SECTION I.

SKETCH

OF

THE SIKHS;

A Singular Nation,

WHO INHABIT THE

PROVINCES OF THE PENJAB,

SITUATED BETWEEN

The Rivers Jumna and Indus.

BY

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MALCOLM,

AUTHOR OF THE POLITICAL SKETCH OF INDIA.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET,

By James Moyes, Greville Street, Hatton Garden.

1812.

ADVERTISEMENT.

This Sketch has already appeared in the eleventh volume of the Asiatic

Researches: but, as that valuable work is not in common circulation,

it is now republished; and may prove acceptable, as a short and clear

account of an oriental people, of singular religion and manners, with

whose history the European reader can be but little acquainted.

SKETCH OF THE SIKHS.

INTRODUCTION.

When with the British army in the Penjáb, in 1805, I endeavoured to

collect materials that would throw light upon the history, manners, and

religion of the Sikhs. Though this subject had been treated by several

English writers, none of them had possessed opportunities of obtaining

more than very general information regarding this extraordinary race;

and their narratives therefore, though meriting regard, have served

more to excite than to gratify curiosity.

In addition to the information I collected while the army continued

within the territories of the Sikhs, and the personal observations

I was able to make, during that period, upon the customs and manners

of that nation, I succeeded with difficulty in obtaining a copy of

the Adí-Grant'h[1], and of some historical tracts, the most essential

parts of which, when I returned to Calcutta, were explained to me by a

Sikh priest of the Nirmala order, whom I found equally intelligent and

communicative, and who spoke of the religion and ceremonies of his sect

with less restraint than any of his brethren whom I had met with in the

Penjáb. This slender stock of materials was subsequently much enriched

by my friend Dr. Leyden, who has favoured me with a translation of

several tracts written by Sikh authors in the Penjábí and Dúggar

dialects, treating of their history and religion; which, though full

of that warm imagery which marks all oriental works, and particularly

those whose authors enter on the boundless field of Hindú mythology,

contain the most valuable verifications of the different religious

institutions of the Sikh nation.

It was my first intention to have endeavoured to add to these

materials, and to have written, when I had leisure, a history of the

Sikhs; but the active nature of my public duties has made it impossible

to carry this plan into early execution, and I have had the choice of

deferring it to a distant and uncertain period; or of giving, from

what I actually possessed, a short and hasty sketch of their history,

customs, and religion. The latter alternative I have adopted: for,

although the information I may convey in such a sketch may be very

defective, it will be useful at a moment when every information

regarding the Sikhs is of importance; and it may, perhaps, stimulate

and aid some person, who has more leisure and better opportunities, to

accomplish that task which I once contemplated.

In composing this rapid sketch of the Sikhs, I have still had to

encounter various difficulties. There is no part of oriental biography

in which it is more difficult to separate truth from falsehood, than

that which relates to the history of religious impostors. The account

of their lives is generally recorded, either by devoted disciples

and warm adherents, or by violent enemies and bigotted persecutors.

The former, from enthusiastic admiration, decorate them with every

quality and accomplishment that can adorn men: the latter misrepresent

their characters, and detract from all their merits and pretensions.

This general remark I have found to apply with peculiar force to the

varying accounts given, by Sikh and Muhammedan authors, of Nánac and

his successors. As it would have been an endless and unprofitable task

to have entered into a disquisition concerning all the points in which

these authors differ, many considerations have induced me to give a

preference, on almost all occasions, to the original Sikh writers. In

every research into the general history of mankind, it is of the most

essential importance to hear what a nation has to say of itself; and

the knowledge obtained from such sources has a value, independent of

its historical utility. It aids the promotion of social intercourse,

and leads to the establishment of friendship between nations. The

most savage states are those who have most prejudices, and who are

consequently most easily conciliated or offended: they are always

pleased and flattered, when they find, that those whom they cannot

but admit to possess superior intelligence, are acquainted with their

history, and respect their belief and usages: and, on the contrary,

they hardly ever pardon an outrage against their religion or customs,

though committed by men who have every right to plead the most profound

ignorance, as an excuse for the words or actions that have provoked

resentment.

