“Akalis Fanatical Devotee” by Mortimer Menpes, R. I.

Akalis Fanatical Devotee

Mortimer Menpes

1903

Watercolor

Source: The Durbar, facing p. 36

“One of the aged Sikh warriors who fought so bravely for us during the Siege of Delhi.” The main title certainly seems a bit strange given the praise that follows.

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“After luncheon the Major took us to Jind, and there we saw a series of strange gentlemen. Sikhs they were, most of them dressed in blue, and bearing war implements and steel rings. They had circles of steel round their necks, similar circles round their turbans. At first it was a puzzle to me why they should carry these hoops; they were flat like quoits, had a sharp knife-edge, and appeared in most unexpected places round the neck, round the waist, and on their turbans. Were they worn for decorative reasons? I dis- covered that the hoops were used simply as implements of war. They are deadly weapons. The Sikhs throw them at their enemies, hurl them along edgeways as you would a quoit, and cut off heads as easily as you would slice a lemon” (147).

Bibliography

Menpes, Mortimer. The Durbar. Text by Dorothy Menpes. London: Adam & Charles Black, 1903. Internet Archive version of a copy in the University of California at Los Angeles Library. Web. 27 May 2017.

Last modified 27 May 2017