| Indian Army | |
|---|---|
.svg) TheUnion Flag, flown as theKing's Colour by Indian regiments. A central emblem denoted each unit[1][2] | |
| Active | 1 April 1895–15 Aug 1947[3][4] |
| Country |  India |
| Allegiance |  British Empire |
| Type | Army |
| Size | World War I:c. 1,500,000[5][6] World War II:c. 2,500,000[7] (Total serving during each conflict) |
| Headquarters | GHQ India |
| Equipment | Lee–Enfield[8] |
| Engagements | Third Anglo-Afghan War First Mohmand Campaign Boxer Rebellion Tirah campaign British expedition to Tibet Mahdist War First World War Waziristan campaign (1919–1920) Waziristan campaign (1936–1939) Second World War North-West Frontier (1858–1947) Indonesian National Revolution (1946) |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Lord Roberts Lord Kitchener Sir William Birdwood Sir William Slim Sir Claude Auchinleck Sir Edward Quinan SirWilliam Lockhart |
TheIndian Army duringBritish rule, also referred to as theBritish Indian Army,[9][10] was the main military force ofIndia untilnational independence in 1947.[9] Formed in 1895 by uniting the threePresidency armies,[11] it was responsible for the defence of bothBritish India and theprincely states, which could also have their ownarmies. As stated in theImperial Gazetteer of India, the "British Government has undertaken to protect the dominions of the Native princes from invasion and even from rebellion within: its army is organized for the defence not merely of British India, but of all possessions under the suzerainty of theKing-Emperor."[12] The Indian Army was a vital part of theBritish Empire's military forces, especially inWorld War I andWorld War II.
The IndianPresidency armies were originally underEast India Company command, and comprised theBengal Army,Madras Army, andBombay Army. After theIndian Rebellion of 1857, all company troops were transferred to theBritish Crown.[13] In 1879, the Presidency armies were integrated into a system of four Commands with a central Commander-in-Chief.[11] On 1 April 1895, the Presidency armies were dissolved and unified into a single Indian Army, also divided into four Commands,[11] and the term "Indian Army" was officially used by 1903.[a][15] The Commands were later replaced by two "Armies" in 1908—the Northern and Southern Army—but the Command system was restored in 1920.[b][11][16]
About 1.5 million Indian soldiers served during the First World War.[17] TheIndian Expeditionary Forces deployed toFrance, Belgium, east Africa,Iraq, Egypt, and theGallipoli peninsula, among other regions.[17] Eleven Indian soldierswon the Victoria Cross in the war.[17] During the Second World Warsome 2.5 million soldiers served, and the Indian Army became the largestvolunteer army in history to that point.[18] India itselfalso served as a key logistical base for Allied operations in World War II.[18]
The force is also sometimes referred to as theArmy of the Indian Empire,[19][20][21] orImperial Indian Army.[22][23] The Indian Army should not be confused with theArmy of India, which was theIndian Army plus theBritish Army in India (British units sent to India).[24] With thepartition of India and Pakistan on 15 August 1947, the army was reconstituted and divided between thetwo newDominions, with the process overseen by Field Marshal SirClaude Auchinleck.[25][26] Independent India would, however, retain "much of the organizing framework" of the army.[15]
The Indian Army has its origins in the years after theIndian Rebellion of 1857, often called the Indian Mutiny in British histories, when in 1858the Crown took over direct rule of British India from theEast India Company. Before 1858, the precursor units of the Indian Army were units controlled by the Company and were paid for by their profits. These operated alongside units of the British Army, funded by the British government inLondon.[27]
The three Presidency armies remained separate forces, each with its ownCommander-in-Chief. Overall operational control was exercised by the Commander-in-Chief of theBengal Army, who was formally the Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies.[28] From 1861, most of the officer manpower was pooled in the three Presidential Staff Corps.[29] After theSecond Afghan War aCommission of Enquiry recommended the abolition of the presidency armies. TheOrdnance,Supply and Transport, and Pay branches were by then unified.[13]
The Punjab Frontier Force was under the direct control of theLieutenant-Governor of thePunjab during peacetime until 1886, when it came under the Commander-in-Chief, India.[13] The Hyderabad Contingent and other local corps remained under direct governmental control.[30] Standing higher formations—divisions andbrigades—were abandoned in 1889.[31] No divisional staffs were maintained in peacetime, and troops were dispersed throughout the sub-continent, with internal security as their main function. In 1891 the three staff corps were merged into oneIndian Staff Corps.[30]
