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{{morerefs|date=November 2020}}
{{short description|Designation given to a South Asian soldier}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = Sepoy
| native_nname                   = 
| image                         = Knave_(Hyder_Ali_from_Mysore)_from_Court_Game_of_Geography_MET_DP862917.jpg
| image_size                    = 200px
| caption                       = [[Hyder Ali]] as a sepoy
| dates                         = 16th to 21st centuries
| country                       = [[File:Alam of the Mughal Empire.svg|23px]] [[Mughal Empire]]<br>[[File:Flag of the Maratha Empire.svg|23px]] [[Maratha Empire]]<br>{{flag|India}}<br />{{flag|Pakistan}}<br />{{flag|Nepal}}
| branch                        = infantry and artillery
| size                          = 
| garrison                      = 
| colors                        = 
| equipment                     = [[Musket]]
| battles                       = 
}}
{{wikt | sepoy}}
A '''sepoy''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|p|ɔɪ}}) was the designation given to an Indian infantryman armed with a musket in the armies of [[Army of the Mughal Empire|the Mughal Empire]] and the [[British East India Company]].

In the 18th century, the [[French Indies Company|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]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gerald Bryant |date=1978 |title=Officers of the East India Company's army in the days of Clive and Hastings |journal= The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History |volume= 6 |issue=3 |pages=203–227 |doi=10.1080/03086537808582508|s2cid=159458449 }}</ref><ref>[[Presidency armies]]</ref>

The term "sipahi" (or sometimes "sepoy") continues in use in the [[Indian Army|Indian]], [[Pakistan Army|Pakistan]] and [[Nepalese Army|Nepalese]] armies, where it denotes the rank of [[private (rank)|private]].

==Etymology==

In Persian {{lang|fa|اسپ}} (Aspa) means horse and Ispahai is also the word for cavalrymen.

The term ''sepoy'' is the [[Anglicisation|anglicised]] form of the [[Persian language|Persian]] word {{lang|fa-Latn|sepāhī}} ({{wikt-lang|fa|سپاهی}}), meaning the traditional "infantry soldier" in the [[Mughal Empire]].

===Historical usage===
The term ''sepoy'' came into common use in the forces of the British East India Company in the eighteenth century, where it was one of a number of names, such as ''peons'', ''[[Gentoo (term)|gentoos]]'', ''mestees'' and ''[[topass]]es'', used for various categories of native soldier. Initially it referred to Hindu or Muslim soldiers without regular uniforms or discipline. It later generically referred to all native soldiers in the service of the European powers in India.<ref name="Philip Mason, 1974">{{cite book |title=A Matter of Honour |last=Mason |first=Philip |year=1974 |publisher=Holt, Rhinehart & Winston |location=London |isbn=0-03-012911-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/matterofhonour0000maso }}</ref> Close to ninety-six percent of the British East India Company's army of 300,000 men were native to India and these sepoys played a crucial role in securing the subcontinent for the company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=India's Sepoy Mutiny |url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h38sep.htm |publisher=Fsmitha.com |access-date=2013-09-24}}</ref>

==Equipment==

[[File:The Nawab's artillery at Plassey.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Sepoy units loyal to the [[Nawab of Bengal]] armed with [[artillery]] pieces and a [[war elephant]].]]

The earliest sepoys used [[matchlock]] muskets and operated bulky and inefficient cannons to a limited extent during the reigns of [[Babur]] [[Akbar]] when archery and fighting from horseback was more common. By the time of [[Aurangzeb]] the Mughal armies had advanced significantly and utilized a wider range of weapons to win battles.
 
During the [[Carnatic Wars]] and [[Anglo-Mysore Wars]] the sepoys of the Mughal Empire employed more advanced types of musket, as well as [[blunderbuss]] and [[rocket]] weapons.

==History==
===Mughal Empire 16th–18th centuries===

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
A Mughal Infantryman.jpg|A [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] sepoy, under the command of [[Mirza Najaf Khan]].
Bhavanidas. The Emperor Aurangzeb Carried on a Palanquin ca. 1705–20 Metripolitan Museum of Art..jpg|The [[Mughal Emperor]] [[Aurangzeb]] leads his final expedition (1705), (sepoy column visible in the lower right).
</gallery>

A ''Sipahi'' or a sepoy was an infantryman armed with a musket in the army of the [[Mughal Empire]].

