Bengal Army
Topic: The Revolt of 1857 · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 2 "Rebels and the Raj"
Meaning
The Bengal Army was the largest of the East India Company's three presidency armies. The other two were the Madras and Bombay armies. Most of its sepoys came from Awadh and eastern Uttar Pradesh, and many were from "upper" castes. Its sepoys were at the heart of the 1857 mutiny.
Example
On 10 May 1857, the Bengal Army sepoys at Meerut rose in revolt. They rode to Delhi, and cantonment after cantonment in the Gangetic valley followed them.
Don't confuse with
- Nursery of the Bengal Army: this is not the army itself. It is a name for Awadh, the region that supplied most of the army's soldiers.
Related concepts
- Annexation of Awadh
- Wajid Ali Shah
- Summary Settlement of 1856
- Taluqdar
- Hanwant Singh
- Nursery of the Bengal Army
- Sepoy grievances