Overview of the Sepoy

Overview of the Sepoy A sepoy was the name given to an Indian infantryman employed by the armies of the British East India Company  from 1700 to 1857 and later by the British Indian Army from 1858 to 1947. That change of control in colonial India, from the BEIC to the British government, actually came about as a result of the sepoys - or more specifically, because of the Indian Uprising of 1857, which is also known as the Sepoy Mutiny. Originally, the word sepoy  was used somewhat derogatorily by the British because it denoted a relatively untrained local militiaman. Later in the British East India Companys tenure, it was extended to mean even the ablest of native foot-soldiers. Origins and Perpetuations of the Word The term sepoy comes from the Urdu word sipahi, which is itself derived from the Persian word sipah, meaning army or horseman. For much of Persian history - from at least the Parthian era on, - there was not much distinction between a soldier and a horseman. Ironically, despite the words meaning, Indian cavalrymen in British India were not called sepoys, but sowars. In the Ottoman Empire in what is now Turkey, the word sipahi  was still used for cavalry troopers. However, the British took their usage from the Mughal Empire, which used sepahi to  designate Indian infantry soldiers. Perhaps as the Mughals were descended from some of the greatest cavalry fighters of Central Asia, they did not feel that Indian soldiers qualified as real cavalrymen. In any case, the Mughals armed their sepoys with all the latest weapons technology of the day. They carried rockets, grenades, and matchlock rifles by the time of Aurangzeb  who reigned from 1658 to 1707.   British and Modern Usage When the British began to use sepoys, they recruited them from Bombay and Madras, but only men from the higher castes were considered eligible to serve as soldiers. Sepoys in British units were supplied with weapons, unlike some of those who served local rulers. The pay was approximately the same, regardless of the employer, but the British were much more punctual about paying their soldiers regularly. They also provided rations rather than expecting the men to steal food from local villagers as they passed through a region. After the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, the British were hesitant to trust either Hindu or Muslim sepoys again. The soldiers from both major religions had joined the uprising, fueled by rumors (perhaps accurate) that the new rifle cartridges supplied by the British were greased with pork and beef tallow. Sepoys had to tear the cartridges open with their teeth, which meant that Hindus were ingesting sacred cattle, while Muslims were accidentally eating unclean pork. After this, the British for decades recruited most of their sepoys from among the Sikh religion instead. The sepoys fought for the BEIC and the  British Raj  not only within greater India ​but also in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, East Africa, and even Europe during World War I and World War II. In fact, more than 1 million Indian troops served in the name of the U.K. during the First World War. Today, the armies of India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh all still use the word sepoy to designate soldiers at the rank of private.

Transcending the barrierseric wolf beyond marx essays

Transcending the barrierseric wolf beyond marx essays Transcending the Barriers "My primary interest is to explain something out there that impinges me, and I would sell my soul to the devil if I thought it would help." Eric Wolf, 1987 Eric Wolf's interest into the realm of anthropology emerged upon recognition of the theorist- imposed boundaries, encompassing both theories and subjects, which current and past anthropological scholars had constructed. These boundaries, Wolf believed, were a result of theorist tending to societies and cultures as fixed entitiesstatic, bounded and autonomous, rather then describing and interpreting societies within a state of constant change, ceaselessly vulnerable to external influence, and always interconnected with other societies. Yet to transcend current anthropological theories and boundaries, and to explain this interconnectedness, in attempt to understand the world, Wolf believed three criteria must be met: 1) To trace the world market and the course of capitalist development, 2) To develop this t heory of this growth and development and finally, one must be able to relate both the history and theory of that unfolding development to processes that affect and change the lives of local populations Wolf, 1982:21) By tracing the formation of Wolf's theory through these criteria, from Marxist and beyond, one can see how, although Marxist in orientation, he goes beyond current anthropological theory and attempts to diminish the boundaries, by suggesting that a political economic theory laden with history in a macrocosomic context is the only means in which one can begin to attempt to understand the world. Capitalist Development The influence of Lewis Henry Morgon and his unilinear version of social evolution posed as the backbone for Karl Marx and Fred Engels. Yet rather then transcending from the primitive to the civilized upon "the classification of cultures into seven distinct ethical periods" based on the development of subsistence techniques (K...

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Marketing - Essay Example secondary type). The survey results truly fit my consumption preferences. I love to have variety of fast-foods and spend heavily on energy drinks specially the vigorously-imaged brands: Red Bull and Mountain Dew. I am greatly involved in the purchases of sports wears and trendy clothes. I prefer football Toes and bouncy basketball shoes over the light-weight running shoes. Nike’s achiever image and Adidas’ trendy and cool image fits my outfit choices. My interest in outdoor sports, visiting adventurous parks and venues as hiking places, and downloading & purchasing wide range of videogames reveal my sports- and adventure- oriented lifestyle. I am a regular reader of sports magazines mainly Adventure Magazine and Sports Illustrated. In terms of media choices, I watch sports channels mainly NBA, FIFA and car racing sports. I profoundly watch music TV channels and listen to radio music. My purchases heavily involve tickets for cinemas and music concerts revealing my intere sts in fast music and entertainment. I seek gadgets with enhanced music features and advanced tools. I am fond of buying high-tech products including iPod, iPhone, MP4 players, DVDs and DVD players, and video cameras.