The earliest sepoys were armed with daggers, [[talwar]]s and [[matchlocks]].<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Nicolle|page=[https://archive.org/details/mughulindia00nico/page/n12 12]|title=Mughul India 1504–1761|year=1993|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |url=https://archive.org/details/mughulindia00nico|url-access=limited|isbn=1-85532-344-3}}</ref> By the mid to late 17th century they began to utilize more upgraded forms of [[musket]]s and even [[rocket]]s. These sepoys also operated and mounted [[artillery]] pieces and sharpshooter upon [[war elephant]]s which were also used for transport, hauling artillery and in combat.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Nicolle|page=[https://archive.org/details/mughulindia00nico/page/n15 15]|title=Mughul India 1504–1761|year=1993|publisher=Bloomsbury USA |url=https://archive.org/details/mughulindia00nico|url-access=limited|isbn=1-85532-344-3}}</ref>

By the 18th century individual Nawabs employed their own sepoy units as did the European merchant companies established in parts of India.

Sepoys became more visible when they gained European arms and fought for various fragmented polities of the Mughal Empire during the [[Carnatic Wars]] and the [[Bengal War]], after which the importance of the local sepoy diminished and they were replaced by the "European hired Sepoy".

===Sepoys in British service===
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
Two miniatures. ‘Kala with Saber Drawn’ and ‘Kala in Uniform’.jpg|Kala, the Sepoy, with Saber Drawn and in Uniform. Two miniatures from the [[Fraser Album]]. Delhi, 1815–1816. [[The David Collection]]
Sepoy of the Indian Infantry, 1900 (c)..jpg|Sepoy of the Indian infantry, circa 1900

Awan Sepoy (30th Punjabis).jpg|An early 20th century sepoy in the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], wearing a [[kurta]].
</gallery>
The [[British East India Company|East India Company]] initially recruited sepoys from the local communities in the [[Madras Presidency|Madras]] and [[Bombay Presidency|Bombay Presidencies]]. The emphasis here favoured tall and soldierly recruits, broadly defined as being "of a proper caste and of sufficient size".<ref>{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Mason|page=125|title=A Matter of Honour – An Account of the Indian Army, its Officers and Men|year=1986|publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0-333-41837-9}}</ref> In the [[Bengal Army]] however, recruitment was only amongst high caste [[Brahmin]] and [[Rajput]] communities, mainly from the present day [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Bihar]] regions. Recruitment was undertaken locally by battalions or regiments often from the same community, village and even family. The commanding officer of a battalion became a form of substitute for the village chief or ''gaon bura''. He was the ''mai-baap'' or the "father and mother" of the sepoys making up the ''paltan'' (from "platoon"). There were many family and community ties amongst the troops and numerous instances where family members enlisted in the same battalion or regiment. The ''izzat'' ("honour") of the unit was represented by the [[regimental colours]]; the new sepoy having to swear an oath in front of them on enlistment. These colours were stored in honour in the [[quarter guard]] and frequently paraded before the men. They formed a rallying point in battle. The oath of fealty by the sepoy was given to the East India Company and included a pledge of faithfulness to the salt that one has eaten.<ref name="Philip Mason, 1974"/>

The salary of the sepoys employed by the East India Company, while not substantially greater than that paid by the rulers of Indian states, was usually paid regularly. Advances could be given and family allotments from pay due were permitted when the troops served abroad. There was a [[commissariat]] and regular rations were provided. Weapons, clothing and ammunition were provided centrally, in contrast to the soldiers of local kings whose pay was often in arrears. In addition local rulers usually expected their sepoys to arm themselves and to sustain themselves through plunder.<ref name="Philip Mason, 1974"/>

This combination of factors led to the development of a sense of shared honour and ethos amongst the well drilled and disciplined Indian soldiery who formed the key to the success of European feats of arms in India and abroad.<ref name="Philip Mason, 1974"/>

In 1858 following the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] the surviving East India Company regiments continued as the armies of the three presidencies until they were merged into a new Indian Army under the direct control of the British Crown in 1895. (The Company had come under the control of the Crown but in 1874 it was abolished.) The designation of "sepoy" was retained for Indian soldiers below the rank of [[lance naik]], except in cavalry where the equivalent ranks were ''sowar'' or "trooper".
{| class="wikitable"
!Presidency
!Monthly Salary In Rupees (1760s) 
|-
|Bengal
|6<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Pay, Allowances and Pension|url=http://lib.unipune.ac.in:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/3669/09_chapter%203.pdf?sequence=9&isAllowed=y}}</ref>
|-
|Bombay
|7<ref name=":0" />
|-
|Madras
|7<ref name=":0" />
|}

