Sepoy
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.
Sepoy Armies
The term sepoy derives from a corruption of the Persian term sipahi, illustrating that it was the armies of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857) in India who first used these locally-recruited troops as musket-armed infantry. Although used by the French East India Company and many Indian princely states, sepoy soldiers, at least in the English language, have become most associated with British armies in the Indian subcontinent. They have also become most associated with infantrymen, and other terms are generally used for other types of soldiers such as sowars for Indian members of cavalry corps.
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