VOC BLADES: A comprehensive look

[Ibrahiim al Balooshi]

Salaams All ~It is interesting to note who was fighting for who!

Here is a small snippet regarding the switch over of mercenaries from the Dutch period to the British;

From http://www.army.lk/history.php

~ Quote''During the first half century of British occupation there were uprisings and palace intrigues particularly after the adventure into the Kandyan Kingdom. The Kandyan forces resorted to guerrilla warfare and were quite successful in their conflict against a better armed force of the British. Initially the British had their own troops for the defence of the Island which included naval vessels, artillery troops and infantry. Their headquarters was in Trincomalee.

In 1796, troops in the Dutch service who were Swiss and Malay were mercenaries transferred to the British East India Company. The Malays formed initially as a Malay Corps and later in 1802 as the 1st Ceylon Regiment under a British Commanding Officer. In the same year, a 'Sinhalese' unit was raised and called the 2nd Ceylon Regiment, also known as the 'Sepoy' corps. In 1803 a 3rd Ceylon Regiment was raised with Moluccans and recruits from Penang. All these regiments fought in the Kandyan wars of 1803. More Sinhalese and Malays were recruited to these regiments and in 1814 a 4th regiment was raised comprising African troops. In 1817 the name of the regiment was changed to the Ceylon Rifle Regiment.

After the Matale rebellion led by Puran Appu in 1848, the recruitment of Sinhalese was stopped. The history of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment marks the first phase of the employment of non-British personnel in Ceylon for service in the British Military establishment".Unquote.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi.