The Bengal Native Army

A history from 1599 to 1895

Lieutenant Cardew's excellent history of the Bengal Native Army is an invaluable reference resource for all those interested in the British in India and the armies of the Honourable East India Company and the Raj period that followed them. This substantial work covers the span of the activities of the Bengal presidency's forces from the very earliest times of its history, but of course includes all its campaigns and battles, regiments and notable personalities?both friend and foe?throughout the turbulent period of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Too many to itemise here, within this books pages the reader will discover Rajputs, Mahrattas, Moguls, Pindarees, Ghurkhas, Burmese, Afghans and Sikhs all battling against the might of the British Empire for dominance of the sub-continent or the retention of control over their own domains. In 1857 the Great Indian Mutiny erupted within the heart of the Bengal Army and this bloody period is described in considerable detail. The post Mutiny period covers the many troubles upon India's North Western Frontier as well as campaigns where the Indian forces of the Queen Emperor were required to fight her wars in other theatres and countries.