Madras Army

Madras Army
Active	1757–1895 (as the Madras Army) 1895–1908 (as the Madras Command of the Indian Army)
Type	Command
Size	47,000 (1876)[1]
Part of	Presidency armies
Garrison/HQ	Ootacamund, Nilgiris district

The Madras Army was the army of the Presidency of Madras, one of the three presidencies of British India within the British Empire. The Madras Army was originally intended to be composed only of Rajputs, Mussalmans, and the three Telugu castes the Kammas, the Razus and the Velamas.

The presidency armies, like the presidencies themselves, belonged to the East India Company until the Government of India Act 1858 (passed in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion of 1857) transferred all three presidencies to the direct authority of the British Crown.

In 1895 all three presidency armies were merged into the Indian Army.