The British recruited brave men from Punjab to serve as policemen and guards in their colonies to help stamp out the secret society feuds in the tin mining area of Perak.
Sikhs made their way into the Straits Settlement and the Malay States of peninsula in the 19th century and quickly became known for their gallantry in the security forces and their competence in maintaining law and order.
In the early 1880s, a small body of cavalry troops was established to suppress highway robberies, then of almost-daily occurrence in the pass between Taiping, Kamunting and Kinta. They guarded the pass at night; due to their vigilance, the dangers faced by travellers soon disappeared. The construction of the Taiping Kinta cart road and other roads in Kinta, telegraphs and railways, caused the troopers to be less necessary.
Following the formation of the Malay States Guides in 1896, the cavalry troop was separated and transferred from Taiping to Kuala Kangsar to form a royal bodyguard to escort His Highness, the Sultan of Perak. The mounted bodyguard was quartered near the palace in Bukit Chandan and always accompanied His Royal Highness Sultan Idris in his carriage and pair on ceremonial occasions.
The total strength of the bodyguard comprised a native officer, two Duffadars (equivalent in rank to a Sergeant in the cavalry) and 12 Sowars (mounted orderlies) of the Perak Force stationed at Kuala Kangsar as of 1900 (F.M.S. Police report, 1900).
His Royal Highness Sultan Idris Murshidul Azzam Shah, the Sultan of Perak then, was the only ruler in the federation who had a private mounted Sikh bodyguard. These swarthy veterans of fine old Bengal Lancers entered into the service of His Highness and made up the only personal bodyguard that has been maintained by a Malay ruler in modern times and the only cavalry unit that has ever existed in the country.
These small body of stalwart mounted men formed the Sultan of Perak's bodyguard and provided escorts and took part in celebratory parades for state occasions not only in the Federated Malay States but also in Singapore.
Other than ceremonial use, occasionally the lancers were being called out to patrol and preserve law and order in the mining towns of the Kinta district during the periods of disturbance.
The Perak Lancers were finely built men, well mounted and well trained for ceremonial duty for they were mainly Sikhs who had served in the Indian Cavalry. These Sowars were armed with lances, swords and carbines (long guns), and red and white pennants fluttered from the lances. Their attractive scarlet coats, in many instances covered with medals denoting a long and honourable service, made them intensely interesting.
Many of these men served in the Anglo-Burmese Wars and in the North-West Frontier before serving in Perak. Among them was Sowar Maggar Singh, who was born in the 1860s in the village of Bhakna Kalan, in the district of Amritsar, Punjab. He served in Burma from 1885-1887 and 1887-1889, before he went to Perak in 1893. He was granted the Victoria service medal with two bars.
He joined the Perak Sikh mounted section as a Sowar and was later transferred to the Sikh Bodyguard unit of the late Sultan Idris Shah.
In 1902, he accompanied the late Sultan Idris to England with the whole bodyguard during the coronation of the late HM King Edward VII. They embarked on the P&O steamer Ceylon in Penang and arrived on May 30, 1902, in the Royal Albert Docks.
To celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII, troops from across the British Empire were brought to England to take part in the ceremony. The bodyguard of the Sultan of Perak, members from the Malay States Police and Malay States Guides from the Federated Malay States coronation contingent were quartered at the Alexandra Palace.
Maggar Singh was promoted to the rank of Daffadar in 1912. He was discharged from the Federated Malay States Police Force on Nov 30, 1915, after he was involved in an accident during a tent pegging exercise.
After leaving the police force Maggar Singh ventured into planting and was quite successful in his venture as a planter. He passed away on June 26,1940.
Perak was the only state which has ever maintained a mounted bodyguard for the state ruler. The FMS Police report of 1913 stated that the mounted bodyguard of HRH the Sultan of Perak was maintained at Kuala Kangsar at a strength of one Duffadars, one Naik (equivalent in rank to a corporal) and 13 Sowars, with 13 horses and seven syces (people who take care of horses).
This devoted bodyguard of picked horsemen remained true to their salt and was only disbanded after His Royal Highness's death. This bodyguard of lancers was symbolic of the wealth and security of the Perak throne. Their loyalty has been beyond questionable and remembered as an important part of the Perak Sultanate’s history.
Many of these stalwart mounted men got involved in planting and other ventures after that.
The writer has a passion for researching history and writing, with a focus on the Sikh community. He can be contacted at: harchandsinghbedi@yahoo.co.uk
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