British Indian Army The British Indian Army , was officially named just the Indian Army , and was the principal army of the British Raj in India before independence in 1947 . It was responsible for the defence of both directly governed British India and the Princely state s ( which could also have their own armies ) . The Indian Army was an important part of the British Empire ' s forces , both in India and abroad , particularly during the First World War and the Second World War . The term " Indian Army " appears to have been first used informally , as a collective description of the Presidency armies ( the Bengal Army , the Madras Army and the Bombay Army ) of the Presidencies of British India , particularly after the Indian Rebellion . The first army officially called the " Indian Army " was raised by the government of India in 1895 , existing alongside the three long - established presidency armies . However , in 1903 the Indian Army absorbed these three armies . The Indian Army should not be confused with the " Army of India " ( 1903 – 1947 ) which was the Indian Army itself plus the " British Army in India " ( British units sent to India ) . Organisation . The Indian Army has its origins in the years after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , often called the Indian Mutiny in British histories , when in 1858 the Crown took over direct rule of British India from the East India Company . Before 1858 , the precursor units of the Indian Army were units controlled by the Company and were paid for by their profits . These operated alongside units of the British Army , funded by the British government in London . The armies of the East India Company were recruited primarily from Muslims in the Bengal Presidency , which consisted of Bengal , Bihar and Uttar Pradesh , and high caste Hindus recruited primarily from the rural plains of Oudh . Many of these troops took part in the Indian Mutiny , with the aim of reinstating the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah II at Delhi , partly as a result of insensitive treatment by their British officers . The meaning of the term " Indian Army " has changed over time : Command . The officer commanding the Army of India was the Commander - in - Chief in India who reported to the civilian Governor - General of India . The title was used before the creation of a unified British Indian Army ; the first holder was Major General Stringer Lawrence in 1748 . By the early 1900s the Commander - in - Chief and his staff were based at GHQ India . Indian Army postings were less prestigious than British Army positions , but the pay was significantly greater so that officers could live on their salaries instead of having to have a private income . Accordingly vacancies in the Indian Army were much sought after and generally reserved for the higher placed officer - cadets graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . British officers in the Indian Army were expected to learn to speak the Indian languages of their men , who tended to be recruited from primarily Hindi speaking areas . Prominent British Indian Army officers included Frederick Roberts , 1st Earl Roberts , William Birdwood , 1st Baron Birdwood , Claude Auchinleck and William Slim , 1st Viscount Slim . Personnel . Commissioned officers , British and Indian , held identical ranks to commissioned officers of the British Army . King ' s Commissioned Indian Officer s ( KCIOs ) , created from the 1920s , held equal powers to British officers . Viceroy ' s Commissioned Officer s were Indians holding officer ranks . They were treated in almost all respects as commissioned officers , but had authority over Indian troops only , and were subordinate to all British King ' s ( and Queen ' s ) Commissioned Officers and KCIOs . They included Subedar Major or Risaldar - Major ( Cavalry ) , equivalents to a British Major ; Subedar or Risaldar ( Cavalry ) equivalents to Captain ; and Jemadar s equivalent , to Lieutenant . Recruitment was entirely voluntary ; about 1 . 3 million men served in the First World War , many on the Western Front and 2 . 5 million in the Second . Non - Commissioned Officers included Company Havildar Major s equivalents to a Company Sergeant Major ; Company Quartermaster Havildar s , equivalents to a Company Quartermaster Sergeant ; Havildar s or Daffadar s ( Cavalry ) equivalents to a Sergeant ; Naik or Lance - Daffadar ( Cavalry ) equivalents to a British Corporal ; and Lance - Naik or Acting Lance - Daffadar ( Cavalry ) equivalents to a Lance - Corporal . Soldier ranks included Sepoy s or Sowar s ( Cavalry ) , equivalent to a British private . British Army ranks such as gunner and sapper were used by other corps . History . In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion , the three armies of the former Presidencies of the East India Company passed to the British crown . After the mutiny , recruitment switched to what the British called the " martial race s , " particularly Sikhs , Awans , Gakhars , and other Punjabi " Mussulmans " , Pashtuns , Marathas , Bunts , Nair s , Rajputs , Yadav s , Kumaonis , Gurkhas , Garhwali s , Mohyal s , Dogras , Jats , Saini s . The three Presidency armies remained separate forces , each with its own Commander - in - Chief . Overall operational control was exercised by the Commander - in - Chief of the Bengal Army , who was formally the Commander - in - Chief of the East Indies . From 1861 , most of the officer manpower was pooled in the three Presidential Staff Corps . After the Second Afghan War a Commission of Enquiry recommended the abolition of the presidency armies . The Ordnance , Supply and Transport , and Pay branches were by then unified . The Punjab Frontier Force was under the direct control of the Lieutenant - Governor of the Punjab during peacetime until 1886 , when it came under the C - in - C , India . The Hyderabad