Mercenaries in India - Revision history

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	During the 16th and 17th centuries, a number of [[mercenary\|mercenaries]], arriving from several countries found employment in [[India]]. Some of the mercenaries emerged to become independent or independent rulers.		During the 16th and 17th centuries, a number of [[mercenary\|mercenaries]], arriving from several countries found employment in [[India]]. Some of the mercenaries emerged to become independent or independent rulers.

	In southern India, there is a caste/community of mercenaries in the state of Karnataka which is called [[Bunt (community)\|Bunt]], The word "bunt" itself translates to Warrior/Mercenary, this community later elevated itself as the rulers of the land, several powerful dynasties emerged from this community, The most notable dynasty being the [[Alupas]] of Dakshina kannada, which reigned for 1300 years straight, This community still survives and has adopted the surnames shetty, Rai, Alva, chowta etc.		In southern India, there is a caste/community of mercenaries in the state of Karnataka which is called [[Bunt (community)\|Bunt]], The word "bunt" itself translates to Warrior/Mercenary, this community later elevated itself as the rulers of the land, several powerful dynasties emerged from this community, The most notable dynasty being the [[Alupas]] of Dakshina kannada, which reigned for 1300 years straight, This community still survives and has adopted the surnames shetty, Rai, Alva, chowta etc. In down south Tamil Nadu, the [[Cheran Chozhan Pandian\|three crowned empires]] used [[Kongu Vellalar\|Kongar]] pastro-peasantry tribes of [[Kongu Nadu\|Kongunad region]] and [[Vokkaliga\|Kongar]] peasantry tribes of [[Mysore district\|Erumainad]] region as their sword man mercenaries or as cavalry mercenaries or as chariot soldier mercenaries and also recruited as personal guards. [[Kongu Vellalar\|Kongars]] worked along with their warrior [[Kallar (caste)\|kallar]], [[maravar]], [[Agamudayar\|Aghamudaiyar]], [[Udayar (title)\|Parkavar]], [[Muthuraja\|Valaiya-Mutharaiyar]] and [[Vanniyar\|Mazhavar]] tribes. But during the time of action these [[Kongu Vellalar\|kongar]] tribes were led only by the Chiefs of their own tribe and would not come under the command of the emperor/ his military General. Though these [[Kongu Vellalar\|Kongar]] tribes of [[Kongu Nadu\|Kongunad]] were feudatories to the three crowned empires, [[Kongu Nadu\|kongunad]] was divided into 24 sub divisions and was only ruled by [[Kongu Vellalar\|Kongars]]. But the [[Vokkaliga\|Kongars]] (Gangars) of [[Mysore\|Erumainad]] established their own empire 'The [[Western Ganga dynasty]]' and ruled over it for centuries. Kongar tribes still exist in modern days they are referred as [[Kongu Vellalar\|Kongu Vellala Gounder]] (Kongunadu) and [[Vokkaliga\|Gangadhikar Vokkaliga Gowda]] (Erumainad).

	==Purbiyas==		==Purbiyas==
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	Thousands of Europeans took up service at the courts of rulers all over India.<ref name="Firingipura"/> These mercenaries for the most part came from the margins of their respective societies.<ref name="margin">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2004\|p=16}}</ref> During the first war between [[Bahamani Sultanate]] and [[Vijayanagara Empire]], launched in 1365 by [[Muhammad Shah I]], both sides imported their artillery guns and employed Turkish and European gunners to man them.<ref>{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=980SAvbmpUkC&pg=PT214\|title=The Dancing Girl: A History of Early India\|author=Balaji Sadasivan\|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies\|page=214\|isbn=9789814311670\|year=2011}}</ref>		Thousands of Europeans took up service at the courts of rulers all over India.<ref name="Firingipura"/> These mercenaries for the most part came from the margins of their respective societies.<ref name="margin">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2004\|p=16}}</ref> During the first war between [[Bahamani Sultanate]] and [[Vijayanagara Empire]], launched in 1365 by [[Muhammad Shah I]], both sides imported their artillery guns and employed Turkish and European gunners to man them.<ref>{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=980SAvbmpUkC&pg=PT214\|title=The Dancing Girl: A History of Early India\|author=Balaji Sadasivan\|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies\|page=214\|isbn=9789814311670\|year=2011}}</ref>

	European mercenaries served in the courts of Indian rulers for 300 years, beginning with the large-scale defections of ~~Portuguese~~ soldiers from [[Goa]] in the 16th century, followed by a series of defections of British soldiers and laymen from the [[British East India Company]] bridgehead at [[Surat]] in the 17th century.<ref name="margin"/> During Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]]'s first historic journey to India in 1498, he observed that there were Italian mercenaries in the employ of various ''[[Rajah]]s'' on the [[Malabar coast]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> Two of da Gama's own crewmen had left him to join the Italians in the service of a Malabar ''Rajah'' for higher wages.<ref name="Firingipura"/>		European mercenaries served in the courts of Indian rulers for 300 years, beginning with the large-scale defections of soldiers from [[Portuguese Goa]] in the 16th century, followed by a series of defections of British soldiers and laymen from the [[British East India Company]] bridgehead at [[Surat]] in the 17th century.<ref name="margin"/> During Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]]'s first historic journey to India in 1498, he observed that there were Italian mercenaries in the employ of various ''[[Rajah]]s'' on the [[Malabar coast]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> Two of da Gama's own crewmen had left him to join the Italians in the service of a Malabar ''Rajah'' for higher wages.<ref name="Firingipura"/>

	Portuguese historian [[João de Barros]] stated that there were at least 2,000 Portuguese fighting in the armies of various Indian princes in 1565.<ref name="Firingipura"/> Among these mercenaries included the indigenous [[Goan ~~Catholics\|Goan Catholic~~]] and [[~~East Indians\|~~East Indian]] soldiers and sailors.<ref name="Castro">{{harvnb\|Prabhu\|1999\|p=69}}</ref> The Maratha ~~Emperor~~ [[Shivaji]] employed many Portuguese and hundreds of ~~Goan Catholics~~ and East Indians in his navy, until they were persuaded by the colonial authorities in Goa to desert.<ref name="Castro"/> They were generally sought after as artillery experts by the ~~Mughals~~ and Marathas.<ref name="Castro"/> When the Mughals complained to the Portuguese ~~Viceroy~~ [[António de Melo e Castro]] about the Portuguese soldiers serving under the Marathas, the latter ~~was forced to respond~~ with a letter stating that he had no control over the Portuguese and native Christian officers in Shivaji's army, just as he had no control over the mercenaries serving in the Mughal and other armies.<ref name="Castro"/>		Portuguese historian [[João de Barros]] stated that there were at least 2,000 Portuguese fighting in the armies of various Indian princes in 1565.<ref name="Firingipura"/> Among these mercenaries included the indigenous [[Goan Christian]] and [[Bombay East Indian Christian]] soldiers and sailors.<ref name="Castro">{{harvnb\|Prabhu\|1999\|p=69}}</ref>{{vn\|date=June 2022}} The [[Maratha Empire\|Mahratta]] ruler [[Shivaji]] employed many Portuguese and hundreds of Goans and Bombay East Indians in his navy, until they were persuaded by the colonial authorities in Goa to desert.<ref name="Castro"/> They were generally sought after as artillery experts by the [[Mughal Empire\|Moghuls]] and Marathas.<ref name="Castro"/> When the Mughals complained to the Portuguese viceroy [[António de Melo e Castro]], about the Portuguese soldiers serving under the Marathas, the latter responded with a letter stating that he had no control over the Portuguese and native Christian officers in Shivaji's army, just as he had no control over the mercenaries serving in the Mughal and other armies.<ref name="Castro"/>

