Editing Sepoy (section)

==Etymology==

In Persian {{lang|fa|اسپ}} (Aspa) means horse and Ispahai is also the word for cavalrymen.

The term ''sepoy'' is the [[Anglicisation|anglicised]] form of the [[Persian language|Persian]] word {{lang|fa-Latn|sepāhī}} ({{wikt-lang|fa|سپاهی}}), meaning the traditional "infantry soldier" in the [[Mughal Empire]].

In the [[Ottoman Empire]] the term {{lang|ota-Latn|[[sipahi]]}} was used to refer to cavalrymen.<ref name="Philip Mason, 1974">{{cite book |title=A Matter of Honour |last=Mason |first=Philip |year=1974 |publisher=Holt, Rhinehart & Winston |location=London |isbn=0-03-012911-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/matterofhonour0000maso }}</ref>

===Historical usage===
The term ''sepoy'' came into common use in the forces of the British East India Company in the eighteenth century, where it was one of a number of names, such as ''peons'', ''[[Gentoo (term)|gentoos]]'', ''mestees'' and ''[[topass]]es'', used for various categories of native soldier. Initially it referred to Hindu or Muslim soldiers without regular uniforms or discipline. It later generically referred to all native soldiers in the service of the European powers in India.<ref name="Philip Mason, 1974"/> Close to ninety-six percent of the British East India Company's army of 300,000 men were native to India and these sepoys played a crucial role in securing the subcontinent for the company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=India's Sepoy Mutiny |url=http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h38sep.htm |publisher=Fsmitha.com |access-date=2013-09-24}}</ref>