Contingent and other local corps remained under direct governmental control . Standing higher formations - divisions and brigades - were abandoned in 1889 . No divisional staffs were maintained in peacetime , and troops were dispersed throughout the sub - continent , with internal security as their main function . In 1891 the three staff corps were merged into one Indian Staff Corps . Two years later the Madras and Bombay Armies lost their posts of Commander - in - Chief . In 1895 , the Presidency Armies were abolished and the Indian Army created thereby was re - grouped into four commands : Bengal , Madras ( including Burma ) , Bombay ( including Sind , Quetta , and Aden ) , and the Punjab ( including the North - West Frontier and the Punjab Frontier Force ) . Each was under the command of a lieutenant general , who answered directly to the C - in - C , India . The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 by a notification of the Government of India through Army Department Order Number 981 dated 26 October 1894 , unifying the three Presidency armies into a single Indian Army . The armies were amalgamated into four commands , Northern , Southern , Eastern , and Western . The Indian Army , like the Presidency armies , continued to provide armed support to the civil authorities , both in combating banditry and in case of riots and rebellion . One of the first external operations the new unified army faced was the Boxer Rebellion in China from 1899 to 1901 . Kitchener reforms . The Kitchener reforms began in 1903 when Lord Kitchener of Khartoum , newly appointed Commander - in - Chief , India , completed the unification of the three former Presidency armies , and also the Punjab Frontier Force , the Hyderabad Contingent and other local forces , into one Indian Army . The principles underlying the reforms were that : Lord Kitchener found the army scattered across the country in stations at brigade or regiment al strength , and in effect , providing garrison s for most of the major cities . The reformed Indian Army was to be stationed in operational formations and concentrated in the north of the sub - continent . The Commander - in - Chief ' s plan called for nine fighting divisions grouped in two corps commands on the main axes through the North - West Frontier . Five divisions were to be grouped on the Lucknow – Peshawar – Khyber axis , and four divisions on the Bombay – Mhow – Quetta axis . However , the cost of abandoning some thirty - four stations and building new ones in the proposed corps areas was considered prohibitive , and that aspect of the plan had to be modified . Under the compromise adopted in 1905 , the four existing commands were reduced to three , and together with Army Headquarters , arranged in ten standing divisions and four independent brigades : Army Headquarters retained the 9th ( Secunderabad ) Division and the Burma Division under its direct control . The numbered divisions were organised so that on mobilisation they could deploy a complete infantry division , a cavalry brigade , and a number of troops for internal security or local frontier defence . Permanent divisional commands were formed with an establishment of staff officers under a Major - General . After the reforms ended in 1909 , the Indian Army was organised along British lines , although it was always behind in terms of equipment . An Indian Army division consisted of three brigades each of four battalions . Three of these battalions were of the Indian Army , and one British . The Indian battalions were often segregated , with companies of different tribes , castes or religions . One and a half million volunteers came forward from the estimated population of 315 million in the Indian subcontinent . Regimental battalions were not permanently allocated to particular divisions or brigades , but instead spent some years in one formation , and were then posted to another elsewhere . This rotating arrangement was intended both to provide all units with experience of active service on the Frontier , and to prevent them becoming ' localised ' in static regimental stations . In contrast , the divisional locations remained constant , as indicated by their respective titles . Renumbering and renaming the regiments . To emphasize that there was now only one Indian Army , and that all units were to be trained and deployed without regard for their regional origins , the regiments were renumbered into single sequences of cavalry , artillery , infantry of the line , and Gúrkha Rifles . Regimental designations were altered to remove all references to the former Presidential Armies . Where appropriate subsidiary titles recalling other identifying details were adopted . Thus the 2nd Bengal Lancers became the 2nd Lancers ( Gardner ' s Horse ) . The new order began with the Bengal regiments , followed by the Punjab Frontier Force , then the regiments of Madras , the Hyderabad Contingent , and Bombay . Wherever possible a significant digit was retained in the new number . Thus the 1st Sikh Infantry became the 51st Sikhs , the 1st Madras Pioneers became the 61st Pioneers , and the 1st Bombay Grenadiers became the 101st Grenadiers . The Gúrkha Regiments had developed into their own Line of rifle regiments since 1861 . They were five of these until they were joined by the former 42nd , 43rd , & 44th Gúrkha Regiments of the Bengal Army , who became the 6th , 7th , & 8th Gúrkha Rifles . The numbers 42 , 43 , & 44 were allocated respectively to the Deoli and Erinpura Irregular Forces and the Mhairwara Battalion from Rajputana . The mountain batteries had already lost their numbers two years earlier . Under the 1903 reforms they were renumbered with twenty added to their original numbers . The army had very little artillery ( only 12 batteries of mountain artillery ) , and Royal Artillery ( Royal Indian Artillery ) batteries were attached to the divisions . The Indian Army Corps of Engineers was formed by the Group of Madras , Bengal and Bombay Sappers in their respective presidencies . The Queen ' s Own Corps of Guides , Punjab Frontier Force , composed of cavalry squadron s and infantry companies , was renamed the Queen ' s Own Corps of Guides ( Lumsden ' s ) but stayed numberless . The new regimental numbering and namings were notified in " India Army Order 181 " , dated 2 October 1903 . In 1903 the title of the Indian Staff Corps was abolished , and thereafter officers were simply appointed to ' the Indian Army . ' A General Staff was then created to deal with overall military policy , supervision of training in peacetime , conduct of operations in war , distribution of forces for internal security or external deployment , plans for future operations and collecting intelligence . Functions were divided along British lines into two branches ; the Adjutant - General , dealing with training , discipline , and personnel , and the Quartermaster - General , dealing with supplies , accommodation , and communications . In 1906 a General Branch was established to deal with military policy , organisation and deployment , mobilisation and war plans , and intelligence and the conduct of operations . The Chiefs of the staff branches answered to the Chief of the General Staff , whose post was held by a lieutenant - general . To provide training for staff officers , the Indian Staff College was established in 1905 , and permanently based at Quetta from 1907 . With no intermediate chain of command , army headquarters was weighed down with minor administrative details . Divisional commanders were responsible not only for their active formations , but also for internal security and volunteer troops within their respective areas . On mobilisation , divisional staffs took the field , leaving no - one to maintain the local administration . Supporting services were insufficient , and many troops intended for the field force were not moved from their old stations into the areas of their new divisional command . These defects became clear during the First World War , and lead to further reorganisation . The Indian Army Act 1911 legislated the replacement of the Indian Articles of War 1869 . It was passed by the Governor General . It was under aspects of this law that the Army charged defendants during the Indian National Army Trials in 1945 . It was replaced by the " " Indian Army Act , 1950 " " after partition and independence . First World War . Prior to the outbreak of the First World War , the strength of the British Indian Army was 155 , 000 . Either in 1914 or before , a ninth division had been formed , the 9th ( Secunderabad ) Division . By November 1918 , the Indian Army rose in size to 573 , 000 men . Before the war , the Indian government had decided that India could afford to provide two infantry divisions and a cavalry brigade in the event of a European war . 140 , 000 soldiers saw active service on the Western Front in France and Belgium – 90 , 000 in the front - line Indian Corps , and some 50 , 000 in auxiliary battalions . They felt that any more would jeopardise national security . More than four divisions were eventually sent as Indian Expeditionary Force A formed the Indian Corps and the Indian Cavalry Corps that arrived on the Western Front in 1914 . The high number of officer casualties the corps suffered early on had an effect on its later performance . British officers that understood the language , customs , and psychology of their men could not be quickly replaced , and the alien environment of the Western Front had some effect on the soldiers . However , the feared unrest in India never happened , and while the Indian Corps was transferred to the Middle East in 1915 India provided many more divisions for active service during the course of the war . Indians ' first engagement was on the Western Front within a month of the start of the war , at the First Battle of Ypres . Here , Garwhal Rifles were involved in the war ' s first trench raid on 9 – 10 November 1914 and Khudadad Khan became the first Indian to win a Victoria Cross . After a year of front - line duty , sickness and casualties had reduced the Indian Corps to the point where it had to be withdrawn . Nearly 700 , 000 then served in the Middle East , fighting against the Turks in the Mesopotamian campaign . There they were short of transportation for resupply and operated in extremely hot and dusty conditions . Led by Major General Sir Charles Townshend , they pushed on to capture Baghdad but they were repulsed by Turkish Forces . In the First World War the Indian Army saw extensive service including : Participants from the Indian subcontinent won 13 , 000 medals , including 12 Victoria Crosses . By the end of the war a total of 47 , 746 Indians had been reported dead or missing ; 65 , 126 were wounded . Also serving in the First World War were so - called " Imperial Service Troops " , provided by the semi - autonomous Princely States . About 21 , 000 were raised in the First World War , mainly consisting of Sikhs of Punjab and Rajputs from Rajputana ( such as the Bikaner Camel Corps and the Hyderabad , Mysore and Jodhpur Lancers of the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade ) . These forces played a prominent role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign . Interbellum ( 1918 – 1939 ) . Elements of the Army operated around Mary , Turkmenistan in 1918 – 19 . See Malleson mission and Entente intervention in the Russian Civil War . The army then took part in the Third Anglo - Afghan War of 1919 . In the aftermath of the First World War , the Indian Territorial Force and Auxiliary Force ( India ) were created in the 1920s . The Indian Territorial Force was a part - time , paid , all - volunteer organisation within the army . Its units were primarily made up of European officers