{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_53510/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_53510","id":"gutenberg_53510","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53510","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sikhs"],"text":"SKETCH\n  OF\n  THE SIKHS;\n  A Singular Nation,\n  WHO INHABIT THE\n  PROVINCES OF THE PENJAB,\n  SITUATED BETWEEN\n  The Rivers Jumna and Indus.\n\n  BY\n  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MALCOLM,\n  AUTHOR OF THE POLITICAL SKETCH OF INDIA.\n\n  LONDON:\n  PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET,\n  By James Moyes, Greville Street, Hatton Garden.\n\n  1812.\n\n\n\n\nADVERTISEMENT.\n\n\nThis Sketch has already appeared in the eleventh volume of the Asiatic\nResearches: but, as that valuable work is not in common circulation,\nit is now republished; and may prove acceptable, as a short and clear\naccount of an oriental people, of singular religion and manners, with\nwhose history the European reader can be but little acquainted.\n\n\n\n\nSKETCH OF THE SIKHS.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n\nWhen with the British army in the Penj\u00e1b, in 1805, I endeavoured to\ncollect materials that would throw light upon the history, manners, and\nreligion of the Sikhs. Though this subject had been treated by several\nEnglish writers, none of them had possessed opportunities of obtaining\nmore than very general information regarding this extraordinary race;\nand their narratives therefore, though meriting regard, have served\nmore to excite than to gratify curiosity.\n\nIn addition to the information I collected while the army continued\nwithin the territories of the Sikhs, and the personal observations\nI was able to make, during that period, upon the customs and manners\nof that nation, I succeeded with difficulty in obtaining a copy of\nthe Ad\u00ed-Grant'h[1], and of some historical tracts, the most essential\nparts of which, when I returned to Calcutta, were explained to me by a\nSikh priest of the Nirmala order, whom I found equally intelligent and\ncommunicative, and who spoke of the religion and ceremonies of his sect\nwith less restraint than any of his brethren whom I had met with in the\nPenj\u00e1b. This slender stock of materials was subsequently much enriched\nby my friend Dr. Leyden, who has favoured me with a translation of\nseveral tracts written by Sikh authors in the Penj\u00e1b\u00ed and D\u00faggar\ndialects, treating of their history and religion; which, though full\nof that warm imagery which marks all oriental works, and particularly\nthose whose authors enter on the boundless field of Hind\u00fa mythology,\ncontain the most valuable verifications of the different religious\ninstitutions of the Sikh nation.\n\nIt was my first intention to have endeavoured to add to these\nmaterials, and to have written, when I had leisure, a history of the\nSikhs; but the active nature of my public duties has made it impossible\nto carry this plan into early execution, and I have had the choice of\ndeferring it to a distant and uncertain period; or of giving, from\nwhat I actually possessed, a short and hasty sketch of their history,\ncustoms, and religion. The latter alternative I have adopted: for,\nalthough the information I may convey in such a sketch may be very\ndefective, it will be useful at a moment when every information\nregarding the Sikhs is of importance; and it may, perhaps, stimulate\nand aid some person, who has more leisure and better opportunities, to\naccomplish that task which I once contemplated.\n\nIn composing this rapid sketch of the Sikhs, I have still had to\nencounter various difficulties. There is no part of oriental biography\nin which it is more difficult to separate truth from falsehood, than\nthat which relates to the history of religious impostors. The account\nof their lives is generally recorded, either by devoted disciples\nand warm adherents, or by violent enemies and bigotted persecutors.\nThe former, from enthusiastic admiration, decorate them with every\nquality and accomplishment that can adorn men: the latter misrepresent\ntheir characters, and detract from all their merits and pretensions.\nThis general remark I have found to apply with peculiar force to the\nvarying accounts given, by Sikh and Muhammedan authors, of N\u00e1nac and\nhis successors. As it would have been an endless and unprofitable task\nto have entered into a disquisition concerning all the points in which\nthese authors differ, many considerations have induced me to give a\npreference, on almost all occasions, to the original Sikh writers. In\nevery research into the general history of mankind, it is of the most\nessential importance to hear what a nation has to say of itself; and\nthe knowledge obtained from such sources has a value, independent of\nits historical utility. It aids the promotion of social intercourse,\nand leads to the establishment of friendship between nations. The\nmost savage states are those who have most prejudices, and who are\nconsequently most easily conciliated or offended: they are always\npleased and flattered, when they find, that those whom they cannot\nbut admit to possess superior intelligence, are acquainted with their\nhistory, and respect their belief and usages: and, on the contrary,\nthey hardly ever pardon an outrage against their religion or customs,\nthough committed by men who have every right to plead the most profound\nignorance, as an excuse for the words or actions that have provoked\nresentment.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION I.\n\n  SKETCH OF THE HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE OF THE SIKHS; WITH\n  OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS, USAGES, MANNERS, AND\n  CHARACTER.\n\n\nN\u00e1nac Sh\u00e1h, the founder of the sect, since distinguished by the name\nof Sikhs[2], was born in the year of Christ 1469, at a small village\ncalled Talwandi[3], in the district of Bhatti, in the province of\nLahore. His father, whose name was C\u00e1l\u00fa[4], was of the Cshatr\u00edya\ncast, and V\u00e9d\u00ed tribe of Hind\u00fas, and had no family except N\u00e1nac, and\nhis sister N\u00e1naci, who married a Hind\u00fa of the name of Jayar\u00e1m, that\nwas employed as a grain-factor by Daulet Kh\u00e1n L\u00f3d\u00ed, a relation of the\nreigning emperor of Delhi. N\u00e1nac was, agreeably to the usage of the\ntribe in which he was born, married to a woman of respectable family,\nat an early age[5], by whom he had two sons, named Sr\u00edchand and Lacshm\u00ed\nD\u00e1s. The former, who abandoned the vanities of the world, had a son\ncalled Dherm Chand, who founded the sect of Ud\u00e1s\u00ed; and his descendants\nare yet known by the name of N\u00e1nac Putr\u00e1h, or the children of N\u00e1nac.\nLacshm\u00ed D\u00e1s addicted himself to the pleasures of this world, and left\nneither heirs nor reputation.\n\nN\u00e1nac is stated, by all Sikh writers, to have been, from his\nchildhood, inclined to devotion; and the indifference which this\nfeeling created towards all worldly concerns, appears to have been\na source of continual uneasiness to his father; who endeavoured, by\nevery effort, to divert his mind from the religious turn which it\nhad taken. With a view to effect this object, he one day gave N\u00e1nac\na sum of money, to purchase salt at one village, in order to sell it\nat another; in the hope of enticing him to business, by allowing him\nto taste the sweets of commercial profit. N\u00e1nac was pleased with the\nscheme, took the money, and proceeded, accompanied by a servant of\nthe name of B\u00e1la, of the tribe of Sand'h\u00fa, towards the village where\nhe was to make his purchase. He happened, however, on the road, to\nfall in with some Fak\u00edrs, (holy mendicants,) with whom he wished to\ncommence a conversation; but they were so weak, from want of victuals,\nwhich they had not tasted for three days, that they could only reply\nto the observations of N\u00e1nac by bending their heads, and other civil\nsigns of acquiescence. N\u00e1nac, affected by their situation, said to his\ncompanion, with emotion: \"My father has sent me to deal in salt, with a\nview to profit; but the gain of this world is unstable, and profitless;\nmy wish is to relieve these poor men, and to obtain that gain which is\npermanent and eternal.\" His companion[6] replied: \"Thy resolution is\ngood: do not delay its execution.\" N\u00e1nac immediately distributed his\nmoney among the hungry Fak\u00edrs; who, after they had gained strength from\nthe refreshment which it obtained them, entered into a long discourse\nwith him on the unity of God, with which he was much delighted. He\nreturned next day to his father, who demanded what profit he had made?\n\"I have fed the poor,\" said N\u00e1nac, \"and have obtained that gain for\nyou which will endure for ever.\" As the father happened to have little\nvalue for the species of wealth which the son had acquired, he was\nenraged at having his money so fruitlessly wasted, abused poor N\u00e1nac,\nand even struck him; nor could the mild representations of N\u00e1nac\u00ed save\nher brother from the violence of parental resentment. Fortune, however,\naccording to the Sikh narrators of this anecdote of their teacher's\nearly life, had raised him a powerful protector, who not only rescued\nhim from punishment, but established his fame and respectability upon\ngrounds that at once put him above all fear of future bad usage from\nhis low-minded and sordid father. When N\u00e1nac was quite a youth, and\nemployed to tend cattle in the fields, he happened to repose himself\none day under the shade of a tree; and, as the sun declined towards\nthe west, its rays fell on his face, when a large black snake[7],\nadvancing to the spot where he lay, raised itself from the ground,\nand interposed its spread hood between N\u00e1nac and the sun's rays. R\u00e1y\nBolar[8], the ruler of the district, was passing the road, near the\nplace where N\u00e1nac slept, and marked, in silence, though not without\nreflection, this unequivocal sign of his future greatness. This chief\noverheard C\u00e1l\u00fa punishing his son for his kindness to the Fak\u00edrs. He\nimmediately entered, and demanded the cause of the uproar; and, when\ninformed of the circumstances, he severely chid C\u00e1l\u00fa for his conduct,\nand interdicted him from ever again lifting his hand to N\u00e1nac, before\nwhom, to the astonishment of all present, he humbled himself with every\nmark of the most profound veneration. Though C\u00e1l\u00fa, from this event, was\nobliged to treat his son with more respect than formerly, he remained\nas solicitous as ever to detach him from his religious habits, and\nto fix him in some worldly occupation; and he prevailed upon Jayr\u00e1m,\nhis son-in-law, to admit him into partnership in his business. N\u00e1nac,\nobliged to acquiesce in these schemes, attended at the granary of\nDaulet Kh\u00e1n L\u00f3d\u00ed, which was in charge of Jayr\u00e1m; but though his hands\nwere employed in this work, and his kindness of manner made all the\ninhabitants of Sult\u00e1np\u00far, where the granary was established, his\nfriends, yet his heart never strayed for one moment from its object.\nIt was incessantly fixed on the Divinity; and one morning, as he sat\nin a contemplative posture, a holy Muhammedan Fak\u00edr approached, and\nexclaimed: \"Oh N\u00e1nac! upon what are thy thoughts now employed? Quit\nsuch occupations, that thou mayest obtain the inheritance of eternal\nwealth.\" N\u00e1nac is said to have started up at this exclamation, and\nafter looking for a moment in the face of the Fak\u00edr, he fell into a\ntrance; from which he had no sooner recovered, than he immediately\ndistributed every thing in the granary among the poor[9]: and, after\nthis act, proceeded with loud shouts out of the gates of the city, and\nrunning into a pool of water, remained there three days; during which\nsome writers assert he had an interview with the prophet Elias, termed\nby the Muhammedans, Khizzer, from whom he learnt all earthly sciences.\n\nWhile N\u00e1nac remained in the pool, abstracted from all worldly\nconsiderations, holding converse with a prophet, poor Jayr\u00e1m was put\nin prison by Daulet Kh\u00e1n L\u00f3d\u00ed, on the charge of having dissipated his\nproperty. N\u00e1nac, however, returned, and told Daulet Kh\u00e1n that Jayr\u00e1m\nwas faultless; that he was the object of punishment; and that, as such,\nhe held himself ready to render the strictest account of all he had\nlost. The Kh\u00e1n accepted his proposal: Jayr\u00e1m's accounts were settled;\nand, to the surprise of all, a balance was found in his favour; on\nwhich he was not only released, but reinstated in the employment and\nfavour of his master. We are told, by the Sikh authors, that these\nwonderful actions increased the fame of N\u00e1nac in a very great degree;\nand that he began, from this period, to practise all the austerities\nof a holy man; and, by his frequent abstraction in the contemplation\nof the divine Being, and his abstinence and virtue, he soon acquired\ngreat celebrity through all the countries into which he travelled.\n\nThere are many extravagant accounts regarding the travels of N\u00e1nac. One\nauthor[10], who treats of the great reform which he made in the worship\nof the true God, which he found degraded by the idolatry of the Hind\u00fas,\nand the ignorance of the Muhammedans, relates his journey to all the\ndifferent Hind\u00fa places of pilgrimage, and to Mecca, the holy temple of\nthe Muhammedans.\n\nIt would be tedious, and foreign to the purpose of this sketch, to\naccompany N\u00e1nac in his travels, of which the above-mentioned author,\nas well as others, has given the most circumstantial accounts. He was\naccompanied (agreeable to them) by a celebrated musician, of the name\nof Merdan\u00e1, and a person named B\u00e1la Sand'h\u00fa; and it is on the tradition\nof the latter of these disciples, that most of the miracles[11] and\nwonders of his journies are related. In Bengal, the travellers had to\nencounter all kinds of sorcerers and magicians. Poor Merdan\u00e1, who had\nsome of the propensities of Sancho, and preferred warm houses and good\nmeals to deserts and starvation, was constantly in trouble, and more\nthan once had his form changed into that of a sheep, and of several\nother animals. N\u00e1nac, however, always restored his humble friend to the\nhuman shape, and as constantly read him lectures on his imprudence.\nIt is stated, in one of those accounts, that a R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Sivan\u00e1b'hu\nendeavoured to tempt N\u00e1nac, by offering him all the luxuries of the\nworld, to depart from his austere habits, but in vain. His presents\nof rich meats, splendid clothes, and fair ladies, only afforded the\nSikh teacher so many opportunities of decrying the vanities of this\nworld, and preaching to the R\u00e1j\u00e1 the blessings of eternal life; and he\nat last succeeded in making him a convert, and resided at Sivan\u00e1b'hu\ntwo years and five months; during which period he composed the Pr\u00e1n\nSancali[12], for the instruction of his followers. After N\u00e1nac had\nvisited all the cities of India, and explained to all ranks the great\ndoctrines of the unity and omnipresence of God, he went to Mecca and\nMedina, where his actions, his miracles, and his long disputations\nwith the most celebrated Muhammedan saints and doctors, are most\ncircumstantially recorded by his biographers. He is stated, on this\noccasion, to have maintained his own principles, without offending\nthose of others; always professing himself the enemy of discord, and\nas having no object but to reconcile the two faiths of the Muhammedans\nand Hind\u00fas in one religion; which he endeavoured to do by recalling\nthem to that great and original tenet, in which they both believed,\nthe unity of God, and by reclaiming them from the numerous errors\ninto which they had fallen. During his travels, N\u00e1nac was introduced\nto the emperor B\u00e1ber[13], before whom he is said to have defended\nhis doctrine with great firmness and eloquence. B\u00e1ber was pleased\nwith him, and ordered an ample maintenance to be bestowed upon him;\nwhich the Sikh priest refused; observing, that he trusted in him who\nprovided for all men, and from whom alone a man of virtue and religion\nwould consent to receive favour or reward. When N\u00e1nac returned from\nhis travels, he cast off the garments of a Fak\u00edr, and wore plain\nclothes, but continued to give instructions to his numerous disciples;\nand he appears, at this period, to have experienced the most violent\nopposition from the Hind\u00fa zealots, who reproached him with having laid\naside the habits of a Fak\u00edr, and with the impiety of the doctrines\nwhich he taught. These accusations he treated with great contempt;\nand an author, before cited, Bhai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s Vali, states, that when\nhe visited Vat\u00e1la, he enraged the Y\u00f3g\u00edswaras[14] so much, that they\ntried all their powers of enchantment to terrify him. \"Some,\" says\nthis writer, \"assumed the shape of lions and tigers, others hissed\nlike snakes, one fell in a shower of fire, and another tore the stars\nfrom the firmament;\" but N\u00e1nac remained tranquil: and when required to\nexhibit some proof of his powers that would astonish them, he replied:\n\"I have nothing to exhibit worthy of you to behold. A holy teacher has\nno defence but the purity of his doctrine: the world may change, but\nthe Creator is unchangeable.\" These words, adds the author, caused the\nmiracles and enchantments of the Y\u00f3g\u00edswaras to cease, and they all fell\nat the feet of the humble N\u00e1nac, who was protected by the all perfect\nGod.\n\nN\u00e1nac, according to the same authority, went from Vat\u00e1la to Mult\u00e1n,\nwhere he communed with the P\u00edrs, or holy fathers of the Muhammedan\nreligion of that country. \"I am come,\" said he, when he entered that\nprovince, \"into a country full of P\u00edrs, like the sacred Gang\u00e1, visiting\nthe ocean.\" From Mult\u00e1n he went to K\u00edrtip\u00far[15], where he threw off his\nearthly shape, and was buried near the bank of the river R\u00e1vi, which\nhas since overflowed his tomb. K\u00edrtip\u00far continues a place of religious\nresort and worship; and a small piece of N\u00e1nac's garment is exhibited\nto pilgrims, as a sacred relic, at his Dharmas\u00e1l\u00e1, or temple.\n\nIt would be difficult to give the character of N\u00e1nac[16] on the\nauthority of any account we yet possess. His writings, especially\nthe first chapters of the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, will, if ever translated, be\nperhaps a criterion by which he may be fairly judged; but the great\neminence which he obtained, and the success with which he combated the\nopposition which he met, afford ample reason to conclude that he was\na man of more than common genius: and this favourable impression of\nhis character will be confirmed by a consideration of the object of\nhis life, and the means he took to accomplish it. Born in a province\non the extreme verge of India, at the very point where the religion of\nMuhammed and the idolatrous worship of the Hind\u00fas appeared to touch,\nand at a moment when both these tribes cherished the most violent\nrancour and animosity towards each other, his great aim was to blend\nthose jarring elements in peaceful union, and he only endeavoured to\neffect this purpose through the means of mild persuasion. His wish was\nto recall both Muhammedans and Hind\u00fas to an exclusive attention to that\nsublimest of all principles, which inculcates devotion to God, and\npeace towards man. He had to combat the furious bigotry of the one, and\nthe deep-rooted superstition of the other; but he attempted to overcome\nall obstacles by the force of reason and humanity. And we cannot have a\nmore convincing proof of the general character of that doctrine which\nhe taught, and the inoffensive light in which it was viewed, than the\nknowledge that its success did not rouse the bigotry of the intolerant\nand tyrannical Muhammedan government under which he lived.\n\nN\u00e1nac did not deem either of his sons, before mentioned, worthy of\nthe succession to his spiritual functions, which he bequeathed to\na Cshatr\u00edya of the Tr\u00e9h\u00fan tribe, called Lehana, who had long been\nattached to him, and whom he had initiated in the sacred mysteries of\nhis sect, clothed in the holy mantle of a Fak\u00edr, and honoured with the\nname of Angad[17], which, according to some commentators, means _own\nbody_.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa Angad, for that is the name by which he is known by all Sikhs, was\nborn at the village of Khand\u00far, on the bank of the B\u00e9yah, or Hyphasis,\nin the province of Lahore. His life does not appear to have been\ndistinguished by any remarkable actions. He taught the same doctrine as\nN\u00e1nac, and wrote some chapters that now form part of the Grant'h. He\nleft two sons, V\u00e1su and D\u00e1tu, but neither of them was initiated; and\nhe was succeeded, at his death[18], which happened in the year A. D.\n1552, and of the Samvat 1609, by Amera D\u00e1s, a Cshatr\u00edya of the tribe of\nB'hal\u00e9, who performed the duties of a menial towards him for upwards\nof twelve years. It is stated, that the daily occupation of Amera D\u00e1s\nwas to bring water from the B\u00e9yah river, a distance of six miles, to\nwash the feet of his master; and that one night, during a severe storm,\nas he was returning from his journey, his foot slipped, and he fell\nand broke the vessel that contained the river water, opposite the\ndoor of a weaver, who lived next house to Angad. The weaver, startled\nat the noise, demanded, in a loud voice, of his wife, from whence it\nproceeded. The woman, who was well acquainted with the daily toils and\nthe devotion of Angad's servant, replied, \"It was poor Amera D\u00e1s, who\nknows neither the sweets of sleep by night, nor of rest by day.\" This\nconversation was overheard by Angad; and when Amera D\u00e1s came, next\nmorning, to perform his usual duties, he treated him with extraordinary\nkindness, and said: \"You have endured great labour; but, henceforward,\nenjoy rest.\" Amera D\u00e1s was distinguished for his activity in preaching\nthe tenets of N\u00e1nac, and was very successful in obtaining converts\nand followers; by the aid of whom he established some temporal power,\nbuilt Kujar\u00e1w\u00e1l, and separated from the regular Sikhs the Ud\u00e1s\u00ed sect,\nwhich was founded by Dherm-Chand, the son of N\u00e1nac, and was probably\nconsidered, at that period, as heretical.\n\nAmera D\u00e1s had two children, a son named M\u00f3han, and a daughter named\nM\u00f3hani, known by the name of B'h\u00e1ini; regarding whose marriage he\nis stated to have been very anxious: and as this event gave rise to\na dynasty of leaders, who are almost adored among the Sikhs, it is\nrecorded with much minuteness by the writers of that nation.\n\nAmera D\u00e1s had communicated his wishes, regarding the marriage of\nB'h\u00e1ini, to a Br\u00e1hmen, who was his head servant, and directed him to\nmake some inquiries. The Br\u00e1hmen did so, and reported to his master\nthat he had been successful, and had found a youth every way suited\nto be the husband of his daughter. As they were speaking upon this\nsubject in the street, Amera D\u00e1s asked what was the boy's stature?\n\"About the same height as that lad,\" said the Br\u00e1hmen, pointing to a\nyouth standing near them. The attention of Amera D\u00e1s was instantly\nwithdrawn from the Br\u00e1hmen, and intently fixed upon the youth to whom\nhe had pointed. He asked him regarding his tribe, his name, and his\nfamily. The lad said his name was R\u00e1m D\u00e1s, and that he was a Cshatr\u00edya,\nof a respectable family, of the S\u00f3ndi tribe, and an inhabitant of\nthe village of G\u00f3ndaw\u00e1l. Amera D\u00e1s, pleased with the information he\nhad received, took no more notice of the Br\u00e1hmen and his choice of a\nson-in-law, but gave his daughter to the youth whom fortune had so\ncasually introduced to his acquaintance[19]. Amera D\u00e1s died in the\nyear A. D. 1574, and of the Samvat 1631, at the village of G\u00f3ndaw\u00e1l,\nin the province of Lahore, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, R\u00e1m\nD\u00e1s[20], whom he had initiated in the sacred mysteries of his holy\nprofession, and who became famous for his piety, and still more from\nthe improvements he made at Amritsar, which was for some time called\nR\u00e1mp\u00far, or R\u00e1md\u00e1sp\u00far, after him. Some Sikh authorities ascribe the\nfoundation of this city to him, which is not correct, as it was a very\nancient town, known formerly under the name of Chak. He, however, added\nmuch to its population, and built a famous tank, or reservoir of water,\nwhich he called Amritsar, a name signifying the water of immortality,\nand which has become so sacred, that it has given its name, and\nimparted its sanctity, to the town of R\u00e1md\u00e1sp\u00far, which has become the\nsacred city of the Sikh nation, and is now only known by the name of\nAmritsar.\n\nAfter a life passed in the undisturbed propagation of his tenets, in\nexplanation of which he wrote several works, he died, in the year A. D.