Unit Requests: Indian Napolianic Era units

Image search (I like Ixquick): Use Sepoy for infantry & Sowar for cavalry as keywords. Also try Vellore Mutiny. If you want to dig even deeper look for images related to the Maratha Empire, the Anglo-Maratha Wars, and the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.

The later-era units from Rambuchan & Luddi VII's Mughal Empire mod would be very useful. Especially the rocketeer, which was used against the British in the above mentioned campaigns & led to incorporation of the Congreve Rocket in British tactics.
 
This is quick & dirty (still sorting through files). I just threw together what semi-appropriate images I've come across. For example, since the borders were pretty fluid back then, there's a print of some guys from the Khyber Pass. Some are a little early, some little later.

Wanted to point out the "irregulars". Sepoys would have worn cast offs, and a mix of uniform & "native" dress. Their weapons would often be outmoded, for a couple of obvious reasons.

Elite units such as those composed of Gurkhas or Sikhs would be more likely to wear uniforms, and those would be culturally distinct. They would also be likely to provide many of their own armaments. The guys dressed in white with black vests are modern Gurkhas wearing traditional kit.

The military of regions not under European hegemony would wear more traditional uniforms and there would be a lot of regional variation. the Sultanates for example might field armies that actually looked more "moslem", while other areas might have that dhoti + jacket look; a sort of "zouave"-with-turban look might work as well. I put in the photo of the modern border guard ceremony to show the distinctive headgear, which dates back to the 19th cent.

Officers tended to be European, either as Imperials, or as hired mercenary cadre (who would often wear the uniforms of their former affiliation, even if in so doing they claimed a higher rank).

Across the bottom are some examples of weapons. The traditional warrior caste tended to embellish their favorite weapons, as you can see. That "pig" is a cannon. And I threw in the elephant chess piece to show the Indian equivalent of caissons.

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Well I could not ignore this discussion ...till day in Indian the Sikh..(Punjab Region) and the Warlord of Rajasthan (the Rajputs) were/are the Strongest faction where 1 out 3 families will JOin the defence services and this has been on for centuries ...with the coming of the Mughals the art of Iron weapons were used so these regions have some Mughal and persian influence however in the east and Foothils of Himalayas we have the short structure Gurkhas, Natives who used more ethinic and local weopons ...later Mughal influence did come in with Sher Shah Suri and eventually the British weopns and military influenced the entire eastern region with East Indian CO.....and Calcutta being the capital and great economic centrein the Indian Ocean.

And in the south TIpu Sultan was the first to invent the ethnic cannon (Rockets)) for the first time againt The East Indian Co... which later the bristish re structures and used in the NEw World Colonies.

Cheers !!

I might have some pictures and I~ll try and postr them......
 
So, what units exactly should be made (uniform, colors, civ-color) ? :)
The ideal would be two units, an early rifleman and a later one.
Thankyou Blue I appreciate it. I'd like someone to make early and late era rifleman for India so I can replace those lackluster units I made way back when...
I can't speak for SoG, but I'd say in general there's a lot of freedom as to uniform color & civ-color placement because each raja would dress his troops as he wished. In addition most of the Indian officers were nobles in their own right & would have individualized their dress, as did the Euro ex-pats hired as cadre. The only thing to be avoided is a green turban - that color is reserved for a particular Islamic sect.

Check out the links in earlier posts - they lead to lots of pictures of Indian units of the British Empire.

My personal choices (from the last gallery I posted) would be for any of -
  1. A guy wielding a flintlock looking like any of the bare-chested guys on the right. Maybe the civ color could be like the sash/shawl the guy on the left of that picture has over his shoulder.
  2. A rifleman dressed like the guy in white, with the hat civ-colored.
  3. Ultimately there's a spot open for an infantryman (could be anything from a foot lancer to a rifle/bayonet wielder) wearing a white dhoti (the pants all the barechested guys have on) and turban with a more European style coat in civ-color.
  4. A cavalryman like the guy in yellow (civ-color on uniform), but with a turban.
  5. A lancer or dragoon in a uniform similar to any of the other pictures.
  6. As far as I know there is no distinctively Indian cannon unit either.
I'm not asking for all of these to be made right away; this is SoG's request thread anyway.
 
Wait for further discussions/suggestions. :)

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