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Two years later theMadras andBombay armies lost their posts of Commander-in-Chief.[30] In 1895, the Presidency Armies were abolished and the Indian Army created thereby was grouped into fourcommands: Bengal, Madras (includingBurma), Bombay (includingSind,Quetta, andAden), and the Punjab (including the North-West Frontier and the Punjab Frontier Force). Each was under the command of alieutenant general, who answered directly to the C-in-C, India.[32]
The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 by a notification of the Government of India through Army Department Order Number 981 dated 26 October 1894, unifying the three Presidency armies into a single Indian Army.[3][33] The armies were amalgamated into four commands,Northern,Southern,Eastern, andWestern. The Indian Army, like the Presidency armies, continued to provide armed support to the civil authorities, both in combating banditry and in case of riots and rebellion. One of the first external operations the new unified army faced was the 1899 to 1901Boxer Rebellion in China.[34] The1st,4th, and14th Sikhs;[35]3rd Madras Native Infantry,4th Goorkas,22nd and30th Bombay Native Infantry,24th Punjab Infantry,1st Madras Pioneers, No. 2 CompanyBombay Sappers, No. 3 CompanyMadras Sappers, No. 4 CompanyBengal Sappers, and the1st Bengal Lancers, among other Indian units, all served during the Rebellion.[36] Numerous Indian soldiers earned theChina War Medal 1900 with the "Relief of Pekin" clasp[37] for contributing to therelief of Peking and theInternational Legations from 10 June to 14 August 1900.[38][36][39]
The Kitchener reforms began in 1903 whenLord Kitchener ofKhartoum, newly appointedCommander-in-Chief, India, completed the unification of the three former Presidencyarmies, and also thePunjab Frontier Force, theHyderabad Contingent and other local forces, into one Indian Army.
The principles underlying the reforms were that the defence of theNorth-West Frontier against foreign aggression was the army's primary role and that all units were to have training and experience in that role on that frontier. Furthermore, the army's organisation should be the same in peace as in war, and maintaininginternal security was for the army a secondary role, in support of thepolice.[40]
Lord Kitchener found the army scattered across the country instations atbrigade orregimental strength, and in effect, providinggarrisons for most of the major cities.[31]The reformed Indian Army was to be stationed in operationalformations and concentrated in the north of thesubcontinent. The Commander-in-Chief's plan called for nine fightingdivisions grouped in twocorps commands on the main axes through the North-West Frontier. Five divisions were to be grouped on theLucknow–Peshawar–Khyber axis, and four divisions on theBombay–Mhow–Quetta axis.[41] However, the cost of abandoning some thirty-four stations and building new ones in the proposed corps areas was considered prohibitive, and that aspect of the plan had to be modified.[42]
Under the compromise adopted in 1905, the four existing commands were reduced to three, and together with ArmyHeadquarters, arranged in ten standing divisions and four independent brigades. The commands comprised:Northern Command, which consisted of the1st (Peshawar) Division, the2nd (Rawalpindi) Division, the3rd (Lahore) Division, theKohat Brigade, theBannu Brigade, and theDerajat Brigade;Western Command, which consisted of the4th (Quetta) Division, the5th (Mhow) Division, the6th (Poona) Division, and theAden Brigade, located in Aden in the Arabian Peninsula; andEastern Command, which consisted of the7th (Meerut) Division and the8th (Lucknow) Division.
Army Headquarters retained the9th (Secunderabad) Division and theBurma Division under its direct control.[42][43] The numbered divisions were organised so that on mobilisation they could deploy a completeinfantry division, acavalry brigade, and a number of troops for internal security or local frontier defence. Permanent divisional commands were formed with an establishment of staff officers under amajor general.[42]
After the reforms ended in 1909, the Indian Army was organised along British lines, although it was always behind in terms of equipment. An Indian Army division consisted of three brigades each of four battalions. Three of these battalions were of the Indian Army, and one British. The Indian battalions were often segregated, with companies of different tribes, castes or religions. One and a half million volunteers came forward from the estimated population of 315 million in the Indian subcontinent.
Regimental battalions were not permanently allocated to particular divisions or brigades, but instead spent some years in one formation, and were then posted to another elsewhere. This rotating arrangement was intended both to provide all units with experience ofactive service on the Frontier, and to prevent them becoming 'localised' in static regimental stations.[42] In contrast, the divisional locations remained constant.