\n1581, and of the Samvat 1638, at Amritsar, leaving two sons, Arjunmal\nand Bharatmal. He was succeeded by the former[21], who has rendered\nhimself famous by compiling the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h[22]. The Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, or\nfirst sacred volume of the Sikhs, contains ninety-two sections: it was\npartly composed by N\u00e1nac and his immediate successors, but received its\npresent form and arrangement from Arjunmal[23], who has blended his\nown additions with what he deemed most valuable in the compositions of\nhis predecessors. It is Arjun, then, who ought, from this act, to be\ndeemed the first who gave consistent form and order to the religion of\nthe Sikhs: an act which, though it has produced the effect he wished,\nof uniting that nation more closely, and of increasing their numbers,\nproved fatal to himself. The jealousy of the Muhammedan government was\nexcited, and he was made its sacrifice. The mode of his death, which\nhappened in the year of Christ 1606, and of the Samvat 1663, is related\nvery differently by different authorities: but several of the most\nrespectable agree in stating, that his martyrdom, for such they term\nit, was caused by the active hatred of a rival Hind\u00fa zealot, Dan\u00edchand\nCshatr\u00edya, whose writings he refused to admit into the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, on\nthe ground that the tenets inculcated in them were irreconcileable to\nthe pure doctrine of the unity and omnipotence of God, taught in that\nsacred volume. This rival had sufficient influence with the Muhammedan\ngovernor of the province to procure the imprisonment of Arjun; who\nis affirmed, by some writers, to have died from the severity of his\nconfinement; and, by others, to have been put to death in the most\ncruel manner. In whatever way his life was terminated, there can be no\ndoubt, from its consequences, that it was considered, by his followers,\nas an atrocious murder, committed by the Muhammedan government; and the\nSikhs, who had been, till then, an inoffensive, peaceable sect, took\narms under Har G\u00f3vind, the son of Arjunmal, and wreaked their vengeance\nupon all whom they thought concerned in the death of their revered\npriest.\n\nThe contest carried on by Har G\u00f3vind against the Muhammedan chiefs in\nthe Penj\u00e1b, though no doubt marked by that animosity which springs from\na deep and implacable sense of injury on one part, and the insolence\nand violence of insulted power on the other, could not have been of\ngreat magnitude or importance, else it would have been more noticed by\ncontemporary Muhammedan writers; but it was the first fruits of that\ndesperate spirit of hostility, which was soon after to distinguish the\nwars between the followers of N\u00e1nac and those of Muhammed: and, from\nevery account of Har G\u00f3vind's life, it appears to have been his anxious\nwish to inspire his followers with the most irreconcileable hatred of\ntheir oppressors.\n\nIt is stated, that this warlike[24] G\u00far\u00fa, or priest militant, wore\ntwo swords in his girdle. Being asked why he did so: \"The one,\" said\nhe, \"is to revenge the death of my father; the other, to destroy the\nmiracles of Muhammed.\"\n\nHar G\u00f3vind is reputed, by some authors, to have been the first who\nallowed his followers to eat[25] the flesh of all animals, with the\nexception of the cow: and it appears not improbable that he made\nthis great change in their diet at the time when he effected a still\nmore remarkable revolution in their habits, by converting a race of\npeaceable enthusiasts into an intrepid band of soldiers[26]. He had\nfive sons, B\u00e1b\u00fa G\u00far\u00fadaitya, Saurat Singh, T\u00e9gh Bah\u00e1dur, Anna R\u00e1y, and\nAtal R\u00e1y. The two last died without descendants. Saurat Singh and\nT\u00e9gh Singh, or T\u00e9gh Bah\u00e1dur, were, by the cruel persecution of the\nMuhammedans, forced to fly into the mountains to the northward of the\nPenj\u00e1b. His eldest son, Guruda\u00edtya, died early, but left two sons,\nD\u00e1harmal and Har R\u00e1y; the latter of whom succeeded his grandfather,\nwho died in the year A. D. 1644, and of the Samvat 1701. It does not\nappear that Har R\u00e1y enjoyed much temporal power, or that he entered\ninto any hostilities with the Muhammedans: his rule was tranquil, and\npassed without any remarkable event; owing, probably, to the vigor\nwhich the Muhammedan power had attained in the early part of the reign\nof Aurungz\u00e9b. At his death, which happened in the year A. D. 1661, and\nof the Samvat 1718, a violent contest arose among the Sikhs, regarding\nthe succession to the office of spiritual leader; for the temporal\npower of their ruler was, at this period, little more than nominal.\nThe dispute between his sons, or, as some Sikh authors state, his son\nand grandson, Har Crishn and R\u00e1m R\u00e1y, was referred to Dehli, whither\nboth parties went; and, by an imperial decree of Aurungz\u00e9b, the Sikhs\nwere allowed to elect their own priest. They chose Har Crishn, who\ndied at Dehli in the year A. D. 1664, and of the Samvat 1721; and was\nsucceeded by his uncle, T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur. He, however, had to encounter the\nmost violent opposition from his nephew, R\u00e1m R\u00e1y[27], who remained at\nDehli, and endeavoured, by every art and intrigue, to effect his ruin:\nhe was seized, and brought to Dehli, in consequence of his nephew's\nmisrepresentations; and, after being in prison for two years, was\nreleased at the intercession of Jayasingh, R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Jayap\u00far, whom he\naccompanied to Bengal. T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur afterwards took up his abode at\nthe city of Patna[28]; but was pursued, agreeable to Sikh authors, to\nhis retreat, with implacable rancour, by the jealousy and ambition of\nR\u00e1m R\u00e1y; who at last accomplished the destruction of his rival. He was\nbrought from Patna, and, by the accounts of the same authors, publicly\nput to death, without even the allegation of a crime, beyond a firm\nand undaunted assertion of the truth of that faith of which he was\nthe high priest. This event is said to have taken place in the year\nA. D. 1675, and of the Samvat 1732: but the Sikh records of their own\nhistory, from the death of Har G\u00f3vind to that of T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur, are\ncontradictory and unsatisfactory, and appear to merit little attention.\nThe fact is, that the sect was almost crushed, in consequence of their\nfirst effort to attain power, under Har G\u00f3vind; and, from the period\nof his death to that of T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur, the Mogul empire was, as has\nbeen before stated, in the zenith of its power, under Aurungz\u00e9b: and\nthe Sikhs, who had never attained any real strength, were rendered\nstill weaker by their own internal dissensions. Their writers have\nendeavoured to supply this chasm in their history by a fabulous account\nof the numerous miracles which were wrought by their priests, R\u00e1m R\u00e1y,\nHar Crishn, and even the unfortunate T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur, at Delhi, all of\nwhom are said to have astonished the emperor and his nobles, by a\ndisplay of their supernatural powers: but their wide difference from\neach other, in these relations, would prove, if any proof was wanting,\nthat all the annals of that period are fabricated.\n\nThe history of the Sikhs, after the death of T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur, assumes\na new aspect. It is no longer the record of a sect, who, revering\nthe conciliatory and mild tenets of their founder, desired more to\nprotect themselves than to injure others; but that of a nation, who,\nadding to a deep sense of the injuries they had sustained from a\nbigotted and overbearing government, all the ardour of men commencing\na military career of glory, listened, with rapture, to a son glowing\nwith vengeance against the murderers of his father, who taught a\ndoctrine suited to the troubled state of his mind, and called upon\nhis followers, by every feeling of manhood, to lay aside their\npeaceable habits, to graft the resolute courage of the soldier on the\nenthusiastic faith of the devotee, to swear eternal war with the cruel\nand haughty Muhammedans, and to devote themselves to _steel_, as the\nonly means of obtaining every blessing that this world, or that to\ncome, could afford to mortals.\n\nThis was the doctrine of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, the son of T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur; who,\nthough very young at his father's death, had his mind imbued with the\ndeepest horror at that event, and cherished a spirit of implacable\nresentment against those whom he considered as his murderers. Devoting\nhis life to this object, we find him, when quite a youth, at the head\nof a large party of his followers, amid the hills of Sr\u00ednagar, where\nhe gave proofs of that ardent and daring mind, which afterwards raised\nhim to such eminence. He was not, however, able to maintain himself\nagainst the prince of that country, with whom he had entered into\nhostilities; and, being obliged to leave it, he went to the Penj\u00e1b,\nwhere he was warmly welcomed by a Hind\u00fa chief in rebellion against the\ngovernment. This chief gave G\u00f3vind possession of M\u00e1k'hav\u00e1l[29], and\nseveral other villages, where he settled with his followers, and repaid\nhis benefactor by aiding him in his depredations. G\u00f3vind appears, at\nthis moment, to have been universally acknowledged by the Sikhs, as\ntheir Sat-g\u00far\u00fa, or chief spiritual leader; and he used the influence\nwhich that station, his sufferings, and the popularity of his cause,\ngave him, to effect a complete change in the habits and religion of\nhis countrymen[30]. It would be tedious and useless to follow the Sikh\nwriters through those volumes of fables in which they have narrated\nthe wonders that prognosticated the rise of this, the most revered of\nall their priests, to power; or to enter, at any length, into those\naccounts which they, and G\u00f3vind himself, for he is equally celebrated\nas an author and as a warrior, have given of his exploits. It will be\nsufficient, for the purpose of this sketch, to state the essential\nchanges which he effected in his tribe, and the consequences of his\ninnovations.\n\nThough the Sikhs had already, under Har G\u00f3vind, been initiated in\narms, yet they appear to have used these only in self-defence: and\nas every tribe of Hind\u00fas, from the Br\u00e1hmen to the lowest of the\nS\u00fadra, may, in cases of necessity, use them without any infringement\nof the original institutions of their tribe, no violation of these\ninstitutions was caused by the rules of N\u00e1nac; which, framed with a\nview to conciliation, carefully abstained from all interference with\nthe civil institutes of the Hind\u00fas. But his more daring successor, G\u00far\u00fa\nG\u00f3vind, saw that such observances were at variance with the plans of\nhis lofty ambition; and he wisely judged, that the only means by which\nhe could ever hope to oppose the Muhammedan government with success,\nwere not only to admit converts from all tribes, but to break, at once,\nthose rules by which the Hind\u00fas had been so long chained; to arm, in\nshort, the whole population of the country, and to make worldly wealth\nand rank an object to which Hind\u00fas, of every class, might aspire.\n\nThe extent to which G\u00f3vind succeeded in this design will be more fully\nnoticed in another place. It is here only necessary to state the\nleading features of those changes by which he subverted, in so short\na time, the hoary institutions of Brahm\u00e1[31], and excited terror and\nastonishment in the minds of the Muhammedan conquerors of India, who\nsaw the religious prejudices of the Hind\u00fas, which they had calculated\nupon as one of the pillars of their safety, because they limited the\ngreat majority of the population to peaceable occupations, fall before\nthe touch of a bold and enthusiastic innovator, who opened at once, to\nmen of the lowest tribe[32], the dazzling prospect of earthly glory.\nAll who subscribed to his tenets were upon a level, and the Br\u00e1hmen\nwho entered his sect had no higher claims to eminence than the lowest\nS\u00fadra who swept his house. It was the object of G\u00f3vind to make all\nSikhs equal[33], and that their advancement should solely depend upon\ntheir exertions: and well aware how necessary it was to inspire men\nof a low race, and of groveling minds, with pride in themselves, he\nchanged the name of his followers from Sikh to Singh, or lion; thus\ngiving to all his followers that honourable title which had been before\nexclusively assumed by the Rajap\u00fats, the first military class of\nHind\u00fas: and every Sikh felt himself at once elevated to rank with the\nhighest, by this proud appellation.\n\nThe disciples of G\u00f3vind were required to devote themselves to arms,\nalways to have _steel_ about them in some shape or other; to wear a\nblue dress; to allow their hair to grow; to exclaim, when they met each\nother, _W\u00e1! G\u00far\u00faj\u00ed k\u00e1 kh\u00e1lsah! W\u00e1! G\u00far\u00faj\u00ed k\u00ed futteh!_ which means,\n\"Success to the state of the G\u00far\u00fa! Victory attend the G\u00far\u00fa[34]!\" The\nintention of some of these institutions is obvious; such as that\nprinciple of devotion to _steel_, by which all were made soldiers; and\nthat exclamation, which made the success of their priest, and that of\nthe commonwealth, the object of their hourly prayer. It became, in\nfact, the watchword which was continually to revive, in the minds of\nthe Sikh disciple, the obligations he owed to that community of which\nhe had become a member, and to that faith which he had adopted.\n\nOf the causes which led G\u00f3vind to enjoin his followers to regard it as\nimpious to cut the hair of their heads, or shave their beards, very\ndifferent accounts are given. Several Muhammedan authors state, that\nboth this ordination, and the one which directed his followers to\nwear blue clothes, was given in consequence of his gratitude to some\nAfgh\u00e1n mountaineers, who aided his escape from a fort, in which he was\nbesieged, by clothing him in a chequered blue dress, and causing him to\nallow his hair to grow, in order to pass him for one of their own P\u00edrs,\nor holy fathers; in which they succeeded. This account, however, is\nnot supported by any Sikh writer; and one of the most respectable and\nbest informed authors of that sect states, that when G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind first\nwent to Anandp\u00far M\u00e1k'haval, which was also called C\u00e9sgher, or the house\nof hair, he spent much of his time in devotion, at a temple of D\u00farga\nBhavan\u00ed, the goddess of courage, by whom he was directed to unloose\nhis hair and draw his sword. G\u00f3vind, in consequence of this pretended\ndivine order, vowed he would preserve his hair, as consecrated to that\ndivinity, and directed his followers to do the same[35]. The origin\nof that blue chequered[36] dress, which was at one time worn by all\nG\u00f3vind's followers, and is still worn by the Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, or _never-dying_,\n(the most remarkable class of devotees of that sect,) is differently\nstated by different authors: but it appears probable, that both\nthese institutions proceeded from the policy of G\u00f3vind, who sought\nto separate his followers from all other classes of India, as much\nby their appearance as by their religion: and he judged with wisdom\nwhen he gave consequence to such distinctions; which, though first\nestablished as mere forms, soon supersede the substance of belief;\nand, when strengthened by usage, become the points to which ignorant\nand unenlightened minds have, in all ages of the world, shown the most\nresolute and unconquerable adherence.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind inculcated his tenets upon his followers by his preaching,\nhis actions, and his works; among which is the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1\nGrant'h, or the book of the tenth king or ruler; G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind being the\ntenth leader of the sect from N\u00e1nac. This volume, which is not limited\nto religious subjects, but filled with accounts of his own battles, and\nwritten with the view of stirring up a spirit of valour and emulation\namong his followers, is at least as much revered, among the Sikhs, as\nthe Ad\u00ed-Grant'h of Arjunmal. G\u00f3vind is said to have first instituted\nthe G\u00far\u00fa Mata, or state council, among the Sikhs; which meets at\nAmritsar. The constitution and usages of this national assembly will\nbe described hereafter: it is here only necessary to observe, that\nits institution adds one more proof to those already stated, of the\ncomprehensive and able mind of this bold reformer, who gave, by its\nfoundation, that form of a federative republic, to the commonwealth\nof the Sikhs, which was most calculated to rouse his followers from\ntheir indolent habits, and deep-rooted prejudices, by giving them a\npersonal share in the government, and placing within the reach of every\nindividual the attainment of rank and influence in the state.\n\nIt could not be expected that G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind could accomplish all those\ngreat schemes he had planned. He planted the tree; but it was not\npermitted, according to Sikh writers, that he should see it in that\nmaturity which it was destined to reach: and this, these authors state,\nwas foretold to him by some Br\u00e1hmens, skilled in necromancy. It would\nbe tedious to dwell on such fables[37]; and it is time to return to\nthe political life of G\u00f3vind, which is marked by but few events of\nimportance. These are either related by Muhammedan authors, who detract\nfrom all the pretensions of this enemy of their faith and name; by his\ndisciples, who exalt the slightest of his actions into the achievements\nof a divinity; or by himself, for he wrote an account of his own wars.\nThis last work, however, is more calculated to inflame the courage of\nhis followers, than to convey correct information of actual events.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind Singh, in the Vichitra N\u00e1tac, a work written by himself,\nand inserted in the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, traces the descent of\nthe Cshatr\u00edya tribe of S\u00f3nd\u00ed, to which he belongs, from a race of\nHind\u00fa R\u00e1j\u00e1s[38], who founded the cities of Cas\u00far and Lahore. He was\nborn, he states, at Pat\u00e1n, or Patna, and brought up at Madra D\u00e9s, in\nthe Penj\u00e1b. He went, after his father's death, to the banks of the\nC\u00e1l\u00ednd\u00ed, or Yamun\u00e1, and addicted himself to hunting the wild beasts of\nthe forest, and other manly diversions: but this occupation, he adds,\noffended the emperor of Dehli, who ordered chiefs, of the Muhammedan\nrace, to attack him. G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind describes, in this work, with great\nanimation, his own feats, and those of his friends[39], in the first\nof his actions; in which, by his account, the arrows of the Sikhs were\nvictorious over the sabres of the Muhammedans[40].\n\nThis first success appears to have greatly increased the number of\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind's followers, whom he established at Anandp\u00far, Kh\u00edl\u00f3r, and\nthe towns in their vicinity; where they remained, till called to aid\nthe R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Nad\u00f3n[41], Bh\u00edma Chand, who was threatened with an invasion\nby the R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Jammu; who had been excited to hostilities by M\u00eda Kh\u00e1n,\na Mogul chief, then at war with Bh\u00edma Chand.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind gives an account of this war, which consisted of attacking\nand defending the narrow passes of the mountains. He describes Bh\u00edma\nChand and himself as leading on their warriors, who advanced, he says,\nto battle, \"like a stream of flame consuming the forest.\" They were\ncompletely successful in this expedition; the R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Jammu, and his\nMuhammedan allies, having been defeated, and chased with disgrace\nacross the Satl\u00e9j.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind next relates the advance of the son of Dil\u00e1wer Kh\u00e1n against\nhim. The object of the Muhammedan chief appears to have been, to\nsurprise G\u00f3vind and his followers at night: but, when that project was\ndefeated, his troops were seized with a panic, and fled from the Sikhs\nwithout a contest. The father, enraged at the disgraceful retreat of\nhis son, collected all his followers, and sent Husain Kh\u00e1n, who made\nsuccessful inroads upon the Sikhs, taking several of their principal\nforts[42]. A general action at last took place, in which the Kh\u00e1n,\nafter performing prodigies of valour, was defeated, and lost his life.\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind was not present at this battle. \"The lord of the earth,\" he\nsays, \"detained me from this conflict, and caused the rain of steel to\ndescend in another quarter.\"\n\nDil\u00e1wer Kh\u00e1n and Rustam Kh\u00e1n next marched against the Sikhs, who appear\nto have been disheartened at the loss of some of their principal\nchiefs, and more at the accounts they received of Aurungz\u00e9b's rage at\ntheir progress, and of his having detached his son to the district of\nMadra[43], in order to take measures to quell them. At the prince's\napproach, \"every body,\" says G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, \"was struck with terror.\nUnable to comprehend the ways of the Eternal, several deserted me,\nand fled, and took refuge in the lofty mountains. These vile cowards\nwere,\" he adds, \"too greatly alarmed in mind to understand their own\nadvantage; for the emperor sent troops, who burnt the habitations of\nthose that had fled.\" He takes this occasion of denouncing every misery\nthat this world can bring, and all the pains and horrors of the next,\non those who desert their G\u00far\u00fa, or priest. \"The man who does this,\"\nhe writes, \"shall neither have child nor offspring. His aged parents\nshall die in grief and sorrow, and he shall perish like a dog, and be\nthrown into hell to lament.\" After many more curses on apostates, he\nconcludes this anathema by stating, that the good genius of prosperity\nin this world, and eternal blessings in the next, shall be the certain\nreward of all who remain attached to their G\u00far\u00fa: and, as an instance,\nhe affirms, that not one of those faithful followers, who had adhered\nto him at this trying crisis, had received the least injury[44].\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind closes his first work, the Vichitra N\u00e1tac, with a further\nrepresentation on the shame that attends apostasy, and the rewards that\nawait those that prove true to their religion; and he concludes by a\nprayer to the Deity, and a declaration of his intention to compose,\nfor the use of his disciples, a still larger work; by which the Sikhs\nconceive that he meant the rest of the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, of\nwhich the Vichitra N\u00e1tac forms the first section.\n\nAn account of G\u00f3vind's war with the R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Kahil\u00far[45], is found in a\nwork written in the D\u00fagar, or mountain dialect of the Penj\u00e1bi tongue,\nwhich gives an account of some other actions of this chief. Though\nthis account is greatly exaggerated, it no doubt states some facts\ncorrectly, and therefore merits a brief notice. According to this\nauthority, the R\u00e1j\u00e1s of Kahil\u00far, Jisw\u00e1l, and others, being defeated and\ndisgraced in several actions, applied to the court of Aurungz\u00e9b for aid\nagainst G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, from whom they stated that they had received great\ninjuries. When the emperor asked who made the complaint, the answer\nwas: \"It is the chief of Kahil\u00far, thy servant, who has been despoiled\nof his country by violence, though a faithful Zemindar (landholder),\nand one who has always been punctual in paying his contributions.\" Such\nwere the representations, this author states, by which they obtained\nthe aid of an army from the emperor.\n\nTheir combined forces proceeded against G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind and his followers,\nwho were obliged to shut themselves up in their fortresses, where they\nendured every misery that sickness and famine can bring upon a besieged\nplace. G\u00f3vind, after suffering the greatest hardships, determined to\nattempt his escape. He ordered his followers to leave the fort, one\nby one, at midnight, and to separate the moment they went out. The\nmisery of this separation, which divided the father from the child,\nthe husband from the wife, and brothers from sisters, was horrible;\nbut it was the only chance which they had of safety, and his orders\nwere obeyed. He himself went, among the rest; and, after undergoing\ngreat fatigue, and escaping many dangers, he arrived at Chamk\u00f3ur, by\nthe R\u00e1j\u00e1 of which place he was received in a kind and friendly manner.\nHis enemies had entered the fortress which G\u00f3vind left, the moment\nhe fled, and made many prisoners; among which were his mother and\nhis two children, who were carried to Foujdar Kh\u00e1n, the governor of\nSirhind, by whose orders they were inhumanly massacred[46]. The army\nof the emperor, aided by the R\u00e1j\u00e1s hostile to G\u00f3vind, next marched to\nChamk\u00f3ur, and encompassed it on all sides. G\u00f3vind, in despair, clasping\nhis hands, called upon the goddess of the sword[47]. \"The world sees,\"\nhe exclaimed, \"that we have no help but thee!\" saying which, he\nprepared, with his few followers, to make the most desperate resistance.\n\nThe emperor's army, employed at this period against G\u00f3vind, was\ncommanded by Khw\u00e1jeh Muhammed and Nahar Kh\u00e1n, who deputed, at the\ncommencement of the siege, an envoy to the Sikh leader, with the\nfollowing message: \"This army is not one belonging to R\u00e1j\u00e1s and R\u00e1n\u00e1s:\nit is that of the great Aurungz\u00e9b: show, therefore, thy respect, and\nembrace the true faith.