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The
Bombay Army was the army of the
Bombay PresidencyThe Bombay Presidency was a former province of British India. It was established in the 17th century as a trading post for the British East India Company, but later grew to encompass much of western and central India, as well as parts of post-partition Pakistan and the Arabian Peninsula.At its...
, one of the three presidencies of the Empire of India within the
British EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
.
The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the
Indian Rebellion of 1857The 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 erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
, when the British Crown took over all three presidencies.
In 1903 all three presidency armies were merged into the
Indian ArmyThe Indian Army , now sometimes called the British Indian Army to distinguish it from the modern army of the Republic of India, was the principal army of the British Raj in India during the last half-century before the partition of India in 1947.The Indian Army served both in India and,...
.
The Bombay Army was heavily involved in the defeat of
Tipu SultanSultan Fateh Ali Tipu November 1750, Devanahalli – 4 May 1799, Srirangapattana), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Islamic Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 until his own demise in 1799. He was the first son of Hyder Ali by his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-nissa...
of Mysore and also took part in later campaigns such as the
First Anglo-Afghan WarThe First Anglo–Afghan War lasted from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between Great Britain and Russia, and also marked one of the worst setbacks inflicted on British power in the...
.
Prestigious units of the Bombay Army include the Bombay Grenadiers (now called
the GrenadiersThe Grenadiers are a regiment of the Indian Army, formerly known as the 4th Bombay Grenadiers when part of the British Indian Army.-Early History:...
) raised in 1784 from grenadier companies of existing regiments, and the
Maratha Light InfantryThe Maratha Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was formed as the 103rd Maharattas in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment of the Army....
.
Sources
- Cadell, Patrick Robert (1938) History of the Bombay Army Longmans, Green and Company, London, OCLC 3833023