To emphasise that there was now only one Indian Army, and that all units were to be trained and deployed without regard for their regional origins, the regiments were renumbered into single sequences of cavalry,artillery,infantry of the line, andGurkha Rifles.[42] Regimental designations were altered to remove all references to the former Presidential Armies.[32] Where appropriate subsidiary titles recalling other identifying details were adopted. Thus the 2nd Bengal Lancers became the2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse).
The new order began with the Bengal regiments, followed by the Punjab Frontier Force, then the regiments of Madras, the Hyderabad Contingent, and Bombay. Wherever possible a significant digit was retained in the new number.[32] Thus the 1st Sikh Infantry became the51st Sikhs, the 1st Madras Pioneers became the61st Pioneers, and the 1st Bombay Grenadiers became the101st Grenadiers.
The Gurkha Regiments had developed into their own Line ofrifle regiments since 1861. They were five of these until they were joined by the former 42nd, 43rd, & 44th Gurkha Regiments of the Bengal Army, who became the 6th, 7th, & 8th Gurkha Rifles. The numbers 42, 43, & 44 were allocated respectively to theDeoli andErinpura Irregular Forces and theMhairwara Battalion fromRajputana.[44]
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Themountainbatteries had already lost their numbers two years earlier. Under the 1903 reforms they were renumbered with twenty added to their original numbers.[46] The army had very little artillery (only 12 batteries ofmountain artillery), andRoyal Indian Artillery batteries were attached to the divisions. TheIndian Army Corps of Engineers was formed by the Group ofMadras,Bengal andBombay Sappers in their respective presidencies.
The Queen's Own Corps of Guides, Punjab Frontier Force, composed of cavalrysquadrons and infantrycompanies, was renamed theQueen's Own Corps of Guides (Lumsden's) but stayed numberless. The new regimental numbering and namings were notified inIndia Army Order 181, dated 2 October 1903.[47]
In 1903 the title of theIndian Staff Corps was abolished, and thereafter officers were simply appointed to 'the Indian Army.'[48] AGeneral Staff was then created to deal with overall military policy, supervision of training in peacetime, conduct ofoperations in war, distribution of forces for internal security or externaldeployment, plans for future operations and collectingintelligence.[49] Functions were divided along British lines into two branches; theAdjutant-General, dealing with training, discipline, and personnel, and theQuartermaster-General, dealing with supplies, accommodation, and communications. In 1906 a General Branch was established to deal with military policy, organisation and deployment,mobilisation and war plans, and intelligence and the conduct of operations.[50] The Chiefs of the staff branches answered to theChief of the General Staff, whose post was held by aLieutenant-General.[49] To provide training forstaff officers, theIndian Staff College was established in 1905, and permanently based atQuetta from 1907.[50]
With no intermediatechain of command, army headquarters was weighed down with minor administrative details. Divisional commanders were responsible not only for their active formations, but also for internal security andvolunteer troops within their respective areas. On mobilisation, divisional staffs took the field, leaving no-one to maintain the local administration.Supporting services were insufficient, and many troops intended for the field force were not moved from their old stations into the areas of their new divisional command. These defects became clear during theFirst World War, and lead to further reorganisation.[51]
The Indian Army Act 1911 legislated the replacement of the Indian Articles of War 1869. It was passed by theGovernor General.[52] It was under aspects of this law that the Army charged defendants during theIndian National Army Trials in 1945. It was replaced by the"Indian Army Act, 1950" after partition and independence.
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Prior to the outbreak of theFirst World War, the strength of the British Indian Army was 215,000. Either in 1914 or before, a ninth division had been formed, the9th (Secunderabad) Division.[53] By November 1918, the Indian Army rose in size to 573,000 men.[54]
Before the war, the Indian government had decided that India could afford to provide two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade in the event of a European war. Some 140,000 soldiers saw active service on theWestern Front inFrance andBelgium – 90,000 in the front-line Indian Corps, and some 50,000 in auxiliary battalions. They felt that any more would jeopardise national security. More than four divisions were eventually sent asIndian Expeditionary Force A[55] formed theIndian Corps and theIndian Cavalry Corps that arrived on the Western Front in 1914. The high number of officer casualties the corps suffered early on had an effect on its later performance. British officers that understood the language, customs, and psychology of their men could not be quickly replaced, and the alien environment of the Western Front had some effect on the soldiers. However, the feared unrest in India never happened, and while the Indian Corps was transferred to theMiddle East in 1915 India provided many more divisions for active service during the course of the war.[56] Indians' first engagement was on the Western Front within a month of the start of the war, at theFirst Battle of Ypres. In October/November 1914, the Baluchis of the129th Duke of Connaught's Own, the first Indian contingent to be in contact with Germans at Hollebeke (and the only to inscribe 'Ypres 1914'), the sepoyKhudadad Khan maintaining the position until gravely wounded became the first Indian to win a Victoria Cross (Indians were eligible from 1911). In November, after a retreat, a scout section of the 1st Battalion39th Garhwal Rifles under the leadership of NaikDarwan Singh Negi, then badly injured, reinvested lost trenches. For his gallantry he received the second VC.[57]
Nearly 700,000 troops then served in the Middle East, fighting against the Turks in the Mesopotamian campaign.[58] There they were short of transportation for resupply and operated in extremely hot and dusty conditions. Led by Major General Sir Charles Townshend, they pushed on to capture Baghdad but they were repulsed by Ottoman forces.
