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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2020}}
'''Purbiya''' (or '''Purabia''') was a common term used in medieval India for [[Rajput]] and [[Brahmin]] led mercenaries and soldiers from the eastern [[Gangetic Plain]] - areas corresponding to present-day western [[Bihar]] and eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name="ErnstPati2007">{{cite book|author1=Waltraud Ernst|author2=Biswamoy Pati|title=India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eKbW3ukh9oC&pg=PA57|date=18 October 2007|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-134-11988-2|page=57}}</ref><ref name="Naravane1999">{{cite book|author=M. S. Naravane|title=The Rajputs of Rajputana: A Glimpse of Medieval Rajasthan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lF0FvjG3GWEC&pg=PA23|year=1999|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-118-2|page=23}}</ref> The Purbiyas played a significant role in the militaries of various principalities in Western India including the [[Marwar]] army.<ref name=Solanki2016>{{cite journal | author= Deepak Solanki | title= Dr Gynaeshwari Devi Memorial Prize Paper | journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume = 77| year=2016 | pages= 298–305|jstor = 26552655}}</ref>

==Recruitment==
The core region for Purbiya recruitment was the [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] region of modern-day Western [[Bihar]] and Eastern [[Uttar Pradesh]].<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 | publisher= Amsterdam University Press | year=2013 | pages= 243–266| isbn=9789089644527 }}</ref> The [[Ujjainiya]] clan 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.<ref name=Kolff2013 /> 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.<ref name=Kolff2013 />

Many future Purbiya mercenaries would carry out a pilgrimage to [[Buxar]] in modern-day Bihar where they would immerse themselves in a ''tiger tank''. During this process, the young peasant would see themselves as being reborn as a "fearless warrior".<ref name=Kolff2013 />

==History==
[[File:Camel Rider,.jpg|thumb|A Purbiya camel rider in [[Bihar]], [[India]] in 1825.]]

The [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] were among the first groups to enter into the military labour market and start recruiting Purbiyas. Mughal sources detail a diwan of Bihar [[subah]] attempting to collect soldiers in [[Buxar]] to serve the emperor.<ref name="Kolff2002">{{cite book|author=Dirk H. A. Kolff|title=Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC&pg=PA169&dq=Kolff+Mughal+province#q=Kolff%20Mughal%20province|date=8 August 2002|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-52305-9|page=59}}</ref>

The rulers of [[Malwa]] were also keen recruiters due to Purbiyas' expertise with firearms. This expertise may have been gained due to the easy availability of [[saltpetre]] in their native areas.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Waltraud |last1=Ernst |first2=Biswamoy |last2=Pati |title=India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eKbW3ukh9oC&pg=PA57|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-11988-2|page=57}}</ref> Most Purbiyas were mercenaries and were paid for their services but some were actual kings of smaller principalities.<ref name="Naravane1999"/><ref>Journal of Indian history, Volume 66, Dept. of History, University of Kerala, 1988</ref>{{Pn|date=October 2016}} 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 as [[Silhadi]] who eventually became known as a Purbiya himself.<ref name="Kolff2002" />
The presence of Purbiya mercenaries in [[Gujarat]] are referenced in 16th and 17th century [[Persian language|Persian]] chronicles including many Purbiya gunners serving in the army of Bahadur Shah of the [[Gujarat Sultanate]] in 1535.<ref name=Khan1999>{{cite journal | title=Re-examining the origin and group identity of the so-called "Purbias", 1500-1800 | author= Iqtidar Alam Khan | journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume = 60| year=1999 | pages= 363–371|jstor = 44144102}}</ref>

Purbiyas had a long tradition of being recruited as mercenaries for various rulers such as the [[British Raj|British]]<ref name="Hiltebeitel2009">{{cite book|author=Alf Hiltebeitel|title=Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMFdosx0PokC&pg=PA308|date=15 February 2009|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=978-0-226-34055-5|page=308|author-link=Alf Hiltebeitel}}</ref><ref name="Karsten2013">{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Karsten|title=Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh_fAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA103|date=31 October 2013|publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=978-1-135-66150-2|page=103}}</ref> and the [[Marathas]].<ref name="ErnstPati2007" /> Purbiyas made up the majority of the [[Bengal Army]].<ref name="Karsten2013" />Prior to 1857, the British [[East India Company]] preferred to recruit Purbiya soldiers, who they designated as "The fighting tribes of the Hindoos and the Musselmen", or simply "Easterners".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=627fBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA335 |title=Chinese and Indian Warfare – From the Classical Age to 1870 |first1=Kaushik |last1=Roy |first2=Peter |last2=Lorge |page=335|isbn=9781317587101 |date=2014-12-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Mason|pages=229 & 573|title=A Matter of Honour|isbn=978-0-333-41837-6|year=1986}}</ref> The [[Bengal Army]] of the East India Company preferred to recruit its sepoys from the [[Brahmin]]s and 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vRE3n1VwDTIC&pg=PA214 |title=Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present |first=Kaushik |last=Roy |year=2012 |page=214|isbn=9781107017368 }}</ref>

===1857 mutiny===
[[File:Bengal Troops on the Line of March (6125141926).jpg|thumb|400px|Bengal troops in the 19th century (1840s), the majority of troops in the Bengal Army were Purbiyas]]
The Purbiya units of the Bengal Army played a major role in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] against the British. [[Mangal Pandey]], a notable figure during the start of the mutiny, was a Purbiya serving in the 34th [[Bengal 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 [[Sikh]] and [[Islam in India|Muslim]] communities of the [[Punjab]].<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=2015-10-06 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Mason|page=305|title=A Matter of Honour|isbn=978-0-333-41837-6|year=1986}}</ref> Purbiya recruitment from the western regions of the [[United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|United Provinces]] and the [[Delhi]] region continued but on a much smaller scale (two out of sixty-four regiments by 1893).<ref>{{cite book|first=Saul|last=David|page=404|title=The Indian Mutiny|isbn=978-0-141-00554-6|date=2003-09-04}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Mercenaries in India]]
*[[Camel cavalry]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* M K A Siddiqui (ed.), ''Marginal Muslim Communities in India'', Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004)
* [[Dasharatha Sharma]] ''Rajasthan through the Ages'' a comprehensive and authentic history of Rajasthan, prepared under the orders of the Government of Rajasthan. First published 1966 by Rajasthan Archives.

[[Category:Rajputs|*]]
[[Category:History of Bihar]]
[[Category:Mercenary units and formations of the Early Modern era]]
[[Category:Military history of India]]

Purbiyas (soldiers) - Revision history

imported>KashKarti: Undid revision 1030653890 by 2409:4072:E98:F888:0:0:3ECA:3602 (talk)