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After the recapture of [[Calcutta]] in 1757, the Council of Madras ordered [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clive,_1st_Baron_Clive Robert Clive] to raise fighting units of [[sepoy|sepoys]] with officers from the [[Madras (Presidency)|Madras]] establishment. These units were called battalions, named after their commanding captains, and each comprised 42 Indian non-commissioned officers and 820 rank & file. There were 2 battalions in 1757, 4 battalions in 1758 and 17 battalions in 1763 three of which were destroyed at Patna. They were originally numbered (as the [[British Army]]) with the 1st being the oldest and the highest number being the youngest. In 1764 the battalions were numbered according to the seniority of their captains and totalled 19 battalions. In 1765 two more battalions were raised and the Bengal Army was divided into three brigades each with with one troop of cavalry, one company of artillery, one regiment of European infantry and seven battalions of native infantry. In 1766 six Provincial battalions were added and five of these were disbanded in 1773.

In 1775 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clavering_(British_Army_officer) General John Clavering], commander-in-chief, gave the units in the three brigades sequential numbers which changed the number of every battalion except the 21st. In 1777 six battalions which had been raised under British officers for the Vizier of Oude were brought into HEIC service. In 1778 six battalions from the 1st Brigade were sent to Bombay for the 1st Maratha War and six new battalions raised to replace them. The battalions numbers were changed to 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Bombay Battalion and they were returned to Bengal in 1783.