Bengal Army

The Bengal Army was the army of the Bengal Presidency, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire.

The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company (EIC) until the Government of India Act 1858, passed in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, transferred all three presidencies to the direct authority of the British Crown.

In 1895 all three presidency armies were merged into the Indian Army.

Origins
The Bengal Army originated with the establishment of a European Regiment in 1756. While the East India Company had previously maintained a small force of Dutch and Eurasian mercenaries in Bengal, this was destroyed when Calcutta was captured by the Nawab of Bengal on 30 June that year.

Under East India Company


In 1757 the first locally recruited unit of Bengal sepoys was created in the form of the Lal Paltan battalion. It was recruited from soldiers that had served in the Nawab's Army from Bihar and the Awadh (Oudh) who were collectively called Purbiyas. Drilled and armed along British army lines this force served well at the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and 20 more Indian battalions were raised by 1764. In 1766, the Monghyr Mutiny, quelled by Robert Clive, affected many of the white officers of the Bengal Army.

In his deposition, Lieutenant General Jasper Nicolls, who was an army commander stationed in India, stated of the Bengal Army's recruitment that:

""It may well be said that the whole sepoy army of Bengal is drawn from the Company's province of Bihar and Oudh, with very few exceptions"."

The East India Company steadily expanded its Bengal Army and by 1796 the establishment was set at three battalions of European artillery, three regiments of European infantry, ten regiments of Indian cavalry and twelve regiments (each of two battalions) of Indian infantry.

In 1824 the Bengal Army underwent reorganisation, with the regular infantry being grouped into 68 single battalion regiments numbered according to their date of establishment. Nine additional infantry regiments were subsequently raised, though several existing units were disbanded between 1826 and 1843. On the eve of the First Afghan War (1839–42) the Bengal Army had achieved a dominant role in the forces of the HEIC. There were 74 battalions of Bengal regular infantry against only 52 from Madras, 26 from Bombay and 24 British (Queen's and Company). On average an inch and a half taller and a stone heavier than the southern Indian troops, the Bengal sepoy was highly regarded by a military establishment that tended to evaluate its soldiers by physical appearance.

A new feature in the Bengal Army was the creation of irregular infantry and cavalry regiments during the 1840s. Originally designated as "Local Infantry" these were permanently established units but with less formal drill and fewer British officers than the regular Bengal line regiments.

The main source of recruitment continued to be high caste Brahmins, Bhumihars and Rajputs from Bihar and Oudh, although the eight regular cavalry regiments consisted mainly of Muslim sowars from the Indian Muslim biradaris such as the Ranghar (Rajput Muslims), Sheikhs, Sayyids, Mughals, and Hindustani Pathans.

Another innovation introduced prior to 1845 was to designate specific regiments as "Volunteers" – that is recruited for general service, with sepoys who had accepted a commitment for possible overseas duty. Recruits for the Bengal Army who were prepared to travel by ship if required, received a special allowance or batta. Two of these BNI regiments were serving in China in 1857 and so escaped any involvement in the great rebellion of that year.

The East India Company's Bengal Army in 1857 consisted of 151,361 men of all ranks, of whom the great majority - 128,663 - were Indians.

1857
A total of 64 Bengal Army regular infantry and cavalry regiments rebelled during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, or were disbanded after their continued loyalty was considered doubtful. From 1858 onwards the Chamars(Outcaste) and the actual high-caste Awadhi and Bihari Hindu presence in the Bengal Army was reduced because of their perceived primary role as "mutineers" in the 1857 rebellion. The new and less homogeneous Bengal Army was essentially drawn from Punjabi Muslims, Sikhs, Gurkhas, Baluchis and Pathans, although twelve of the pre-mutiny Bengal line infantry regiments continued in service with the same basis of recruitment, traditions and uniform colours as before.

A largely unspoken rationale was that an army of diverse origins was unlikely to unite in rebellion.