\" The envoy proceeded, in the execution of his\nmission, with all the pride of those he represented. \"Listen,\" said\nhe, from himself to G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, \"to the words of the Naw\u00e1b: leave off\ncontending with us, and playing the infidel; for it is evident you\nnever can reap advantage from such an unequal war.\" He was stopped by\nAjit Singh, the son of G\u00f3vind, from saying more. That youth, seizing\nhis scimetar, exclaimed: \"If you utter another word, I will humble\nyour pride: I will smite your head from your body, and cut you to\npieces, for daring to speak such language before our chiefs.\" The blood\nof the envoy boiled with rage, and he returned with this answer to his\nmaster.\n\nThis effort to subdue the fortitude and faith of G\u00f3vind having failed,\nthe siege commenced with great vigour. A long description is given by\nB'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s B'hal\u00e9 and other Sikh authors, of the actions that were\nperformed. Amongst the most distinguished, were those of the brave, but\nunfortunate, Ajit Singh[48], the son of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, whose death is\nthus recorded: \"A second time the Kh\u00e1n advanced, and the battle raged.\nSome fought, some fled. Ajit Singh, covered with glory, departed to\nSwarga (heaven). Indra[49], first of the gods (D\u00e9vat\u00e1s), advanced with\nthe celestial host to meet him; he conducted him to D\u00e9vap\u00far, the city\nof the gods, and seated him on a celestial throne: having remained\nthere a short time, he proceeded to the region of the sun. Thus,\" he\nconcludes, \"Ajit Singh departed in glory; and his fame extends over\nthree worlds, for the fame of the warrior lives for ever.\"\n\nThough G\u00f3vind showed an invincible spirit, and performed prodigies\nof valour, having killed, with his own hand, Nahar Kh\u00e1n, and wounded\nKhw\u00e1jeh Muhammed, the other leader of the emperor's troops, it was\nimpossible to contend longer against such superior numbers; and he at\nlast, taking advantage of a dark night, fled from Chamk\u00f3ur, covering\nhis face, according to the Sikh author, from shame at his own disgrace.\n\nThis sketch of the life of G\u00f3vind is compiled from his own works, and\nthose of other Sikh writers, such as Nand and B'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s; and the\nevents recorded, allowing for the colouring with which such narratives\nare written in the East, appear to be correct: the leading facts are\nalmost all established by the evidence of contemporary Muhammedan\nwriters, to whom we must trust for the remainder of his history; as\nthe authorities we have followed end at the period of his flight from\nChamk\u00f3ur.\n\nMost accounts agree that G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, after his flight, was, from a\nsense of his misfortunes, and the loss of his children, bereft of\nhis reason, and wandered about for a considerable time in the most\ndeplorable condition. One account states, that he died in the Penj\u00e1b;\nanother, that he went to Patna, where he ended his days; a third, taken\nfrom a Sikh authority[50], asserts that G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, after remaining\nsome time in the Lak'hi-Jungle, to which he had fled, returned without\nmolestation to his former residence in the Penj\u00e1b; and that, so far\nfrom meeting with any persecution from the Muhammedan government, he\nreceived favours from the emperor, Bah\u00e1der Sh\u00e1h; who, aware of his\nmilitary talents, gave him a small military command in the Dek'hin,\nwhere he was stabbed by a Pat\u00e1n soldier's son, and expired of his\nwounds, in the year 1708, at Nad\u00e9r, a town situated on the Godaveri\nriver, about one hundred miles from Haiderabad.\n\nIt is sufficiently established, from these contradictory and imperfect\naccounts of the latter years of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, that he performed no\nactions worthy of record after his flight from Chamk\u00f3ur: and when we\nconsider the enthusiastic ardour of his mind, his active habits, his\nvalour, and the insatiable thirst of revenge, which he had cherished\nthrough life, against the murderers of his father, and the oppressors\nof his sect, we cannot think, when that leading passion of his mind\nmust have been increased by the massacre of his children, and the\ndeath or mutilation[51] of his most attached followers, that he would\nhave remained inactive; much less that he would have sunk into a\nservant of that government, against which he had been in constant\nrebellion: nor is it likely that such a leader as G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind could\never have been trusted by a Muhammedan prince: and there appears,\ntherefore, every reason to give credit to those accounts which\nstate, that mental distraction, in consequence of deep distress and\ndisappointment, was the cause of the inactivity of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind's\ndeclining years. Nor is such a conclusion at all at variance with the\nfact of his being killed at Nad\u00e9r, as it is probable, even if he was\nreduced to the state described, that he continued, till the close of\nhis existence, that wandering and adventurous life to which he had been\nso early accustomed.\n\nIn the character of this reformer of the Sikhs, it is impossible not\nto recognise many of those features which have distinguished the most\ncelebrated founders of political communities. The object he attempted\nwas great and laudable. It was the emancipation of his tribe from\noppression and persecution; and the means which he adopted, were such\nas a comprehensive mind could alone have suggested. The Muhammedan\nconquerors of India, as they added to their territories, added to their\nstrength, by making proselytes through the double means of persuasion\nand force; and these, the moment they had adopted their faith, became\nthe supporters of their power against the efforts of the Hind\u00fas; who,\nbound in the chains of their civil and religious institutions, could\nneither add to their number by admitting converts, nor allow more than\na small proportion of the population of the country to arm against\nthe enemy. G\u00f3vind saw that he could only hope for success by a bold\ndeparture from usages which were calculated to keep those, by whom they\nwere observed, in a degraded subjection to an insulting and intolerant\nrace. \"You make Hind\u00fas Muhammedans, and are justified by your laws,\"\nhe is said to have written to Aurungz\u00e9b: \"now I, on a principle of\nself-preservation, which is superior to all laws, will make Muhammedans\nHind\u00fas[52]. You may rest,\" he added, \"in fancied security: but beware!\nfor I will teach the sparrow to strike the eagle to the ground.\" A fine\nallusion to his design of inspiring the lowest races among the Hind\u00fas\nwith that valour and ambition which would lead them to perform the\ngreatest actions.\n\nThe manner in which G\u00f3vind endeavoured to accomplish the great plan\nhe had formed, has been exhibited in the imperfect sketch given of\nhis life. His efforts to establish that temporal power in his own\nperson, of which he laid the foundation for his tribe, were daring and\nsuccessful in as great a degree as circumstances would admit: but it\nwas not possible he could create means, in a few years, to oppose, with\nsuccess, the force of one of the greatest empires in the universe. The\nspirit, however, which he infused into his followers, was handed down\nas a rich inheritance to their children; who, though they consider B\u00e1b\u00e1\nN\u00e1n\u00e1c as the author of their religion, revere, with a just gratitude,\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, as the founder of their worldly greatness and political\nindependence. They are conscious, indeed, that they have become,\nfrom the adoption of his laws and institutions, the scourge of their\nenemies; and have conquered and held, for more than half a century, the\nfinest portion of the once great empire of the house of Taim\u00far.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind was the last acknowledged religious ruler of the Sikhs.\nA prophecy had limited their spiritual guides to the number of ten;\nand their superstition, aided, no doubt, by the action of that spirit\nof independence which his institutions had introduced, caused its\nfulfilment. The success, however, of Banda, a Bair\u00e1gi, who was the\ndevoted follower and friend of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, established their union\nunder his banners. A short period after G\u00f3vind's death, the grief\nof Banda at the misfortune of his priest, is said, by Sikh authors,\nto have settled into a gloomy and desperate desire to revenge his\nwrongs. The confusion which took place on the death of Aurungz\u00e9b,\nwhich happened in the year 1707, was favourable to his wishes. After\nplundering the country, and defeating most of the petty Muhammedan\nchiefs that were opposed to him, he thought himself sufficiently strong\nto venture on an action with Foujdar Kh\u00e1n, the governor of the province\nof Sarhind, and the man of all others most abhorred by the Sikhs, as\nthe murderer of the infant children of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind. This action was\nfought with valour by the Muhammedans; and with all that desperation on\nthe part of the Sikhs, which the most savage spirit of revenge could\ninspire: and this, aided by the courage and conduct of their leader,\ngave them the victory, after a severe contest. Foujdar Kh\u00e1n fell, with\nmost of his army, to whom the enraged Sikhs gave no quarter. Nor was\ntheir savage revenge satiated by the destruction of the Muhammedan\narmy: they put to death the wife and children of Viz\u00edr Kh\u00e1n, and almost\nall the inhabitants of Sarhind. They destroyed or polluted the mosques\nof that city; and, in a spirit of wild and brutal rage, dug up the\ncarcasses of the dead, and exposed them to be devoured by beasts of\nprey. Encouraged by this success, and hardened by the lessons of Banda\nto deeds of the most horrid atrocity, the Sikhs rushed forward, and\nsubdued all the country between the Satl\u00e9j and the Jumna; and, crossing\nthat river, made inroads into the province of S\u00e1h\u00e1ranp\u00far[53]. It is\nunnecessary to state the particulars of this memorable incursion,\nwhich, from all accounts, appears to have been one of the severest\nscourges with which a country was ever afflicted. Every excess that the\nmost wanton barbarity could commit, every cruelty that an unappeased\nappetite of revenge could suggest, was inflicted upon the miserable\ninhabitants of the provinces through which they passed. Life was\nonly granted to those who conformed to the religion, and adopted the\nhabits and dress of the Sikhs; and if Beh\u00e1dur Sh\u00e1h had not quitted the\nDek'hin, which he did in A. D. 1710, there is reason to think the whole\nof Hind\u00fastan would have been subdued by these merciless invaders.\n\nThe first check the Sikhs received was from an army under Sult\u00e1n K\u00fali\nKh\u00e1n. That chief defeated one of their advanced corps at P\u00e1nipat'h,\nwhich, after being dispersed, fled to join their leader Banda, at\nSarhind. The death of Beh\u00e1dur Sh\u00e1h prevented this success from being\npursued; and the confusion which followed that event, was favourable\nto the Sikhs. Banda defeated Isl\u00e1m Kh\u00e1n, the viceroy of Lahore, and\none of his fanatic followers stabbed B\u00e1yez\u00edd Kh\u00e1n, the governor of\nSarhind, who had marched out of that town to encounter this army.\nThis, however, was the last of Banda's successful atrocities. Abdal\nS\u00e1mad Kh\u00e1n, a general of great reputation, was detached, with a large\narmy, by the emperor Farakhseir, against the Sikhs, whom he defeated\nin a very desperate action; in which, agreeable to Muhammedan authors,\nBanda performed prodigies of valour, and was only obliged to give way\nto the superior numbers and discipline of the imperialists. The Sikhs\nwere never able to make a stand after this defeat, and were hunted,\nlike wild beasts, from one strong hold to another, by the army of\nthe emperor; by whom their leader, and his most devoted followers,\nwere at last taken, after having suffered every extreme of hunger and\nfatigue[54].\n\nAbdal S\u00e1mad Kh\u00e1n put to death great numbers of the Sikhs after the\nsurrender of L\u00f3hgad, the fortress in which they took refuge; but sent\nBanda, and the principal chiefs of the tribe, to Dehli, where they were\nfirst treated with every kind of obloquy and insult, and then executed.\nA Muhammedan writer[55] relates the intrepidity with which these Sikh\nprisoners, but particularly their leader, Banda, met death. \"It is\nsingular,\" he writes, \"that these people not only behaved firmly during\nthe execution, but they would dispute and wrangle with each other who\nshould suffer first; and they made interest with the executioner to\nobtain the preference. Banda,\" he continues, \"was at last produced, his\nson being seated in his lap. His father was ordered to cut his throat,\nwhich he did, without uttering one word. Being then brought nearer the\nmagistrate's tribunal, the latter ordered his flesh to be torn off with\nred hot pincers; and it was in those moments he expired: his black soul\ntaking its flight, by one of those wounds, towards the regions for\nwhich it was so well fitted.\"\n\nThus perished Banda; who, though a brave and able leader, was one of\nthe most cruel and ferocious of men, and endeavoured to impart to his\nfollowers that feeling of merciless resentment which he cherished\nagainst the whole Muhammedan race, whom he appears to have thought\naccountable for the cruelty and oppression of a few individuals of the\npersuasion[56].\n\nThough the Sikhs, from being animated by a similar feeling, and\nencouraged by his first successes, followed Banda to the field, they\ndo not revere his memory; and he is termed, by some of their authors,\na heretic; who, intoxicated with victory, endeavoured to change the\nreligious institutions and laws of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, many of whose most\ndevoted followers this fierce chief put to death, because they refused\nto depart from those usages which that revered spiritual leader had\ntaught them to consider sacred. Among other changes, Banda wished to\nmake the Sikhs abandon their blue dress, to refrain from drinking and\neating flesh; and, instead of exclaiming _W\u00e1! G\u00far\u00faji ki Futteh! W\u00e1!\nKh\u00e1lsaji ki Futteh!_ the salutations directed by G\u00f3vind, he directed\nthem to exclaim, _Futteh D'herm! Futteh dersan!_ which means, \"Success\nto piety! Success to the sect!\" These innovations were very generally\nresisted; but the dreaded severity of Banda made many conform to his\norders. The class of Ac\u00e1l\u00eds[57], or immortals, who had been established\nby G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, continued to oppose the innovations with great\nobstinacy; and many of them suffered martyrdom, rather than change\neither their mode of salutation, diet, or dress; and, at the death of\nBanda, their cause triumphed. All the institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind were\nrestored: but the blue dress, instead of being, as at first, worn by\nall, appears, from that date, to have become the particular right of\nthe Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, whose valour, in its defence, well merited the exclusive\nprivilege of wearing this original uniform of a true Sikh.\n\nAfter the defeat and death of Banda, every measure was taken, that an\nactive resentment could suggest, not only to destroy the power, but to\nextirpate the race, of the Sikhs. An astonishing number of that sect\nmust have fallen, in the last two or three years of the contest with\nthe imperial armies, as the irritated Muhammedans gave them no quarter.\nAfter the execution of their chief, a royal edict was issued, ordering\nall who professed the religion of N\u00e1nac to be taken and put to death,\nwherever found. To give effect to this mandate, a reward was offered\nfor the head of every Sikh; and all Hind\u00fas were ordered to shave their\nhair off, under pain of death. The few Sikhs, that escaped this general\nexecution, fled into the mountains to the N. E. of the Penj\u00e1b, where\nthey found a refuge from the rigorous persecution by which their tribe\nwas pursued; while numbers bent before the tempest which they could not\nresist, and abandoning the outward usages of their religion, satisfied\ntheir consciences with the secret practice of its rites.\n\nFrom the defeat and death of Banda till the invasion of India by N\u00e1dir\nSh\u00e1h, a period of nearly thirty years, we hear nothing of the Sikhs;\nbut, on the occurrence of that event, they are stated to have fallen\nupon the peaceable inhabitants of the Penj\u00e1b, who sought shelter in\nthe hills, and to have plundered them of that property which they were\nendeavouring to secure from the rapacity of the Persian invader.\n\nEnriched with these spoils, the Sikhs left the hills, and built\nthe fort of Dalew\u00e1l, on the R\u00e1vi, from whence they made predatory\nincursions, and are stated to have added both to their wealth and\nreputation, by harassing and plundering the rear of N\u00e1dir Sh\u00e1h's army,\nwhich, when it returned to Persia, was encumbered with spoil, and\nmarched, from a contempt of its enemies, with a disregard to all order.\n\nThe weak state to which the empire of Hind\u00fastan was reduced; and the\nconfusion into which the provinces of Lahore and C\u00e1bul were thrown, by\nthe death of N\u00e1dir; were events of too favourable a nature to the Sikhs\nto be neglected by that race, who became daily more bold, from their\nnumbers being greatly increased by the union of all those who had taken\nshelter in the mountains; the readmission into the sect of those who,\nto save their lives, had abjured, for a period, their usages; and the\nconversion of a number of proselytes, who hastened to join a standard,\nunder which robbery was made sacred; and to plunder, was to be pious.\n\nAided with these recruits, the Sikhs now extended their irruptions\nover most of the provinces of the Penj\u00e1b: and though it was some time\nbefore they repossessed themselves of Amritsar, they began, immediately\nafter they quitted their fastnesses, to flock to that holy city at the\nperiods of their feasts. Some performed this pilgrimage in secret, and\nin disguise: but in general, according to a contemporary Muhammedan\nauthor, the Sikh horsemen were seen riding, at full gallop, towards\n\"their favourite shrine of devotion. They were often slain in making\nthis attempt, and sometimes taken prisoners; but they used, on such\noccasions, to seek, instead of avoiding, the crown of martyrdom: and\nthe same authority states, that an instance was never known of a Sikh,\ntaken in his way to Amritsar, consenting to abjure his faith.\"\n\nIt is foreign to the object of this sketch to enter into a detail of\nthose efforts by which the Sikhs rose into that power which they now\npossess. It will be sufficient to glance at the principal events which\nhave marked their progress, from the period of their emerging from the\nmountains, to which they had been driven after the death of Banda,\nto that of the conquest and subjection of those fine provinces over\nwhich their rule is now established. This sect, as has been before\nstated, have never admitted a spiritual leader since the death of G\u00far\u00fa\nG\u00f3vind. It was success, and the force of a savage but strong genius,\nwhich united them, for a period, under Banda; and they have, since his\ndeath, had no acknowledged general, leader, or prince. Each individual\nfollowed to the field the Sirdar or chief, who, from birth, the\npossession of property, or from valour and experience, had become his\nsuperior. These chiefs again were of different rank and pretensions:\na greater number of followers, higher reputation, the possession of\nwealth, or lands, constituted that difference; and, from one or other\nof these causes, one chief generally enjoyed a decided pre-eminence,\nand, consequently, had a lead in their military councils. But,\nnevertheless, they always went through the form of selecting a military\nleader at their G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1, or national council; where, however,\ninfluence prevailed, and the most powerful was certain of being elected.\n\nSuch a mode of government was in itself little calculated to give that\nstrength and union which the cause of the Sikhs required: but the\npeculiarities of their usages, the ardent character of their faith, the\npower of their enemies, and the oppression they endured, amply supplied\nthe place of all other ordinances. To unite and to act in one body,\nand on one principle, was, with the first Sikhs, a law of necessity:\nit was, amid the dangers with which they were surrounded, their only\nhope of success, and their sole means of preservation: and it was to\nthese causes, combined with the weakness and internal contests of their\nenemies, to which this sect owes its extraordinary rise,--not to their\nboasted constitution; which, whether we call it an oligarchy, which\nit really is; or a theocracy, which the Sikhs consider it; has not a\nprinciple in its composition that would preserve it one day from ruin,\nif vigorously assailed. But of this their history will furnish the best\nexample.\n\nEncouraged by the confusion which took place on the first Afgh\u00e1n[58]\ninvasion, the Sikhs made themselves masters of a considerable part of\nthe Du\u00e1b of R\u00e1vi and Jal\u00e9ndra[59], and extended their incursions to the\nneighbouring countries. They, however, at this period received several\nsevere checks from M\u00edr Manu, the governor of Lahore, who is said, by\nMuhammedan authors, to have been only withheld from destroying them by\nthe counsel of his minister, Kod\u00e1 Mal, who was himself a Sikh of the\nKhal\u00e1sa[60] tribe. M\u00edr Manu appointed Ad\u00edna B\u00e9g Kh\u00e1n to the charge of\nthe countries in which the Sikhs maintained themselves; and, as that\nable but artful chief considered this turbulent tribe in no other light\nthan as the means of his personal advancement, he was careful not to\nreduce them altogether; but, after defeating them in an action, which\nwas fought near Mak'hav\u00e1l, he entered into a secret understanding with\nthem, by which, though their excursions were limited, they enjoyed\na security to which they had been unaccustomed, and from which they\ngathered strength and resources for future efforts.\n\nAt the death of M\u00edr Manu[61], the Sikhs took all those advantages,\nwhich the local distractions of a falling empire offered them, of\nextending and establishing their power. Their bands, under their most\nactive leaders, plundered in every direction, and were successful in\nobtaining possession of several countries, from which they have never\nsince been expelled: and their success, at this period, was promoted,\ninstead of being checked, by the appointment of their old friend, Ad\u00edna\nB\u00e9g Kh\u00e1n, to Lahore; as that brave chief, anxious to defend his own\ngovernment against the Afgh\u00e1ns, immediately entered into a confederacy\nwith the Sikhs, whom he encouraged to plunder the territories of Ahmed\nSh\u00e1h Abd\u00e1li.\n\nThe Afgh\u00e1n monarch, resenting this predatory warfare, in which the\ngovernor of Lahore was supported by the court of Dehli, determined upon\ninvading India. Ad\u00edna B\u00e9g, unable to oppose him, fled; and the Sikhs\ncould only venture to plunder the baggage, and cut off the stragglers\nof the Afgh\u00e1n army; by which they so irritated Ahmed Sh\u00e1h, that he\nthreatened them with punishment on his return; and, when he marched\nto C\u00e1bul, he left his son, Taim\u00far Kh\u00e1n, and his viz\u00edr, Jeh\u00e1n Kh\u00e1n, at\nLahore, with orders to take vengeance on the Sikhs for all the excesses\nwhich they had committed. The first expedition of Taim\u00far Kh\u00e1n was\nagainst their capital, Amritsar, which he destroyed, filling up their\nsacred tank, and polluting all their places of worship: by which action\nhe provoked the whole race to such a degree, that they all assembled at\nLahore, and not only attempted to cut off the communication between the\nfort and country, but collected and divided the revenues of the towns\nand villages around it. Taim\u00far Kh\u00e1n, enraged at this presumption, made\nseveral attacks upon them, but was constantly defeated; and being at\nlast reduced to the necessity of evacuating Lahore, and retreating to\nC\u00e1bul, the Sikhs, under one of their celebrated leaders, called Jasa\nSingh Cal\u00e1l, immediately took possession of the vacant Subah of Lahore,\nand ordered rupees to be coined, with an inscription to the following\nimport: \"Coined by the grace of Kh\u00e1lsah j\u00ed, in the country of Ahmed,\nconquered by Jasa Singh Cal\u00e1l.\"\n\nThe Sikhs, who were so deeply indebted to the forbearance of Ad\u00edna B\u00e9g\nKh\u00e1n, now considered themselves above the power of that chief; who, in\norder to regain his government from them and the Afgh\u00e1ns, was obliged\nto invite the Mahr\u00e1ta leaders, Raghun\u00e1t'h R\u00e1o, S\u00e1heb Pateil, and Malh\u00e1r\nR\u00e1o, to enter the Penj\u00e1b. Aided by these chiefs, he first advanced to\nSarhind, where he was joined by some Sikhs that remained attached to\nhim. S\u00e1mad Kh\u00e1n, the officer who had been left in charge of Sarhind by\nAhmed Kh\u00e1n, found himself obliged to evacuate that place; which he had\nno sooner done, than the Sikhs began to plunder. The Mahr\u00e1tas, always\njealous of their booty, determined to attack and punish them for this\nviolation of what they deemed their exclusive privilege: but Ad\u00edna\nB\u00e9g receiving intelligence of their intentions, communicated it to\nthe Sikhs; who, taking advantage of the darkness of the night, saved\nthemselves by flight.