251 x 173 mm. Showing soldiers of the Perak Sikhs grouped on the parade ground at Taiping. In the centre of the group stands the detachment of men trained as gunners with their 9 pounder field guns; these were introduced into the force in 1880. The Perak Sikhs were formed under the command of Captain Paul Swinburne in 1876 from the body of 200 men who had been brought into Perak by Captain Speedy before the State came under British protection. In later years numbers were replenished by recruiting parties sent from Perak to the Punjab. The numbers in the force were raised in 1877 after the withdrawal of the British forces following the suppression of the Perak disturbances, to a body of 200 Sikh guard and 500 police. At this period the force was known as the Perak Armed Police, but in 1884 the First Perak Sikhs were formed from them. On Federation in 1896 the Perak Sikhs and the Armed Police from other states were merged to become the Malay State Guides.