	During the reign of Mughal Emperor [[Shah Jahan]], so many Europeans took up service at the [[Mughal Army]] that a distinct suburb was built for them outside [[Delhi]] named Firingipura (Foreigners' Town).<ref name="Firingipura">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2004\|pp=14–15}}</ref> Its inhabitants included Portuguese, French and English mercenaries, many of whom had converted to [[Islam]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> These mercenaries formed a special ''Firingi'' (Foreigners') regiment, under the command of a Frenchman named Farrashish Khan.<ref name="Firingipura"/> [[Shah Alam II]] gave the German mercenary [[Walter Reinhardt Sombre]] a large estate in the [[Doab]], north of [[Delhi]].<ref name="Samru"/> Sombre settled in the estate with his wife ~~[[Begum Samru\|~~Farzana Zeb un-Nissa~~]] (~~also known as Begum Samru), and made the village of [[Sardhana]] his capital.<ref name="Samru"/> The ruling class of this principality was drawn from an assortment of Mughal noblemen and 200 French and Central ~~European~~ mercenaries, many of whom had converted to Islam.<ref name="Samru">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2006\|pp=238–239}}</ref> Sombre was succeeded after his death by his wife who took command of his mercenary troops and became the ruler of Sardhana, earning the distinction of being the only [[Roman Catholicism\|Roman Catholic]] ruler in India.<ref name="Samru"/> Among these mercenaries was John-Augustus Gottlieb Cohen, a [[History of the Jews in Germany\|German-Jewish]] mercenary who was the father of [[Urdu]] poet, [[Farasu]].<ref name="Samru"/>		During the reign of Mughal Emperor [[Shah Jahan]], so many Europeans took up service at the [[Mughal Army]] that a distinct suburb was built for them outside [[Delhi]] named Firingipura (Foreigners' Town).<ref name="Firingipura">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2004\|pp=14–15}}</ref> Its inhabitants included Portuguese, French and English mercenaries, many of whom had converted to [[Islam]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> These mercenaries formed a special ''Firingi'' (Foreigners') regiment, under the command of a Frenchman named Farrashish Khan.<ref name="Firingipura"/> [[Shah Alam II]] gave the German mercenary [[Walter Reinhardt Sombre]] a large estate in the [[Doab]], north of [[Delhi]].<ref name="Samru"/> Sombre settled in the estate with his wife Farzana Zeb un-Nissa, also known as [[Begum Samru]], and made the village of [[Sardhana]] his capital.<ref name="Samru"/> The ruling class of this principality was drawn from an assortment of Mughal noblemen, and 200 [[French India]]n and [[Central Europe]]an mercenaries, many of whom had converted to Islam.<ref name="Samru">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2006\|pp=238–239}}</ref> Sombre was succeeded after his death by his wife who took command of his mercenary troops and became the ruler of Sardhana, earning the distinction of being the only [[Roman Catholicism\|Roman Catholic]] ruler in India.<ref name="Samru"/> Among these mercenaries was John-Augustus Gottlieb Cohen, a [[History of the Jews in Germany\|German Jewish]] mercenary who was the father of [[Urdu]] poet, [[Farasu]].<ref name="Samru"/>

	There were many mercenaries working in the armies of the [[Deccan sultanates]] that controlled much of central and southern India.<ref name="Firingipura"/> One of the most prominent mercenaries in the [[Adil Shahi dynasty\|Adil Shahi]] court was Gonçalo Vaz Coutinho, a Portuguese former landowner in Goa, who was imprisoned there on a murder charge before escaping to [[Bijapur, Karnataka\|Bijapur]] in 1542. There he converted to Islam with his wife and children, and was given lands with great revenues by [[Ibrahim Adil Shah I]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> A Portuguese-Jewish gunner Sancho Pires defected in similar circumstances to the [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate]] in 1530.<ref name="Pires"/> Pires converted to Islam and took the name Firanghi Khan; acquiring a position of great influence in the Nizam Shahi court.<ref name="Pires">{{Harvnb\|Disney\|1995\|p=247}}</ref>		There were many mercenaries working in the armies of the [[Deccan sultanates]] that controlled much of central and southern India.<ref name="Firingipura"/> One of the most prominent mercenaries in the [[Adil Shahi dynasty\|Adil Shahi]] court was [[Gonçalo Vaz Coutinho]], a Portuguese former landowner in Goa, who was imprisoned there on a murder charge before escaping to [[Bijapur, Karnataka\|Bijapur]] in 1542. There he converted to Islam with his wife and children, and was given lands with great revenues by [[Ibrahim Adil Shah I]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> A Portuguese Jewish gunner by the name [[Sancho Pires]], defected in similar circumstances to the [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate]] in 1530.<ref name="Pires"/> Pires converted to Islam and took the name Firanghi Khan; acquiring a position of great influence in the Nizam Shahi court.<ref name="Pires">{{Harvnb\|Disney\|1995\|p=247}}</ref>

	Many British renegades defected to the service of the Mughals and Deccan sultanates during the 17th century, as in the case of Joshua Blackwell, a British East India Company official who in 1649 converted to Islam and took up service in the Mughal army.<ref name="Blackwell">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2004\|pp=24–25}}</ref> Most of these renegades, like the trumpeter Robert Trulleye, however, went into the service of the Deccan sultanates of Bijapur and [[Golconda]].<ref name="Blackwell"/> In 1654, 23 British East India Company servants deserted Surat in a single mass break-out.<ref name="Blackwell"/> In the 1670s, the ~~British~~ authorities uncovered an active network of covert recruiting agents in [[Bombay]].<ref name="Blackwell"/> By the 1680s, the increasing defections of British soldiers and East India Company servants led [[Charles II of England~~\|Charles II~~]] to issue an order calling back all Englishmen in the employ of Indian princes.<ref name="Blackwell"/>		Many British renegades defected to the service of the Mughals and Deccan sultanates during the 17th century, as in the case of [[Joshua Blackwell]], a British East India Company official who in 1649 converted to Islam, and took up service in the Mughal army.<ref name="Blackwell">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2004\|pp=24–25}}</ref> Most of these renegades, like the trumpeter Robert Trulleye, however, went into the service of the Deccan sultanates of Bijapur and [[Golconda]].<ref name="Blackwell"/> In 1654, 23 British East India Company servants deserted Surat in a single mass break-out.<ref name="Blackwell"/> In the 1670s, the authorities uncovered an active network of covert recruiting agents in [[British Bombay]].<ref name="Blackwell"/> By the 1680s, the increasing defections of British soldiers and East India Company servants led [[Charles II of England]], to issue an order calling back all Englishmen in the employ of Indian princes.<ref name="Blackwell"/>

	During the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], a British convert to Islam named Abdullah Beg was one of the most active insurgents in Delhi against [[British Raj\|British rule]].<ref name="Beg"/> Beg was a former Company soldier, who upon the arrival of the mutineer ''[[sepoy]]s'' on 11 May, self-identified with them and virtually became a leader and advisor to the rebel forces in Delhi.<ref name="Beg"/> He was last seen manning the rebel artillery along with another British defector and Muslim convert, Sergeant-Major Gordon.<ref name="Beg"/> On account of his faith, Gordon was spared during the massacre of Christians at the outbreak of the uprising.<ref name="Beg"/> In due course Gordon was taken to Delhi, where he manned the guns on the northern side of the city walls.<ref name="Beg">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2006\|p=153}}</ref>		During the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], a British convert to Islam named Abdullah Beg was one of the most active insurgents in [[old Delhi]] against [[British Raj\|British rule]].<ref name="Beg"/> Beg was a former Company soldier, who upon the arrival of the mutineer ''[[sepoy]]s'' on 11 May, self-identified with them and virtually became a leader and advisor to the rebel forces in Delhi.<ref name="Beg"/> He was last seen manning the rebel artillery along with another British defector and Muslim convert, Sergeant-Major Gordon.<ref name="Beg"/> On account of his faith, Gordon was spared during the massacre of Christians at the outbreak of the uprising.<ref name="Beg"/> In due course Gordon was taken to Delhi, where he manned the guns on the northern side of the city walls.<ref name="Beg">{{Harvnb\|Dalrymple\|2006\|p=153}}</ref>

	==Notable mercenaries==		==Notable mercenaries==

imported>Vicky4197 at 10:21, 1 May 2021

2021-05-01T10:21:28Z

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{{EngvarB|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}

'''Mercenaries in India''' were fighters, primarily peasants, who came from India and abroad, to fight for local rulers in [[India]] in the [[medieval period]]. This [[mercenary]] work became an important source of income for some communities.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, a number of [[mercenary|mercenaries]], arriving from several countries found employment in [[India]]. Some of the mercenaries emerged to become independent or independent rulers.

In southern India, there is a caste/community of mercenaries in the state of Karnataka which is called [[Bunt (community)|Bunt]], The word "bunt" itself translates to Warrior/Mercenary, this community later elevated itself as the rulers of the land, several powerful dynasties emerged from this community, The most notable dynasty being the [[Alupas]] of Dakshina kannada, which reigned for 1300 years straight, This community still survives and has adopted the surnames shetty, Rai, Alva, chowta etc.

