The Bengal Army was the army of the Presidency of Bengal, one of the three Presidencies of British India, in South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

. Although based in Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

 in eastern India, the presidency stretched across northern India and the Himalayas

Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 all the way to the North West Frontier Province (now the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa). The Bengal Army included some of the most famous units in India: Skinner's Horse from Bengal, the Gurkhas from the Himalayas

Himalayas

The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...

 and the Corps of Guides

Corps of Guides (British India)

The Corps of Guides was a regiment of the British Indian Army which served in the North West Frontier and had a unique composition of being part infantry and part cavalry.-History:...

 on the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The Presidency armies

Presidency armies

The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India...

, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company

East India Company

The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...

 until the Government of India Act 1858

Government of India Act 1858

The Government of India Act 1858 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on August 2, 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company and the transference of its functions to the British Crown...

 (passed in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857

Indian Rebellion of 1857

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...

) transferred all three presidencies to the direct authority of the British Crown

Monarchy of the United Kingdom

The monarchy of the United Kingdom is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories. The present monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, has reigned since 6 February 1952. She and her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial and representational duties...

.

The Bengali presence in the Bengal Army was reduced in the late nineteenth century because of their perceived primary role as mutineers in the 1857 rebellion.

In 1903 all three presidency armies were merged into the Indian Army

British Indian Army

The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...

.

Cavalry

• Governor General's Bodyguard
• 1st to 5th Bengal European Light Cavalry Regiments. Created hastily in November 1857 to replace the Bengal Light Cavalry, only three of these short-lived units were actually established. In 1861 they were transferred to the British Army.
• 1st to 10th Bengal Light Cavalry Regiments. Seven of these regular regiments mutinied and two were disbanded during 1857-58. None were carried over into the post-Mutiny army.
• 1st Irregular Cavalry (Skinner's Horse)
• 2nd to 18th Irregular Cavalry Regiments
• Jodhpore Legion Cavalry
• 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 Mahratta Horse
• Meerut Light Horse
• Peshawar Light Horse
• Rajghazi Volunteer Cavalry
• The Volunteer Cavalry
• Lind's and Cureton's Risalahs of Pathan Horse
• 2nd Mahratta Horse
• Fane's Horse
• The Corps of Guides
  Corps of Guides
  The Corps of Guides was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. -Formation:Lieutenant-Colonel Victor Brereton Rivers, a former officer cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada was one of the first of a small band of Canadian Military Intelligence officers serving in an organization that...
  
  , Punjab Irregular Force
• 1st to 5th Regiments of Cavalry of the Punjab Irregular Force

Artillery

• Bengal Horse Artillery
• Bengal European Foot Artillery
• Bengal Native Foot Artillery
• Punjab Horse Artillery, Punjab Irregular Force

Infantry

• 1st Bengal (European) Fusiliers
  101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers)
  The 101st Regiment of Foot was a regiment of the British Army from 1862 to 1881 but with a previous history in the Bengal Army going back to 1652.-History:...
  
  
• 2nd Bengal (European) Fusiliers
• 3rd Bengal (European) Light Infantry
• 4th to 6th Bengal European Regiments
• 1st Regiment of Punjab Bengal Native Infantry
• 2nd to 74th Regiments of Bengal Native Infantry (including Goorkha
  Gurkha
  Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
  
   66th Regiment of Bengal Native Infantry). 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.
• The 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
• 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
• Regiment of Ferozepore
• Regiment of Ludhiana
• Camel Corps
• Nusseree Battalion
• 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
• Corps of Guides
  Corps of Guides (British India)
  The Corps of Guides was a regiment of the British Indian Army which served in the North West Frontier and had a unique composition of being part infantry and part cavalry.-History:...
  
  , Punjab Irregular Force
• 1st to 4th Sikh Infantry Regiments of the Punjab Irregular Force
  Punjab Irregular Force
  The Punjab Irregular Force was created in 1851, to protect the NW frontier of British India. It was termed "Irregular" because it was outside the control of the Regular British armies of the 3 Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay or Madras, but was under the control of the British chief magistrate of...
  
  
• 1st to 6th Punjab Infantry Regiments of the Punjab Irregular Force
  Punjab Irregular Force
  The Punjab Irregular Force was created in 1851, to protect the NW frontier of British India. It was termed "Irregular" because it was outside the control of the Regular British armies of the 3 Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay or Madras, but was under the control of the British chief magistrate of...
  
  
• 7th to 24th Regiments of Punjab Infantry, of which the 15th and 24th were pioneer regiments

Further reading

• Cardew, F. G., Sketch of the Services of the Bengal Native Army: To the Year 1895 (Calcutta: Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, 1903, reprinted by Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2005, ISBN 1845741862) Contents: Chapter I: 1599–1767; II. 1767–1796; III. 1797–1814; IV. 1814–1824; V. 1824–1838; VI. 1838–1845; VII. 1845–1857; VIII. 1857–1861; IX. 1862–1979; X. 1878–1881; XI. 1882–1890; XII. 1891–1895; Appendix: I. A Chronological List of the Corps of the Bengal Army, Showing particulars of their origin and their subsequent history; II. Existing Corps of the Bengal Army, Showing Dates of Raising and Changes in their Titles; III. Commanders-in-chief of the Bengal Army; IV. Chronology list of the Services of the Bengal Native Army; Index.