Purbiya (soldiers)

Purbiya(orPurabia) was a common term used in medieval India forRajputandBrahminmercenaries and soldiers from the easternGangetic Plain- areas corresponding to present-day westernBiharand easternUttar Pradesh.^[1]^[2] The Purbiyas played a significant role in the militaries of various principalities in Western India including theMarwararmy as well at theGujarat SultanateandMalwa Sultanate.^[3]^[4]

The area around Bihar was famous for a high concentration ofsaltpetre,meaning that many mercenaries from this region were experts in the use of muskets.^[5]

Recruitment

The core region for Purbiya recruitment was theBhojpurregion of modern-day WesternBiharand EasternUttar Pradesh.^[6]TheUjjainiyaclan of Rajputs were the main territorial lords of this region and they played the role of specialised recruiting agents and commanders of these Purbiya soldiers who were usually young peasant men native to Bhojpur.^[6]The soldiers gained a great reputation among the lords and kings of Northern and Western India and the Ujjainiyas used this to raise their status among other Rajput clans.^[6]

Many future Purbiya mercenaries would carry out a pilgrimage toBuxarin modern-day Bihar where they would immerse themselves in atiger tank.During this process, the young peasant would see themselves as being reborn as a "fearless warrior".^[6]

History

A Purbiya camel rider inBihar,Indiain 1825.

TheMughalswere among the first groups to enter into the military labour market and start recruiting Purbiyas. Mughal sources detail adiwanof Biharsubahattempting to collect soldiers inBuxarto serve the emperor.^[7]

The rulers ofMalwawere also keen recruiters due to Purbiyas' expertise with firearms. This expertise may have been gained due to the easy availability ofsaltpetrein their native areas.^[8]Most Purbiyas were mercenaries and were paid for their services but some were actual kings of smaller principalities.^[2]^[9]^{[page needed]}This recruitment drive from Malwa saw the large influx of Purbiya soldiers into the region. Many of the local chieftains in Malwa depended heavily on Purbiya soldiers such asSilhadiwho eventually became known as a Purbiya himself.^[7] The presence of Purbiya mercenaries inGujaratare referenced in 16th and 17th centuryPersianchronicles including many Purbiya gunners serving in the army of Bahadur Shah of theGujarat Sultanatein 1535.^[10]

Purbiyas had a long tradition of being recruited as mercenaries for various rulers such as theBritish^[11]^[12]and theMarathas.^[1]Purbiyas made up the majority of theBengal Army.^[12]Prior to 1857, the BritishEast India Companypreferred to recruit Purbiya soldiers, who they designated as "The fighting tribes of the Hindoos and the Musselmen", or simply "Easterners".^[13]^[14]TheBengal Armyof the East India Company preferred to recruit its sepoys from theBrahminsand Rajputs of Awadh and Bihar, in part because they had an average height of 5'8 ", an important consideration in an army that valued impressive appearance amongst its soldiers.^[15]Despite its name the Bengal army, created first, mostly recruited Brahmins, Rajputs, and Bhumihars from Awadh and Bihar.^[16]^[17]

Bengal Army and 1857 mutiny

Bengal troops in the 19th century (1840s), the majority of troops in the Bengal Army were Purbiyas

Prior to 1857, company military service was most popular in the zamindaris of North and South Bihar with the East India Company signing contracts to raise levies of troops from them.^[18]Recruits from theRajputandBhumiharcaste were common and they would use service in the Bengal Army as an opportunity to raise their wealth and status and for this reason, the Bhumihar zamindaris of Bihar became "prime recruiting grounds" for the Army.^[18] In the 1780s, the Company maintained a major recruiting station inBuxarwith six companies under a Captain Eaton. These recruiting stations in Bihar were kept as "nurseries" which supplied battalions when drafts were made. Other recruiting centres were located inBhagalpur,Shahabad,Monghyr,SaranandHajipur.^[18]

