In a graphic account of the siege of Lucknow
in 1857, William Forbes-Mitchell of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders writes
about a single sniper who cost the regiment four hours to neutralise. When they
found the body, the sniper was an African woman. It turned out that the last
Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah had an entire regiment of African women, called
Gulabi Platoon, in his army.
Africans probably came to India in the 14th century, mostly from Sudan
and Ethiopia (then Abyssinia). The