End of the separate Bengal Army
In 1895 the three separate Presidency Armies began a process of unification which was not to be concluded until the Kitchener reforms of eight years later. As an initial step the Army of India was divided into four commands, each commanded by a lieutenant-general. These comprised Bengal, Bombay (including Aden), Madras (including Burma) and Punjab (including the North West Frontier). In 1903 the separately numbered regiments of the Bombay, Madras and Bengal Armies were unified in a single organisational sequence and the presidency affiliations disappeared.

The Bengal infantry units in existence at the end of the Presidency era continued as the senior regiments (1st Brahmans to 48th Pioneers) of the newly unified Indian Army.

Ethnic composition
The Bengal Army of the East India Company was mainly recruited from high castes living in Bihar and the Awadh.

Prior to 1857, company military service was most popular in the zamindaris of North and South Bihar with the East India Company signing contracts to raise levies of troops from them. Recruits from the Rajput and Bhumihar caste were common and they would use service in the Bengal Army as an opportunity to raise their wealth and status and for this reason, the Bhumihar zamindaris of Bihar became "prime recruiting grounds" for the Army. In the 1780s, the Company maintained a major recruiting station in Buxar with six companies under a Captain Eaton. These recruiting stations in Bihar were kept as "nurseries" which supplied battalions when drafts were made. Other recruiting centres were located in Bhagalpur, Shahabad, Monghyr, Saran and Hajipur.

Brigadier Troup, who served as the commander of Bareilly, stated of recruitment that the ‘Bengal native Infantry came chiefly from the province of Awadh, Buxar, Bhojpur and Arrah.’ In 1810, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton noted in his account of the districts of Bihar, that the number of men absent from Shahabad to serve in the Army was 4680. The Ujjainiya zamindar of Bhojpur also informed him that 12000 recruits from his district had joined the Bengal Army.

Writing in The Indian Army (1834), Sir John Malcolm, who had a lifetime's experience of Indian soldiering, wrote: "They consist largely of Rajpoots (Rajput), who are a distinguished race. We may judge 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."

Both prior to and following 1857, the Bengal Army included what were to become some of the most famous units in India: Skinner's Horse, the Gurkhas from the Himalayas and the Corps of Guides on the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Regular regiments

 * 1st to 4th Bengal European Light Cavalry Regiments. Recruited hastily in Britain in November 1857 to replace the eight regiments of Bengal Light Cavalry which had mutinied. The mention of "European" in the name indicated that it consisted of white soldiers rather than Indian sowars. In 1861, all four European regiments were transferred to the British Army as the 19th, 20th and 21st Hussars.
 * Governor General's Bodyguard
 * 1st to 10th Bengal Light Cavalry Regiments (see 3rd and 5th Regiments). Eight of these regular regiments mutinied and two were disbanded during 1857–58. None were carried over into the post-Mutiny army.

Punjab Frontier Force

 * Corps of Guides Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 1st Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 2nd Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 3rd Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 4th Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 5th Regiment of Cavalry, Punjab Frontier Force

Irregular units

 * 1st Irregular Cavalry
 * 2nd Irregular Cavalry
 * 3rd Irregular Cavalry
 * 4th Irregular Cavalry
 * 5th Irregular Cavalry
 * 6th Irregular Cavalry
 * 7th Irregular Cavalry
 * 8th Irregular Cavalry
 * 9th Irregular Cavalry
 * 10th Irregular Cavalry
 * 11th Irregular Cavalry
 * 12th Irregular Cavalry
 * 13th Irregular Cavalry
 * 14th Irregular Cavalry
 * 15th Irregular Cavalry
 * 16th Irregular Cavalry
 * 17th Irregular Cavalry
 * 18th Irregular Cavalry

