needs of the time and developed into a full-fledged professional army. This article, thus, deals with the evolution of the British Indian Army, and tries to address some questions related to it including Indianisation, uniform patterns, and expansion.
Background
The Company of Merchants of London Trading unto East Indies’1, later known as the East India Company (EIC), was granted a charter by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 Dec 1600 to trade in the east. The Portuguese and Dutch were already in trading with India and Java, and a few British ships had also sailed through the Indian Ocean. The first vessel of the EIC, however, reached Surat in 1607 under Captain Hawkins and returned to London with glowing reports about the prospects of trade in India.2 Captain Thomas Best, an EIC representative who came to India in 1612, persuaded the Mughal emperor Jahangir to grant a firman (edict) to the EIC to establish a factory at Surat in 1613. Subsequently, a firman granted by Shah Jehan in 1634 enabled the EIC to establish more factories in India.3
Soon, it became necessary to enlist guards to protect these factories. To begin with, these guards comprised small groups of ill-disciplined Europeans and poorly armed locals.4 As the number of these guards increased, rules were framed to monitor their conduct.5 There is a view that the evolution of the British Indian Army can be traced back to these guards.6
Dodwell, Curator of Madras Presidency Records, refers to a quasi-military force of Indians maintained at all major trading settlements on the Coromandel Coast by the Portuguese, Dutch, English, Danes, and French. These, called poligar (feudal chief) peons, were augmented during times of crisis. However, the European masters remained apprehensive of their desertion if they were mustered.7 These guards were, however, not trained, equipped, or armed like soldiers of the regular army. They worked as watchkeepers and could not be termed as soldiers. However, they can be regarded as the predecessors of the future army.
Genesis of the British Indian Army
According to some sources, the earliest forces that could be seriously regarded as the embryo of the later British Indian Army appear to have originated in Bombay.8 Amiya Barat, an early Indian military historian who conducted considerable research on the presidency army, also opines that the earliest sepoy units were formed in the Bombay Presidency. The Madras and Bengal Presidencies followed, recruiting a few local levies by 1757.9 Tracing the genesis, Ashima Kaul, who studied the Bengal Army, suggests that the first battalion of the Bengal Native Infantry, named the ‘Lal Paltan’ for the red coats worn by its men, was raised in 1757.10
Recruiting Indians was indeed a necessity for the British traders. In the latter half of the 17th century, the recruits brought to India from England for garrisoning faced enormous problems. Many perished due to wretched living conditions aboard the ships. Things did not improve much either on land, where an inclement climate and a miserable lifestyle, marred by drinking and brawling, took a heavy toll on the survivors.11 As these losses could not be made good by further recruitment in Europe, the only option was to recruit local troops. Topasses12, the descendants of the early Portuguese in India, became the first choice. They came to form a significant part of English garrisons from an early date.13 Topasses were recruited due to their European cultural background and their adaptability to the Indian environment.
As Topasses could not meet the requirements of the EIC’s garrisons, the employment of Indians became necessary. By 1673, the Madras garrison had engaged as many as 550 Indian auxiliaries.14 In 1681, the English factory at Hughly was reported to have engaged local auxiliaries. In 1683, the Bombay garrison was augmented by the enrolment of two companies of Rajputs, with one hundred men each and commanded by their own officers.15 These companies were permanent in nature and could, therefore, be regarded as the precursor of the Indian Army.16 Thus, the EIC Army in India in the late 17th Century comprised Europeans recruited from England or locally, half-caste Goanese Topasses and Indian Sepoys.
