Sepoy’s Shadow: When India’s taxes funded private army to guard London’s tea (From The Archives)

Santosh Kumar Verma | January 25, 2026 9:02 PM

New Delhi, Jan 25 (IANS) In the summer of 1820, a seemingly minor administrative action unfolded in the British Parliament: the introduction of the East India Company’s Volunteers Bill. This legislation sought to formalise the existence of a modest infantry corps in London, tasked with the prosaic duty of protecting the Company’s massive warehouses.