In the First World War the Indian Army saw extensive active service, including on theWestern Front, notably in theBattle of Neuve Chapelle, participated in theBattle of Gallipoli andSinai and Palestine Campaign. Furthermore, it fought in theSiege of Kut of theMesopotamian Campaign, and campaigned inEast Africa, including theBattle of Tanga.
Participants from the Indian subcontinent won 13,000 medals, including 12 Victoria Crosses. By the end of the war a total of 47,746 Indians had been reported dead or missing; 65,126 were wounded.[58]
Also serving in the First World War were so-called "Imperial Service Troops", provided by the semi-autonomousPrincely States. About 21,000 were raised in the First World War, mainly consisting ofSikhs ofPunjab andRajputs fromRajputana (such as theBikaner Camel Corps and theHyderabad,Mysore andJodhpur Lancers of theImperial Service Cavalry Brigade). These forces played a prominent role in theSinai and Palestine Campaign.
Elements of the Army operated aroundMary, Turkmenistan in 1918–19. SeeMalleson mission andEntente intervention in the Russian Civil War. The army then took part in theThird Anglo-Afghan War of 1919. In the aftermath of the First World War, theIndian Territorial Force andAuxiliary Force (India) were created in the 1920s. The Indian Territorial Force was a part-time, paid, all-volunteer organisation within the army. Its units were primarily made up of European officers and Indianother ranks. The ITF was created by the Indian Territorial Force Act 1920 to replace the Indian section of theIndian Defence Force.[59] It was an all-volunteer force modelled after the BritishTerritorial Army. The European parallel to the ITF was theAuxiliary Force (India).
After the First World War the British started the process ofIndianisation, by which Indians were promoted into higher officer ranks. In a 1923 census, the British Indian Army consisted of 64,669 British-born soldiers and officers, with 187,432 Indian-born soldiers in comparison. Indian cadets were sent to study in Great Britain at theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst, and were given full commissions asKing's Commissioned Indian Officers. The KCIOs were equivalent in every way to British commissioned officers and had full authority over British troops (unlike VCOs). Some KCIOs were attached to British Army units for a part of their careers.
In 1922, after wartime experience had shown that the maintenance of 130 separate single-battalion infantry regiments was unwieldy, a number of large (four to five battalion) regiments were created,[60] and numerous cavalry regiments amalgamated. TheList of regiments of the Indian Army (1922) shows the reduced number of larger regiments. Until 1932 most Indian Army officers, both British and Indian, were trained at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, after that date the Indian officers increasingly received their training at theIndian Military Academy inDehradun which was established that year.