==Purbiyas==
{{main|Purbiya}}
In the medieval period, [[Purbiya]] mercenaries from [[Bihar]] and [[Eastern Uttar Pradesh]] were a common feature in Kingdoms in Western and Northern India. They were also later recruited by the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] and the British.<ref name=Kolff2013>{{cite journal | jstor=j.ctt6wp6pg.11 | title=Peasants fighting for a living in early modern North India | journal=Fighting for a Living | author= Dirk H.A. Kolff |author-link=Dirk H. A. Kolff | publisher= Amsterdam University Press | year=2013 | pages= 243–266| isbn=9789089644527 }}</ref> They also played a prominent role in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5JECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia |first=Kaushik |last=Roy |page=6|isbn=9781317321286 |date=6 October 2015 }}</ref>

==African mercenaries in India==
The [[Siddi]] (pronounced [sɪd̪d̪iː]), also known as Sidi, Siddhi, Sheedi, or Habshi, are an ethnic group inhabiting India and Pakistan. Some were merchants, sailors, indentured servants, slaves and mercenaries. The Habshi or Siddis are thought to have arrived in India in 628 AD at the Bharuch port. Several others followed with the first Arab Islamic conquest of the subcontinent in 712 AD.<ref>Yatin Pandya, Trupti Rawal (2002), The Ahmedabad Chronicle: Imprints of a Millennium, Vastu Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design, The first Muslims in Gujarat to have arrived are the Siddis via the Bharuch port in 628 AD ... The major group, though, arrived in 712 AD via Sindh and the north.... With the founding of Ahmedabad in 1411 AD it became the concentrated base of the community....</ref> The latter group are believed to have been soldiers with Muhammad bin Qasim's Arab army, and were called Zanjis.

Some Siddis escaped slavery to establish communities in forested areas, and some also established the small Siddi principalities of Janjira State on Janjira Island and Jafarabad State in Kathiawar as early as the twelfth century. A former alternative name of Janjira was Habshan (i.e., land of the Habshis). In the Delhi Sultanate period prior to the rise of the Mughals in India, Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut was a prominent Siddi slave-turned-nobleman who was a close confidant of Razia Sultana (1205–1240 CE). Although this is disputed, he may also have been her lover, but contemporary sources do not indicate that this was necessarily the case.<ref>Josef W. Meri, Jere L. Bacharach (2006), Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, {{ISBN|978-0-415-96692-4}}, ...she appointed Jala ad-Din Yaqut, an Abyssinian slave, to the post of master of the stables, a position traditionally reserved for a distinguished Turk. Her partiality for Yaqut has led later historians to speculae whether there had been a sexual relationship between them, but contemporaneous sources do not indicate that this was necessarily the case....</ref>

Siddis were also brought as slaves by the Deccan Sultanates. Several former slaves rose to high ranks in the military and administration, the most prominent of which was Malik Ambar.

==European mercenaries in India==
Thousands of Europeans took up service at the courts of rulers all over India.<ref name="Firingipura"/> These mercenaries for the most part came from the margins of their respective societies.<ref name="margin">{{Harvnb|Dalrymple|2004|p=16}}</ref> During the first war between [[Bahamani Sultanate]] and [[Vijayanagara Empire]], launched in 1365 by [[Muhammad Shah I]], both sides imported their artillery guns and employed Turkish and European gunners to man them.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=980SAvbmpUkC&pg=PT214|title=The Dancing Girl: A History of Early India|author=Balaji Sadasivan|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|page=214|isbn=9789814311670|year=2011}}</ref>

European mercenaries served in the courts of Indian rulers for 300 years, beginning with the large-scale defections of Portuguese soldiers from [[Goa]] in the 16th century, followed by a series of defections of British soldiers and laymen from the [[British East India Company]] bridgehead at [[Surat]] in the 17th century.<ref name="margin"/> During Portuguese explorer [[Vasco da Gama]]'s first historic journey to India in 1498, he observed that there were Italian mercenaries in the employ of various ''[[Rajah]]s'' on the [[Malabar coast]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> Two of da Gama's own crewmen had left him to join the Italians in the service of a Malabar ''Rajah'' for higher wages.<ref name="Firingipura"/>

