Sikh Officers 1858

The officer on the left is Man Singh who achieved great reknown in the history of the regiment. The man sitting on the wall is Jai Singh who had a long and eventful military career. The other man on the ground, is Goormuck Singh. He has a medal that looks like the Indian Order of Merit given for acts of great bravery.
The clothes they wear can hardly be described as uniforms although Man Singh does have a military style kurta. His kummerbund is red as are their turbans. At this stage that was what distinguished them from the rebels. Sometimes the sashes were worn over the shoulder. Later they adopted salmon-coloured alkalaks which earned them the nickname of the Flamingoes. They were armed with tulwars (curved swords) and matchlocks or lances.
The style of turban was typical of Sikh dress at the time, and beards were worn long, not rolled up as they were towards the end of the century. They are also wearing karas round their left wrist.

Uniforms | Regimental History