Did you know that the Perak Sultan once had bodyguards comprising members of the Mounted Police? Here’s an article from Harchand Singh Bedi, which appeared in The Star recently.
HRH Sultan Abdul Jalil, the Sultan of Perak, and his consort surrounded by their Sikh bodyguards comprising members of the Mounted Police from the Federated Malay States in the early 1900s.
Photo from Star Online
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. (read more here)
