East India Company Army: Difference between revisions

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== Overview ==
== Overview ==


The [[East India Company]] maintained a formidable army in each of its three [[Presidencies]]. Although there was a military presence in each Presidency beforehand, the Company established formal armies following the French capture of [[Fort St George]] (Madras) during the War of Austrian Succession in 1746. These armies grew over the next hundred years until the renowned ‘[[Indian Mutiny]]’ (1857-59). After the Mutiny, the India Act of 1858 of the English parliament, decreed the dissolution of these armies. Its European soldiers were given the option either of transferring to the British Army or of discharge with a bounty and shipment back to Europe. About 50 percent selected each option. The mutinous native regiments were disbanded but those few, who remained loyal to the British, plus loyal native irregular units, formed the basis of the new ‘[[Indian Army]]’, which continued until Independence


The three Presidency armies were quite distinct from each other and operated independently.  More information can be found on their respective articles:
The three Presidency armies were quite distinct from each other and operated independently.  More information can be found on their respective articles:

Revision as of 16:36, 6 March 2013

Overview

The East India Company maintained a formidable army in each of its three Presidencies. Although there was a military presence in each Presidency beforehand, the Company established formal armies following the French capture of Fort St George (Madras) during the War of Austrian Succession in 1746. These armies grew over the next hundred years until the renowned ‘Indian Mutiny’ (1857-59). After the Mutiny, the India Act of 1858 of the English parliament, decreed the dissolution of these armies. Its European soldiers were given the option either of transferring to the British Army or of discharge with a bounty and shipment back to Europe. About 50 percent selected each option. The mutinous native regiments were disbanded but those few, who remained loyal to the British, plus loyal native irregular units, formed the basis of the new ‘Indian Army’, which continued until Independence

The three Presidency armies were quite distinct from each other and operated independently. More information can be found on their respective articles:

FIBIS resources

Part 1 FIBIS Journal Number 17 (Spring 2007) Part 2 FIBIS Journal Number 22 (Autumn 2009)
Refer FIBIS Journals for details of how to access these Journals

Records

FIBIS Research Guide

Researching ancestors in the East India Company's Armies by Peter Bailey Families in British India Society, 2006. (FIBIS research guide; 1)

This is the essential handbook for anyone researching ancestors who were connected to the HEIC Armies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras. It covers records from the armies' origins until their assimilation into the British Army in 1860. Laid out in a clear and accessible manner, the book directs searchers to records on all available stages of a man's career, whether officer or soldier, including sources which may provide details on his wife and children. For those researchers not fortunate enough to have access to the India Office Records at the British Library, the LDS film numbers are included. A full review by Richard Scott Morel, Archivist of Pre-1858 India Office Records, is available on pp. 45-46 of the FIBIS Journal 17 (Spring 2007)

Purchase a copy from the FIBIS Online Shop

India Office records at the British Library

The British Library’s "Search our Catalogue Archives and Manuscripts" Search by name.

British Library’s Help for Researchers: European Officers

Records include Cadet Papers IOR/L/MIL/9/107-253 1789-1860. Cadet Papers up to about c 1805, may comprise nothing more than a baptism certificate or father's declaration of date of birth.
See Application for Cadetships, in FIBIS resources above, available on the FIBIS database.

Books and Articles

"Irishmen in the East-India Company Army" by Peter Bailey in Irish Family History-Journal of the Irish Family History Society Volume 17, 2001 page 84

Other

The National Army Museum, London has a card index, mainly in respect of East India Company Army Officers

Wives and children

Marriages between EIC soldiers and Anglo Indians or Native women, the allowances paid to wives and the army records kept regarding these wives are discussed in "Haemoglobin D (B Punjab) in an East Anglian Family", The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 95, No. 2 (Jul. - Dec., 1965), pp. 295-306. The article (including an extract) and its implications are the subject of this archived India List thread. The article may be read online on the subscription website JSTOR. Some card holders of participating libraries may have access, refer Miscellaneous tips. Also available at the British Library

See also

External Links

Historical books on-line

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