Units raised during the 1857 War of Independence

 * Bundelkhand Legion Cavalry
 * Gwalior Contingent Cavalry
 * Kotah Contingent Cavalry
 * Bhopal Contingent Cavalry
 * United Malwa Contingent Cavalry
 * Ramgarh Irregular Cavalry
 * Nagpore Irregular Cavalry
 * 1st to 3rd Oudh Irregular Cavalry Regiments
 * 1st, 2nd and 3rd Regiments of Hodson's Horse
 * 1st to 4th Sikh Irregular Cavalry Regiments
 * The Jat Horse Yeomanry
 * Rohilkhand Horse
 * The Muttra Horse
 * Alexander's Horse
 * Barrow's Volunteers
 * Behar Irregular Cavalry
 * Belooch Horse
 * Benares Horse
 * Bengal Yeomanry Cavalry
 * Calcutta Volunteer Guards
 * De Kantzow's Irregular Cavalry
 * Graham's Horse
 * 2nd Gwalior Cavalry
 * 2nd Gwalior Mahratta Horse
 * H.H. The Guicowar's Horse
 * Jackson's Volunteer Horse
 * Jellandhar Cavalry
 * Lahore Light Horse
 * 1st and 2nd Mahratta Horse
 * Meerut Light Horse
 * Peshawar Light Horse
 * Rajghazi Volunteer Cavalry
 * The Volunteer Cavalry
 * Lind's and Cureton's Risalahs of Pathan Horse
 * Fane's Horse

Artillery
The Bengal Artillery was divided into three 'sections', the Bengal Horse Artillery (affiliated with the Royal Horse Artillery), Bengal European Foot Artillery (European/white members), and the Bengal Native Foot Artillery (native Indians). Below is the list of those that were formed/active before their disbandment/absorption into the Royal Artillery and RHA. Units below will have their formation designation and then designation after joining the British Army.

Bengal Horse Artillery

 * Bengal Horse Artillery:
 * 1st Brigade, Bengal Horse Artillery (formed in 1824)
 * 1st Troop (formed 1800, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864), formed as Experimental Brigade, HA then The Troop, then 1st Troop, BenHA
 * 2nd Troop (formed 1824, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * 3rd Troop (formed 1824, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * (1st) 4th (Native) Troop (formed in 1817, left to 3rd Bde 1827)
 * (2nd) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1827, mutinied in Neemuch, then reformed as European troop, disbanded in 1862)
 * 5th (Shah Soojah's) Troop (Native, formed 1838, then reformed as European troop, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * 2nd Brigade, Bengal Horse Artillery (formed in 1825)
 * 1st Troop (formed 1809, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864), formed as 2nd Trp, BenHA
 * 2nd (Rocket) Troop (formed 1816, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864), formed as The Rocket Troop, BenHA
 * 3rd Troop (formed 1825, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * (1st) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1817, joined 1st Bde 1827), formed as 5th (Native) Trp, BenHA
 * (2nd) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1827, joined 3rd Bde 1829)
 * (3rd) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1829, reformed as European trp 1859, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * 3rd Brigade, Bengal Horse Artillery (formed in 1825)
 * 1st Troop (formed in 1809, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864), formed as 3rd Trp, BenHA
 * 2nd Troop (formed 1825, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * 3rd Troop (formed 1825, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)
 * (1st) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1817, joined 2nd Bde 1829), formed as 6th Trop, BenHA
 * (2nd) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1827, to 2nd Bde 1829)
 * (3rd) 4th (Native) Troop (formed 1829, mutinied in Multan, reformed 1859 as European troop, transferred to Royal Horse Artillery 1864)

Bengal European Foot Artillery

 * 1st Company Bengal Artillery (raised in 1749, currently 9 (Plassey) Battery Royal Artillery)