Portuguese historian [[João de Barros]] stated that there were at least 2,000 Portuguese fighting in the armies of various Indian princes in 1565.<ref name="Firingipura"/> Among these mercenaries included the indigenous [[Goan Catholics|Goan Catholic]] and [[East Indians|East Indian]] soldiers and sailors.<ref name="Castro">{{harvnb|Prabhu|1999|p=69}}</ref> The Maratha Emperor [[Shivaji]] employed many Portuguese and hundreds of Goan Catholics and East Indians in his navy, until they were persuaded by the colonial authorities in Goa to desert.<ref name="Castro"/> They were generally sought after as artillery experts by the Mughals and Marathas.<ref name="Castro"/> When the Mughals complained to the Portuguese Viceroy [[António de Melo e Castro]] about the Portuguese soldiers serving under the Marathas, the latter was forced to respond with a letter stating that he had no control over the Portuguese and native Christian officers in Shivaji's army, just as he had no control over the mercenaries serving in the Mughal and other armies.<ref name="Castro"/>

During the reign of Mughal Emperor [[Shah Jahan]], so many Europeans took up service at the [[Mughal Army]] that a distinct suburb was built for them outside [[Delhi]] named Firingipura (Foreigners' Town).<ref name="Firingipura">{{Harvnb|Dalrymple|2004|pp=14–15}}</ref> Its inhabitants included Portuguese, French and English mercenaries, many of whom had converted to [[Islam]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> These mercenaries formed a special ''Firingi'' (Foreigners') regiment, under the command of a Frenchman named Farrashish Khan.<ref name="Firingipura"/> [[Shah Alam II]] gave the German mercenary [[Walter Reinhardt Sombre]] a large estate in the [[Doab]], north of [[Delhi]].<ref name="Samru"/> Sombre settled in the estate with his wife [[Begum Samru|Farzana Zeb un-Nissa]] (also known as Begum Samru), and made the village of [[Sardhana]] his capital.<ref name="Samru"/> The ruling class of this principality was drawn from an assortment of Mughal noblemen and 200 French and Central European mercenaries, many of whom had converted to Islam.<ref name="Samru">{{Harvnb|Dalrymple|2006|pp=238–239}}</ref> Sombre was succeeded after his death by his wife who took command of his mercenary troops and became the ruler of Sardhana, earning the distinction of being the only [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] ruler in India.<ref name="Samru"/> Among these mercenaries was John-Augustus Gottlieb Cohen, a [[History of the Jews in Germany|German-Jewish]] mercenary who was the father of [[Urdu]] poet, [[Farasu]].<ref name="Samru"/>

There were many mercenaries working in the armies of the [[Deccan sultanates]] that controlled much of central and southern India.<ref name="Firingipura"/> One of the most prominent mercenaries in the [[Adil Shahi dynasty|Adil Shahi]] court was Gonçalo Vaz Coutinho, a Portuguese former landowner in Goa, who was imprisoned there on a murder charge before escaping to [[Bijapur, Karnataka|Bijapur]] in 1542. There he converted to Islam with his wife and children, and was given lands with great revenues by [[Ibrahim Adil Shah I]].<ref name="Firingipura"/> A Portuguese-Jewish gunner Sancho Pires defected in similar circumstances to the [[Ahmadnagar Sultanate]] in 1530.<ref name="Pires"/> Pires converted to Islam and took the name Firanghi Khan; acquiring a position of great influence in the Nizam Shahi court.<ref name="Pires">{{Harvnb|Disney|1995|p=247}}</ref>

Many British renegades defected to the service of the Mughals and Deccan sultanates during the 17th century, as in the case of Joshua Blackwell, a British East India Company official who in 1649 converted to Islam and took up service in the Mughal army.<ref name="Blackwell">{{Harvnb|Dalrymple|2004|pp=24–25}}</ref> Most of these renegades, like the trumpeter Robert Trulleye, however, went into the service of the Deccan sultanates of Bijapur and [[Golconda]].<ref name="Blackwell"/> In 1654, 23 British East India Company servants deserted Surat in a single mass break-out.<ref name="Blackwell"/> In the 1670s, the British authorities uncovered an active network of covert recruiting agents in [[Bombay]].<ref name="Blackwell"/> By the 1680s, the increasing defections of British soldiers and East India Company servants led [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] to issue an order calling back all Englishmen in the employ of Indian princes.<ref name="Blackwell"/>