and Indian other ranks . The ITF was created by the Indian Territorial Force Act 1920 to replace the Indian section of the Indian Defence Force . It was an all - volunteer force modelled after the British Territorial Army . The European parallel to the ITF was the Auxiliary Force ( India ) . After World War I the British started the process of Indianisation by which Indians were promoted into higher officer ranks . Indian cadets were sent to study at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England and were given full commissions as King ' s Commissioned Indian Officer s . The KCIOs were equivalent in every way to British commissioned officers and had full authority over British troops ( unlike VCOs ) . Some KCIOs were attached to British Army units for a part of their careers . In 1922 , after experience had shown that the large groups of single battalion regiments were unwieldy , a number of large regiments were created , and numerous cavalry regiments amalgamated . The List of regiments of the Indian Army ( 1922 ) shows the reduced number of larger regiments . Until 1932 most British Indian Army officers , both British and Indian , were trained at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , after that date the Indian officers increasingly received their training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun which was established that year . Second World War . At the outbreak of the Second World War , the Indian Army numbered 205 , 000 men . Later on during the Second World War the Indian Army would become the largest all - volunteer force in history , rising to over 2 . 5 million men in size . In doing so the Indian III Corps , Indian IV Corps , Indian XV Corps , Indian XXXIII Corps , Indian XXXIV Corps , 4th , 5th , 6th , 7th , 8th , 9th , 10th , 11th , 12th , 14th , 17th , 19th , 20th , 21st , and 23rd Indian Divisions were formed , as well as other forces . Additionally two armoured divisions and an airborne division were created . In matters of administration , weapons , training , and equipment , the Indian Army had considerable independence ; for example , prior to the war the Indian Army adopted the Vickers - Berthier ( VB ) light machine gun instead of the Bren gun of the British Army , while continuing to manufacture and issue the older SMLE No . 1 Mk III rifle during the Second World War , instead of the Lee - Enfield No . 4 Mk I issued to the British Army from the middle of the war . Particularly notable contributions of the Indian Army during that conflict were the : About 87 , 000 Indian soldiers lost their lives during this conflict . Indian soldiers won 30 Victoria Cross es during the Second World War . ( See : Indian Victoria Cross recipients . ) The Germans and Japanese were relatively successful in recruiting combat forces from Indian prisoners of war . These forces were known as the Tiger Legion and the Indian National Army ( INA ) . Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose led the 40 , 000 - strong INA . From a total of about 55 , 000 Indians taken prisoner in Malaya and Singapore in February 1942 , about 30 , 000 joined the INA , which fought Allied forces in the Burma Campaign . Others became guards at Japanese POW camps . The recruitment was the brainchild of Major Fujiwara Iwaichi who mentions in his memoirs that Captain Mohan Singh Deb , who surrendered after the fall of Jitra became the founder of the INA . Some Indian Army personnel resisted recruitment and remained POWs . An unknown number captured in Malaya and Singapore were taken to Japanese - occupied areas of New Guinea as forced labour . Many of these men suffered severe hardships and brutality , similar to that experienced by other prisoners of Japan during the Second World War . About 6 , 000 of them survived until they were liberated by Australian or U . S . forces , in 1943 – 45 . During World War II , after the fall of Singapore and the ending of ABDACOM in early 1942 , until the formation of South East Asia Command ( SEAC ) in August 1943 some American and Chinese units were placed under British military command . Post Second World War . As a result of the Partition of India in 1947 , the formations , units , assets and indigenous personnel of the Indian Army were divided , with two thirds of the assets being retained by the Union of India , and one third going to the new Dominion of Pakistan . Four Gurkha regiments ( mostly recruited in Nepal , which was outside India ) , were transferred from the former Indian Army to the British Army , forming its Brigade of Gurkhas and departing for a new station in Malaya . British Army units stationed in India returned to the United Kingdom or were posted to other stations outside India and Pakistan . During the transition period after partition , Headquarters British Troops in India , under then Major General Lashmer Whistler , controlled the departing British units . The last British unit , 1st Battalion , Somerset Light Infantry , left on February 28 , 1948 . Equipment from most British units was retained by the Indian Army , as only a single infantry division , the 7th Indian Infantry Division , had been stationed in Pakistan before partition . Most of the remainder of the Indian Army ' s Muslim personnel proceeded to join the newly created Pakistan Army . Due to a shortage of experienced officers , several hundred British officers remained in Pakistan on contract until the early 1950s . From 1947 to 1948 , soon after the Partition of India and of the Indian Army , the two new armies fought each other in the First Kashmir War , beginning a bitter rivalry which has continued into the 21st century . The present - day Indian Army and Pakistan Army thus were formed from units of the pre - partition Indian Army . Both of these forces , and the Bangladesh Army which was created on the independence of Bangladesh , retain Indian Army traditions .