 The regiment was raised by the Honourable East India Company as a Guard of Honour in 1652.The regiment was initially involved in guarding the East India Company's factories along the Hugli River in Bengal which was India's richest province.In December 1756 it was renamed the Bengal European Regiment – "European" indicating it was composed of white soldiers, not Indian sepoys - by Robert Clive who amalgamated the existing independent companies of non-Indian troops to form the regiment.