During the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], a British convert to Islam named Abdullah Beg was one of the most active insurgents in Delhi against [[British Raj|British rule]].<ref name="Beg"/> Beg was a former Company soldier, who upon the arrival of the mutineer ''[[sepoy]]s'' on 11 May, self-identified with them and virtually became a leader and advisor to the rebel forces in Delhi.<ref name="Beg"/> He was last seen manning the rebel artillery along with another British defector and Muslim convert, Sergeant-Major Gordon.<ref name="Beg"/> On account of his faith, Gordon was spared during the massacre of Christians at the outbreak of the uprising.<ref name="Beg"/> In due course Gordon was taken to Delhi, where he manned the guns on the northern side of the city walls.<ref name="Beg">{{Harvnb|Dalrymple|2006|p=153}}</ref>

==Notable mercenaries==


===European===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Mercenaries
!Background
|-
| [[Anthony Pohlmann]]
| Hanoverian who served in the armies of the [[Daulat Scindia]] and [[British East India Company]]
|-
|[[Benoît de Boigne]]
| French military adventurer who made his fortune and name in India.
|-
|[[Fernão Lopes (soldier)|Fernão Lopes]]
|16th century Portuguese soldier who defected to the [[Adil Shahi dynasty|Adil Shahi]] general, [[Rasul Khan]].
|-
|[[Claude Martin]]
|French army officer in India
|-
|[[Bourbons of India|Jean-Philippe de Bourbon-Navarre]]
|French mercenary and progenitor of the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] lineage in [[Bhopal]]
|-
|[[Pierre Cuillier-Perron]]
|French military adventurer in India
|-
|[[Michel Joachim Marie Raymond]]
|French General in [[Nizam]]'s military and the founder of [[Gunfoundry]] [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]], [[Hyderabad State]].
|-
|[[Walter Reinhardt Sombre]]
|French mercenary and husband of [[Begum Samru]], ruler of [[Sardhana]], a principality near [[Meerut]]
|-
|[[George Thomas (soldier)|George Thomas]]
|Irish mercenary who was active in India during the 18th century
|-
|[[Jean-Baptiste Ventura]]
|Italian mercenary and adventurer who served the [[Sikh Empire]] in the [[Punjab region|Punjab]]
|-
| [[Jean-François Allard]]
| served in the Sikh Armies & [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]]
|-
| [[John Holmes (mercenary)|John Holmes]]
| served in the Sikh Armies & [[Ranjit Singh|Maharaja Ranjit Singh]]
|}

===Afghan/Central Asian===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Mercenaries
!Background
|-
|[[Ahmad Baksh Khan]]
|[[Bukhara]]n mercenary who founded the [[Loharu#The Princely State|Princely State of Loharu]]
|-
|[[Dost Mohammad Khan, Nawab of Bhopal|Dost Mohammed Khan]]
|Afghan mercenary and founder of the [[Bhopal State|Princely State of Bhopal]]
|}

==Citations==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book
|last=Dalrymple
|first=William
|author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)
|publisher=Viking Penguin
|title=The Last Mughal
|year=2006
|isbn=978-0-670-99925-5
}}.
* {{cite book
|last=Dalrymple
|first=William
|author-link=William Dalrymple (historian)
|publisher=Penguin Books
|title=White Mughals: love and betrayal in eighteenth-century India
|year=2004
|isbn=978-0-14-200412-8
}}.
* {{cite book
|last=Disney
|first=Anthony R.
|publisher=Variorum
|title=Historiography of Europeans in Africa and Asia, 1450–1800
|year=1995
|isbn=978-0-86078-503-3
}}.
* {{Cite book
|last=Prabhu
|first=Alan Machado
|year=1999
|title=Sarasvati's Children: A History of the Mangalorean Christians
|publisher=I.J.A. Publications
|isbn=978-81-86778-25-8
}}.
{{refend}}

[[Category:Mercenaries in India| ]]
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:Warfare of the Middle Ages]]