The sepoys were mainly armed with native weapons, wore their own dress, and were commanded by their own officers.17 According to Lieutenant General George MacMunn, it was only after 1746 that the non-descript armed retainers were first organised in companies of sepoys in Madras. Between 1746 and 1758, 11 companies of sepoys were raised and some of these accompanied Robert Clive to Bengal after the Black Hole incident18, a tragic event in which several British prisoners died in a small, poorly ventilated prison cell in Calcutta. This incident and the subsequent need for a stronger military presence led to the expansion and reorganisation of the British Indian Army. In fact, the commercial rivalry between the English and French in South India gave birth to the concept of a regular army of Indians.19 Joseph François Dupleix, the French Commander and later Governor-General of French Indian Territories, had realised at the outset that Indian troops were economical and equally valuable. When trained under European commanders, they could be formed into effective armies.20
To begin with, the local troops were known by different titles. On the East Coast, the term ‘Peon’ was used, but in Bengal, they were called ‘Bakserry’.21 The term ‘Sepoy’ came into use in the 18th Century.22 The employment and disbandment of these troops largely depended on the threat perception of the EIC.23 In the 18th Century, the growing military involvement of the EIC necessitated a significant expansion of the sepoy army. When the French with their companies of Indian troops captured Madras from the British in 1746, the British trade was severely affected.24 The British realised the need for a regular army on a permanent footing.25 The post of Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C), a senior officer responsible for the entire army, was created, and Major Stringer Lawrence was appointed the first C-in-C in 1748.26 He began systematic recruitment and organised the local regiments in European patterns.27 39th Foot, the first British regiment in India, at Madras in 1754, strengthened the EIC’s position.28 However, the shortage of troops continued and as an alternative, Coffrees—African slaves—were brought to India for garrisoning. This, however, proved impractical, as transporting them from Madagascar, a faraway place, was difficult.29 In the event, the EIC was left with no choice but to recruit more Indians.
Expansion and Reorganisation
Gradually, the strength of Indian troops began to increase. By 1756, the EIC had employed approximately 10,000 sepoys in Carnatic. Even before the Battle of Plassey, Clive had started organising Indian troops into regular battalions, with a small nucleus of British officers. He armed and dressed the sepoys in a uniform like that of the Europeans. As their coat was red, the battalions composed of local troops were called Lal Paltan.30 This marked a new phase in the history of the EIC’s army. So far, Indian companies have been under the command of their own officers, but now they are being placed under British officers.31 According to Lieutenant General MacMunn, this change began in 1772. He adds that after the Mysore War commenced, the sepoys were clothed in scarlet as a large stock of these clothes existed in the EIC godowns.32 In Bengal, 448 sepoys were recruited in Apr 1757, and their numbers rose to 2,100 (1,400 raised in Bengal) during the Plassey War.33 Meanwhile, the Topasses, who had served the British for about a hundred years, were gradually phased out from the army.
After the successes of Plassey (1757) and Wandewash (1760), the EIC’s power grew rapidly. The French were overthrown in 1761, and the EIC now concentrated on subjugating the Indian states, which had mushroomed after the decline of the Mughal Empire.34 The recruitment of Indian sepoys accelerated further in the wake of the Mysore and Maratha Wars. The increase in Indian troops was not only due to military commitments but also because of their relative economic worth.35 The recruits, too, felt better in the service of the EIC as they got regular pay and could even earn a pension.36 Sepoys’ officers did the recruitment. Jamadars (Naib Subedars) and Havildars were sent out to raise the required numbers of men for the Bombay Army in 1768, and they were offered gratuity for every man enlisted. Promotions were also offered to them to raise a certain number of recruits.37 The practice continued even after 1797. The Bengal Army also adopted the practice of sending Jamadars and Havildars in search of prospective recruits. During the Governor Generalship of Cornwallis, recruitment became more methodical, and recruiting parties consisting of a European officer, an Indian officer, and a doctor were sent to the villages. Serving sepoys were also encouraged to bring in their friends and relatives.38 Meanwhile, the rampant corruption among EIC officers led to the enactment of the Regulating Act of 1773. Now, the affairs of the EIC were brought under the control of the British Parliament through the Court of Directors.
