This is my second unit of Sikh Akalis, also known as Nihangs, all are from QRF. Akalis were the religious warriors of the Sikh Army. At one time alongside the Gorchurra cavalry they had been the main arm of any Sikh force. Ranjit Singh’s creation of a regular force changed that but both Akalis and Gorchurra continued to serve. The steel bands around their tall head wear are sharpened war quoits to be thrown at the foe.
There is a story that Ranjit Singh witnessed an incident in a
temple that led to the creation of the Khalsa regulars. A group of British sepoys entered a temple
without removing their shoes. The
Nihangs present at once drew their swords determined to extract retribution for
the insult. The sepoys levelled their
pieces and shot them down. It is said Ranjit took
the lesson to heart and began to build a formidable regular army.
The Akali were fierce and experienced close fighters as
an account from the First Sikh War illustrates. During the British advance a column of
cavalry were challenged by a lone one- armed Akali brandishing his tulwar. In a spirit of chivalry, the best swordsman
of the troop rode forward to accept the challenge. The Akali promptly killed him. A second trooper took up the challenge and
was slain. A third trooper rode forward
and pistoled to death the deadly Akali. Despite the pre-contact illusions of the British officer class it rapidly became clear that the Sikh War was going to be a real fight.
I have given this unit my rendition of the Akali black flag. It's carried by an armoured Nihang who is taken from from a QRF pack of Ottoman officers. I painted his booted legs skin tone leaving his breeches to stand in for the compulsory Sikh shorts. It worked nicely enough as you can see.
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