Bengal Native Infantry

Bengal Native Infantry
Flag of the British East India Company
Active	1757–1858 (as part of the East India Company's Bengal Army) 1858–1895 (as part of the Bengal Army of the British Raj) 1895–1903 (under the Bengal Command of the British Indian Army)
Allegiance	East India Company United Kingdom
Branch	Bengal Army
Role	Infantry
Size	19 Battalions (1764) 74 Regiments (1857) 45 Regiments (1861)
Conflicts	Battle of Plassey Third Carnatic War First Anglo-Mysore War Second Anglo-Mysore War Third Anglo-Mysore War First Anglo-Maratha War Cotiote War Fourth Anglo-Mysore War Second Anglo-Maratha War Invasion of Java Anglo-Nepalese War Third Anglo-Maratha War First Anglo-Burmese War First Opium War First Anglo-Afghan War First Anglo-Sikh War Second Anglo-Sikh War Second Anglo-Burmese War Indian Mutiny Second Opium War Second Anglo-Afghan War Suakin Expedition Third Anglo-Burmese War

The regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, alongside the regiments of Bengal European Infantry, were the regular Infantry component of the East India Company's Bengal Army from the raising of the first Native battalion in 1757 to the passing into law of the Government of India Act 1858 (as a direct result of the Indian Mutiny) at which point control of the East India Company's Bengal Presidency passed to the British Government. The first Native battalion was raised by the East India Company in 1757 and by the start of 1857 there were 74 regiments of Bengal Native Infantry in the Bengal Army. Following the Mutiny the Presidency armies fell under the direct control of the United Kingdom Government and there was a widespread reorganisation of the Bengal Army that saw the Bengal Native Infantry regiments reduced to 45.

The title "Bengal Native Infantry" fell out of use in 1885 and the Bengal Infantry regiments ceased to exist when the three separate Presidency armies were absorbed into the British Indian Army in 1903. There are units currently active in the armies of India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom who can trace their lineage directly to units of the Bengal Native Infantry, for example the Jat Regiment in the Indian Army, the Royal Gurkha Rifles in the British Army and 6th Battalion, The Punjab Regiment in the Army of Pakistan.

The first locally recruited unit of the East India Company's forces in Bengal, raised in 1757 and present at the Battle of Plassey, was known as the Galliez Battalion (named after one of its first Captains) and called the Lal Pultan (Red Battalion) by its locally recruited members. The Bengal Native Infantry regiments underwent frequent changes of numbering during their period of existence, with the numbers assigned following a reorganisation bearing little or no connection to the regiments that held the pre-existing numbers. The traditional formation of British and Presidency armies' regiments was by a hierarchy in which the "1st Regiment" was the oldest and the highest number was given to the youngest. In 1764 however, the Bengal Native Infantry regiments were renumbered in the order of the seniority of their captain. The regiments were reorganised and renumbered (or renamed) twice in 1861, in 1864, again in 1885 and finally in 1903 the Bengal Army was absorbed into the British Indian Army and the Bengal Infantry ceased to exist.