The conduct of operations by the three armies from their respective bases led to the creation of three separate administrations in India, called the three presidencies.39 These armies functioned independently under a C-in-C, and there was little in common among them. However, the employment of the three presidential armies together in some campaigns brought home the need to organise them under a pattern. To this end, in 1785, an effort was made to reorganise the armies on a similar pattern in all three presidencies. The reorganisation aimed to complete the Europeanisation of all three presidencies’ armies. Command of all local units was given to European officers and the post of native commandant was abolished.40
For the administration of the army, each presidency had a Military department which looked after supply, transport, ordnance, and to record orders, maintain list of personnel, etc.41 On top stood the C-in-C and he was assisted at the headquarters by the principal staff officers like the Adjutant General, Quarter Master General, etc. All three Cs-in-C reported to their respective Presidency Governor (previously Presidents), who were further placed under the control of the Government of India, as exercised by the Governor General of Bengal after the Regulating Act of 1772.42
In the wake of the war with the Marathas, the Indian Army was greatly expanded. The defeat of Marathas in 1803 and 1817, and subsequently the settlement of 1818, marked the beginning of the paramountcy of the EIC. The Sikh rule in Punjab came to an end because of the Sikh War of 1848-49. The frontiers of British India, thus, extended to the borders of Afghanistan. To keep a watch on Northwestern India, inhabited by turbulent tribesmen, the Punjab Frontier Force was raised in 1848. The EIC gained control of Pegu (Lower Burma) in Dec 1852 and placed it under the responsibility of the Madras Army.43 Meanwhile, the EIC’s Nizam Force was redesignated as Hyderabad Contingent in 1853-54.44
Presidencies Armies Unified
After the uprising of 1857, the administration of India was placed under the control of the British Crown, and the office of Viceroy-cum-Governor General of India was created. The Viceroy, thus, became the representative of the British Crown in India. He was responsible for Indian affairs to the Secretary of State for India, a newly created member of the British cabinet. This marked the end of the EIC’s rule in India. Thus, the EIC armies came under the British Government’s direct control through their Viceroy in India. Owing to the Report of Eden Commission, all three presidency armies were unified in 1895, and thus, a single Indian Army was born.45
Meanwhile, around the 1880s, the ‘Martial Race theory’46 was conceived to counter the growing Russian threat. Some recruiting officers were engaged to conduct ethnographic studies to ascertain the martial spirit of the different Indian classes/castes.47 As a result, Punjabi classes began to dominate the British Indian Army. The number of battalions made up of South Indian classes was reduced. In 1903, Lord Kitchener, the C-in-C, organised the army regiments into sequential numbers.48 The following table can gauge the changing pattern of recruiting grounds over the period.
Region 1862 1885 1892 1914
Madras 40 32 25 11
Bombay (including Rajputana 30 26 26 18
and Central India)
Hindustanis east of Yamuna 28 20 15 15
including UP and Bihar
(Cis-Jumna)
Punjab and North-West 28 31 34 57
Frontier Province (Trans-Jumna)
Nepal (Gurkhas) 5 13 15 20
Total 131 122 115 121
Table 1: Indian Infantry Battalions: Region-Wise49
During the Anglo-Afghan Wars, the red uniform began to pose problems in operations in the dusty and rocky northwestern region, as soldiers wearing red could be spotted from a far distance. This led to a change in the colour of the uniform to Khakhi, a Persian spoilt of Khakh (dust) for camouflage purposes, and this gradually became an official dress.50
World Wars and Indianisation
In Aug 1914, World War I broke out. The large manpower requirement during the war compelled the British to open recruitment to non-enlisted classes beyond the martial races.51 The total strength increased to over 1.4 million during the war from merely 2,00,000 in 1914. However, after the ceasefire, most of the newly raised battalions comprising newly enlisted classes were disbanded. The war proved to be a catalyst in terms of the performance of the Indian soldiers. Fighting at different war fronts, some 9,200 Indian soldiers were awarded gallantry medals, 11 of whom were conferred with the Victoria Cross, the highest gallantry award of the British Empire.