Bengal Native Foot Artillery

 * Bengal Native Foot Artillery: (units listed in after precedence #)
 * 1st Bengal Artillery Battalion
 * 7th Company (raised in 1780, late 1st Battery, 16th Brigade Royal Artillery)
 * 3rd Company (raised 1780, late 2nd Bty, 16th Bde RA)
 * 9th Company (raised 1780, late 3rd Bty, 16th Bde RA)
 * Fort William Company (raised 1780, late 4th Bty, 16th Bde RA)
 * Calcutta Garrison Company (raised 1770, late 1st Company, 6th Battalion)
 * 6th Company (raised 1802, late 3rd Co, 3rd Btn)
 * 7th Company (raised 1802, late 4th Co, 3rd Btn)
 * 8th Company (raised 1817, late 3rd Co, 1st Btn)
 * 2nd Bengal Artillery Battalion
 * 8th Company (raised 1778, late 1st Bty, 19th Bde RA)
 * 4th Company (raised 1763, late 2nd Bty, 19th Bde RA)
 * 6th Company (raised 1778, late 3rd Bty, 19th Bde RA)
 * 2nd Company (raised 1780, late 4th Bty, 19th Bde RA)
 * 10th Company (raised 1780, late 2nd Co, 6th Btn)
 * 6th Company (raised 1802, late 3rd Co, 2nd Btn)
 * 7th Company (raised 1802, late 4th Co, 2nd Btn)
 * 8th Company (raised 1818, late 3rd Co, 5th Btn)
 * 3rd Bengal Artillery Battalion
 * 1st Company (raised 1786, late 1st Bty, 22nd Bde RA)
 * 2nd Company (raised 1786, late 2nd Bty, 22nd Bde RA)
 * 3rd Company (raised 1786, late 3rd Bty, 22nd Bde RA)
 * 4th Company (raised 1786, late 4th Bty, 22nd Bde RA)
 * 5th Company (raised 1786, late 3rd Co, 6th Btn)
 * 6th Company (raised 1802, late 2nd Co, 5th Btn)
 * 7th Company (raised 1802, disbanded 1824)
 * 8th Company (raised 1818, late 4th Co, 5th Btn)
 * 4th Bengal Artillery Battalion
 * 1st Company (raised 1824, late 1st Bty, 24th Bde RA)
 * 2nd Company (raised 1824, late 2nd Bty, 2nd Bde RA)
 * 3rd Company (raised 1824, late 3rd Bty, 24th Bde RA)
 * 4th Company (raised 1824, late 4th Bty, 24th Bde RA)
 * 5th Company (raised 1842, late 4th Bty, 6th Btn)
 * 5th Bengal Artillery Battalion
 * 1st Company (raised 1824, late 1st Bty, 25th Bde RA)
 * 2nd Company (raised 1824, late 2nd Bty, 25th Bde RA)
 * 3rd Company (raised 1824, late 3rd Bty, 25th Bde RA)
 * 4th Company (raised 1824, late 4th Bty, 25th Bde RA)
 * 5th Company (Raised 1842, disbanded 1845)
 * 6th Bengal Artillery Battalion
 * 1st Company (raised 1845, late 5th Bty, 16th Bde RA)
 * 2nd Company (raised 1845, late 5th Bty, 19th Bde RA)
 * 3rd Company (raised 1845, late 5th Bty, 22nd Bde RA)
 * 4th Company (raised 1845, late 5th Bty, 24th Bde RA)