SECTION I.

SKETCH OF THE HISTORY AND PRESENT STATE OF THE SIKHS; WITH

OBSERVATIONS ON THEIR RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS, USAGES, MANNERS, AND

CHARACTER.

Nánac Sháh, the founder of the sect, since distinguished by the name

of Sikhs[2], was born in the year of Christ 1469, at a small village

called Talwandi[3], in the district of Bhatti, in the province of

Lahore. His father, whose name was Cálú[4], was of the Cshatríya

cast, and Védí tribe of Hindús, and had no family except Nánac, and

his sister Nánaci, who married a Hindú of the name of Jayarám, that

was employed as a grain-factor by Daulet Khán Lódí, a relation of the

reigning emperor of Delhi. Nánac was, agreeably to the usage of the

tribe in which he was born, married to a woman of respectable family,

at an early age[5], by whom he had two sons, named Sríchand and Lacshmí

Dás. The former, who abandoned the vanities of the world, had a son

called Dherm Chand, who founded the sect of Udásí; and his descendants

are yet known by the name of Nánac Putráh, or the children of Nánac.

Lacshmí Dás addicted himself to the pleasures of this world, and left

neither heirs nor reputation.

Nánac is stated, by all Sikh writers, to have been, from his

childhood, inclined to devotion; and the indifference which this

feeling created towards all worldly concerns, appears to have been

a source of continual uneasiness to his father; who endeavoured, by

every effort, to divert his mind from the religious turn which it

had taken. With a view to effect this object, he one day gave Nánac

a sum of money, to purchase salt at one village, in order to sell it

at another; in the hope of enticing him to business, by allowing him

to taste the sweets of commercial profit. Nánac was pleased with the

scheme, took the money, and proceeded, accompanied by a servant of

the name of Bála, of the tribe of Sand'hú, towards the village where

he was to make his purchase. He happened, however, on the road, to

fall in with some Fakírs, (holy mendicants,) with whom he wished to

commence a conversation; but they were so weak, from want of victuals,

which they had not tasted for three days, that they could only reply

to the observations of Nánac by bending their heads, and other civil

signs of acquiescence. Nánac, affected by their situation, said to his

companion, with emotion: "My father has sent me to deal in salt, with a

view to profit; but the gain of this world is unstable, and profitless;

my wish is to relieve these poor men, and to obtain that gain which is

permanent and eternal." His companion[6] replied: "Thy resolution is

good: do not delay its execution." Nánac immediately distributed his

money among the hungry Fakírs; who, after they had gained strength from

the refreshment which it obtained them, entered into a long discourse

with him on the unity of God, with which he was much delighted. He

returned next day to his father, who demanded what profit he had made?

