Sepoy, Madras Army, 1835 (c)

Gouache on mica by a Company artist, Trichinopoly, 1835 (c).

The Madras Army sepoy wears a uniform very similar to that worn by a British infantryman of the period, a red coatee and white trousers. By the 1820s, the latter had replaced shorts in most Indian regiments. Unlike their British counterparts, Indian infantry wore black shakos formed of pitch over rattan cane and sandals instead of boots.

From a set of 61 paintings showing the different occupations of India.