\n\nAfter the fall of Sarhind, the Mahr\u00e1tas, accompanied by Ad\u00edna B\u00e9g\nKh\u00e1n, advanced to Lahore, and soon expelled both the Sikhs and the\nAfgh\u00e1ns from the principal towns of the provinces of Sarhind and\nLahore; of which they not only took possession, but sent a governor to\nthe province of Mult\u00e1n; and S\u00e1heb Pateil advanced to the Attock[62],\nwhere he remained for a few months. But the commotions of Hind\u00fastan\nand the Dek'hin soon obliged these foreigners to abandon the Penj\u00e1b;\nwhich they did the same year they had reduced it. They appointed Ad\u00edna\nB\u00e9g Kh\u00e1n governor of Lahore. He died in the ensuing year; and, by\nhis death, afforded an opportunity to the Sikhs, which they eagerly\nseized, to make themselves again masters of the province of Lahore.\nTheir success was, however, soon checked by Ahmed Sh\u00e1h Abd\u00e1li; who,\nirritated by their unsubdued turbulence, and obstinate intrepidity,\nmade every effort (after he had gained the victory of P\u00e1nipat'h, which\nestablished his supremacy at Dehli) to destroy their power; and, with\nthis view, he entered the Penj\u00e1b early in 1762, and overran the whole\nof that country with a numerous army, defeating and dispersing the\nSikhs in every direction. That sect, unable to make any stand against\nthe army of the Abd\u00e1li, pursued their old plan of retreating near the\nmountains; and collected a large force in the northern districts of\nSarhind, a distance of above one hundred miles from Lahore, where the\narmy of Ahmed Sh\u00e1h was encamped. Here they conceived themselves to be\nin perfect safety: but that prince made one of those rapid movements\nfor which he was so celebrated, and reaching the Sikh army on the\nsecond day, completely surprised, and defeated it with great slaughter.\nIn this action, which was fought in February, 1762, the Sikhs are said\nto have lost upwards of twenty thousand men, and the remainder fled\ninto the hills, abandoning all the lower countries to the Afgh\u00e1ns, who\ncommitted every ravage that a barbarous and savage enemy could devise.\nAmritsar was razed to the ground, and the sacred reservoir again\nchoaked with its ruins. Pyramids[63] were erected, and covered with\nthe heads of slaughtered Sikhs: and it is mentioned, that Ahmed Sh\u00e1h\ncaused the walls of those mosques, which the Sikhs had polluted, to be\nwashed with their blood, that the contamination might be removed, and\nthe insult offered to the religion of Muhammed expiated[64].\n\nThis species of savage retaliation appears to have animated, instead\nof depressing, the courage of the Sikhs; who, though they could not\nventure to meet Ahmed Sh\u00e1h's army in action, harassed it with an\nincessant predatory warfare; and, when that sovereign was obliged, by\nthe commotions of Afgh\u00e1nistan, to return to C\u00e1bul, they attacked and\ndefeated the general he had left in Lahore, and made themselves masters\nof that city, in which they levelled with the ground those mosques\nwhich the Afgh\u00e1ns had, a few months before, purified with the blood of\ntheir brethren.\n\nAhmed Sh\u00e1h, in 1763, retook Lahore, and plundered the provinces around\nit; but, being obliged to return to his own country in the ensuing\nyear, the Sikhs again expelled his garrison, and made themselves\nmasters of the Penj\u00e1b; and, from that period until his death, a\nconstant war was maintained, in which the enterprise and courage of\nthe Afgh\u00e1ns gradually gave way before the astonishing activity and\ninvincible perseverance of their enemies; who, if unable to stand a\ngeneral action, retreated to impenetrable mountains, and the moment\nthey saw an advantage, rushed again into the plains with renewed\nvigour, and recruited numbers. Several Sikh authors, treating of the\nevents of this period, mention a great action having been fought,\nby their countrymen, near Amritsar, against the whole Afgh\u00e1n army,\ncommanded by Ahmed Sh\u00e1h in person; but they differ with regard to the\ndate of this battle, some fixing it in 1762, and others later. They\npretend that the Sikhs, inspired by the sacredness of the ground on\nwhich this action was fought, contended for victory against superior\nnumbers with the most desperate fury, and that the battle terminated\nin both parties quitting the field, without either being able to claim\nthe least advantage. The historians of Ahmed Sh\u00e1h are, however, silent\nregarding this action; which, indeed, from all the events of his long\ncontests with the Sikhs, appears unlikely to have occurred. It is\npossible the Sikhs fought, at Amritsar, with a division of the Afgh\u00e1n\narmy, and that might have been commanded by the prince; but it is very\nimprobable they had ever force to encounter the concentrated army of\nthe Abd\u00e1lis; before which, while it remained in a body, they appear,\nfrom the first to the last of their contests with that prince, to have\nalways retreated, or rather fled.\n\nThe internal state of Afgh\u00e1nistan, since the death of Ahmed Sh\u00e1h,\nhas prevented the progress of the Sikh nation receiving any serious\ncheck from that quarter; and the distracted and powerless condition\nof the empire of India has offered province after province to their\nusurpation. Their history, during this latter period, affords little\nbut a relation of village warfare, and predatory incursions. Their\nhostilities were first directed against the numerous Muhammedan chiefs\nwho were settled in the Penj\u00e1b, and who defended, as long as they\ncould, their j\u00e1g\u00edrs, or estates, against them: but these have either\nbeen conquered, or reduced to such narrow limits, as to owe their\nsecurity to their insignificance, or the precarious friendship of\nsome powerful Sikh chief, whose support they have gained; and who,\nby protecting them against the other leaders of his tribe, obtains a\nslight accession of strength and influence.\n\nThe Sikh nation, who have, throughout their early history, always\nappeared, like a suppressed flame, to rise into higher splendour from\nevery attempt to crush them, had become, while they were oppressed,\nas formidable for their union, as for their determined courage and\nunconquerable spirit of resistance: but a state of persecution and\ndistress was the one most favourable for the action of a constitution\nlike theirs; which, formed upon general and abstract principles,\nrequired constant and great sacrifices of personal advantage to the\npublic good; and such can alone be expected from men, acting under the\ninfluence of that enthusiasm, which the fervor of a new religion, or a\nstruggle for independence, can alone impart, and which are ever most\nreadily made, when it becomes obvious to all, that a complete union in\nthe general cause is the only hope of individual safety.\n\nThe Sikhs would appear, from their own historians, to have attributed\nthe conquests they made entirely to their valour, and to have\naltogether forgot that they owed them chiefly to the decline of the\nhouse of Taim\u00far, and the dissensions of the government of C\u00e1bul.\nIntoxicated with their success, they have given way to all those\npassions which assail the minds of men in the possession of power.\nThe desire, which every petty chief entertained, of increasing his\nterritories, of building strong forts, and adding to the numbers of his\ntroops, involved them in internal wars; and these, however commenced,\nsoon communicated to numbers, who engaged in the dispute as passion or\ninterest dictated. Though such feuds have, no doubt, helped to maintain\ntheir military spirit, yet their extent and virulence have completely\nbroken down that union, which their great legislator, G\u00f3vind, laboured\nto establish. Quarrels have been transmitted from father to son; and,\nin a country where the infant is devoted to _steel_, and taught to\nconsider war as his only occupation, these could not but multiply in\nan extraordinary degree; and, independent of the comparative large\nconquests in which the greater chiefs occasionally engaged, every\nvillage[65] has become an object of dispute; and there are few, if any,\nin the Penj\u00e1b, the rule of which is not contested between brothers or\nnear relations[66]. In such a state, it is obvious, the Sikhs could\nalone be formidable to the most weak and distracted governments. Such,\nindeed, was the character, till within a very late period, of all their\nneighbours; and they continued to plunder, with impunity, the upper\nprovinces of Hind\u00fastan, until the establishment of the power of Daulet\nR\u00e1o Sind\u00ed\u00e1, when the regular brigades, commanded by French officers\nin the service of that prince, not only checked their inroads, but\nmade all the Sikh chiefs, to the southward of the Satl\u00e9j, acknowledge\nobedience and pay tribute to Sind\u00ed\u00e1: and it was in the contemplation of\nGeneral Perron, had the war with the English government not occurred,\nto have subdued the Penj\u00e1b, and made the Indus the limit of his\npossession: and every person acquainted with his means, and with the\ncondition and resources of the Sikhs, must be satisfied he would have\naccomplished this project with great ease, and at a very early period.\n\nWhen Holk\u00e1r fled into the Penj\u00e1b, in 1805, and was pursued by that\nillustrious British commander, Lord Lake, a complete opportunity was\ngiven of observing the actual state of this nation, which was found\nweak and distracted, in a degree that could hardly have been imagined.\nIt was altogether destitute of union. And though a G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1, or\nnational council, was called, with a view to decide on those means\nby which they could best avert the danger by which their country was\nthreatened, from the presence of the English and Mahr\u00e1ta armies, it\nwas attended by few chiefs: and most of the absentees, who had any\npower, were bold and forward in their offers to resist any resolution\nto which this council might come. The intrigues and negotiations of all\nappeared, indeed, at this moment, to be entirely directed to objects of\npersonal resentment, or personal aggrandizement; and every shadow of\nthat concord, which once formed the strength of the Sikh nation, seemed\nto be extinguished.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The sacred volume of the Sikhs. The chief, who gave me this copy,\nsent it at night, and with either a real or affected reluctance, after\nhaving obtained a promise that I would treat it with great respect. I\nunderstand, however, that the indefatigable research of Mr. Colebrooke\nhas procured not only the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, but also the Dasima P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1\nGrant'h; and that, consequently, he is in possession of the two most\nsacred books of the Sikhs.\n\n[2] Sikh or Sicsha, is a Sanscrit word, which means a disciple, or\ndevoted follower. In the Penj\u00e1b\u00ed it is corrupted into Sikh: it is a\ngeneral term, and applicable to any person that follows a particular\nteacher.\n\n[3] This village, or rather town, for such it has become, is now called\nR\u00e1yap\u00far. It is situated on the banks of the B\u00e9yah, or Hyphasis.\n\n[4] He is called, by some authors, K\u00e1l\u00fa V\u00e9d\u00ed; but V\u00e9d\u00ed is a name\nderived from his tribe or family.\n\n[5] Several Sikh authors have been very precise in establishing the\ndate of the consummation of this marriage, which they fix in the month\nof As\u00e1rh, of the Hind\u00fa \u00e6ra of Vicram\u00e1ditya, 1545.\n\n[6] B\u00e1la Sand'h\u00fa, who gave this advice, continued, through N\u00e1nac's\nlife, to be his favourite attendant and disciple.\n\n[7] The veneration which the Hind\u00fas have for the snake is well known;\nand this tradition, like many others, proves the attachment of the Sikh\nwriters to that mythology, the errors of which they pretend to have\nwholly abandoned.\n\n[8] R\u00e1y, a title inferior to that of a R\u00e1jah, generally applied to the\nHind\u00fa chief of a village, or small district.\n\n[9] This remarkable anecdote in N\u00e1nac's life is told very differently\nby different Sikh authors. I have followed the narrative of Bhacta\nMall\u00ed. They all agree in N\u00e1nac's having, at this period, quitted the\noccupations of the world, and become Fak\u00edr.\n\n[10] Bhai G\u00far\u00fa Vali, author of the Gny\u00e1na Ratn\u00e1vali, a work written in\nthe Sikh dialect of the Penj\u00e1b\u00ed.\n\n[11] Though his biographers have ascribed miracles to N\u00e1nac, we never\nfind that he pretended to work any: on the contrary, he derided those\nwho did, as deriving power from evil spirits.\n\n[12] It is believed that this work of N\u00e1nac has been incorporated in\nthe first part of the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h.\n\n[13] This interview must have taken place in 1526 or 1527; as it is\nstated to have been immediately after Daulet Kh\u00e1n L\u00f3d\u00ed had visited\nPaniput, in 1526; where that prince had fought, and subdued Ibrahim,\nemperor of Hind\u00fastan.\n\n[14] Recluse penitents, who, by means of mental and corporeal\nmortifications, have acquired a command over the powers of nature.\n\n[15] K\u00edrtip\u00far Dehra, on the banks of the R\u00e1vi, or Hydraotes.\n\n[16] He is, throughout this sketch, called N\u00e1nac. Muhammedan historians\ngenerally term him N\u00e1nac Sh\u00e1h, to denote his being a Fak\u00edr, the name\nof Sh\u00e1h being frequently given to men of celebrity in that sect. The\nSikhs, in speaking of him, call him B\u00e1b\u00e1 N\u00e1nac, or G\u00far\u00fa N\u00e1nac, father\nN\u00e1nac, or N\u00e1nac the teacher; and their writers term him N\u00e1nac Nirinkar,\nwhich means N\u00e1nac the omnipresent.\n\n[17] This fanciful etymology represents the word Angad as a compound\nof the Sanscrit _Ang_, which signifies _body_, and the Persian _Kh\u00fad_,\nwhich signifies _own_. This mixture of language is quite common in the\njargon of the Penj\u00e1b.\n\n[18] Angad died at Khand\u00far, a village about forty miles east of Lahore.\n\n[19] Though a contrary belief is inculcated by N\u00e1nac, the Sikhs, like\nthe Hind\u00fas, are inclined to be predestinarians, and this gives their\nminds a great tendency to view accidents as decrees of Providence; and\nit is probable that this instance of early good fortune in R\u00e1m D\u00e1s,\nby impressing his countrymen with an idea of his being particularly\nfavoured of Heaven, gave rise to an impression that promoted, in no\nslight degree, that success which it anticipated.\n\n[20] No dates of the events which occurred during the rule of R\u00e1m D\u00e1s\nare given in any of the authorities from which this sketch is drawn.\nOne author, however, states, that he lived in the time of Akber, and\nwas honoured with the favour of that truly tolerant and great emperor.\n\n[21] Arjunmal, or Arjun, as he is more commonly called, according to\nB'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s B'hal\u00e9, the author of the Gny\u00e1n Ratn\u00e1val\u00ed, was not\ninitiated in the sacred mysteries of his father. This author says, that\nArjun, though a secular man, did not suffer the office of G\u00far\u00fa, or\npriest, to leave the S\u00f3ndi tribe. \"Like a substance,\" he adds, \"which\nnone else could digest, the property of the family remained in the\nfamily.\"\n\n[22] Grant'h means book; but, as a mark of its superiority to all\nothers, is given to this work, as \"The Book.\" Ad\u00ed-Grant'h means,\nthe first Grant'h, or book, and is generally given to this work to\ndistinguish it from the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, or the book of the\ntenth king, composed by G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind.\n\n[23] Though the original Ad\u00ed-Grant'h was compiled by Arjunmal, from\nthe writings of N\u00e1nac, Angad, Amera D\u00e1s, and R\u00e1m D\u00e1s, and enlarged and\nimproved by his own additions and commentaries, some small portions\nhave been subsequently added by thirteen different persons, whose\nnumbers, however, are reduced, by the Sikh authors, to twelve and a\nhalf: the last contributor to this sacred volume being a woman, is only\nadmitted to rank in the list as a fraction, by these ungallant writers.\n\n[24] Several historical accounts of the Sikhs, particularly that\npublished by Major Browne, which is, in general, drawn from authentic\nsources, appear to be in error with regard to the period at which this\nrace first took arms, which the last author states to have occurred\nunder G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind; but several Sikh authors, of great respectability\nand information, agree in ascribing to the efforts of Har G\u00f3vind, the\nson of Arjun, this great change in the Sikh commonwealth; and their\ncorrectness, in this point, appears to be placed beyond all question,\nby a passage in the Ratn\u00e1val\u00ed of B'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s B'hal\u00e9; who observes,\n\"That five phials (of divine grace) were distributed to five P\u00edrs\n(holy men), but the sixth P\u00edr was a mighty G\u00far\u00fa (priest). Arjun threw\noff his earthly frame, and the form of Har G\u00f3vind mounted the seat of\nauthority. The S\u00f3ndi race continued exhibiting their different forms\nin their turns. Har G\u00f3vind was the destroyer of armies, a martial G\u00far\u00fa\n(priest), a great warrior, and performed great actions.\" The mistake\nof some European writers on this subject probably originated in a\nconfusion of verbal accounts; and the similarity of the name of Har\nG\u00f3vind, the son of Arjunmal, and G\u00f3v\u00ednd, the last and greatest of the\nSikh G\u00far\u00fas, the son of T\u00e9gh Bah\u00e1dur. In the Persian sketch, which Major\nBrowne translates, the name of Har G\u00f3vind is not mentioned. The son of\nArjunmal is called G\u00far\u00fa R\u00e1m R\u00e1y, which is obviously a mistake of the\nauthor of that manuscript.\n\n[25] N\u00e1nac had forbidden hog's flesh, though a common species of food\namong the lower tribe of Hind\u00fas, in compliance with the prejudices of\nthe Muhammedans, whom it was his great wish to reconcile to his faith\nby every concession and persuasion.\n\n[26] It is stated, by a Sikh author named Nand, that Har G\u00f3vind, during\nhis ministry, established the practice of invoking the three great\nHind\u00fa deities, Brahm\u00e1, Vishnu, and S\u00edva: but this is not confirmed by\nany other authority which I have seen.\n\n[27] The violent contests of the Sikhs are mentioned by most of\ntheir writers; and, though they disagree in their accounts, they all\nrepresent T\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur as falling the innocent sacrifice of Muhammedan\ndespotism and intolerance; which, from the evidence of all respectable\ncontemporary Muhammedan authors, would appear not to be the fact.\nT\u00e9gh Beh\u00e1dur, agreeable to them, provoked his execution by a series\nof crimes. He joined, they state, with a Moslem Fak\u00edr, of the name of\nHafiz ed D\u00edn; and, supported by a body of armed mendicants, committed\nthe most violent depredations on the peaceable inhabitants of the\nPenj\u00e1b. The author of the Seir Mut\u00e1khherin says he was, in consequence\nof these excesses, put to death at Gwalior, and his body cut into four\nquarters, one of which was hung up at each gate of the fortress.\n\n[28] A Sikh college was founded in that city.\n\n[29] A town on the Satl\u00e9j.\n\n[30] G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind is stated, by a Sikh author of respectability, B'hai\nG\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s B'hal\u00e9, to have been fourteen years of age when his father was\nput to death.\n\n[31] The object of N\u00e1nac was to abolish the distinctions of cast\namongst the Hind\u00fas, and to bring them to the adoration of that Supreme\nBeing, before whom all men, he contended, were equal. G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind,\nwho adopted all the principles of his celebrated predecessor, as far\nas religious usages were concerned, is reported to have said, on this\nsubject, that the four tribes of Hind\u00fas, the Br\u00e1hmen, Cshatr\u00edya,\nVaisya, and S\u00fadra, would, like _p\u00e1n_ (betle-leaf), _chun\u00e1m_ (lime),\n_sup\u00e1ri_ (betle-nut), and _khat_ (_terra japonica_, or _catechu_),\nbecome all of one colour, when well chewed.\n\n[32] Some men of the lowest Hind\u00fa tribe, of the occupation of sweepers,\nwere employed to bring away the corpse of T\u00e9gh B\u00e9hadur from Dehli.\nTheir success was rewarded by high rank and employment. Several of\nthe same tribe, who have become Sikhs, have been remarkable for their\nvalour, and have attained great reputation. They are distinguished,\namong the Sikhs, by the name of Ran-Rata Singh.\n\n[33] That is, equal in civil rights. He wished to remove the\ndisqualifications of birth, and do away cast. That he did not\ncompletely effect this object, and that some distinctions of their\nformer tribes, particularly those relating to intermarriage, should\nstill be kept up by the Sikhs, cannot be a matter of astonishment to\nthose acquainted with the deep-rooted prejudices of the Hind\u00fas upon\nthis point; which is as much a feeling of family pride as of religious\nusage.\n\n[34] Spiritual leader.\n\n[35] The goddess Durg\u00e1 Bhav\u00e1n\u00ed is said, by a Sikh author, to be\nrepresented, in some images, with her hair long and dishevelled.\n\n[36] This institution is also said to be borrowed from the Hind\u00fa\nmythology. B\u00e1la R\u00e1m, the elder brother of Crishna, wore blue clothes;\nfrom which he is called Nil\u00e1mbar, or _the clothed in dark blue_; and\nShitivas, or _the blue clothed_.\n\n[37] One of the most popular of these fables states, that in the year\nof the H\u00edjerah 1118, G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, agreeably to the directions he had\nreceived from two Br\u00e1hmen necromancers, threw a number of magical\ncompounds, given him by these Br\u00e1hmens, into a fire, near which he\ncontinued in prayers for several days. A sword of lightning at last\nburst from the flame of fire; but G\u00f3vind, instead of seizing this\nsword in an undaunted manner, as he was instructed, was dazzled by its\nsplendour, and shrunk from it in alarm. The sword instantly flew to\nheaven; from whence a loud voice was heard to say, \"G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind! thy\nwishes shall be fulfilled by thy posterity, and thy followers shall\ndaily increase.\" The Br\u00e1hmens were in despair at this failure; but,\nafter deep reflection, they told G\u00f3vind, there was still one mode of\nacquiring that honour for himself, which appeared, by the decree that\nhad been pronounced, doomed for his posterity. If he would only allow\nthem to take off his head, and throw it into the fire, he would be\nresuscitated to the enjoyment of the greatest glory. The G\u00far\u00fa excused\nhimself from trying this experiment, declaring that he was content\nthat his descendants should enjoy the fruits of that tree which he had\nplanted.\n\n[38] These R\u00e1j\u00e1s appear, from the same authority, to be descended in a\ndirect line from Hind\u00fa gods.\n\n[39] The following short extract from the translation of the Vichitra\nN\u00e1tac, will show that G\u00f3vind gave his friends their full meed of\npraise, and will also exhibit the character of his style: \"Crip\u00e1l\nrages, wielding his mace: he crushed the skull of the fierce Hy\u00e1t Kh\u00e1n.\nHe made the blood spurt aloft, and scattered the brains of the chief,\nas Crishna crushed the earthen vessel of butter. Then Nand Chand raged\nin dreadful ire, launching the spear, and wielding the sword. He broke\nhis keen scimitar, and drew his dagger, to support the honour of the\nS\u00f3ndi race. Then my maternal uncle, Crip\u00e1l, advanced in his rage,\nand exhibited the skilful war-feats of a true Cshatr\u00edya. The mighty\nwarrior, though struck by an arrow, with another made a valiant Kh\u00e1n\nfall from his saddle, and S\u00e1heb Chand, of the Cshatr\u00edya race, strove\nin the battle's fury, and slew a blood-thirsty Kh\u00e1n, a warrior of\nKhor\u00e1san.\" After recording the actions of many others, G\u00f3vind thus\ndescribes his own deeds: \"The blood-drinking spectres and ghosts yelled\nfor carnage; the fierce Vet\u00e1la, the chief of the spectres, laughed\nfor joy, and sternly prepared for his repast. The vultures hovered\naround, screaming for their prey. Hari Chand, (a Hind\u00fa chief in the\nemperor's army,) in his wrath, drawing his bow, first struck my steed\nwith an arrow: aiming a second time, he discharged his arrow; but the\nDeity preserved me, and it passed me, and only grazed my ear. His\nthird arrow struck my breast: it tore open the mail, and pierced the\nskin, leaving a slight scar; but the God whom I adore saved me. When I\nfelt this hurt, my anger was kindled; I drew my bow and discharged an\narrow: all my champions did the same, rushing onwards to the battle.\nThen I aimed at the young hero, and struck him. Hari Chand perished,\nand many of his host; death devoured him, who was called a R\u00e1j\u00e1 among a\nhundred thousand R\u00e1j\u00e1s. Then all the host, struck with consternation,\nfled, deserting the field of combat. I obtained the victory through the\nfavour of the Most High; and, victorious in the field, we raised aloud\nthe song of triumph. Riches fell on us like rain, and all our warriors\nwere glad.\"\n\n[40] Hy\u00e1t Kh\u00e1n and Nej\u00e1bet Kh\u00e1n are mentioned as two of the principal\nchiefs of the emperor's army that fell in this first action. G\u00f3vind,\nspeaking of the fall of the latter, says: \"When Nej\u00e1bet Kh\u00e1n fell, the\nworld exclaimed, Alas! but the region of Swarga (the heavens) shouted\nvictory.