"I have fed the poor," said Nánac, "and have obtained that gain for

you which will endure for ever." As the father happened to have little

value for the species of wealth which the son had acquired, he was

enraged at having his money so fruitlessly wasted, abused poor Nánac,

and even struck him; nor could the mild representations of Nánací save

her brother from the violence of parental resentment. Fortune, however,

according to the Sikh narrators of this anecdote of their teacher's

early life, had raised him a powerful protector, who not only rescued

him from punishment, but established his fame and respectability upon

grounds that at once put him above all fear of future bad usage from

his low-minded and sordid father. When Nánac was quite a youth, and

employed to tend cattle in the fields, he happened to repose himself

one day under the shade of a tree; and, as the sun declined towards

the west, its rays fell on his face, when a large black snake[7],

advancing to the spot where he lay, raised itself from the ground,

and interposed its spread hood between Nánac and the sun's rays. Ráy

Bolar[8], the ruler of the district, was passing the road, near the

place where Nánac slept, and marked, in silence, though not without

reflection, this unequivocal sign of his future greatness. This chief

overheard Cálú punishing his son for his kindness to the Fakírs. He

immediately entered, and demanded the cause of the uproar; and, when

informed of the circumstances, he severely chid Cálú for his conduct,

and interdicted him from ever again lifting his hand to Nánac, before

whom, to the astonishment of all present, he humbled himself with every

mark of the most profound veneration. Though Cálú, from this event, was

obliged to treat his son with more respect than formerly, he remained

as solicitous as ever to detach him from his religious habits, and

to fix him in some worldly occupation; and he prevailed upon Jayrám,

his son-in-law, to admit him into partnership in his business. Nánac,

obliged to acquiesce in these schemes, attended at the granary of

Daulet Khán Lódí, which was in charge of Jayrám; but though his hands

were employed in this work, and his kindness of manner made all the

inhabitants of Sultánpúr, where the granary was established, his

friends, yet his heart never strayed for one moment from its object.

It was incessantly fixed on the Divinity; and one morning, as he sat

in a contemplative posture, a holy Muhammedan Fakír approached, and

exclaimed: "Oh Nánac! upon what are thy thoughts now employed? Quit

such occupations, that thou mayest obtain the inheritance of eternal

wealth." Nánac is said to have started up at this exclamation, and

after looking for a moment in the face of the Fakír, he fell into a

trance; from which he had no sooner recovered, than he immediately

distributed every thing in the granary among the poor[9]: and, after

this act, proceeded with loud shouts out of the gates of the city, and

running into a pool of water, remained there three days; during which

some writers assert he had an interview with the prophet Elias, termed

by the Muhammedans, Khizzer, from whom he learnt all earthly sciences.

While Nánac remained in the pool, abstracted from all worldly

considerations, holding converse with a prophet, poor Jayrám was put

in prison by Daulet Khán Lódí, on the charge of having dissipated his

property. Nánac, however, returned, and told Daulet Khán that Jayrám

was faultless; that he was the object of punishment; and that, as such,

he held himself ready to render the strictest account of all he had

lost. The Khán accepted his proposal: Jayrám's accounts were settled;

and, to the surprise of all, a balance was found in his favour; on

which he was not only released, but reinstated in the employment and

favour of his master. We are told, by the Sikh authors, that these

wonderful actions increased the fame of Nánac in a very great degree;

and that he began, from this period, to practise all the austerities

of a holy man; and, by his frequent abstraction in the contemplation

of the divine Being, and his abstinence and virtue, he soon acquired

great celebrity through all the countries into which he travelled.

There are many extravagant accounts regarding the travels of Nánac. One

author[10], who treats of the great reform which he made in the worship

of the true God, which he found degraded by the idolatry of the Hindús,

and the ignorance of the Muhammedans, relates his journey to all the

different Hindú places of pilgrimage, and to Mecca, the holy temple of

the Muhammedans.

It would be tedious, and foreign to the purpose of this sketch, to

accompany Nánac in his travels, of which the above-mentioned author,

as well as others, has given the most circumstantial accounts. He was

accompanied (agreeable to them) by a celebrated musician, of the name

of Merdaná, and a person named Bála Sand'hú; and it is on the tradition

of the latter of these disciples, that most of the miracles[11] and

wonders of his journies are related. In Bengal, the travellers had to

encounter all kinds of sorcerers and magicians. Poor Merdaná, who had

some of the propensities of Sancho, and preferred warm houses and good

meals to deserts and starvation, was constantly in trouble, and more

than once had his form changed into that of a sheep, and of several

other animals. Nánac, however, always restored his humble friend to the

human shape, and as constantly read him lectures on his imprudence.

