sepoys

Noun

sepoy (plural sepoys)

1. (historical) A native soldier of the East Indies, employed in the service of a European colonial power, notably the British India army (first under the British-chartered East India Company, later in the crown colony), but also France and Portugal.
   • If our door were in the hands of the Sepoys the place must fall, and the women and children be treated as they were in Cawnpore.1890 February, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Strange Story of Jonathan Small”, in The Sign of Four (Standard Library), London: Spencer Blackett […], →OCLC, page 238
2. (India, Nepal, Pakistan) The holder of an infantry enlisted rank equivalent to private in other countries.