Back سباهي Arabic Сіпай Byelorussian সিপাহী Bengali/Bangla Sipai Breton Sipai Catalan Sepoy Danish Sepoy German Σιπάι Greek Sipajo Esperanto Cipayo Spanish
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| Sepoy | |
|---|---|
_from_Court_Game_of_Geography_MET_DP862917.jpg) Hyder Ali as a sepoy | |
| Active | 16th to 21st centuries |
| Country |  Mughal Empire Maratha Empire India Pakistan Nepal |
| Branch | infantry and artillery |
| Equipment | Musket |
Look up sepoy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
A sepoy (/ˈsiːpɔɪ/) was the designation given to an Indian infantryman armed with a musket in the armies of the the Mughal Empire and the British East India Company.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its 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 Indian, Pakistan and Nepalese armies, where it denotes the rank of private.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Presidency armies