\"\n\n[41] A mountainous tract of country, that borders on the Penj\u00e1b. It\nlies to the N. W. of Sr\u00ednagar, and the S. E. of Jammu. The present\nR\u00e1j\u00e1, Sans\u00e1r Chand, is a chief of great respectability. His country\nhas lately been overrun by the R\u00e1j\u00e1 of Nep\u00e1l and Gore'ha. I derived\nconsiderable information regarding this family, and their territories,\nfrom the envoy of Sans\u00e1r Chand, who attended Lord Lake, in 1805, when\nthe British army was in the Penj\u00e1b.\n\n[42] Though the account of this war is given in a style sufficiently\ninflated for the wars of the demons and angels; yet, as G\u00f3vind relates,\nthat Husain Kh\u00e1n returned a messenger, which one of the principal\nR\u00e1j\u00e1s had sent him, with this message to his master; \"Pay down ten\nthousand rupees, or destruction descends on thy head;\" we may judge,\nboth from the demand, and the amount of the contribution, of the nature\nof this contest, as well as its scale. It was evidently one of those\npetty provincial wars, which took place in every remote part of the\nIndian empire, when it was distracted: and, at this period, Aurungz\u00e9b\nwas wholly engaged in the Dek'hin, and the northern provinces were\nconsequently neglected, and their governments in a weak and unsettled\nstate.\n\n[43] This must have been in the year 1701, when Bah\u00e1der Sh\u00e1h was\ndetached from the Dek'hin to take charge of the government of C\u00e1bul,\nand was probably ordered, at the same time, to settle the disturbances\nin the Penj\u00e1b.\n\n[44] There is a remarkable passage in this chapter, in which G\u00far\u00fa\nG\u00f3vind appears to acknowledge the supremacy of the emperor. \"God,\" he\nsays, \"formed both B\u00e1b\u00e1 (N\u00e1nac) and B\u00e1ber (the emperor of that name).\nLook upon B\u00e1b\u00e1 as the P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h (king) of religion, and B\u00e1ber, the lord\nof the world. He who will not give N\u00e1nac a single damri, (a coin the\nsixteenth part of an ana,) will receive a severe punishment from B\u00e1ber.\"\n\n[45] Kahil\u00far, or Kahl\u00f3re, is situated on the Satl\u00e9j, above M\u00e1k'hav\u00e1l.\nIt is near the mountains through which that river flows into the\nPenj\u00e1b. Another place of the name of Kahil\u00far, or Kahl\u00f3re, is situated\na short distance from Lahore, to the N. E. of that city.\n\n[46] The Muhammedan authors blame V\u00edz\u00edr Kh\u00e1n for this unnecessary and\nimpolitic act of barbarity.\n\n[47] Bhav\u00e1n\u00ed Durg\u00e1.\n\n[48] In the Penj\u00e1bi narrative of B'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s B'hal\u00e9, the actions\nof Ajit Singh, and Ranj\u00edt Singh, sons of G\u00f3vind, are particularly\ndescribed; and, from one part of the description, it would appear\nthat the family of G\u00f3vind, proud of their descent, had not laid aside\nthe _zun\u00e1r_, or holy cord, to which they were, as belonging to the\nCshatr\u00edya race, entitled. Speaking of these youths, the author says:\n\"Slaughtering every Turk and Pahlan whom they saw, they adorned their\nsacred strings, by converting them into sword-belts. Returning from the\nfield, they sought their father, who bestowed a hundred blessings on\ntheir scimetars.\"\n\n[49] The Sikh author, though he may reject the superstitious idolatry\nof the Hind\u00fas, adorns his descriptions with every image its mythology\ncan furnish; and claims for his hero the same high honours in Swarga,\nthat a Br\u00e1hmen would expect for one of the P\u00e1ndu race.\n\n[50] Mr. Foster has followed this authority in his account of the Sikh\nnation: and I am inclined to believe that the part of it which relates\nto G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind's dying at Nad\u00e9r, in the Dek'hin, of a wound received\nfrom a Pat\u00e1n, is correct; as it is written on the last page of a copy\nof the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, in my possession, with several other facts relative\nto the dates of the births and deaths of the principal high priests of\nthe Sikhs.\n\n[51] Both at Chamk\u00f3ur, and other forts, from which the famished Sikhs\nattempted to escape, many of them were taken, and had their noses and\nears cut off.\n\n[52] Meaning Sikhs; whose faith, though it differs widely from the\npresent worship of the Hind\u00fas, has been thought to have considerable\nanalogy to the pure and simple religion originally followed by that\nnation.\n\n[53] This province lies a few miles to the N. E. of Delhi, between the\nrivers Jumna and Ganges.\n\n[54] They were taken in the fort of L\u00f3hgad, which is one hundred miles\nto the north-east of Lahore. This fortress was completely surrounded,\nand the Sikhs were only starved into surrender, having been reduced to\nsuch extremes, that they were reported to have eaten, what to them must\nhave been most horrible, the flesh of the cow.\n\n[55] The author of the _Seir Mut\u00e1kherin_.\n\n[56] It is necessary, however, to state, that there is a schismatical\nsect of Sikhs, who are termed Band\u00e1i, or the followers of Banda, who\ntotally deny this account of the death of Banda, and maintain that\nhe escaped severely wounded from his last battle, and took refuge in\nB'habar, where he quietly ended his days, leaving two sons, Ajit Singh\nand Zor\u00e1wer Singh, who successfully propagated his doctrine. This sect\nchiefly resides in Mult\u00e1n, Tata, and the other cities on the banks of\nthe Indus. They receive the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, but not the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1\nGrant'h.\n\n[57] An account of this class of Sikhs will be hereafter given.\n\n[58] A. D. 1746.\n\n[59] The country between the rivers Rav\u00ed and B\u00e9yah, and that river and\nthe Satl\u00e9j.\n\n[60] A sect of non-conformist Sikhs, who believe in the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h\nof N\u00e1nac, but do not conform to the institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind. They\nare called Khal\u00e1sa. This word is said, by some, to be from _kh\u00e1lis_,\n_pure_ or _select_, and to mean the purest, or the select: by others,\nfrom _khal\u00e1s_, _free_, and to mean the freed or exempt, alluding to the\ntribe being exempt from the usages imposed on the other Sikhs.\n\n[61] A. D. 1752.\n\n[62] The empire of the Mahr\u00e1tas had, at this proud moment, reached its\nzenith. The battle of P\u00e1nipat'h took place soon afterwards; since which\nit has rapidly declined.\n\n[63] This is a very common usage amongst eastern conquerors. The\nhistory of J\u00e9ngh\u00edz Kh\u00e1n, Taim\u00far and N\u00e1dir Sh\u00e1h, afford many examples of\nthis mode of treating their vanquished enemies.\n\n[64] Foster's Travels, Vol. I. p. 279.\n\n[65] All the villages in the Penj\u00e1b are walled round; as they are in\nalmost all the countries of India that are exposed to sudden incursions\nof horse, which this defence can always repel.\n\n[66] When the British and M\u00e1hr\u00e1ta armies entered the Penj\u00e1b, they\nwere both daily joined by discontented petty chiefs of the Sikhs, who\noffered their aid to the power that would put them in the possession of\na village or a fort, from which, agreeably to their statement, they had\nbeen unjustly excluded by a father or brother. Holk\u00e1r encouraged these\napplications, and used them to his advantage. The British commander\nabstained from all interference in such disputes.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION II.\n\n\nNeither the limits of this sketch, nor the materials from which it is\ndrawn, will admit of my giving a particular or correct account of the\ncountries possessed by the Sikhs, or of their forms of government,\nmanners, and habits: but a cursory view of these subjects may be\nuseful, and may excite and direct that curiosity which it cannot expect\nto gratify.\n\nThe country now possessed by the Sikhs, which reaches from latitude\n28\u00b0 40' to beyond latitude 32\u00b0 N., and includes all the Penj\u00e1b[67], a\nsmall part of Mult\u00e1n, and most of that tract of country which lies\nbetween the Jumna and the Satl\u00e9j, is bounded, to the northward and\nwestward, by the territories of the king of C\u00e1bul; to the eastward, by\nthe possessions of the mountaineer R\u00e1j\u00e1s of Jammu, Nad\u00f3n, and Sr\u00ednagar;\nand to the southward, by the territories of the English government, and\nthe sandy deserts of Jasalm\u00e9r and H\u00e1nsy\u00e1 His\u00e1r.\n\nThe Sikhs, who inhabit the country between the Satl\u00e9j and the Jumna,\nare called M\u00e1law\u00e1 Singh, and were almost all converted from the Hind\u00fa\ntribes of J\u00e1ts and Gujars. The title of M\u00e1law\u00e1 Singh was conferred upon\nthem for their extraordinary gallantry, under the Ba\u00edr\u00e1g\u00ed Banda, who is\nstated to have declared, that the countries granted to them should be\nfruitful as M\u00e1lw\u00e1, one of the provinces[68] in India. The principal\nchiefs among the M\u00e1law\u00e1 Singhs, are, S\u00e1heb Singh, of Pati\u00e1l\u00e1; B'hang\u00e1\nSingh, of T'h\u00e1n\u00e9sur; B'h\u00e1g Singh, of Jhind; and B'hailal Singh, of\nKeintal. Besides these, there are several inferior chiefs, such as\nG\u00far\u00fadah Singh, Jud'h Singh, and Carm Singh; all of whom have a few\nvillages, and some horse, and consider themselves independent; though\nthey, in general, are content to secure their possessions by attaching\nthemselves to one or other of the more powerful leaders.\n\nThe country of the M\u00e1law\u00e1 Singh is, in some parts, fruitful: but those\ndistricts of it, which border on H\u00e1nsy\u00e1 and Carn\u00e1l, are very barren;\nbeing covered with low wood, and, in many places, almost destitute of\nwater. Sarhind was formerly the capital of this country; but it is now\na complete ruin, and has probably never recovered the dreadful ravages\nof the Bair\u00e1g\u00ed Banda, who is stated not only to have destroyed its\nmosques, but to have levelled all its palaces and public buildings\nwith the ground. Pati\u00e1l\u00e1 is now the largest and most flourishing town\nof this province, and next to it T'h\u00e1n\u00e9sur, which is still held in\nhigh religious veneration by the Hind\u00fas; who have also a very high\nreverence for the river Seraswet\u00ed, which flows through this province.\nThe territories of the chiefs of M\u00e1law\u00e1 Singh are bounded to the N.\nW. by the Satl\u00e9j; between which and the B\u00e9yah, is the country called\nthe Jal\u00e9ndra Beit, or Jal\u00e9ndra D\u00fa\u00e1b; the Sikhs inhabiting which are\ncalled the D\u00fa\u00e1b\u00e1 Singh, or the Singhs who dwell between the rivers[69].\nThe country of Jal\u00e9ndra D\u00fa\u00e1b, which reaches from the mountains to\nthe junction of the Satl\u00e9j and the B\u00e9yah, is the most fruitful of all\nthe possessions of the Sikhs; and is, perhaps, excelled in climate\nand vegetation by no province of India. The soil is light, but very\nproductive: the country, which is open and level, abounds with every\nkind of grain. That want of water, which is so much felt in other\nparts of India, must be here unknown; as it is found every where in\nabundance, within two, or at furthest three, feet from the surface of\nthe soil. The towns of Jal\u00e9ndra and Sult\u00e1np\u00far are the principal in the\nD\u00fa\u00e1b.\n\nThe country between the B\u00e9yah and R\u00e1v\u00ed rivers is called B\u00e1ri D\u00fa\u00e1b,\nor M\u00e1nj'h\u00e1; and the Sikhs inhabiting it are called M\u00e1nj'h\u00e1 Singh.\nThe cities of Lahore and Amritsar are both in this province; and it\nbecomes, in consequence, the great centre of the power of this nation.\nRanj\u00edt Singh, of Lahore; Fateh Singh[70], of Alluw\u00e1l; and Jud'h Singh,\nof R\u00e1mgadi\u00e1[71]; are the principal chiefs of this country.\n\nThe country of B\u00e1ri is said to be less fertile, particularly towards\nthe mountains, than Jal\u00e9ndra; but, as it lies on the same level, it\nmust possess nearly the same climate and soil.\n\nThe inhabitants of the country between the R\u00e1v\u00ed and Chanh\u00e1b, are called\nD'harp\u00ed Singh, from the country being called D'harp\u00ed. The D'han\u00edgh\u00e9b\nSingh are beyond the Chanh\u00e1b[72], but within the J\u00e9halam river.\n\nThe Sind Singh is the term by which the inhabitants of the districts\nunder the Sikhs, bordering on the Sind, are known; and Nak\u00e1i Singh is\nthe name given to the Sikhs who reside in Mult\u00e1n. With the leaders of\nthe Sikhs in these provinces, the extent of their possessions, or the\nclimate and productions of the country under their rule, I am little\nacquainted. Those in Mult\u00e1n, as well as those settled on the river\nJ\u00e9halam, are said to be constantly engaged in a predatory warfare,\neither with the officers of the Afgh\u00e1n government, or with Muhammedan\nchiefs who have j\u00e1g\u00edrs in their vicinity.\n\nThe government of the Sikhs, considered in its theory, may, as has been\nbefore stated, be termed a theocracy. They obey a temporal chief, it is\ntrue; but that chief preserves his power and authority by professing\nhimself the servant of the Kh\u00e1ls\u00e1[73], or government, which can only\nbe said to act, in times of great public emergency, through the means\nof a national council, of which every chief is a member, and which is\nsupposed to deliberate and resolve under the immediate inspiration and\nimpulse of an invisible being; who, they believe, always watches over\nthe interests of the commonwealth.\n\nThe nature of the power established by the temporal chiefs of the\nSikhs, has been sufficiently explained in the narrative of their\nhistory. It will be necessary, before any account is given of the forms\nand actions of their G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1, or great national council, which is\nintended to have a supreme authority over their federative republic, to\ntake a view of that body of Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, or immortals, who, under the double\ncharacter of fanatic priests and desperate soldiers, have usurped\nthe sole direction of all religious affairs at Amritsar, and are,\nconsequently, leading men in a council which is held at that sacred\nplace, and which deliberates under all the influence of religious\nenthusiasm.\n\nThe Ac\u00e1l\u00eds[74] are a class of Sikh devotees; who, agreeably to the\nhistorians of that nation, were first founded by G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, whose\ninstitutes, as it has been before stated, they most zealously defended\nagainst the innovations of the Bair\u00e1g\u00ed Banda. They wear blue chequered\nclothes, and bangles, or bracelets of steel[75], round their wrists,\ninitiate converts, and have almost the sole direction of the religious\nceremonies at Amritsar, where they reside, and of which they deem\nthemselves the defenders; and, consequently, never desire to quit it\nunless in cases of great extremity.\n\nThis order of Sikhs have a place, or Bung\u00e1[76], on the bank of the\nsacred reservoir of Amritsar, where they generally resort, but are\nindividually possessed of property, though they affect poverty,\nand subsist upon charity; which, however, since their numbers have\nincreased, they generally extort, by accusing the principal chiefs of\ncrimes, imposing fines upon them; and, in the event of their refusing\nto pay, preventing them from performing their ablutions, or going\nthrough any of their religious ceremonies at Amritsar.\n\nIt will not, when the above circumstances are considered, be thought\nsurprising, that the most powerful of the Sikh chiefs should desire\nto conciliate this body of fanatics, no individual of which can be\noffended with impunity, as the cause of one is made the cause of the\nwhole; and a chief, who is become unpopular with the Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, must not\nonly avoid Amritsar, but is likely to have his dependants taught, when\nthey pay their devotions at that place, that it is pious to resist his\nauthority.\n\nThe Ac\u00e1l\u00eds have a great interest in maintaining both the religion and\ngovernment of the Sikhs, as established by G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind; as, on its\ncontinuance in that shape, their religious and political influence\nmust depend. Should Amritsar cease to be a place of resort, or be no\nlonger considered as the religious capital of the state, in which all\nquestions that involve the general interests of the commonwealth are\nto be decided, this formidable order would at once fall from that\npower and consideration which they now possess, to a level with other\nmendicants.\n\nWhen a G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1, or great national council, is called, (as it always\nis, or ought to be, when any imminent danger threatens the country, or\nany large expedition is to be undertaken,) all the Sikh chiefs assemble\nat Amritsar. The assembly, which is called the G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1, is convened\nby the Ac\u00e1l\u00eds; and when the chiefs meet upon this solemn occasion, it\nis concluded that all private animosities cease, and that every man\nsacrifices his personal feelings at the shrine of the general good;\nand, actuated by principles of pure patriotism, thinks of nothing but\nthe interests of the religion, and commonwealth, to which he belongs.\n\nWhen the chiefs and principal leaders are seated, the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h and\nDasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h are placed before them. They all bend their\nheads before these scriptures, and exclaim, _W\u00e1! G\u00far\u00faji k\u00e1 Kh\u00e1lsa! W\u00e1!\nG\u00far\u00faji ki Fateh!_ A great quantity of cakes, made of wheat, butter,\nand sugar, are then placed before the volumes of their sacred writings,\nand covered with a cloth. These holy cakes, which are in commemoration\nof the injunction of N\u00e1nac, to eat and to give to others to eat, next\nreceive the salutation of the assembly, who then rise, and the Ac\u00e1l\u00eds\npray aloud, while the musicians play. The Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, when the prayers\nare finished, desire the council to be seated. They sit down, and the\ncakes being uncovered, are eaten of by all classes[77] of Sikhs: those\ndistinctions of original tribes, which are, on other occasions, kept\nup, being on this occasion laid aside, in token of their general and\ncomplete union in one cause[78]. The Ac\u00e1l\u00eds then exclaim: \"Sirdars!\n(chiefs) this is a G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1!\" on which prayers are again said aloud.\nThe chiefs, after this, sit closer, and say to each other: \"The sacred\nGrant'h is betwixt us, let us swear by our scripture to forget all\ninternal disputes, and to be united.\" This moment of religious fervor\nand ardent patriotism, is taken to reconcile all animosities. They\nthen proceed to consider the danger with which they are threatened,\nto settle the best plans for averting it, and to choose the generals\nwho are to lead their armies[79] against the common enemy. The first\nG\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1 was assembled by G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind; and the latest was called in\n1805, when the British army pursued Holk\u00e1r into the Penj\u00e1b.\n\nThe principal chiefs of the Sikhs are all descended from Hind\u00fa tribes.\nThere is, indeed, no instance of a Singh of a Muhammedan family\nattaining high power[80]: a circumstance to be accounted for from\nthe hatred still cherished, by the followers of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, against\nthe descendants of his persecutors: and that this rancorous spirit\nis undiminished, may be seen from their treatment of the wretched\nMuhammedans who yet remain in their territories. These, though very\nnumerous, appear to be all poor, and to be an oppressed, despised\nrace. They till the ground, and are employed to carry burdens, and to\ndo all kinds of hard labour: they are not allowed to eat beef, or to\nsay their prayers aloud, and but seldom assemble in their mosques[81];\nof which few, indeed, have escaped destruction. The lower order of\nSikhs are more happy: they are protected from the tyranny and violence\nof the chiefs, under whom they live, by the precepts of their common\nreligion, and by the condition of their country, which enables them\nto abandon, whenever they choose, a leader whom they dislike; and the\ndistance of a few miles generally places them under the protection\nof his rival and enemy. It is from this cause that the lowest Sikh\nhorseman usually assumes a very independent style, and the highest\nchief treats his military followers with attention and conciliation.\nThe civil officers,--to whom the chiefs intrust their accounts, and\nthe management of their property and revenue concerns, as well as the\nconduct of their negotiations,--are, in general, Sikhs of the Khal\u00e1sa\ncast; who, being followers of N\u00e1nac, and not of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, are not\ndevoted to arms, but educated for peaceful occupations, in which they\noften become very expert and intelligent.\n\nIn the collection of the revenue in the Penj\u00e1b it is stated to be a\ngeneral rule, that the chiefs, to whom the territories belong, should\nreceive one half of the produce[82], and the farmer the other: but\nthe chief never levies the whole of his share: and in no country,\nperhaps, is the Rayat, or cultivator, treated with more indulgence.\nCommerce is not so much encouraged; heavy duties are levied upon it by\nall petty rulers through whose districts it passes: and this, added to\nthe distracted state in which the Penj\u00e1b has been, from the internal\ndisputes of its possessors, caused the rich produce of C\u00e1sm\u00edr to be\ncarried to India by the difficult and mountainous tract of Jammu,\nNad\u00f3n, and Sr\u00ednagar. The Sikh chiefs have, however, discovered the\ninjury which their interests have suffered from this cause, and have\nendeavoured, and not without success, to restore confidence to the\nmerchant; and great part of the shawl trade now flows through the\ncities of Lahore, Amritsar, and Pati\u00e1l\u00e1, to Hind\u00fastan.\n\nThe administration of justice in the countries under the Sikhs, is\nin a very rude and imperfect state; for, though their scriptures\ninculcate general maxims of justice, they are not considered, as the\nOld Testament is by the Jews, or the Kor\u00e1n by the Muhammedans, as\nbooks of law: and, having no fixed code, they appear to have adopted\nthat irregular practice, which is most congenial to the temper of the\npeople, and best suited to the unsteady and changing character of their\nrule of government. The following appears to be the general outline of\ntheir practice in the administration of justice.\n\nTrifling disputes about property are settled by the heads of the\nvillage, by arbitration[83], or by the chiefs. Either of these modes,\nsupposing the parties consent to refer to it, is final; and they must\nagree to one or other. If a theft occurs, the property is recovered,\nand the party punished by the person from whom it was stolen, who\nis aided on such occasions by the inhabitants of his village, or\nhis chief. The punishment, however, is never capital[84]. Murder is\ngenerally revenged by the relations of the deceased, who, in such\ncases, rigorously retaliate on the murderer, and often on all who\nendeavour to protect him.\n\nThe character of the Sikhs, or rather Singhs, which is the name by\nwhich the followers of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, who are all devoted to arms, are\ndistinguished, is very marked. They have, in general, the Hind\u00fa cast\nof countenance, somewhat altered by their long beards, and are to\nthe full as active as the Mahr\u00e1tas; and much more robust, from their\nliving fuller, and enjoying a better and colder climate. Their courage\nis equal, at all times, to that of any natives of India; and when\nwrought upon by prejudice or religion, is quite desperate. They are\nall horsemen, and have no infantry in their own country, except for\nthe defence of their forts and villages, though they generally serve\nas infantry in foreign armies. They are bold, and rather rough, in\ntheir address; which appears more to a stranger from their invariably\nspeaking in a loud tone[85] of voice: but this is quite a habit,\nand is alike used by them to express the sentiments of regard and\nhatred. The Sikhs have been reputed deceitful and cruel; but I know\nno grounds upon which they can be considered more so than the other\ntribes of India. They seemed to me, from all the intercourse I had\nwith them, to be more open and sincere than the Mahr\u00e1tas, and less\nrude and savage than the Afgh\u00e1ns. They have, indeed, become, from\nnational success, too proud of their own strength, and too irritable\nin their tempers, to have patience for the wiles of the former; and\nthey retain, in spite of their change of manners and religion, too much\nof the original character of their Hind\u00fa ancestors, (for the great\nmajority are of the Hind\u00fa race,) to have the constitutional ferocity\nof the latter. The Sikh soldier is, generally speaking, brave, active,\nand cheerful, without polish, but neither destitute of sincerity nor\nattachment; and if he often appears wanting in humanity, it is not so\nmuch to be attributed to his national character, as to the habits of a\nlife, which, from the condition of the society in which he is born, is\ngenerally passed in scenes of violence and rapine.\n\nThe Sikh merchant, or cultivator of the soil, if he is a Singh, differs\nlittle in character from the soldier, except that his occupation\nrenders him less presuming and boisterous. He also wears arms, and is,\nfrom education, prompt to use them whenever his individual interest,\nor that of the community in which he lives[86], requires him to do so.