Sowar
Mounted cavalry soldier in South Asia
Sowar (Urdu: سوار, also sawar or siwar meaning "the one who rides" or "rider", from Persian sawār, from the Sasanid Persian Aswār, from the Achaemenid Persian Asabāra) was originally a rank during the Mughal Empire. Later, during the British Raj, it was the name in Anglo-Indian usage for a horse-soldier belonging to the cavalry troops of the native armies of British India and the feudal states. It is also used more specifically of a mounted orderly, escort or guard. It was also the rank held by ordinary cavalry troopers, equivalent to sepoy in the infantry, this rank has been inherited by the modern armies of India and Pakistan. The rank higher is Acting Lance Daffadar.
01History
An image from the Carnatic Wars features a Sowar armed with a musket.
Sowar has been used as the name of a line of wrist-watches by the Swiss West End Watch Co.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sowar”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Sowar, Madras Light Cavalry, 1847 (c).jpg by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
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