This was also the time when, due to the increasing demand for Indianisation, the officer cadre of the Indian Army was opened to Indians.52 Some 10 vacancies annually were reserved for Indian candidates at the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Meanwhile, the army was reorganised in 1922, and the battalions were grouped into regiments. The system continues even today. Meanwhile, on the recommendations of the Skeen Committee (1925), the Indian Military Academy (IMA) was set up at Dehradun in 1932 to train Indian officers in India. To this effect, vacancies for Indian candidates at the Royal Military College Sandhurst in Britain were dispensed with.53
The World War II brought a marked change in the Indian Army as the requirement of war forced the British again to recruit men from all classes of India.54 The strength of the army rose to over 2.5 million during the war. Further, the officer cadre was substantially expanded by Indians as Emergency Commissioned Officers. The strength of Indian officers rose from some 500 in 1939 to over 9,000 by 1945, strengthening the Indianisation process.55 Women found an entry into what had traditionally been a male bastion, and thousands of them were recruited in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps raised in 1942. Indian women were also commissioned in Army Medical Corps for the first time.56 28 Indian soldiers were awarded the Victoria Cross for their unparalleled valour. However, a large chunk of the army was demobilised after the war.
The war also led to a change in uniform again. When many army soldiers were engaged in densely forested Burma during the war, the soldiers were issued with green-coloured uniforms to suit the green vegetation and jungles of Burma and evade enemy gaze. The Indian and Allied forces in Burma, thus, adopted olive green uniforms. Later, in Apr 1946, olive green became the uniform of the Indian Army.57
Conclusion
The origin of the British Indian Army began with the recruitment of two Rajput companies in the Bombay Presidency Army in 1682. These companies were commanded by Indian officers. Before this, although Indians were employed to guard the factories, they neither had a command system nor were they equipped with proper weapons and uniforms. The arrival of Major Stringer Lawrence in 1748 marked a significant change as Indians were now organised, drilled, and trained following European patterns. Lord Clive further reorganised the local recruits, dressing them in army uniforms and shifting the command mechanism from Indian officers to European officers. The separate army administrations of the three presidencies evolved into a presidential system, with each presidency administered by its own C-in-C and Governor. After the uprising of 1857, the authority of the EIC ended and was transferred to the British Crown. The EIC Army was subsequently rechristened as the British Indian Army. In 1895, the three presidential armies were amalgamated to form a unified Indian Army. The Indianisation of the officer cadre, which commenced after the First World War, progressed very slowly until the establishment of the IMA at Dehradun in 1932. Indianisation received a real push during the Second World War when the British desperately needed the Indian Army to ensure victory. The strength of Indian officers consequently increased from approximately 500 in 1939 to over 9,000 by the end of the war in 1945. After Independence, on 15 Jan 1949, General (later Field Marshal) KM Cariappa took over as the first Indian C-in-C, completing the process of Indianisation of the Indian Army.
Endnotes
1 London being the political capital of England and also the main seaport contained three fourth national commercial activity. Hence, its Company was explicitly called ‘The Company of Merchants of London Trading unto East Indies.
2 Nagendra Singh, The Theory of Force and Organisation of Defence in Indian Constitutional History: From Earliest Times to 1947. New Delhi, 1969, p. 181.
3 After Jehangir and Shahjahan, firmans for trade and factories were further issued by other rulers including Shuja (1651), Shaista Khan (1672) and Aurangzeb (1680), etc.
4 Government of India (GoI), The Army in India and its Evolution. Calcutta, 1924, p. 2.
5 Madan Paul Singh, Indian Army under East India Company, New Delhi, 1976, p. 2.
6 V. Longer, Red Coats to Olive Green: A History of Indian Army, 1600-1974. New Delhi, 1974, p. 2. Also see Singh, The Theory of Force and Organisation of Defence, p. 181.