\nThe general occupations of the Khal\u00e1sa Sikhs has been before mentioned.\nTheir character differs widely from that of the Singhs. Full of\nintrigue, pliant, versatile, and insinuating, they have all the art of\nthe lower classes of Hind\u00fas, who are usually employed in transacting\nbusiness: from whom, indeed, as they have no distinction of dress, it\nis very difficult to distinguish them.\n\nThe religious tribes of Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, Shah\u00edd, and Nirmala, have been\nnoticed. Their general character is formed from their habits of life.\nThe Ac\u00e1l\u00eds are insolent, ignorant, and daring: presuming upon those\nrights which their numbers and fanatic courage have established, their\ndeportment is hardly tolerant to the other Sikhs, and insufferable to\nstrangers, for whom they entertain a contempt, which they take little\npains to conceal. The Sh\u00e1h\u00edd and the Nirmala, particularly the latter,\nhave more knowledge, and more urbanity. They are almost all men of\nquiet, peaceable habits; and many of them are said to possess learning.\n\nThere is another tribe among the Sikhs, called the N\u00e1nac Pautra,\nor descendants of N\u00e1nac, who have the character of being a mild,\ninoffensive race; and, though they do not acknowledge the institutions\nof G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, they are greatly revered by his followers, who hold it\nsacrilege to injure the race of their founder; and, under the advantage\nwhich this general veneration affords them, the N\u00e1nac Pautra pursue\ntheir occupations; which, if they are not mendicants, is generally\nthat of travelling merchants. They do not carry arms; and profess,\nagreeably to the doctrine of N\u00e1nac, to be at peace[87] with all mankind.\n\nThe Sikh converts, it has been before stated, continue, after they have\nquitted their original religion, all those civil usages and customs\nof the tribes to which they belonged, that they can practise, without\ninfringing the tenets of N\u00e1nac, or the institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind.\nThey are most particular with regard to their intermarriages; and, on\nthis point, Sikhs descended from Hind\u00fas almost invariably conform to\nHind\u00fa customs, every tribe intermarrying within itself. The Hind\u00fa\nusage, regarding diet, is also held equally sacred; no Sikh, descended\nfrom a Hind\u00fa family, ever violating it, except upon particular\noccasions, such as a G\u00far\u00fa-mat\u00e1, when they are obliged, by their tenets\nand institutions, to eat promiscuously. The strict observance of these\nusages has enabled many of the Sikhs, particularly of the J\u00e1t[88] and\nGujar[89] tribes, which include almost all those settled to the south\nof the Satl\u00e9j, to preserve an intimate intercourse with their original\ntribes; who, considering the Sikhs not as having lost cast, but as\nHind\u00fas that have joined a political association, which obliges them\nto conform to general rules established for its preservation, neither\nrefuse to intermarry[90] nor to eat with them.\n\nThe higher cast of Hind\u00fas, such as Br\u00e1hmens and Cshatr\u00edyas, who have\nbecome Sikhs, continue to intermarry with converts of their own tribes,\nbut not with Hind\u00fas of the cast they have abandoned, as they are\npolluted by eating animal food; all kinds of which are lawful to Sikhs,\nexcept the cow, which it is held sacrilege to slay[91]. N\u00e1nac, whose\nobject was to conciliate the Muhammedans to his creed, prohibited hog's\nflesh also; but it was introduced by his successors, as much, perhaps,\nfrom a spirit of revenge against the Moslems, as from considerations of\nindulgence to the numerous converts of the J\u00e1t and Gujar tribe, among\nwhom wild hog is a favourite species of food.\n\nThe Muhammedans, who become Sikhs, intermarry with each other, but are\nallowed to preserve none of their usages, being obliged to eat hog's\nflesh, and abstain from circumcision.\n\nThe Sikhs are forbid the use of tobacco[92], but allowed to indulge\nin spirituous[93] liquors, which they almost all drink to excess; and\nit is rare to see a Singh soldier, after sunset, quite sober. Their\ndrink is an ardent spirit[94], made in the Penj\u00e1b; but they have no\nobjections to either the wine or spirits of Europe, when they can\nobtain them.\n\nThe use of opium, to intoxicate, is very common with the Sikhs, as\nwith most of the military tribes of India. They also take B'hang[95],\nanother inebriating drug.\n\nThe conduct of the Sikhs to their women differs in no material respect\nfrom that of the tribes of Hind\u00fas, or Muhammedans, from whom they are\ndescended. Their moral character with regard to women, and indeed in\nmost other points, may, from the freedom of their habits, generally\nbe considered as much more lax than that of their ancestors, who\nlived under the restraint of severe restrictions, and whose fear of\nexcommunication from their cast, at least obliged them to cover their\nsins with the veil of decency. This the emancipated Sikhs despise: and\nthere is hardly an infamy which this debauched and dissolute race are\nnot accused (and I believe with justice) of committing in the most open\nand shameful manner.\n\nThe Sikhs are almost all horsemen, and they take great delight in\nriding. Their horses were, a few years ago, famous; and those bred in\nthe Lak'hi Jungle, and other parts of their territory, were justly\ncelebrated for their strength, temper, and activity: but the internal\ndistractions of these territories has been unfavourable to the\nencouragement of the breed, which has consequently declined; and the\nSikhs now are in no respect better mounted than the Mahr\u00e1tas. From a\nhundred of their cavalry it would be difficult to select ten horses\nthat would be admitted as fit to mount native troopers in the English\nservice.\n\nTheir horsemen use swords and spears, and most of them now carry\nmatchlocks, though some still use the bow and arrow; a species of arms,\nfor excellence in the use of which their forefathers were celebrated,\nand which their descendants appear to abandon with great reluctance.\n\nThe education of the Sikhs renders them hardy, and capable of great\nfatigue; and the condition of the society in which they live, affords\nconstant exercise to that restless spirit of activity and enterprise\nwhich their religion has generated. Such a race cannot be epicures:\nthey appear, indeed, generally to despise luxury of diet, and pride\nthemselves in their coarse fare. Their dress is also plain, not unlike\nthat of the Hind\u00fas, equally light and divested of ornament. Some\nof the chiefs wear gold bangles; but this is rare; and the general\ncharacteristic of their dress and mode of living, is simplicity.\n\nThe principal leaders among the Sikhs affect to be familiar and easy\nof intercourse with their inferiors, and to despise the pomp and\nstate of the Muhammedan chiefs: but their pride often counteracts\nthis disposition; and they appeared to me to have, in proportion to\ntheir rank and consequence, more state, and to maintain equal, if not\nmore, reserve and dignity with their followers, than is usual with the\nMahr\u00e1ta chiefs.\n\nIt would be difficult, if not impracticable, to ascertain the amount\nof the population of the Sikh territories, or even to compute the\nnumber of the armies which they could bring into action. They boast\nthat they can raise more than a hundred thousand horse: and, if it\nwere possible to assemble every Sikh horseman, this statement might\nnot be an exaggeration: but there is, perhaps, no chief among them,\nexcept Ranj\u00edt Singh, of Lahore, that could bring an effective body of\nfour thousand men into the field. The force of Ranj\u00edt Singh did not,\nin 1805, amount to eight thousand; and part of that was under chiefs\nwho had been subdued from a state of independence, and whose turbulent\nminds ill brooked an usurpation which they deemed subversive of the\nconstitution of their commonwealth. His army is now more numerous than\nit was, but it is composed of materials which have no natural cohesion;\nand the first serious check which it meets, will probably cause its\ndissolution.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[67] A general estimate of the value of the country possessed by the\nSikhs may be formed, when it is stated, that it contains, besides other\ncountries, the whole of the province of Lahore; which, agreeable to Mr.\nBernier, produced, in the reign of Aurungz\u00e9b, two hundred and forty-six\nlacks and ninety-five thousand rupees; or two millions, four hundred\nand sixty-nine thousand, five hundred pounds sterling.\n\n[68] This province now forms almost the whole territory of Daulet R\u00e1o\nSind\u00ed\u00e1.\n\n[69] With the chiefs of the Sikhs in the Jal\u00e9ndra D\u00fa\u00e1b we are little\nacquainted. T\u00e1r\u00e1 Singh is the most considerable; but he and the others\nhave been greatly weakened by their constant and increasing internal\ndivisions.\n\n[70] Fateh Singh is, like Ranj\u00edt Singh, of a J\u00e1t family.\n\n[71] Jud'h Singh, of Ramgadi\u00e1, is of the carpenter cast.\n\n[72] The term Gujar\u00e1t Singh is sometimes given to the inhabitants of\nthis D\u00fa\u00e1b, of which the chiefs of Gujar\u00e1t and Rot\u00e1s are the principal\nrulers.\n\n[73] The word Kh\u00e1ls\u00e1, which has before been explained to mean the state\nor commonwealth, is supposed, by the Sikhs, to have a mystical meaning,\nand to imply that superior government, under the protection of which\n\"they live, and to the established rules and laws of which, as fixed by\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, it is their civil and religious duty to conform.\"\n\n[74] Ac\u00e1l\u00ed, derived from Ac\u00e1l, a compound term of _c\u00e1l_, _death_, and\nthe Sanscrit privative _a_, which means _never-dying_, or _immortal_.\nIt is one of the names of the Divinity; and has, probably, been given\nto this remarkable class of devotees, from their always exclaiming\nAc\u00e1l! Ac\u00e1l! in their devotions.\n\n[75] All Singhs do not wear bracelets; but it is indispensable to have\nsteel about their persons, which they generally have in the shape of a\nknife or dagger. In support of this ordinance they quote the following\nverses of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind:\n\n  S\u00e1heb be\u00e1 ki rach'ha hamn\u00e9,\n  Tuhi Sr\u00ed S\u00e1heb, churi, k\u00e1ti, kat\u00e1r--\n  Ac\u00e1l purukh ki rach'ha hamn\u00e9,\n  Serv l\u00f3h di rach'ha hamn\u00e9,\n  Servac\u00e1l di rach'ha hamn\u00e9,\n  Serv lohji di sada rach'ha hamn\u00e9.\n\nwhich may be translated: \"The protection of the infinite Lord is\nover us: thou art the lord, the cutlass, the knife, and the dagger.\nThe protection of the immortal Being is over us: the protection of\nALL-STEEL is over us: the protection of ALL-TIME is over us: the\nprotection of ALL-STEEL is constantly over us.\"\n\n[76] The Shah\u00edd and Nirmala, two other religious tribes among the\nSikhs, have Bung\u00e1s, or places, upon the great reservoir of Amritsar;\nbut both these are peaceful orders of priests, whose duty is to address\nthe Deity, and to read and explain the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h to the Sikhs. They\nare, in general, men of some education. A Sikh, of any tribe, may be\nadmitted into either of these classes, as among the Ac\u00e1l\u00eds, who admit\nall into their body who choose to conform to their rules.\n\n[77] A custom of a similar nature, with regard to all tribes eating\npromiscuously, is observed among the Hind\u00fas, at the temple of\nJagann\u00e1th, where men of all religions and casts, without distinction,\neat of the Mah\u00e1 Pras\u00e1d, _the great offering_; i.e. food dressed by the\ncooks of the idols, and sold on the stairs of the temple.\n\n[78] The Sikh priest, who gave an account of this custom, was of a high\nHind\u00fa tribe; and, retaining some of his prejudices, he at first said,\nthat Muhammedan Sikhs, and those who were converts from the sweeper\ncast, were obliged, even on this occasion, to eat a little apart from\nthe other Sikhs: but, on being closely questioned, he admitted the fact\nas stated in the narrative; saying, however, it was only on this solemn\noccasion that these tribes are admitted to eat with the others.\n\n[79] The army is called, when thus assembled, the Dal Kh\u00e1ls\u00e1, or the\narmy of the state.\n\n[80] The Muhammedans who have become Sikhs, and their descendants, are,\nin the Penj\u00e1bi jargon, termed Mezhebi Singh, or Singhs of the faith;\nand they are subdivided into the four classes which are vulgarly,\nbut erroneously, supposed to distinguish the followers of Muhammed,\nSayyad Singh, Sheikh Singh, Moghul Singh, and Pat\u00e1n Singh; by which\ndesignations the names of the particular race or country of the\nMuhammedans have been affixed, by Hind\u00fas, as distinctions of cast.\n\n[81] The Muhammedan inhabitants of the Penj\u00e1b used to flock to the\nBritish camp; where, they said, they enjoyed luxuries which no man\ncould appreciate that had not suffered privation. They could pray\naloud, and feast upon beef.\n\n[82] Grain pays in kind; sugar-cane, melons, &c. pay in cash.\n\n[83] This is called Penchayat, or a court of five; the general number\nof arbitrators chosen to adjust differences and disputes. It is usual\nto assemble a Panchayat, or a court of arbitration, in every part of\nIndia, under a native government; and, as they are always chosen from\nmen of the best reputation in the place where they meet, this court has\na high character for justice.\n\n[84] A Sikh priest, who has been several years in Calcutta, gave this\noutline of the administration of justice among his countrymen. He spoke\nof it with rapture; and insisted, with true patriotic prejudice, on its\ngreat superiority over the vexatious system of the English government;\nwhich was, he said, tedious, vexatious, and expensive, and advantageous\nonly to clever rogues.\n\n[85] Talking aloud is so habitual to a Sikh, that he bawls a secret\nin your ear. It has often occurred to me, that they have acquired it\nfrom living in a country where internal disputes have so completely\ndestroyed confidence, that they can only carry on conversation with\neach other at a distance: but it is fairer, perhaps, to impute this\nboisterous and rude habit to their living almost constantly in a camp,\nin which the voice certainly loses that nice modulated tone which\ndistinguishes the more polished inhabitants of cities.\n\n[86] The old Sikh soldier generally returns to his native village,\nwhere his wealth, courage, or experience, always obtains him respect,\nand sometimes station and consequence. The second march which the\nBritish army made into the country of the Sikhs, the headquarters were\nnear a small village, the chief of which, who was upwards of a hundred\nyears of age, had been a soldier, and retained all the look and manner\nof his former occupation. He came to me, and expressed his anxiety to\nsee Lord Lake. I showed him the general, who was sitting alone, in\nhis tent, writing. He smiled, and said he knew better: \"The hero who\nhad overthrown Sindi\u00e1 and Holk\u00e1r, and had conquered Hind\u00fastan, must\nbe surrounded with attendants, and have plenty of persons to write\nfor him.\" I assured him that it was Lord Lake; and, on his lordship\ncoming to breakfast, I introduced the old Singh, who seeing a number\nof officers collect round him, was at last satisfied of the truth of\nwhat I said; and, pleased with the great kindness and condescension\nwith which he was treated by one whom he justly thought so great a man,\nsat down on the carpet, became quite talkative, and related all he\nhad seen, from the invasion of N\u00e1dir Sh\u00e1h to that moment. Lord Lake,\npleased with the bold manliness of his address, and the independence\nof his sentiments, told him he would grant him any favour he wished.\n\"I am glad of it,\" said the old man; \"then march away with your army\nfrom my village, which will otherwise be destroyed.\" Lord Lake, struck\nwith the noble spirit of the request, assured him he would march next\nmorning, and that, in the mean-time, he should have guards, who would\nprotect his village from injury. Satisfied with this assurance, the old\nSingh was retiring, apparently full of admiration and gratitude at Lord\nLake's goodness, and of wonder at the scene he had witnessed, when,\nmeeting two officers at the door of the tent, he put a hand upon the\nbreast of each, exclaiming at the same time, \"_Brothers! where were you\nborn, and where are you at this moment?_\" and, without waiting for an\nanswer, proceeded to his village.\n\n[87] When Lord Lake entered the Penj\u00e1b, in 1805, a general protection\nwas requested, by several principal chiefs, for the N\u00e1nac Pautra,\non the ground of the veneration in which they were held, which\nenabled them, it was stated, to travel all over the country without\nmolestation, even when the most violent wars existed. It was, of\ncourse, granted.\n\n[88] The J\u00e1ts are Hind\u00fas of a low tribe, who, taking advantage of the\ndecline of the Moghul empire, have, by their courage and enterprise,\nraised themselves into some consequence on the north-western parts of\nHind\u00fastan, and many of the strongest forts of that part of India are\nstill in their possession.\n\n[89] The Gujars, who are also Hind\u00fas, have raised themselves to power\nby means not dissimilar to those used by the J\u00e1ts. Almost all the\nthieves in Hind\u00fastan are of this tribe.\n\n[90] A marriage took place very lately between the Sikh chief of\nPati\u00e1l\u00e1, and that of the J\u00e1t R\u00e1j\u00e1, of B'haratp\u00far.\n\n[91] Their prejudice regarding the killing of cows is stronger, if\npossible, than that of the Hind\u00fas.\n\n[92] The Khal\u00e1sa Sikhs, who follow N\u00e1nac, and reject G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind's\ninstitutions, make use of it.\n\n[93] Spirituous liquors, they say, are allowed by that verse in the\nAd\u00ed-Grant'h, which states, \"Eat, and give unto others to eat. Drink,\nand give unto others to drink. Be glad, and make others glad.\" There\nis also an authority, quoted by the Sikhs, from the Hind\u00fa S\u00e1stras,\nin favour of this drinking to excess. Durg\u00e1, agreeably to the Sikh\nquotations, used to drink, because liquor inspires courage; and this\ngoddess, they say, was drunk when she slew Mah\u00edsh\u00e1sur.\n\n[94] When Fateh Singh, of Aluw\u00e1l, who was quite a young man, was with\nthe British army, Lord Lake gratified him by a field review. He was\nupon an elephant, and I attended him upon another. A little before\nsunset he became low and uneasy. I observed it; and B'h\u00e1g Singh, an old\nchief, of frank, rough manners, at once said, \"Fateh Singh wants his\ndram, but is ashamed to drink before you.\" I requested he would follow\nhis custom, which he did, by drinking a large cup of spirits.\n\n[95] Cannabis sativa.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION III.\n\n\nThere is no branch of this sketch which is more curious and important,\nor that offers more difficulties to the inquirer, than the religion of\nthe Sikhs. We meet with a creed of pure deism, grounded on the most\nsublime general truths, blended with the belief of all the absurdities\nof the Hind\u00fa mythology, and the fables of Muhammedanism; for N\u00e1nac\nprofessed a desire to reform, not to destroy, the religion of the\ntribe in which he was born; and, actuated by the great and benevolent\ndesign of reconciling the jarring faiths of Brahm\u00e1 and Muhammed, he\nendeavoured to conciliate both Hind\u00fas and Moslems to his doctrine, by\npersuading them to reject those parts of their respective beliefs and\nusages, which, he contended, were unworthy of that God whom they both\nadored. He called upon the Hind\u00fas to abandon the worship of idols, and\nto return to that pure devotion of the Deity, in which their religion\noriginated. He called upon the Muhammedans to abstain from practices,\nlike the slaughter of cows, that were offensive to the religion of the\nHind\u00fas, and to cease from the persecution of that race. He adopted,\nin order to conciliate them, many of the maxims which he had learnt\nfrom mendicants, who professed the principles of the S\u00fafi sect; and\nhe constantly referred to the admired writings of the celebrated\nMuhammedan Kab\u00edr[96], who was a professed S\u00fafi, and who inculcated\nthe doctrine of the equality of the relation of all created beings to\ntheir Creator. N\u00e1nac endeavoured, with all the power of his own genius,\naided by such authorities, to impress both Hind\u00fas and Muhammedans with\na love of toleration and an abhorrence of war; and his life was as\npeaceable as his doctrine. He appears, indeed, to have adopted, from\nthe hour in which he abandoned his worldly occupations to that of his\ndeath, the habits practised by that crowd of holy mendicants, Sany\u00e1s\u00eds\nand Fak\u00edrs, with whom India swarms. He conformed to their customs; and\nhis extraordinary austerities[97] are a constant theme of praise with\nhis followers. His works are all in praise of God; but he treats the\npolytheism of the Hind\u00fas with respect, and even veneration. He never\nshows a disposition to destroy the fabric, but only wishes to divest\nit of its useless tinsel and false ornaments, and to establish its\ncomplete dependence upon the great Creator of the universe. He speaks\nevery where of Muhammed, and his successors, with moderation; but\nanimadverts boldly on what he conceives to be their errors; and, above\nall, on their endeavours to propagate their faith by the sword.\n\nAs N\u00e1nac made no material invasion of either the civil or religious\nusages of the Hind\u00fas, and as his only desire was to restore a nation\nwho had degenerated from their original pure worship[98] into\nidolatry, he may be considered more in the light of a reformer than\nof a subverter of the Hind\u00fa religion; and those Sikhs who adhere to\nhis tenets, without admitting those of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, are hardly to be\ndistinguished from the great mass of Hind\u00fa population; among whom there\nare many sects who differ, much more than that of N\u00e1nac, from the\ngeneral and orthodox worship at present established in India.\n\nThe first successors of N\u00e1nac appear to have taught exactly the\nsame doctrine as their leader; and though Har G\u00f3vind armed all his\nfollowers, it was on a principle of self-defence, in which he was\nfully justified, even by the usage of the Hind\u00fas. It was reserved for\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind to give a new character to the religion of his followers;\nnot by making any material alteration in the tenets of N\u00e1nac, but\nby establishing institutions and usages, which not only separated\nthem from other Hind\u00fas, but which, by the complete abolition of all\ndistinction of casts, destroyed, at one blow, a system of civil polity,\nthat, from being interwoven with the religion of a weak and bigoted\nrace, fixed the rule of its priests upon a basis that had withstood the\nshock of ages. Though the code of the Hind\u00fas was calculated to preserve\na vast community in tranquillity and obedience to its rulers, it had\nthe natural effect of making the country, in which it was established,\nan easy conquest to every powerful foreign invader; and it appears\nto have been the contemplation of this effect that made G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind\nresolve on the abolition of cast, as a necessary and indispensable\nprelude to any attempt to arm the original native population of India\nagainst their foreign tyrants. He called upon all Hind\u00fas to break\nthose chains in which prejudice and bigotry had bound them, and to\ndevote themselves to arms, as the only means by which they could free\nthemselves from the oppressive government of the Muhammedans; against\nwhom, a sense of his own wrongs, and those of his tribe, led him to\npreach eternal warfare. His religious doctrine was meant to be popular,\nand it promised equality. The invidious appellations of Br\u00e1hmen,\nCshatr\u00edya, Vaisya, and S\u00fadra, were abolished. The pride of descent\nmight remain, and keep up some distinctions; but, in the religious code\nof G\u00f3vind, every Kh\u00e1lsa Singh (for such he termed his followers) was\nequal, and had a like title to the good things of this world, and to\nthe blessings of a future life.\n\nThough G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind mixes, even more than N\u00e1nac, the mythology of the\nHind\u00fas with his own tenets; though his desire to conciliate them, in\nopposition to the Muhammedans, against whom he always breathed war and\ndestruction, led him to worship at Hind\u00fa sacred shrines; and though the\npeculiar customs and dress among his followers, are stated to have been\nadopted from veneration to the Hind\u00fa goddess of courage, D\u00farga Bhav\u00e1n\u00ed;\nyet it is impossible to reconcile the religion and usages, which\nG\u00f3vind has established, with the belief of the Hind\u00fas. It does not,\nlike that of N\u00e1nac, question some favourite dogmas of the disciples of\nBrahm\u00e1, and attack that worship of idols, which few of these defend,\nexcept upon the ground of these figures, before which they bend,\nbeing symbolical representations of the attributes of an all-powerful\nDivinity; but it proceeds at once to subvert the foundation of the\nwhole system. Wherever the religion of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind prevails, the\ninstitutions of Brahm\u00e1 must fall. The admission of proselytes, the\nabolition of the distinctions of cast, the eating of all kinds of\nflesh, except that of cows, the form of religious worship, and the\ngeneral devotion of all Singhs to arms, are ordinances altogether\nirreconcileable with Hind\u00fa mythology, and have rendered the religion\nof the Sikhs as obnoxious to the Br\u00e1hmens, and higher tribes of the\nHind\u00fas, as it is popular with the lower orders of that numerous class\nof mankind.