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Author Topic: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?  (Read 2339 times)

Offline OB

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Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« on: May 17, 2019, 10:00:40 AM »
I'm currently painting up my second unit of Sikh Alkali.  I know that they wore blue and yellow clothing and have lots of images of them so dressed.  What I don't know is if they ever wore armour.  The reason I ask is that I have a very nice figure in appropriate Indian armour who would look great holding their black flag and leading the unit.  It occurred to me that as the Alkali were religiously devoted warriors there might be a prohibition on armour.  Does anyone know?

Thanks in advance.

Offline sukhe_bator

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2019, 10:33:59 AM »
Yellow is a recent C20 colour addition. During the Sikh Wars and C19 indigo blue/black and white were commonplace. Akalis distained body armour as being too cumbersome and noisy, relying instead on a plethora of weapons. Chakkar of a variety of sizes worn on the wrists and forearms and around the neck and head served as additional defences.
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O16836/painting-unknown/
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Offline Plynkes

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2019, 10:52:07 AM »
Don't think there was any actual armour prohibition, but they certainly ordinarily didn't seem to wear any. A few online articles written by modern Sikhs claim iron breastplates and mail shirts were part of their garb in time of war, along with the more well known accoutrements. Unfortunately none of the few books I have on the subject mention armour at all.  If they wore it I think you probably don't see it depicted very often simply because most of them couldn't afford it.

For what it's worth there is a Sikh fellow in the British West Midlands who claims to be the last one (though that is debatable). He teaches the "lost" Sikh martial arts, and has no problem at all wearing armour whenever the media show up to interview and photograph him. Take that with a pinch of salt though, as obviously he's not an authentic 19th Century Akali Nihang, he's some bloke from Wolverhampton.  :)


There is this pic of a fellow called Akali Hanuman Singh, who was active at the time of the Sikh Wars. He was a Nihang, and one might suppose that the artwork depicts a mail shirt. But I'm really not super-confident in that...



Hmm... May be clutching at straws a tad there. Oh well.

You know what, I'd use the figure. I think there is enough doubt either way. Certainly wouldn't bother me.








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Offline OB

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2019, 11:13:25 AM »
Thank you lads.  That is helpful.  I notice a splash of yellow on the leading Alkali in Sukhe's link.  Embroidery or lace perhaps.  The Indigo/Blue/Black colour scheme is worth knowing and I'll try it out.

That all makes sense Plynkes.  Hanuman Singh looks as though he just might be wearing mirror armour or bits of it.  They look like vambaces to me and that looks like a metal plate on his abdomen.  It's a good image.

Anyhow, I'll use the figure.

Thank you both once again.

Offline Plynkes

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2019, 11:23:25 AM »
You know, I was so fixated trying to figure out what material the shirt was supposed to be that I didn't even notice his forearms. I agree, those sure look like vambraces of some sort.


Offline sukhe_bator

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2019, 11:44:16 AM »
Don't think there was any actual armour prohibition, but they certainly ordinarily didn't seem to wear any. A few online articles written by modern Sikhs claim iron breastplates and mail shirts were part of their garb in time of war, along with the more well known accoutrements. Unfortunately none of the few books I have on the subject mention armour at all. If they wore it I think you probably don't see it depicted very often simply because most of them couldn't afford it.

For what it's worth there is a Sikh fellow in the British West Midlands who claims to be the last one (though that is debatable). He teaches the "lost" Sikh martial arts, and has no problem at all wearing armour whenever the media show up to interview and photograph him. Take that with a pinch of salt though, as obviously he's not an authentic 19th Century Akali Nihang, he's some bloke from Wolverhampton.  :)
By the way Nidar Singh IS the last exponent of that particular branch of 'shastar vidiya' and one of the very few active practitioners of the martial arts as practised by the Sikhs in warfare (as opposed to the more stylised 'gatka' performances that can widely seen today). This martial arts practice was proscribed and driven underground by the British Raj. It has only survived through a 'thin blue line' of Akali devotees apprenticing their skills largely in secret through to the present day.
Certainly Akali leaders wore armour on occasion and would attire themselves appropriately for whatever combat they were engaged in. The analogy with the Janissary corps is valid here. They routinely wore armour in close quarter fighting such as the Siege of St Elmo in Malta in 1565, but are more usually depicted in their distinctive 'dress' uniform.

