page_title: Purbiyas (soldiers)
section_title: 1857 mutiny
hierarchical_section_title: Purbiyas (soldiers) / History / 1857 mutiny
caption_attribution_description: English: Bengal Troops on the Line of March. Accession Number: 1990.1395.2. Credit Line: Edwin Binney 3rd Collection.
context_page_description: Purbiya was a common term used in medieval India for Rajput led mercenaries and soldiers from the eastern Gangetic Plain - areas corresponding to present-day western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh. The Purbiyas played a significant role in the militaries of various principalities in Western India including the Marwar army.
context_section_description: The Purbiya units of the Bengal Army played a major role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British. Mangal Pandey, a notable figure during the start of the mutiny, was a Purbiya serving in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry. Following the suppression of the uprising, British authorities decided not to recruit troops from the eastern plains, and the new Bengal Army was to be recruited primarily from the Sikh and Muslim communities of the Punjab. Purbiya recruitment from the western regions of the United Provinces and the Delhi region continued but on a much smaller scale (two out of sixty-four regiments by 1893).
caption: Bengal troops in the 19th century (1840s), the majority of troops in the Bengal Army were Purbiyas
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