At the outbreak of theSecond World War, the Indian Army numbered 205,000 men and, as the war continued, this would rise to 2.5 million men to become the largest all–volunteer force in history. During this process, six corps would be raised; which consisted of theIndian III Corps,Indian IV Corps,Indian XV Corps,Indian XXI Corps (served withTenth Army in the Middle East in 1942),Indian XXXIII Corps andIndian XXXIV Corps. Furthermore, the2nd,4th,5th,6th,7th,8th,9th,10th,11th,12th,14th,17th,19th,20th,21st,23rd,25th,26th,34th,36th (later converted to an all-British formation), and39th Indian Divisions were formed, as well as other forces. Additionally there were at one time or another four armoured divisions formed (the31st,32nd,43rd, and44th), and one airborne division, also designated the44th. In matters of administration, weapons, training, and equipment, the Indian Army had considerable independence; for example, prior to the war the Indian Army adopted theVickers–Berthier (VB) light machine gun instead of theBren gun of the British Army, while continuing to manufacture and issue the olderSMLE No. 1 Mk III rifle during the Second World War, instead of the Lee–Enfield No.4 Mk I issued to the British Army from the middle of the war.[61]
Particularly notable contributions of the Indian Army during that conflict were the:
Over the course of the Second World War, about 87,000 Indian soldiers were killed. In this period, 31 Indians were awarded theVictoria Cross (See: Indians in 'List of Victoria Cross Recipients by Nationality'). Out of the 252Distinguished Service Orders awarded to the British Indian Army, at least 13 were awarded to native officers (See:South Asian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order).[62]
The Germans and Japanese were relatively successful in recruiting combat forces from Indianprisoners of war. These forces were known as theTiger Legion and theIndian National Army (INA). Indian nationalist leaderSubhas Chandra Bose led the 40,000-strong INA. From a total of about 55,000 Indians taken prisoner in Malaya and Singapore in February 1942, about 30,000 joined the INA,[63] which fought Allied forces in the Burma Campaign. Others became guards at Japanese POW camps. The recruitment was the brainchild of MajorFujiwara Iwaichi who mentions in his memoirs that CaptainMohan Singh Deb, who surrendered after theBattle of Jitra became the founder of the INA.
Some Indian Army personnel resisted recruitment and remained POWs.[64] An unknown number captured in Malaya and Singapore were taken to Japanese-occupied areas ofNew Guinea as forced labour. Many of these men suffered severe hardships and brutality, similar to that experienced by other prisoners of Japan during the Second World War. About 6,000 of them survived until they were liberated by Australian or US forces, in 1943–45.[63]
During the later stages of the Second World War, from the fall ofSingapore and the ending ofABDACOM in early 1942 until the formation of theSouth East Asia Command (SEAC) in August 1943, some American and Chinese units were placed under British military command.
12 September 1946 the minister for external affairs in India,Jawaharlal Nehru demanded in a letter to the Commander in Chief and Defence Secretary, that a large-scale reform should be implemented to improve the Indian Army.Calcutta had been ravaged by large communal riots, but the British Indian Army was able to restore order. Nehru demanded with urgency, that the Indian Army should safeguardIndia's new democracy. Nehru was a nationalist and opposed India's "divide and rule" policy.[66]
As a result of thePartition of India in 1947, the formations, units, assets, and indigenous personnel of the Indian Army were divided between theDominion of India and theDominion of Pakistan.[67] AsBrian Lapping wrote, "By comparison with the two great provinces [Bengal & Punjab], partition of the army and the civil service was easy, though by any other standard, it was difficult, wasteful, and destructive. ... The men were transferred in their units. Regiments of Sikh and Hindu soldiers from the north-west frontier had to make their way through Muslim territory to get out of what was to be Pakistan."[68] Also in 1947 a final agreement was signed regarding theGurkha regiments in the British Indian Army. Four Gurkha regiments, recruited from both eastern and westernNepal, would join theBritish Army. The remaining six Gurkha regiments of the British Indian Army joined the Dominion of India. During the transition period after partition, those Gurkha regiments that were in Pakistan, did their service, but were eventually moved back to India.[69]
The partition reduced the ethnic imbalance of the British Indian Army, which became the present-dayIndian Army. But, the partition resulted in more ethnic imbalance in the Pakistani military, mainly because the new nation state of Pakistan was formed by joining West Punjab, NWFP, East Bengal, Baluchistan, and Sind. The newPakistan Army was mainly made up of soldiers from two of these provinces.[70] TheBangladesh Army, which was created from the Pakistan Army on the independence ofBangladesh, retain many British Indian Army traditions.[citation needed]
The armies of the East India Company were recruited primarily fromforward caste Hindus and Muslims in theBengal Presidency, which consisted ofBengal,Bihar andUttar Pradesh, andOudh. This later expanded into the armies of the threePresidencies and provinces of British India.
Writing inThe Indian Army (1834),Sir John Malcolm, who had a lifetime's experience of Indian soldiering, wrote about the Bengal Presidency: "They consist largely of Rajpoots (Rajput), who are a distinguished race among the Khiteree (Kshatriya), or Brhamins (Brahmin) We may judge of the size of these men when we are told that the height below which no recruit is taken is five feet six inches. The great proportion of the Grenadiers are six feet and upwards."[71]
The meaning of the term Indian Army changed over time, initially as an informal collective term for thearmies of the three presidencies–theBengal Army,Madras Army andBombay Army–between 1858 and 1894. In 1895, the Indian Army began its formal existence and was the "army of the government of India", including British and Indian (sepoy) units; this arrangement lasted until 1902.