Offline Plynkes

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2019, 12:43:22 PM »
My fumbled attempt at qualifying my words rose from a desire to remain neutral and avoid adopting a position on the gentleman, as I have no opinion about him one way or the other. Seems he has a few denigrators in the Sikh community, and I didn't want to come over like I was promoting him or anything, or set off some sort of row in the middle of OB's thread. Didn't mean it to sound like I was dismissing him either, but I think I probably did.







Offline OB

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2019, 01:54:46 PM »
If I might ask a second question while we are on the subject of Alkalis.  We know they carried a black flag do we have an image or description of it?  I intend making one and I imagine it to be triangular like most of the Sikh flags I've seen.  I was thinking plain back with fringed edges.

Offline sukhe_bator

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2019, 02:24:59 PM »
The Black Flag captured by Colour Sergeant Matthew Kirkland of the 80th Staffs Regt. at Ferozeshah is believed to be an Akali flag. It is about the same size as the other colours an 7' x 8' iscoceles triangle of indigo with 4-6" red borders with 3 narrow oblique orange/yellow stripes in the borders...
www.flickr.com/photos/belowred/3837134627

Offline ARKOUDAKI

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2019, 03:24:32 PM »
The Akalis were armed to the teeth, and armor was no exception.  ;)

Offline OB

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2019, 03:28:09 PM »
Thank you sukhe.  That sounds a clear enough design.  I can see it in my minds eye.  Obviously the flag in the pic has faded with age.  So, with the indigo dye a dark blue rather than black?  The other Akali flags I've seen in prints were blue.

Offline ARKOUDAKI

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #11 on: May 18, 2019, 09:13:12 AM »
Don't get confused with the vibrant blue used by the Sikhs for religious reasons, which is also the color of clothing often worn by the Akali / Akalee (Immortals). The battle flag used by Akali during the Sikh Wars was 'black' in tone but probably did have some indigo dye in it to give it a slightly blue tone...slight. Take a look at the graphic in this thread to see Grant's depiction of an Akali flag captured by the Gurkhas to get an idea of what I mean. http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=116611.15

Speaking of flags, there were only THREE main types of flag used by Sikhs Army: the first, a standard King's color in red (two shown at Lichfield Cathedral); a black flag used by the Akali (one at Lichfield); and a special one for the 'Campu Francese' or French Legion troops, which was not a tricolor (as some have wrongly suggested) but rather a quadcolor French style flag. Aside from the latter, Sikh battle flags were triangular and had consistent motifs on them.

Now the Irregulars also carried flags but the research on these is still not complete...yes, even after all these years!

Hope this helps.

Offline OB

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #12 on: May 18, 2019, 10:52:16 AM »
It does indeed.  Thank you.

Offline Deflatermouse

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #13 on: May 18, 2019, 09:00:47 PM »
Thank you for posting the question and the excellent responses. It is helping with my army. Any  information I can find I relish.
I starting collecting my Sikhs in Glasgow when Feudal castings released their. The project lapsed but over the past 4 years, with the release of the Black Hat figures, it has shot off and has done very well.
Many thanks again for the thread.

Offline OB

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Re: Were Sikh Akali permitted armour?
« Reply #14 on: May 19, 2019, 04:39:36 PM »
Thanks for the kind words.

It was the very same figures pictured in an advert in WI long ago that started my Sikh Wars adventure.  The Steve Shaw Akali are still the best as far as I know.  I've been tempted to add some Black Hat ones what do you think?