A sepoy was an Indian soldier in the armies of various states and European trading companies in the Indian subcontinent and then, from the second half of the 19th century, in the British Indian Army. Recruited from many different population and religious groups, sepoys came to dominate the British armed forces in the subcontinent, even if they were not permitted to become officers until the 20th century. The term sepoy continues to be used for ordinary infantry in several armies today.
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Definition
Timeline
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1526 - 1857Sepoys are recruited by the Mughal Empire.
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1757The East India Company forms the 1st Bengal Native Infantry, the first sepoy battalion.
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Jul 1806East India Company sepoys mutiny in Vellore, southern India against their British officers.
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1857 - 1858The Sepoy Mutiny (aka The Uprising or First Indian War of Independence) against the East India Company.
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1895The old East India Company sepoy units are universally absorbed into the British Indian Army. Indians are now theoretically elgibile to become officers.
