A Sepoy was an Indian soldier in the service of a European army, most famously employed by the British East India Company and the United Kingdom during their rule over the Indian Subcontinent.
History[]
Sepoys had a history of serving under foreign powers in addition to the Mughal Empire, fighting under the VOC and British East India Company. In 1857, many rebelled in the Sepoy Mutiny when the British forced them to use cartridges containing tabooed pig and cow fat, and they were crushed ruthlessly. Sepoys continued to play an integral role in the British Army well into World War I and even World War II, and they stopped serving in foreign armies with the end of British rule in 1947.