It is stated, in one of those accounts, that a Rájá of Sivanáb'hu

endeavoured to tempt Nánac, by offering him all the luxuries of the

world, to depart from his austere habits, but in vain. His presents

of rich meats, splendid clothes, and fair ladies, only afforded the

Sikh teacher so many opportunities of decrying the vanities of this

world, and preaching to the Rájá the blessings of eternal life; and he

at last succeeded in making him a convert, and resided at Sivanáb'hu

two years and five months; during which period he composed the Prán

Sancali[12], for the instruction of his followers. After Nánac had

visited all the cities of India, and explained to all ranks the great

doctrines of the unity and omnipresence of God, he went to Mecca and

Medina, where his actions, his miracles, and his long disputations

with the most celebrated Muhammedan saints and doctors, are most

circumstantially recorded by his biographers. He is stated, on this

occasion, to have maintained his own principles, without offending

those of others; always professing himself the enemy of discord, and

as having no object but to reconcile the two faiths of the Muhammedans

and Hindús in one religion; which he endeavoured to do by recalling

them to that great and original tenet, in which they both believed,

the unity of God, and by reclaiming them from the numerous errors

into which they had fallen. During his travels, Nánac was introduced

to the emperor Báber[13], before whom he is said to have defended

his doctrine with great firmness and eloquence. Báber was pleased

with him, and ordered an ample maintenance to be bestowed upon him;

which the Sikh priest refused; observing, that he trusted in him who

provided for all men, and from whom alone a man of virtue and religion

would consent to receive favour or reward. When Nánac returned from

his travels, he cast off the garments of a Fakír, and wore plain

clothes, but continued to give instructions to his numerous disciples;

and he appears, at this period, to have experienced the most violent

opposition from the Hindú zealots, who reproached him with having laid

aside the habits of a Fakír, and with the impiety of the doctrines

which he taught. These accusations he treated with great contempt;

and an author, before cited, Bhai Gúrú Dás Vali, states, that when

he visited Vatála, he enraged the Yógíswaras[14] so much, that they

tried all their powers of enchantment to terrify him. "Some," says

this writer, "assumed the shape of lions and tigers, others hissed

like snakes, one fell in a shower of fire, and another tore the stars

from the firmament;" but Nánac remained tranquil: and when required to

exhibit some proof of his powers that would astonish them, he replied:

"I have nothing to exhibit worthy of you to behold. A holy teacher has

no defence but the purity of his doctrine: the world may change, but

the Creator is unchangeable." These words, adds the author, caused the

miracles and enchantments of the Yógíswaras to cease, and they all fell

at the feet of the humble Nánac, who was protected by the all perfect

God.

Nánac, according to the same authority, went from Vatála to Multán,

where he communed with the Pírs, or holy fathers of the Muhammedan

religion of that country. "I am come," said he, when he entered that

province, "into a country full of Pírs, like the sacred Gangá, visiting

the ocean." From Multán he went to Kírtipúr[15], where he threw off his

earthly shape, and was buried near the bank of the river Rávi, which

has since overflowed his tomb. Kírtipúr continues a place of religious

resort and worship; and a small piece of Nánac's garment is exhibited

to pilgrims, as a sacred relic, at his Dharmasálá, or temple.

It would be difficult to give the character of Nánac[16] on the

authority of any account we yet possess. His writings, especially

the first chapters of the Adí-Grant'h, will, if ever translated, be

perhaps a criterion by which he may be fairly judged; but the great

eminence which he obtained, and the success with which he combated the

opposition which he met, afford ample reason to conclude that he was

a man of more than common genius: and this favourable impression of

his character will be confirmed by a consideration of the object of

his life, and the means he took to accomplish it. Born in a province

on the extreme verge of India, at the very point where the religion of

Muhammed and the idolatrous worship of the Hindús appeared to touch,

and at a moment when both these tribes cherished the most violent

rancour and animosity towards each other, his great aim was to blend

those jarring elements in peaceful union, and he only endeavoured to

effect this purpose through the means of mild persuasion. His wish was

to recall both Muhammedans and Hindús to an exclusive attention to that

sublimest of all principles, which inculcates devotion to God, and

peace towards man. He had to combat the furious bigotry of the one, and

the deep-rooted superstition of the other; but he attempted to overcome

all obstacles by the force of reason and humanity. And we cannot have a

more convincing proof of the general character of that doctrine which

he taught, and the inoffensive light in which it was viewed, than the

knowledge that its success did not rouse the bigotry of the intolerant

and tyrannical Muhammedan government under which he lived.