7 Henry Dodwell, Sepoy Recruitment in the old Madras Army, Calcutta, 1922, p. 1. Henry Dodwell was appointed as first curator of Madras Presidency records in 1911.
8 GoI, The Army in India and its Evolution, p. 3
9 Amiya Barat, The Bengal Infantry, Its Organisation and Discipline, 1796-1852. Calcutta, 1962, p. xi.
10 Ashima, Kaul, The Bengal Army (unpublished PhD Thesis), New Delhi, JNU, 1998.
11 Channa Wickeremesekera, The Best Black Troops in the World: British Perceptions and Making of Sepoy, 1746-1805, New Delhi, 2002, p. 42. Total 450 men arrived from England to take charge of Bombay in 1662, scarcely 100 remained alive a year later.
12 According to an official publication of 1924, Topsses were named so by the form of headgear they wore. See GoI, The Army in India and its Evolution, p. 3. As per book of Colonel Longer, Alfonso de Albuquerque of Portugal captured Goa in November 1510 and encouraged his men to marry the daughters of Indians whom he had taken prisoner. The offsprings of these marriages Known as Mesticos were subsequently recruited by British into the army. These recruits were called Topasses. See Longer, Red Coats to Olive Green, p. 1.
13 Wickeremesekera, The Best Black Troops, p. 54.
14 Ibid, p. 87.
15 GoI, The Army in India and its Evolution, p. 4.
16 R.D. Palsokar, The Grenadiers: A Tradition of Valour, Jabalpur, 1980, p. 2. Also see Singh, Indian Army under East India Company, p. 3.
17 Palsokar, The Grenadiers, p. 5.
18 Sir George MacMunn, Lt. Gen., The Martial Races of India, Delhi, 1979, p. 154. The Black Hole incident remains a contested event in the history. The Indian Historians have re-evaluated the incident and challenged the British accounts, offering more nuanced perspectives.
19 K.M.L. Saxena, The Military System of India, 1900-1939. New Delhi, 1999, p. xii.
20 S. Rivet Carnac, Colonel, Presidential Armies of India, London, 1890, p. 194.
21 They mostly belonged to Bakshar, hence called Bakserry.
22 GoI, The Army in India and its Evolution, pp. 5-6.
23 The old Merchants company was known as London Company. In 1698 a new company of merchants received charter called English Company. These two companies merged in 1708 and came to be known as East India Company.
24 Arvind Sinha, The Politics of Trade: Anglo French Commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1763-1793, New Delhi, 2002, p. 53.
25 Seema Alvi, Sepoy and the Company: Tradition and Transition in Northern India, 1770-1883, New Delhi, 2008, p. 35.
26 British historians call Stringer Lawrence as Father of the British Indian army.
27 H. Bullock, Brigadier, “Stringer Lawrence: Commander-in-Chief of the Company’s Forces”, in Journal of United Service Institutions, 80 (340 & 341), 1950, pp. 222-30.
28 Army in India now divided into three elements i.e. King’s Troops, European Troops and Company’s Indian Troops. This existed for more than hundred years till after the mutiny of 1857.
29 GoI, The Army in India and its Evolution, pp. 9-10.
30 Ibid. The Indians were commanded by their own commandant. Clive’s organisation gradually replaced the Indian commandant by British.
31 Singh, Indian Army under East India Company, p. 6.
32 MacMunn, Lt. Gen., The Martial Races of India, p. 155.
33 H.C. Wylly, Colonel, Neill’s Clue Caps, 1639-1826, 2006, p. 105. Also see Wickeremesekera, The Best Black Troops, p. 94.
34 Saxena, The Military System of India, pp. xii-xiii.
35 Wickeremesekera, The Best Black Troops, p. 94.
36 The pay in Mughal armies were in arrears for months together and there seemed no pension plan. See William Irvine, The Army of the Indian Mughals: Its Organisation and Administration. New Delhi, 1962, pp. 14 & 26.
