Sowar

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)[1] 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 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.

An image from the Carnatic Wars features a Sowar armed with a musket.

[citation needed] Sowar has been used as the name of a line of wrist-watches by the Swiss West End Watch Co.