===Sepoys in French service===
Following the formation of the [[John Law's Company|French East India Company]] (''{{lang|fr|Compagnie des Indes}}'') in 1719, companies of Indian sepoys ({{wikt-lang|fr|cipaye|cipayes}}) were raised to augment the French regulars and Swiss mercenary troops available. By 1720 the sepoys in French service numbered about 10,000.<ref>Rene Chartrand, ''Louis XV's Army – Colonial and Naval Troops'', {{ISBN|1-85532-709-0}}</ref> Although much reduced in numbers after their decisive defeat in India at the [[Battle of Wandewash]] in 1760, France continued to maintain a Military Corps of Indian Sepoys (''{{lang|fr|corps militaire des cipayes de l'Inde}}'') in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Pondicherry]] until it was disbanded and replaced by a locally recruited gendarmerie in 1898.<ref> ''{{lang|fr|Les Troupes de Marine 1622–1984}}'', {{ISBN|2-7025-0142-7}}, pp. 50–51</ref>
The 19th century diplomat Sir [[Justin Sheil]] commented about the British East India Company copying the French Indian army in raising an army of Indians:
{{quote|It is to the military genius of the French that we are indebted for the formation of the Indian army. Our warlike neighbours were the first to introduce into India the system of drilling native troops and converting them into a regularly disciplined force. Their example was copied by us, and the result is what we now behold.
|Sir Justin Sheil (1803–1871).<ref name="digital.library.upenn.edu">''Glimpses of Life and Manners in Persia'' by Lady Mary Leonora Woulfe Sheil, with additional notes by Sir Justin Sheil [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sheil/persia/persia.html]</ref>}}

===Sepoys in Portuguese service===
Sepoys were also recruited in [[Portuguese India]].  The term ''{{lang|pt|cipaio}}'' (sepoy) was also applied by the Portuguese to African soldiers in [[Angola]], [[Mozambique]] and [[Portuguese Guinea]], plus African rural police officers. ''{{lang|pt|Cipaios}}'' from Angola provided part of the garrison of [[Goa]] during the final years of Portuguese rule of that Indian territory.

==Contemporary sepoys==
The title of "sepoy" is still retained in the modern [[Nepali Army]], [[Indian Army]] and [[Pakistan Army]]. In each of these it designates the rank of [[private (rank)|private]].<ref>John Keegan,  ''Armies of the World'', {{ISBN|0-333-17236-1}}, pp. 312, 545.</ref>

==Other usages==
The same Persian word reached English via another route in the forms of {{lang|ota-Latn|[[sipahi]]}} and ''{{lang|fr|[[spahi]]}}''.  ''{{lang|eu|Zipaio}}'', the Basque version of the word, is used by [[Abertzale|leftist Basque nationalists]] as an insult for members of the [[Ertzaintza|Basque Police]],<ref name="Deia">[http://www.deia.com/es/impresa/2005/01/12/araba/euskadi/59425.php La AN condena a dos años de cárcel al autor de los destrozos en el "bosque de Oma"]{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [[Deia (newspaper)|Deia]], 12 January 2005. Quoting a sentence from the {{lang|es|[[Audiencia Nacional]]}}: ''{{lang|es|«siendo público y notorio que el término "{{lang|eu|zipaio}}" es el que se da a los miembros de la Policía» vasca.}}''</ref> implying that they are not a national police of the [[Basque Country (greater region)|Basque Country]] due to their connection with the Spanish government.

In [[Hispanic America]]n countries, especially in [[Argentina]], the word ''{{lang|es|cipayo}}'' has historically been used as a pejorative colloquial expression referring to individuals considered as serving foreign interests, as opposed to serving their own country.<ref>[http://www.apertura.com/negocios/Que-significan-cipayo-gorila-fondos-buitre-y-otras-palabras-que-todos-repiten-y-pocos-conocen-20140716-0006.html Qué significan cipayo, gorila fondos bruite y otras palabras que todos repiten y pocos conocen.] Apertura.com</ref>

==See also==
* [[Askari]], African troops in service to colonial powers similar to the Sepoys.
* [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] (termed by some The Sepoy Mutiny)
* [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]], known in Persian as ''Sepah''
* [[Private (rank)#India and Pakistan|Jawan]], a contemporary soldier of the armies of [[Indian Army|India]] and [[Pakistan Army|Pakistan]].
* [[Lascar]], Indian sailors in European service
* [[Maharajah and the Sepoys]]
* [[Sowar]], meaning "the one who rides" in Persian; was originally a rank during the Mughal period.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Sepoys}}

[[Category:Colonial troops]]
[[Category:Infantry]]
[[Category:Military of the Mughal Empire]]
[[Category:Military ranks of British India]]
[[Category:Military ranks of the Indian Army]]
[[Category:Pakistan Army ranks]]