\n\nAfter this rapid sketch of the general character of the religion of\nthe Sikhs, I shall take a more detailed view of its origin, progress,\ntenets, and forms.\n\nA Sikh author[99], whom I have followed in several parts of this\nsketch, is very particular in stating the causes of the origin of\nthe religion of N\u00e1nac: he describes the different Yugas, or ages of\nthe world, stated in the Hind\u00fa mythology. The C\u00e1li Yug, which is the\npresent, is that in which it was written that the human race would\nbecome completely depraved: \"Discord,\" says the author, speaking of the\nC\u00e1li Yug, \"will rise in the world, sin prevail, and the universe become\nwicked; cast will contend with cast; and, like bamboos in friction,\nconsume each other to embers. The V\u00e9das, or scriptures,\" he adds,\n\"will be held in disrepute, for they shall not be understood, and the\ndarkness of ignorance will prevail every where.\" Such is this author's\nrecord of a divine prophecy regarding this degenerate age. He proceeds\nto state what has ensued: \"Every one followed his own path, and sects\nwere separated; some worshipped Chandra (the moon); some Surya (the\nsun); some prayed to the earth, to the sky, and the air, and the water,\nand the fire, while others worshipped D'herma R\u00e1j\u00e1 (the judge of the\ndead); and in the fallacy of the sects nothing was to be found but\nerror. In short, pride prevailed in the world, and the four casts[100]\nestablished a system of ascetic devotion. From these, the ten sects\nof Sany\u00e1s\u00eds, and the twelve sects of Y\u00f3gis, originated. The Jangam,\nthe Sr\u00edv\u00edra, and the D\u00e9va Digambar, entered into mutual contests. The\nBr\u00e1hmens divided into different classes; and the S\u00e1stras, V\u00e9das, and\nPur\u00e1nas[101], contradicted each other. The six Dersans (philosophical\nsects) exhibited enmity, and the thirty-six P\u00e1shands (heterodox sects)\narose, with hundreds of thousands of chimerical and magical (_tantra\nmantra_) sects: and thus, from one form, many good and many evil forms\noriginated, and error prevailed in the C\u00e1li Yug, or age of general\ndepravity.\"\n\nThe Sikh author pursues this account of the errors into which the\nHind\u00fas fell, with a curious passage regarding the origin and progress\nof the Muhammedan religion.\n\n\"The world,\" he writes, \"went on with these numerous divisions,\nwhen Muhammed Yara[102] appeared, who gave origin to the seventy-two\nsects[103], and widely disseminated discord and war. He established the\nR\u00f3zeh o A\u00edd (fast and festivals), and the Nam\u00e1z (prayer), and made his\npractice of devotional acts prevalent in the world, with a multitude of\ndistinctions, of P\u00edr (saint), Paighamber (prophet), Ulem\u00e1 (the order\nof priesthood), and Kit\u00e0b (the Kor\u00e1n). He demolished the temples,\nand on their ruins built the mosques, slaughtering cows and helpless\npersons, and spreading transgression far and wide, holding in hostility\nC\u00e1firs (infidels), Mulhids (idolaters), Irmenis (Armenians), Rumis (the\nTurks), and Zingis (Ethiopians). Thus vice greatly diffused itself in\nthe universe.\"\n\n\"Then,\" this author adds, \"there were two races in the world; the one\nHind\u00fa, the other Muhammedan; and both were alike excited by pride,\nenmity, and avarice, to violence. The Hind\u00fas set their heart on Gang\u00e1\nand Benares; the Muhammedans on Mecca and the C\u00e1aba: the Hind\u00fas clung\nto their mark on the forehead and brahminical string; the Moslemans\nto their circumcision: the one cried R\u00e1m (the name of an Avat\u00e1r), the\nother Rah\u00edm (the merciful); one name, but two ways of pronouncing it;\nforgetting equally the V\u00e9das and the Kor\u00e1n: and through the deceptions\nof lust, avarice, the world, and Satan, they swerved equally from the\ntrue path: while Br\u00e1hmens and Moulavis destroyed each other by their\nquarrels, and the vicissitudes of life and death hung always suspended\nover their heads.\n\n\"When the world was in this distracted state, and vice prevailed,\"\nsays this writer, \"the complaint of virtue, whose dominion was\nextinct, reached the throne of the Almighty, who created N\u00e1nac, to\nenlighten and improve a degenerate and corrupt age: and that holy man\nmade God the Supreme known to all, giving the nectareous water that\nwashed his feet to his disciples to drink. He restored to Virtue her\nstrength, blended the four casts[104] into one, established one mode of\nsalutation, changed the childish play of bending the head at the feet\nof idols, taught the worship of the true God, and reformed a depraved\nworld.\"\n\nN\u00e1nac appears, by the account of this author, to have established\nhis fame for sanctity by the usual modes of religious mendicants. He\nperformed severe Tapasa[105], living upon sand and swallow-wort, and\nsleeping on sharp pebbles; and, after attaining fame by this kind of\npenance, he commenced his travels, with the view of spreading his\ndoctrine over the earth.\n\nAfter N\u00e1nac had completed his terrestrial travels, he is supposed to\nhave ascended to Sum\u00e9ru, where he saw the Sidd'his[106], all seated in\na circle. These, from a knowledge of that eminence for which he was\npredestined, wished to make him assume the characteristic devotion of\ntheir sect, to which they thought he would be an ornament. While means\nwere used to effect this purpose, a divine voice was heard to exclaim:\n\"N\u00e1nac shall form his own sect, distinct from all the Yat\u00eds[107] and\nSidd'his; and his name shall be joyful to the C\u00e1li Yug.\" After this,\nN\u00e1nac preached the adoration of the true God to the Hind\u00fas; and then\nwent to instruct the Muhammedans, in their sacred temples at Mecca.\nWhen at that place, the holy men are said to have gathered round him,\nand demanded, Whether their faith, or that of the Hind\u00fas, was the best?\n\"Without the practice of true piety, both,\" said N\u00e1nac, \"are erroneous,\nand neither Hind\u00fas nor Moslems will be acceptable before the throne of\nGod; for the faded tinge of scarlet, that has been soiled by water,\nwill never return. You both deceive yourselves, pronouncing aloud R\u00e1m\nand Rah\u00edm, and the way of Satan prevails in the universe.\"\n\nThe courageous independence with which N\u00e1nac announced his religion to\nthe Muhammedans, is a favourite topic with his biographers. He was one\nday abused, and even struck, as one of these relates, by a Moullah, for\nlying on the ground with his feet in the direction of the sacred temple\nof Mecca. \"How darest thou, infidel!\" said the offended Muhammedan\npriest, \"turn thy feet towards the house of God!\"--\"Turn them, if you\ncan,\" said the pious but indignant N\u00e1nac, \"in a direction where the\nhouse of God is not.\"\n\nN\u00e1nac did not deny the mission of Muhammed. \"That prophet was sent,\"\nhe said, \"by God, to this world, to do good, and to disseminate the\nknowledge of one God through means of the Kor\u00e1n; but he, acting on the\nprinciple of free-will, which all human beings exercise, introduced\noppression, and cruelty, and the slaughter of cows[108], for which\nhe died.--I am now sent,\" he added, \"from heaven, to publish unto\nmankind a book, which shall reduce all the names given unto God to\none name, which is God; and he who calls him by any other, shall fall\ninto the path of the devil, and have his feet bound in the chains\nof wretchedness. You have,\" said he to the Muhammedans, \"despoiled\nthe temples, and burnt the sacred V\u00e9das, of the Hind\u00fas; and you have\ndressed yourselves in dresses of blue, and you delight to have your\npraises sung from house to house: but I, who have seen all the world,\ntell you, that the Hind\u00fas equally hate you and your mosques. I am\nsent to reconcile your jarring faiths, and I implore you to read\ntheir scriptures, as well as your own: but reading is useless without\nobedience to the doctrine taught; for God has said, no man shall be\nsaved except he has performed good works. The Almighty will not ask\nto what tribe or persuasion he belongs. He will only ask, What has he\ndone? Therefore those violent and continued disputes, which subsist\nbetween the Hind\u00fas and Moslemans, are as impious as they are unjust.\"\n\nSuch were the doctrines, according to his disciples, which N\u00e1nac taught\nto both Hind\u00fas and Muhammedans. He professed veneration and respect,\nbut refused adoration to the founders of both their religions; for\nwhich, as for those of all other tribes, he had great tolerance. \"A\nhundred thousand of Muhammeds,\" said N\u00e1nac, \"a million of Brahm\u00e1s,\nVishnus, and a hundred thousand R\u00e1mas, stand at the gate of the Most\nHigh. These all perish; God alone is immortal. Yet men, who unite in\nthe praise of God, are not ashamed of living in contention with each\nother; which proves that the evil spirit has subdued all. He alone is a\ntrue Hind\u00fa whose heart is just; and he only is a good Muhammedan whose\nlife is pure.\"\n\nN\u00e1nac is stated, by the Sikh author from whom the above account of his\nreligion is taken, to have had an interview with the supreme God, which\nhe thus describes: \"One day N\u00e1nac heard a voice from above exclaim,\nN\u00e1nac, approach!\" He replied, \"Oh God! what power have I to stand in\nthy presence?\" The voice said, \"Close thine eyes.\" N\u00e1nac shut his eyes,\nand advanced: he was told to look up: he did so, and heard the word\n_W\u00e1!_ or _well done_, pronounced five times; and then _W\u00e1! G\u00far\u00faj\u00ed_, or\n_well done teacher_. After this God said, \"N\u00e1nac! I have sent thee into\nthe world, in the C\u00e1li Yug (or depraved age); go and bear my name.\"\nN\u00e1nac said, \"Oh God! how can I bear the mighty burthen? If my age was\nextended to tens of millions of years, if I drank of immortality, and\nmy eyes were formed of the sun and moon, and were never closed, still,\noh God! I could not presume to take charge of thy wondrous name.\"--\"I\nwill be thy G\u00far\u00fa (teacher),\" said God, \"and thou shalt be a G\u00far\u00fa to\nall mankind, and thy sect shall be great in the world; their word is\nP\u00far\u00ed P\u00far\u00ed. The word of the Bair\u00e1g\u00ed is R\u00e1m! R\u00e1m! that of the Sany\u00e1s\u00ed,\nOm! Nam\u00e1! N\u00e1r\u00e1yen! and the word of the Y\u00f3g\u00eds, Ad\u00e9s! Ad\u00e9s! and the\nsalutation of the Muhammedans is Sal\u00e1m Al\u00edkam; and that of the Hind\u00fas,\nR\u00e1m! R\u00e1m! but the word of thy sect shall be G\u00far\u00fa, and I will forgive\nthe crimes of thy disciples. The place of worship of the Bair\u00e1g\u00eds is\ncalled R\u00e1ms\u00e1la; that of the Y\u00f3g\u00eds, Asan; that of the Sany\u00e1s\u00eds, M\u00e1t;\nthat of thy tribe shall be Dherma S\u00e1la. Thou must teach unto thy\nfollowers three lessons: the first, to worship my name; the second,\ncharity; the third, ablution. They must not abandon the world, and they\nmust do ill to no being; for into every being have I infused breath;\nand whatever I am, thou art, for betwixt us there is no difference.\nIt is a blessing that thou art sent into the C\u00e1li Yug.\" After this,\n\"_W\u00e1 G\u00far\u00fa!_ or _well done, teacher!_ was pronounced from the mouth of\nthe most high G\u00far\u00fa or teacher (God), and N\u00e1nac came to give light and\nfreedom to the universe.\"\n\nThe above will give a sufficient view of the ideas which the Sikhs\nentertain regarding the divine origin of their faith; which, as first\ntaught by N\u00e1nac, might justly be deemed the religion of peace.\n\n\"Put on armour,\" says N\u00e1nac, \"that will harm no one; let thy coat of\nmail be that of understanding, and convert thy enemies to friends.\nFight with valour, but with no weapon except the word of God.\" All\nthe principles which N\u00e1nac inculcated, were those of pure deism; but\nmoderated, in order to meet the deep-rooted usages of that portion of\nmankind which he wished to reclaim from error. Though he condemned the\nlives and habits of the Muhammedans, he approved of the Kor\u00e1n[109].\nHe admitted the truth of the ancient V\u00e9das, but contended that the\nHind\u00fa religion had been corrupted, by the introduction of a plurality\nof gods, with the worship of images; which led their minds astray\nfrom that great and eternal Being, to whom adoration should alone be\npaid. He, however, followed the forms of the Hind\u00fas, and adopted most\nof their doctrines which did not interfere with his great and leading\ntenet. He admitted the claim to veneration, of the numerous catalogue\nof Hind\u00fa D\u00e9vas, and D\u00e9vat\u00e1s, or inferior deities; but he refused them\nadoration. He held it impious to slaughter the cow; and he directed\nhis votaries, as has been seen, to consider ablution as one of their\nprimary religious duties.\n\nN\u00e1nac, according to Penj\u00e1bi authors, admitted the Hind\u00fa doctrine of\nmetempsychosis. He believed, that really good men would enjoy Paradise;\nthat those, who had no claim to the name of good, but yet were not\nbad, would undergo another probation, by revisiting the world in the\nhuman form: and that the bad would animate the bodies of animals,\nparticularly dogs and cats: but it appears, from the same authorities,\nthat N\u00e1nac was acquainted with the Muhammedan doctrine regarding the\nfall of man, and a future state; and that he represented it to his\nfollowers as a system, in which God, by showing a heaven and a hell,\nhad, in his great goodness, held out future rewards and punishments to\nman, whose will he had left free, to incite him to good actions, and\ndeter him from bad. The principle of reward and punishment is so nearly\nthe same in the Hind\u00fa and in the Muhammedan religion, that it was not\ndifficult for N\u00e1nac to reconcile his followers upon this point: but\nin this, as in all others, he seems to have bent to the doctrine of\nBrahm\u00e1. In all his writings, however, he borrowed indifferently from\nthe Kor\u00e1n and the Hind\u00fa S\u00e1stras; and his example was followed by his\nsuccessors; and quotations from the scriptures of the Hind\u00fas, and from\nthe book of Muhammed, are indiscriminately introduced into all their\nsacred writings, to elucidate those points on which it was their object\nto reconcile these jarring religions.\n\nWith the exact mode in which N\u00e1nac instructed his followers to address\ntheir prayers to that supreme Being whom he taught them to adore, I\nam not acquainted. Their D'herma S\u00e1la, or temples of worship, are,\nin general, plain buildings. Images are, of course, banished. Their\nprescribed forms of prayer are, I believe, few and simple. Part of the\nwritings of N\u00e1nac, which have since been incorporated with those of his\nsuccessors, in the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, are read, or rather recited, upon every\nsolemn occasion. These are all in praise of the Deity, of religion, and\nof virtue; and against impiety and immorality. The Ad\u00ed-Grant'h, the\nwhole of the first part of which is ascribed to N\u00e1nac, is written, like\nthe rest of the books of the Sikhs, in the G\u00far\u00famuk'h[110] character.\nI can only judge very imperfectly of the value of this work: but some\nextracts, translated from it, appear worthy of that admiration which is\nbestowed upon it by the Sikhs.\n\nThe Ad\u00ed-Grant'h is in verse; and many of the chapters, written by\nN\u00e1nac, are termed P\u00eddi, which means, literally, a ladder or flight of\nsteps; and, metaphorically, that by which a man ascends.\n\nIn the following fragment, literally translated from the S\u00f3dar r\u00e1g \u00e1s\u00e1\nmahilla pehla of N\u00e1nac, he displays the supremacy of the true God,\nand the inferiority of the D\u00e9vat\u00e1s, and other created beings, to the\nuniversal Creator; however they may have been elevated into deities by\nignorance or superstition.\n\n  Thy portals, how wonderful they are, how wonderful thy palace,\n    where thou sittest and governest all!\n  Numberless and infinite are the sounds which proclaim thy praises.\n  How numerous are thy Peris, skilful in music and song!\n  Pavan (air), water, and Vasantar (fire), celebrate thee;\n    D'herma R\u00e1j\u00e1 (the Hind\u00fa Rhadamanthus) celebrates thy praises,\n    at thy gates.\n  Chitragupta (Secretary to D'herma R\u00e1j\u00e1) celebrates thy praises;\n    who, skilful in writing, writes and administers final justice.\n  Iswara, Brahm\u00e1, and D\u00e9vi, celebrate thy praises;\n    they declare in fit terms thy majesty, at thy gates.\n  Indra celebrates thy praises, sitting on the Indraic throne\n    amid the D\u00e9vat\u00e1s.\n  The just celebrate thy praises in profound meditation,\n    the pious declare thy glory.\n  The Yat\u00eds and the Sat\u00eds joyfully celebrate thy might.\n  The Pandits, skilled in reading, and the Rish\u00edswaras,\n    who, age by age, read the V\u00e9das, recite thy praises.\n  The M\u00f3hin\u00eds (celestial courtezans), heart alluring,\n    inhabiting Swarga, Mritya, and P\u00e1t\u00e1l\u00e1, celebrate thy praises.\n  The Ratnas (gems), with the thirty-eight T\u00edrt'has (sacred springs),\n    celebrate thy praises.\n  Heroes of great might celebrate thy name; beings of the four kinds\n    of production celebrate thy praises.\n  The continents, and regions of the world, celebrate thy praises;\n    the universal Brahm\u00e1nda (the mundane egg),\n    which thou hast established firm.\n  All who know thee praise thee, all who are desirous of thy worship.\n  How numerous they are who praise thee! they exceed my comprehension:\n     how, then, shall N\u00e1nac describe them?\n  He, even he, is the Lord of truth, true, and truly just.\n  He is, he was, he passes, he passes not,\n    the preserver of all that is preserved.\n  Of numerous hues, sorts and kinds,\n    he is the original author of M\u00e1y\u00e1 (deception).\n  Having formed the creation, he surveys his own work,\n    the display of his own greatness.\n  What pleases him he does, and no order of any other being\n    can reach him.\n  He is the P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h and the P\u00e1ds\u00e1heb of Sh\u00e1hs;\n    N\u00e1nac resides in his favour.\n\nThese few verses are, perhaps, sufficient to show, that it was on a\nprinciple of pure deism that N\u00e1nac entirely grounded his religion.\nIt was not possible, however, that the minds of any large portion\nof mankind could remain long fixed in a belief which presented\nthem only with general truths, and those of a nature too vast for\ntheir contemplation or comprehension. The followers of N\u00e1nac, since\nhis death, have paid an adoration to his name, which is at variance\nwith the lessons which he taught; they have clothed him in all the\nattributes of a saint: they consider him as the selected instrument of\nGod to make known the true faith to fallen man; and, as such, they give\nhim divine honours; not only performing pilgrimage to his tomb, but\naddressing him, in their prayers, as their saviour and mediator.\n\nThe religious tenets and usages of the Sikhs continued, as they had\nbeen established by N\u00e1nac[111], till the time of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind; who,\nthough he did not alter the fundamental principles of the established\nfaith, made so complete a change in the sacred usages and civil habits\nof his followers, that he gave them an entirely new character: and\nthough the Sikhs retain all their veneration for N\u00e1nac, they deem\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind to have been equally exalted, by the immediate favour and\nprotection of the Divinity; and the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, or book\nof the tenth king, which was written by G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, is considered, in\nevery respect, as holy as the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h of N\u00e1nac, and his immediate\nsuccessors. I cannot better explain the pretensions which G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind\nhas made to the rank of a prophet, than by exhibiting his own account\nof his mission in a literal version from his Vichitra N\u00e1tac.\n\n\"I now declare my own history, and the multifarious austerities which\nI have performed.\n\n\"Where the seven peaks rise beautiful on the mountain H\u00e9macuta, and the\nplace takes the name of Sapta Sringa, greater penance have I performed\nthan was ever endured by P\u00e1ndu R\u00e1j\u00e1, meditating constantly on Mah\u00e1 C\u00e1l\nand C\u00e1lica, till diversity was changed into one form. My father and\nmother meditated on the Divinity, and performed the Y\u00f3ga, till G\u00far\u00fa\nD\u00e9va approved of their devotions. Then the Supreme issued his order,\nand I was born, in the C\u00e1li Yug, though my inclination was not to come\ninto the world, my mind being fixed on the foot of the Supreme. When\nthe supreme Being made known his will, I was sent into the world. The\neternal Being thus addressed this feeble insect:\n\n\"--I have manifested thee as my own son, and appointed thee to\nestablish a perfect Pant'h (sect). Go into the world, establish virtue\nand expel vice.\"--\n\n\"--I stand with joined hands, bending my head at thy word: the Pant'h\nshall prevail in the world, when thou lendest thine aid.--Then was\nI sent into the world: thus I received mortal birth. As the Supreme\nspoke to me, so do I speak, and to none do I bear enmity. Whoever shall\ncall me Param\u00e9swara, he shall sink into the pit of hell: know, that I\nam only the servant of the Supreme, and concerning this entertain no\ndoubt. As God spoke, I announce unto the world, and remain not silent\nin the world of men.\n\n\"As God spoke, so do I declare, and I regard no person's word. I wear\nmy dress in nobody's fashion, but follow that appointed by the Supreme.\nI perform no worship to stones, nor imitate the ceremonies of any one.\nI pronounce the infinite name, and have attained to the supreme Being.\nI wear no bristling locks on my head, nor adorn myself with ear-rings.\nI receive no person's words in my ears; but as the Lord speaks, I act.\nI meditate on the sole name, and attain my object. To no other do I\nperform the J\u00e1p, in no other do I confide: I meditate on the infinite\nname, and attain the supreme light. On no other do I meditate; the name\nof no other do I pronounce.\n\n\"For this sole reason, to establish virtue, was I sent into the\nworld by G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e9va. 'Every where,' said he, 'establish virtue, and\nexterminate the wicked and vitious.' For this purpose have I received\nmortal birth; and this let all the virtuous understand. To establish\nvirtue, to exalt piety, and to extirpate the vitious utterly. Every\nformer Avat\u00e1r established his own J\u00e1p; but no one punished the\nirreligious, no one established both the principles and practice of\nvirtue, (Dherm Carm). Every holy man (Gh\u00f3us), and prophet (Ambia),\nattempted only to establish his own reputation in the world; but no\none comprehended the supreme Being, or understood the true principles\nor practice of virtue. The doctrine of no other is of any avail: this\ndoctrine fix in your minds. There is no benefit in any other doctrine,\nthis fix in your minds.\n\n\"Whoever reads the Kor\u00e1n, whoever reads the Pur\u00e1n, neither of them\nshall escape death, and nothing but virtue shall avail at last.\nMillions of men may read the Kor\u00e1n, they may read innumerable Pur\u00e1ns;\nbut it shall be of no avail in the life to come, and the power of\ndestiny shall prevail over them.\"\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, after this account of the origin of his mission, gives a\nshort account of his birth and succession to the spiritual duties at\nhis father's death.\n\n\"At the command of God I received mortal birth, and came into the\nworld. This I now declare briefly; attend to what I speak.\n\n\"My father journeyed towards the East, performing ablution in all the\nsacred springs. When he arrived at Triveni, he spent a day in acts\nof devotion and charity. On that occasion was I manifested. In the\ntown of Patna I received a body. Then the Madra D\u00e9s received me, and\nnurses nursed me tenderly, and tended me with great care, instructing\nme attentively every day. When I reached the age of Dherm and Carm\n(principles and practice), my father departed to the D\u00e9va L\u00f3ca. When\nI was invested with the dignity of R\u00e1ja, I established virtue to the\nutmost of my power. I addicted myself to every species of hunting in\nthe forests, and daily killed the bear and the stag. When I had become\nacquainted with that country, I proceeded to the city of P\u00e1vat\u00e1, where\nI amused myself on the banks of the Calindri, and viewed every kind\nof spectacle. There I slew a great number of tigers; and, in various\nmodes, hunted the bear.\"\n\nThe above passages will convey an idea of that impression which G\u00far\u00fa\nG\u00f3vind gave his followers of his divine mission. I shall shortly\nenumerate those alterations he made in the usages of the Sikhs, whom it\nwas his object to render, through the means of religious enthusiasm, a\nwarlike race.\n\nThough G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind was brought up in the religion of N\u00e1nac, he appears,\nfrom having been educated among the Hind\u00fa priests of Mathura, to\nhave been deeply tainted with their superstitious belief; and he\nwas, perhaps, induced by considerations of policy, to lean still\nmore strongly to their prejudices, in order to induce them to become\nconverts to that religious military community, by means of which it\nwas his object to destroy the Muhammedan power.