37 Ibid. Promotion from Havildar to Jamadar (now Naib Subedar) was offered for raising 20 grenadiers or 25 battalion recruits and Jamadar to Subedar for raising 40 grenadiers or 40-5 battalion recruits.
38 Ibid, p. 99.
39 Saxena, The Military System of India, p. xiii.
40 Singh, Indian Army under East India Company, pp. 12-5.
41 Military Department of Bengal Presidency which was set up in 1776 later designated as Army Department in 1906, Defence Department in 1938, and Ministry of Defence after Independence in August 1947.
42 Saxena, The Military System of India, p. xiv. Governor of Bengal Presidency exercised the power of Governor General. Later by the Act of 1833, the post of Governor General of India was created.
43 Ibid.
44 Burton, Reginald George, Major, A History of Hyderabad Contingent, 1905, pp. 278-319. According to Praval, Nizam’s army was formed by the French in European style. It was later disbanded. Captain John Malcolm, a political officer at Hyderabad re-formed Nizam’s army before the battle of Seringapatam of 1799. This force thus became the nucleus of the body that was eventually known as Hyderabad Contingent. See K.C. Praval, Valour Triumphs: A History of the Kumaon Regiment, Faridabad, 1976, p. 8.
45 Eden Commission set up in 1879, submitted its report in 1884. The Commission recommended abolition of three presidency system and its amalgamation into one. See report of the Special Commission on Organisation and Expenditure of the Army (Eden Commission), 1884.
46 This theory meant the belief that some groups of men are biologically or culturally predisposed to the arts of war. Lord Roberts, C-in-C, Indian Army from 1885-1893, propounded this concept. His successor Lord Kitchner subscribed to his views fully and implemented this theory rigorously. See for detail Sir George MacMunn, Lt Gen, The Martial Races of India, London, 1933. Also see David Omissi, Sepoy and the Raj: The Indian Army, 1860-1940, London, 1994.
47 Kaushik Roy, The Brown Warriors of the Raj: Recruitment & the Mechanics of Command in the Sepoy Army, 1859-1913, New Delhi, 2008, pp. 120-144.
48 See Indian Army List, 1904.
49 Recruitment in India: Before and during World War-I, p. 7
50 U.P. Thapliyal, Military Costumes of India, New Delhi, Historical Section, 1991, pp. 18-19.
51 GoI, India’s Contribution to the Great War, Calcutta, 1923, pp. 72-102.
52 Barua, Pradeep. 2008. Gentlemen of the Raj: The Indian Army Officer Corps, 1817-1949, New Delhi: Pentagon, 2008, pp. 25-40. Also see Gautam Sharma, Lt Col, Nationalisation of the Indian Army, 1885- 1947, New Delhi, p. 52-78.
53 Since the beginning of the Indianisation, a limited number of Indian cadets were trained at Royal Military College Sandhurst along with British cadets, and those commissioned from there were called as Kings Commissioned Indian Officers (KCIOs). The cadets trained at IMA Dehradun since 1932 were called as Indian Commissioned Officers (ICOs).
54Adjutant General Branch, “Recruitment to Indian Army” (Unpublished), New Delhi, 1946.
55 Sri Nandan Prasad, Expansion of Indian Armed Forces and Defence Organisation 1939-45, New Delhi, 1956, part I.
56 Yadav, Narender, Women’s Auxiliary Corps (India) in the Second World War, in Strategic Analysis, May 2024 (e-published), pp.1-8.
57 Thapliyal, Military Costumes of India, pp. 18-19.
@Dr Narendra Yadav works as a Deputy Director in the History Division, Ministry of Defence.
Journal of the United Service Institution of India, Vol. CLIV, No. 638, October-December 2024.
Author : Dr Narender Yadav
Category : Journal
Pages : 660 | Price : ₹CLIV/638 | Year of Publication : October 2024-December 2024