Engineers

 * The Corps of Bengal Sappers and Miners
 * The Sebundy Sappers and Miners

Regular regiments
Of these regular regiments only twelve (the 21st, 31st, 32nd 33rd, 42nd, 43rd, 47th 59th, 63rd, 65th, 66th and 70th BNI) escaped mutiny or disbandment to survive into the post-Mutiny army. As such they retained a number of features and traditions of the "old" Bengal Army, such as the wearing of red coats. The remainder of the regiments making up the "new" Bengal Army were derived from a mixture of irregular units already in existence before the Mutiny, plus Punjabis, Sikhs and Gurkhas. Local corps, levies and even police battalions raised for the suppression of the Mutiny were in some cases transformed into new regular infantry regiments, which brought the total number up to 49.
 * 1st Bengal (European) Fusiliers
 * 2nd Bengal (European) Fusiliers
 * 3rd Bengal (European) Light Infantry
 * 4th, 5th and 6th Bengal European Regiments
 * 1st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 2nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 3rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 4th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 5th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 6th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 7th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 8th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 9th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 10th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 11th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 12th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 13th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 14th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 15th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 16th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 17th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 18th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 19th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 20th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 21st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 22nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 23rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 24th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 25th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 26th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 27th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 28th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 29th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 30th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 31st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 32nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 33rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 34th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 35th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 36th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 37th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 38th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 39th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 40th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 41st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 42nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 43rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 44th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 45th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 46th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 47th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 48th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 49th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 50th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 51st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 52nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 53rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 54th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 55th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 56th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 57th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 58th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 59th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 60th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 61st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 62nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 63rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 64th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 65th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 66th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 67th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 68th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 69th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 70th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 71st Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 72nd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 73rd Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry
 * 74th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry

Punjab Frontier Force

 * Guides Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 1st Sikh Infantry Regiment of the Punjab Frontier Force
 * 2nd Sikh Infantry Regiment of the Punjab Frontier Force
 * 3rd Sikh Infantry Regiment of the Punjab Frontier Force
 * 4th Sikh Infantry Regiment of the Punjab Frontier Force
 * 1st Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 2nd Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 3rd Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 4th Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 5th Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 6th Regiment of Punjab Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force
 * 7th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 8th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 9th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 10th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 11th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 12th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 13th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 14th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 15th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 16th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 17th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 18th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 19th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 20th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 21st Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 22nd Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 23rd Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 24th Regiment of Punjab Infantry
 * 25th Regiment of Punjab Infantry

Units raised during the 1857 War of Independence

 * Alipore Regiment
 * The Ramgarh Light Infantry
 * 3rd Local Battalion
 * The Sirmoor Rifle Regiment
 * The Kamaoon Battalion
 * 1st Assam Light Infantry
 * 11th Sylhet Local Light Infantry
 * The Mhairwara Battalion
 * 2nd Assam Light Infantry
 * Joudpore Legion (1836–1857) – a mixed unit of cavalry, infantry, and artillery (a two-gun battery)
 * Erinpura Irregular Force (1860–1921) – former Erinpura Irregular Force, itself a successor to the loyal companies of the Joudpore Legion
 * Oudh Irregular Force
 * Narbudda Sebundy Corps
 * Shekhawati Battalion
 * Harianna Light Infantry
 * Regiment of Khelat-i-Gilzie
 * Malwa Bheel Corps
 * Kotah Contingent
 * Mehidpore Contingent
 * Gwalior Contingent
 * Malwa Contingent
 * Bhopal Contingent
 * Ferozepore Regiment
 * Regiment of Ludhiana
 * Camel Corps
 * Nagpore Irregular Force
 * Deoli Irregular Force
 * Regiment of Lucknow
 * Mhair Regiment
 * Kamroop Regiment
 * Landhoor Rangers
 * Kuppurthala Contingent
 * 1st and 2nd Gwalior Regiments
 * Allahabad Levy
 * Shahjehanpur Levy
 * Cawnpore Levy
 * Fatehgarh Levy
 * Moradabad Levy
 * Mynpoorie Levy
 * Sealkote Infantry Levy
 * Bareilly Levy
 * Goojramwallah Levy
 * Meerut Levy
 * Kumaon Levy
 * Agra Levy
 * Cole and Sonthal Levy
 * Rajpoot Levy
 * Loyal Purbeah Regiment

Other

 * 1st Bengal Military Police Battalion

Commanders
Because the Bengal Army was the largest of the three Presidency Armies, its Commander-in-Chief was, from 1853 to 1895, also Commander-in-Chief, India. Commander-in-Chief, Bengal Command
 * Lieutenant-General Sir William Elles (1895–1896)
 * Lieutenant-General Sir Baker Russell (1896–1898)
 * Lieutenant-General Sir George Luck (1898–1903)
 * Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Gaselee (1903–1907)