\n\nThe principal of the religious institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, is that\nof the P\u00e1hal,--the ceremony by which a convert is initiated into the\ntribe of Sikhs; or, more properly speaking, that of Singhs. The meaning\nof this institution is to make the convert a member of the Kh\u00e1lsa, or\nSikh commonwealth, which he can only become by assenting to certain\nobservances; the devoting himself to arms for the defence of the\ncommonwealth, and the destruction of its enemies; the wearing his hair,\nand putting on a blue dress[112].\n\nThe mode in which G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind first initiated his converts, is\ndescribed by a Sikh writer; and, as I believe it is nearly the same\nas that now observed, I shall shortly state it as he has described\nit. G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, he says, after his arrival at M\u00e1k'haval, initiated\nfive converts, and gave them instructions how to initiate others. The\nmode is as follows. The convert is told that he must allow his hair\nto grow. He must clothe himself from head to foot in blue clothes. He\nis then presented with the five weapons: a sword, a firelock, a bow\nand arrow, and a pike[113]. One of those who initiate him then says,\n\"The G\u00far\u00fa is thy holy teacher, and thou art his Sikh or disciple.\"\nSome sugar and water is put into a cup, and stirred round with a steel\nknife, or dagger, and some of the first chapters of the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h,\nand the first chapters of the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, are read; and\nthose who perform the initiation exclaim, _W\u00e1! G\u00far\u00faji k\u00e1 Kh\u00e1lsa! W\u00e1!\nG\u00far\u00faji k\u00ed Fateh!_ (Success to the state of the G\u00far\u00fa! Victory attend\nthe G\u00far\u00fa!) After this exclamation has been repeated five times, they\nsay, \"This sherbet is nectar. It is the water of life; drink it.\"\nThe disciple obeys; and some sherbet, prepared in a similar manner,\nis sprinkled over his head and beard. After these ceremonies, the\ndisciple is asked if he consents to be of the faith of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind. He\nanswers, \"I do consent.\" He is then told, \"If you do, you must abandon\nall intercourse, and neither eat, drink, nor sit in company with men\nof five sects which I shall name. The first, the M\u00edna D'hirmal; who,\nthough of the race of N\u00e1nac, were tempted by avarice to give poison to\nArjun; and, though they did not succeed, they ought to be expelled from\nsociety. The second are the Musandi\u00e1; a sect who call themselves G\u00far\u00fas,\nor priests, and endeavour to introduce heterodox doctrines[114]. The\nthird, R\u00e1m R\u00e1y\u00ed, the descendants of R\u00e1m R\u00e1y, whose intrigues were the\ngreat cause of the destruction of the holy ruler, T\u00e9gh Singh. The\nfourth are the Kud i-m\u00e1r, or destroyers[115] of their own daughters.\nFifth, the Bhadan\u00ed, who shave the hair of their head and beards.\"\nThe disciple, after this warning against intercourse with sectaries,\nor rather schismatics, is instructed in some general precepts, the\nobservance of which regard the welfare of the community into which he\nhas entered. He is told to be gentle and polite to all with whom he\nconverses, to endeavour to attain wisdom, and to emulate the persuasive\neloquence of B\u00e1b\u00e1 N\u00e1nac. He is particularly enjoined, whenever he\napproaches any of the Sikh temples, to do it with reverence and\nrespect, and to go to Amritsar, to pay his devotions to the Kh\u00e1lsa,\nor state; the interests of which he is directed, on all occasions, to\nconsider paramount to his own. He is instructed to labour to increase\nthe prosperity of the town of Amritsar; and told, that at every place\nof worship which he visits he will be conducted in the right path by\nthe G\u00far\u00fa (G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind). He is instructed to believe, that it is the\nduty of all those who belong to the Kh\u00e1lsa, or commonwealth of the\nSikhs, neither to lament the sacrifice of property, nor of life, in\nsupport of each other; and he is directed to read the Ad\u00ed-Grant'h and\nDasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, every morning and every evening. Whatever he\nhas received from God, he is told it is his duty to share with others.\nAnd after the disciple has heard and understood all these and similar\nprecepts, he is declared to be duly initiated.\n\nG\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind Singh, agreeably to this Sikh author, after initiating the\nfirst five disciples in the mode above stated, ordered the principal\npersons among them[116] to initiate him exactly on similar occasions,\nwhich he did. The author from whom the above account is taken, states,\nthat when G\u00f3vind was at the point of death, he exclaimed, \"Wherever\nfive Sikhs are assembled, there I also shall be present!\" and, in\nconsequence of this expression, five Sikhs are the number necessary to\nmake a Singh, or convert. By the religious institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind,\nproselytes are admitted from all tribes and casts in the universe. The\ninitiation may take place at any time of life, but the children of the\nSinghs all go through this rite at a very early age.\n\nThe leading tenet of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind's religious institutions, which\nobliges his followers to devote themselves to arms, is stated, in\none of the chapters of the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, or book of\nthe tenth king, written in praise of D\u00farga B'hav\u00e1n\u00ed, the goddess of\ncourage: \"D\u00farga,\" G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind says, \"appeared to me when I was asleep,\narrayed in all her glory. The goddess put into my hand the hilt of a\nbright scimitar, which she had before held in her own. 'The country\nof the Muhammedans,' said the goddess, 'shall be conquered by thee,\nand numbers of that race shall be slain.' After I had heard this, I\nexclaimed, 'This steel shall be the guard to me and my followers,\nbecause, in its lustre, the splendour of thy countenance, O goddess! is\nalways reflected[117].'\"\n\nThe Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind appears, from the extracts\nwhich I have seen of it, to abound in fine passages. Its author has\nborrowed largely from the S\u00e1stras of the Brahm\u00e9ns, and the Kor\u00e1n. He\npraises N\u00e1nac as a holy saint, accepted of God; and grounds his faith,\nlike that of his predecessors, upon the adoration of one God; whose\npower and attributes he however describes by so many Sanscrit names,\nand with such constant allusions to the Hind\u00fa mythology, that it\nappears often difficult to separate his purer belief from their gross\nidolatry. He, however, rejects all worship of images, on an opinion\ntaken from one of the ancient V\u00e9das, which declares, \"that to worship\nan idol made of wood, earth, or stone, is as foolish as it is impious;\nfor God alone is deserving of adoration.\"\n\nThe great points, however, by which G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind has separated his\nfollowers for ever from the Hind\u00fas, are those which have been before\nstated;--the destruction of the distinction of casts, the admission of\nproselytes, and the rendering the pursuit of arms not only admissible,\nbut the religious duty of all his followers. Whereas, among the Hind\u00fas,\nagreeable to the Dherma S\u00e1stra, (one of the most revered of their\nsacred writings,) carrying arms on all occasions, as an occupation, is\nonly lawful to the Cshatr\u00edya or military tribe. A Br\u00e1hmen is allowed to\nobtain a livelihood by arms, if he can by no other mode. The Vaisya and\nS\u00fadra are not allowed to make arms their profession, though they may\nuse them in self-defence.\n\nThe sacred book of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind is not confined to religious subjects,\nor tales of Hind\u00fa mythology, related in his own way; but abounds in\naccounts of the battles which he fought, and of the actions which were\nperformed by the most valiant of his followers. Courage is, throughout\nthis work, placed above every other virtue; and G\u00f3vind, like Muhammed,\nmakes martyrdom for the faith which he taught, the shortest and most\ncertain road to honour in this world, and eternal happiness in the\nfuture. The opinion which the Sikhs entertain of G\u00f3vind will be best\ncollected from their most esteemed authors.\n\n\"G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind Singh,\" one[118] of those writers states, \"appeared as the\ntenth Avat\u00e1r. He meditated on the Creator himself, invisible, eternal,\nand incomprehensible. He established the Kh\u00e1lsa, his own sect, and, by\nexhibiting singular energy, leaving the hair on his head, and seizing\nthe scimitar, he smote every wicked person. He bound the garment of\nchastity round his loins, grasped the sword of valour, and, passing\nthe true word of victory, became victorious in the field of combat;\nand seizing the D\u00e9vat\u00e1s, his foes, he inflicted on them punishment;\nand, with great success, diffused the sublime G\u00far\u00fa J\u00e1p (a mystical\nform of prayer composed by G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind) through the world. As he was\nborn a warlike Singh, he assumed the blue dress; and, by destroying\nthe wicked Turks, he exalted the name of Hari (God). No Sirdar could\nstand in battle against him, but all of them fled; and, whether Hind\u00fa\nR\u00e1j\u00e1s, or Muhammedan lords, became like dust in his presence. The\nmountains, hearing of him, were struck with terror; the whole world\nwas affrighted, and the people fled from their habitations. In short,\nsuch was his fame, that they were all thrown into consternation, and\nbegan to say, 'Besides thee, O Sat G\u00far\u00fa! there is no dispeller of\ndanger,'--Having seized and displayed his sword, no person could resist\nhis might.\"\n\nThe same author, in a subsequent passage, gives a very characteristic\naccount of that spirit of hostility which the religion of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind\nbreathed against the Muhammedans; and of the manner in which it treated\nthose sacred writings, upon which most of the established usages of\nHind\u00fas are grounded.\n\n\"By the command of the Eternal, the great G\u00far\u00fa disseminated the true\nknowledge. Full of strength and courage, he successfully established\nthe Kh\u00e1lsa (or state). Thus, at once founding the sect of Singh, he\nstruck the whole world with awe: overturning temples and sacred places,\ntombs and mosques, he levelled them all with the plain: rejecting the\nV\u00e9das, the Pur\u00e1ns, the six S\u00e1stras, and the Kor\u00e1n; he abolished the\ncry of Nam\u00e1z (Muhammedan prayer), and slew the Sultans; reducing the\nM\u00edrs and P\u00edrs (the lords and priests of the Muhammedans) to silence, he\noverturned all their sects; the Moullahs (professors), and the K\u00e1zis\n(judges), were confounded, and found no benefit from their studies. The\nBr\u00e1hmens, the Pandits, and the J\u00f3t\u00ecshis (or astrologers), had acquired\na relish for worldly things: they worshipped stones and temples, and\nforgot the Supreme. Thus these two sects, the Muhammedan and Hind\u00fa,\nremained involved in delusion and ignorance, when the third sect of\nthe Kh\u00e1lsa originated in purity. When, at the order of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind,\nthe Singhs seized and displayed the scimitar, then subduing all their\nenemies, they meditated on the Eternal; and, as soon as the order of\nthe Most High was manifested in the world, circumcision ceased, and the\nTurks trembled, when they saw the ritual of Muhammed destroyed: then\nthe Nak\u00e1ra (large drum) of victory sounded throughout the world, and\nfear and dread were abolished. Thus the third sect was established, and\nincreased greatly in might.\"\n\nThese extracts, and what I have before stated, will sufficiently show\nthe character of the religious institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind; which were\nadmirably calculated to awaken, through the means of fanaticism, a\nspirit of courage and independence, among men who had been content,\nfor ages, with that degraded condition in society, to which they were\ntaught to believe themselves born. The end which G\u00f3vind sought, could\nnot, perhaps, have been attained by the employment of other means.\nExhortations respecting their civil rights, and the wrongs which they\nsustained, would have been wasted on minds enslaved by superstition,\nand who could only be persuaded to assert themselves men, by an\nimpression that it was the will of Heaven they should do so. His\nsuccess is a strong elucidation of the general character of the Hind\u00fa\nnatives of India. That race, though in general mild and peaceable,\ntake the most savage and ferocious turn, when roused to action by the\ninfluence of religious feeling.\n\nI have mentioned, in the narrative part of this Sketch, the attempt of\nthe Bair\u00e1g\u00ed Banda to alter the religious institutions of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind,\nand its failure. The tribe of Ac\u00e1l\u00eds (immortals), who have now assumed\na dictatorial sway in all the religious ceremonies at Amritsar, and\nthe Nirmala and Shahid, who read the sacred writings, may hereafter\nintroduce some changes in those usages which the Sikhs revere: but\nit is probable that the spirit of equality, which has been hitherto\nconsidered as the vital principle of the Kh\u00e1lsa or commonwealth,\nand which makes all Sikhs so reluctant to own either a temporal or\nspiritual leader, will tend greatly to preserve their institutions\nfrom invasion: and it is stated, in a tradition which is universally\nbelieved by the Sikhs, and has, indeed, been inserted in their sacred\nwritings, that G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, when he was asked by his followers, who\nsurrounded his death-bed, to whom he would leave his authority?\nreplied, \"I have delivered over the Kh\u00e1lsa (commonwealth) to God, who\nnever dies. I have been your guide, and will still preserve you; read\nthe Grant'h, and attend to its tenets; and whoever remains true to the\nstate, him will I aid.\" From these dying words of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, the\nSikhs believe themselves to have been placed, by their last and most\nrevered prophet, under the peculiar care of God: and their attachment\nto this mysterious principle, leads them to consider the Kh\u00e1lsa (or\ncommonwealth) as a theocracy; and such an impression is likely to\noppose a very serious obstacle, if not an insuperable barrier, to\nthe designs of any of their chiefs, who may hereafter endeavour to\nestablish an absolute power over the whole nation.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\nPrinted by J. Moyes, Greville Street, London.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[96] This celebrated S\u00fafi, or philosophical deist, lived in the time\nof the Emperor Sh\u00e9r Sh\u00e1h. He was, by trade, a weaver; but has written\nseveral admired works. They are all composed in a strain of universal\nphilanthropy and benevolence; and, above all, he inculcated religious\ntoleration, particularly between the Muhammedans and Hind\u00fas, by both of\nwhom his memory is held in the highest esteem and veneration.\n\n[97] N\u00e1nac was celebrated for the manner in which he performed Tapasa,\nor austere devotion, which requires the mind to be so totally absorbed\nin the Divinity, as to be abstracted from every worldly thought, and\nthis for as long a period as human strength is capable of sustaining.\n\n[98] The most ancient Hind\u00fas do not appear to have paid adoration\nto idols; but, though they adored God, they worshipped the sun and\nelements.\n\n[99] B'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s B'hal\u00e9.\n\n[100] Br\u00e1hmen, Cshatr\u00edya, Vaisya, and S\u00fadra.\n\n[101] Different sacred books of the Hind\u00fas.\n\n[102] Y\u00e1r signifies _friend_; and one of the prophet's titles, among\nhis followers, is Yar-i-Khud\u00e1, or _the Friend of God_.\n\n[103] The Muhammedan religion is said to be divided into seventy-two\nsects.\n\n[104] There is no ground to conclude that casts were altogether\nabolished by N\u00e1nac; though his doctrines and writings had a tendency to\nequalize the Hind\u00fas, and unite all in the worship of one God.\n\n[105] A kind of ascetic devotion, which has been before explained.\n\n[106] The Sidd'his (saints) are the attendants of the gods. The name is\nmost generally applied to those who wait on Gan\u00e9sa.\n\n[107] The name Yat\u00ed is most usually applied to the priests of the\nJainas; but it is also applicable to Sany\u00e1s\u00eds, and other penitents.\n\n[108] N\u00e1nac appears on this, and every other occasion, to have\npreserved his attachment to this favourite dogma of the Hind\u00fas.\n\n[109] This fact is admitted by Sikh authors. It is, however, probable,\nthat N\u00e1nac was but imperfectly acquainted with the doctrines of that\nvolume.\n\n[110] A modified species of the N\u00e1gari character.\n\n[111] Certainly no material alteration was made, either in the belief\nor forms of the Sikhs, by any of his successors before G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind.\nHar G\u00f3vind, who armed his followers to repel aggression, would only\nappear to have made a temporary effort to oppose his enemies, without\nan endeavour to effect any serious change in the religious belief or\ncustoms of the sect to which he belonged.\n\n[112] It has been before stated, that all the followers of G\u00f3vind do\nnot now wear the blue dress, but they all wear their hair; and their\njealous regard of it is not to be described. Three inferior agents of\nSikh chiefs were one day in my tent; one of them was a Kh\u00e1lsa Singh,\nand the two others of the Khal\u00e1sa tribe of Sikhs. I was laughing and\njoking with the Kh\u00e1lsa Singh, who said he had been ordered to attend\nme to Calcutta. Among other subjects of our mirth, I rallied him on\ntrusting himself so much in my power. \"Why, what is the worst,\" said\nhe, \"that you can do to me, when I am at such a distance from home?\" I\npassed my hand across my chin, imitating the act of shaving. The man's\nface was in an instant distorted with rage, and his sword half drawn.\n\"You are ignorant,\" said he to me, \"of the offence you have given.\nI cannot strike you, who are above me, and the friend of my master\nand the state. But no power,\" he added, \"shall save these fellows,\"\nalluding to the two Khal\u00e1sa Sikhs, \"from my revenge, for having dared\nto smile at your action.\" It was with the greatest difficulty, and only\nby the good offices of some Sikh chiefs, that I was able to pacify the\nwounded honour of this Singh.\n\n[113] The goddess of courage, Bhav\u00e1n\u00ed Durg\u00e1, represented in the Dasama\nP\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1 Grant'h, or book of kings of G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind, as the soul of\narms, or tutelary goddess of war, and is thus addressed: \"Thou art the\nedge of the sword, thou art the arrow, the sword, the knife, and the\ndagger.\"\n\n[114] G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind put to death many of this tribe.\n\n[115] This barbarous custom still prevails among the R\u00e1jap\u00fats in many\nparts of Hind\u00fastan.\n\n[116] Agreeably to this author, G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind was initiated on Friday,\nthe 8th of the month B'h\u00e1dra, in the year 1753 of the \u00e6ra of\nVicram\u00e1ditya; and on that day his great work, the Dasama P\u00e1dsh\u00e1h k\u00e1\nGrant'h, or book of the tenth king, was completed.\n\n[117] An author, whom I have often quoted, says, G\u00far\u00fa G\u00f3vind gave\nthe following injunctions to his followers: \"It is right to slay a\nMuhammedan wherever you meet him. If you meet a Hind\u00fa, beat him and\nplunder him, and divide his property among you. Employ your constant\neffort to destroy the countries ruled by Muhammedans. If they oppose\nyou, defeat and slay them.\"\n\n[118] B'hai G\u00far\u00fa D\u00e1s Bhal\u00e9.\n\n\n\n\n_BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED_\nBY JOHN MURRAY,\n50, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON.\n\n\n1. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW; from its Commencement, in 1809, to December\n1812. Sixteen Numbers, forming Eight Volumes, 8vo. handsomely printed;\nprice 5l. in extra boards.\n\nNew Editions of each Number have been again printed, and they may now\nbe had separately; price 6s.\n\n_No. 17 will be published early in February 1813, and the future\nNumbers regularly every three months._\n\n\n2. SKETCH OF THE POLITICAL HISTORY OF India: From the Introduction of\nMr. PITT'S Bill, A. D. 1784, to the present Date. By JOHN MALCOLM,\nLieutenant-Colonel in the East India Company's Madras Army, Resident at\nMysore, and late Envoy to the Court of Persia. 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It is intended to contribute to the advancement\nof science, by presenting to the contemplation of the artist and the\nconnoisseur, specimens of the most esteemed works of the best masters,\nancient and modern, both in painting and in sculpture; and by diffusing\nin a novel and interesting form a knowledge of what for ages has been\nappreciated and enthusiastically admired, instil into the mind of the\nmere indifferent observer a taste for the polite arts.\n\n\n10. TRAVELS IN THE ISLAND OF ICELAND during the Summer of the Year\n1810. By Sir GEORGE STEUART MACKENZIE, Bart. Fellow of the Royal\nSociety of Edinburgh, &c. &c. In One Volume, 4to. embellished with Two\nMaps, Fifteen Plates, (many finely coloured), and Fifteen Vignettes.\nSecond Edition. 3l. 3s.\n\n\n11. THE BATTLES OF TALAVERA: a Poem, with Notes. The Ninth London\nEdition; with important Additions and Corrections. To which are now\nadded TRAFALGAR, and other Poems. With a Portrait of Lord WELLINGTON,\nfrom an original Bust. Handsomely printed in 4to. 15s.\n\n\n12. ROMANCES: Consisting: of MEJNOUN and LEILA, a Persian Romance,\ninterspersed with Notes and Poetry descriptive of Oriental\nScenery.--LOVE and HUMILITY; a Roman Romance.--The LOVERS; or, The\nBIRTH of the PLEASING ARTS; an Arcadian Romance. By I. D'ISRAELI, Esq.\nThird Edition. With an Engraving, after a design by Westall. Foolscap\n8vo. 7s. 6d.\n\n\n13. CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE. A Romaunt. Written during the Author's\nTravels in Portugal, Spain, Albania, and some of the most interesting\nParts of Greece. With Notes. To which are added, a few Miscellaneous\nPoems, and Translations of modern Greek Songs, written chiefly abroad:\nand an Appendix, containing Observations on modern Greek Literature,\nwith a short Catalogue of Romaic Authors. By the Right Hon. Lord BYRON.\nFifth Edition. Handsomely printed in 8vo. 12s.\n\n\n14. THE LIFE OF NELSON. Beautifully printed in One Volume, small 8vo.\nwith Plates, 7s. 6d.\n\nMany Lives of NELSON have been written: one is yet wanting, clear\nand concise enough to become a Manual for the young Sailor, which he\nmay carry about with him till he has treasured up the example in his\nmemory and in his heart. In attempting such a Work, the Author proposes\nto himself to write the Eulogy of our great Naval Hero; for the best\nEulogy of NELSON is the faithful history of his actions; the best\nhistory is that which shall relate them most perspicuously.\n\n_A very few Copies are printed on large paper, price 12s._\n\n\n15. LIFE OF MICHEL ANGELO BUONARROTI; comprising his Letters, Poetry,\n&c. Specimens of which are translated by SOUTHEY and WORDSWORTH into\nEnglish Verse; containing also a critical Disquisition on his Merit\nas a Sculptor, a Painter, an Architect, and a Poet. By R. DUPPA, Esq.\nThe Second Edition, elegantly printed in Imperial 4to. by Bensley;\ncontaining a Portrait of Michel Angelo, by BARTOLOZZI, and Fifty other\nEngravings. 3l. 13s. 6d.\n\n\n16. COLLECTIONS FROM THE DEIPHNOSOPHISTS, or Banquet of the Gods, of\nATHEN\u00c6US. Translated from the original Greek, by THOMAS EAGLES, Esq.\nF.R.S. beautifully printed in Two Volumes, post 8vo. 18s.\n\nThis Work is peculiarly interesting, from its lively exhibition of\nvarious convivial customs, which prevailed in different countries in\ndifferent periods: interspersed with passages of exquisite Poetry.\n\n\n17. CALAMITIES OF AUTHORS: Including some Inquiries respecting their\nMORAL and LITERARY Characters. By the Author of CURIOSITIES of\nLITERATURE. Neatly printed in Two Volumes, small 8vo. 16s.\n\n\n18. TALES OF THE EAST: Containing upwards of One Thousand Stories:\ncomprising the whole of the Arabian, Persian, Turkish, Mogul,\nTartarian, and Chinese Tales: besides a number of original Translations\nand Reprints of interesting but little known Eastern Romances.\nElegantly printed by Ballantyne, in Three Volumes super-royal 8vo.\ndouble columns. 3l. 18s.\n\nThis Work will be continued till a Series of our best Novels and\nRomances be completed, and may extend probably to Fifteen Volumes, each\nportion of which will be distinct and complete in itself, and sold\nseparately.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes\n\n\nObvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired.\n\nInconsistent hyphenation fixed.\n\nPp. 41, 78fn: Dehli -> Delhi.\n\nP. 63fn: Kahl\u00far -> Kahil\u00far.\n\nP. 71: a town situate -> a town situated.","title":"Sketch of the Sikhs: A Singular Nation Who Inhabit the Provinces of Penjab, Situated Between the Rivers Jumna and Indus","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":33291}