Brigadier Troup, who served as the commander ofBareilly,stated of recruitment that the ‘Bengal native Infantry came chiefly from the province of Awadh, Buxar, Bhojpur and Arrah.’^[18] In 1810,Francis Buchanan-Hamiltonnoted in his account of the districts of Bihar, that the number of men absent fromShahabadto serve in the Army was 4680. TheUjjainiyazamindar of Bhojpur also informed him that 12000 recruits from his district had joined the Bengal Army.^[18]

The Purbiya units of the Bengal Army played a major role in theIndian Rebellion of 1857against the British.Mangal Pandey,a notable figure during the start of the mutiny, was a Purbiya serving in the 34thBengal 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 North Western ethnic groups which hadHindu,SikhandMuslimcommunities of thePunjabandNorth-west frontier province.^[19]^[20]Purbiya recruitment from the western regions of theUnited Provincesand theDelhiregion continued but on a much smaller scale (two out of sixty-four regiments by 1893).^[21]

References

^^a ^bWaltraud Ernst; Biswamoy Pati (18 October 2007).India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism.Routledge.p. 57.ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
^^a ^bM. S. Naravane (1999).The Rajputs of Rajputana: A Glimpse of Medieval Rajasthan.APH Publishing. p. 23.ISBN 978-81-7648-118-2.
^Deepak Solanki (2016). "Dr Gynaeshwari Devi Memorial Prize Paper".Proceedings of the Indian History Congress.77:298–305.JSTOR 26552655.
^Roy, Kaushik (15 October 2012).Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present.Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-1-107-01736-8.
^Roy, Kaushik (2014).Military Transition in Early Modern Asia, 1400-1750 Cavalry, Guns, Government and Ships.Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 72.ISBN 9781780938134.
^^a ^b ^c ^dDirk H.A. Kolff (2013). "Peasants fighting for a living in early modern North India".Fighting for a Living.Amsterdam University Press: 243–266.ISBN 9789089644527.JSTOR j.ctt6wp6pg.11.
^^a ^bDirk H. A. Kolff (8 August 2002).Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850.Cambridge University Press.p. 59.ISBN 978-0-521-52305-9.
^Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (2007).India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism.Routledge. p. 57.ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
^Journal of Indian history, Volume 66, Dept. of History, University of Kerala, 1988
^Iqtidar Alam Khan (1999). "Re-examining the origin and group identity of the so-called" Purbias ", 1500-1800".Proceedings of the Indian History Congress.60:363–371.JSTOR 44144102.
^Alf Hiltebeitel(15 February 2009).Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits.University of Chicago Press.p. 308.ISBN 978-0-226-34055-5.
^^a ^bKarsten, Peter (31 October 2013).Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces.Routledge.p. 103.ISBN 978-1-135-66150-2.
^Roy, Kaushik; Lorge, Peter (17 December 2014).Chinese and Indian Warfare – From the Classical Age to 1870.Routledge. p. 335.ISBN 9781317587101.
^Mason, Philip (1986).A Matter of Honour.Macmillan. pp. 229 & 573.ISBN 978-0-333-41837-6.
^Roy, Kaushik (2012).Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present.Cambridge University Press. p. 214.ISBN 9781107017368.
^Chattopadhyay, Kunal (2009)."India, Great Rebellion of 1857 (The Sepoy Revolt)".The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest.pp. 1–9.doi:10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0743.ISBN 9781405198073.
^Wagner, Kim A. (2017)."The Hot Wind of an Indian May".The Skull of Alum Bheg: The Life and Death of a Rebel of 1857.Oxford University Press. p. 22.ISBN 9789387326293.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^eAlavi, Seema (1995).The Sepoys and the Company: Tradition and Transition in Northern India, 1770-1830.Oxford University Press. pp. 51–55.ISBN 9780195634846.
^Roy, Kaushik (6 October 2015).Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia.Routledge. p. 6.ISBN 9781317321286.
^Mason, Philip (1986).A Matter of Honour.Macmillan. p. 305.ISBN 978-0-333-41837-6.
^David, Saul (4 September 2003).The Indian Mutiny.Penguin Adult. p. 404.ISBN 978-0-141-00554-6.

Purbiya (soldiers)

Contents

Recruitment

History

Bengal Army and 1857 mutiny

See also

References

Further reading