Many of these troops took part in theIndian Mutiny, with the aim of reinstating the Mughal EmperorBahadur Shah II at Delhi, partly as a result of insensitive treatment by their British officers. During this period, the Company Raj relied heavily upon the armies ofPrincely states to quell the rebellion.
The officer commanding the Army of India was theCommander-in-Chief, India who reported to the civilianGovernor-General of India. The title was used before the creation of a unified British Indian Army; the first reported holder was then-MajorStringer Lawrence in 1748. Lawrence went to India with no larger command than a "small undisciplined garrison of two or three hundred men" facing a significant French presence.[72] In 1903,Lord Kitchener became theCommander-in-Chief of the Indian Army. He instituted large-scale reforms, the greatest of which was the merger of the three armies of the Presidencies into a unified force. He formed higher level formations, eight army divisions, and brigaded Indian and British units. He left his command in 1909. Following Kitchener's reforms, the terminology used for the forces in India was altered. TheIndian Army referred from that time to "the force recruited locally and permanently based in India, together with its expatriate British officers;"[73] theBritish Army in India referred to the British Army units posted to India for a tour of duty, and which would then be posted to other parts of the Empire or back to the UK. TheArmy of India was used to describe the combined forces of both the Indian Army and the British Army in India.
By the early 1900s the three previous separate army staffs had been amalgamated into Headquarters, India (see1906 Birthday Honours) which by 1922 had becomeGHQ India (see1922 New Year Honours).
Indian Army postings were less prestigious than British Army positions, but the pay was significantly greater so that officers could live on their salaries instead of having to have a private income. Accordingly, vacancies in the Indian Army were much sought after and generally reserved for the higher placed officer-cadets graduating from theRoyal Military College, Sandhurst. British officers in the Indian Army were expected to learn to speak the Indian languages of their men, who tended to be recruited from primarilyHindi speaking areas. Prominent British Indian Army officers includedLord Roberts,Sir O'Moore Creagh,Lord Birdwood,Sir Claude Auchinleck ("The Auk") andLord Slim.
Commissioned officers, British and Indian, held identical ranks to commissioned officers of the British Army.King's Commissioned Indian Officers (KCIOs), created from the 1920s, held equal powers to British officers.Viceroy's Commissioned Officers were Indians holding officer ranks. They were treated in almost all respects as commissioned officers, but had authority over Indian troops only, and were subordinate to all British King's (and Queen's) Commissioned Officers and KCIOs. They includedSubedar Major orRisaldar-Major (Cavalry), equivalents to a BritishMajor;Subedar orRisaldar (Cavalry) equivalents toCaptain; andJemadars equivalent toLieutenant.
Recruitment was entirely voluntary; about 1.75 million men served in the First World War, many on theWestern Front and 2.5 million in the Second. Non-Commissioned Officers includedCompany Havildar Majors equivalents to aCompany Sergeant Major;Company Quartermaster Havildars, equivalents to aCompany Quartermaster Sergeant;Havildars orDaffadars (Cavalry) equivalents to aSergeant;Naik orLance-Daffadar (Cavalry) equivalents to a BritishCorporal; andLance-Naik orActing Lance-Daffadar (Cavalry) equivalents to aLance-Corporal.
Soldier ranks includedSepoys orSowars (Cavalry), equivalent to a Britishprivate. British Army ranks such asgunner andsapper were used by othercorps.
In the aftermath of theIndian Mutiny of 1857, also called the Sepoy Mutiny by the British, the three armies of the former Presidencies of theEast India Company passed to theBritish Crown.[30] After the Mutiny, recruitment switched to what the British called the "martial races", particularlySikhs,Awans,Gakhars, and otherPunjabiMusulmans,Baloch,Pashtuns,Marathas,Bunts,Nairs,Rajputs,Yadavs,Kumaonis,Gurkhas,Garhwalis,Janjuas,Maravars,Kallars,Vellalar,Dogras,Jats,Gurjar,Mahars andSainis.[74]Gurkhas had gone into the British army and were known to have rarely rebelled. TheSikhs, after theFirst andSecond Anglo-Sikh Wars, treated the British Army as a replacement for theSikh Khalsa Army.
The end of British rule in India...spelled the end of the existing Indian Army and its administration.
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