Nánac did not deem either of his sons, before mentioned, worthy of

the succession to his spiritual functions, which he bequeathed to

a Cshatríya of the Tréhún tribe, called Lehana, who had long been

attached to him, and whom he had initiated in the sacred mysteries of

his sect, clothed in the holy mantle of a Fakír, and honoured with the

name of Angad[17], which, according to some commentators, means _own

body_.

Gúrú Angad, for that is the name by which he is known by all Sikhs, was

born at the village of Khandúr, on the bank of the Béyah, or Hyphasis,

in the province of Lahore. His life does not appear to have been

distinguished by any remarkable actions. He taught the same doctrine as

Nánac, and wrote some chapters that now form part of the Grant'h. He

left two sons, Vásu and Dátu, but neither of them was initiated; and

he was succeeded, at his death[18], which happened in the year A. D.

1552, and of the Samvat 1609, by Amera Dás, a Cshatríya of the tribe of

B'halé, who performed the duties of a menial towards him for upwards

of twelve years. It is stated, that the daily occupation of Amera Dás

was to bring water from the Béyah river, a distance of six miles, to

wash the feet of his master; and that one night, during a severe storm,

as he was returning from his journey, his foot slipped, and he fell

and broke the vessel that contained the river water, opposite the

door of a weaver, who lived next house to Angad. The weaver, startled

at the noise, demanded, in a loud voice, of his wife, from whence it

proceeded. The woman, who was well acquainted with the daily toils and

the devotion of Angad's servant, replied, "It was poor Amera Dás, who

knows neither the sweets of sleep by night, nor of rest by day." This

conversation was overheard by Angad; and when Amera Dás came, next

morning, to perform his usual duties, he treated him with extraordinary

kindness, and said: "You have endured great labour; but, henceforward,

enjoy rest." Amera Dás was distinguished for his activity in preaching

the tenets of Nánac, and was very successful in obtaining converts

and followers; by the aid of whom he established some temporal power,

built Kujaráwál, and separated from the regular Sikhs the Udásí sect,

which was founded by Dherm-Chand, the son of Nánac, and was probably

considered, at that period, as heretical.

Amera Dás had two children, a son named Móhan, and a daughter named

Móhani, known by the name of B'háini; regarding whose marriage he

is stated to have been very anxious: and as this event gave rise to

a dynasty of leaders, who are almost adored among the Sikhs, it is

recorded with much minuteness by the writers of that nation.

Amera Dás had communicated his wishes, regarding the marriage of

B'háini, to a Bráhmen, who was his head servant, and directed him to

make some inquiries. The Bráhmen did so, and reported to his master

that he had been successful, and had found a youth every way suited

to be the husband of his daughter. As they were speaking upon this

subject in the street, Amera Dás asked what was the boy's stature?

"About the same height as that lad," said the Bráhmen, pointing to a

youth standing near them. The attention of Amera Dás was instantly

withdrawn from the Bráhmen, and intently fixed upon the youth to whom

he had pointed. He asked him regarding his tribe, his name, and his

family. The lad said his name was Rám Dás, and that he was a Cshatríya,

of a respectable family, of the Sóndi tribe, and an inhabitant of

the village of Góndawál. Amera Dás, pleased with the information he

had received, took no more notice of the Bráhmen and his choice of a

son-in-law, but gave his daughter to the youth whom fortune had so

casually introduced to his acquaintance[19]. Amera Dás died in the

year A. D. 1574, and of the Samvat 1631, at the village of Góndawál,

in the province of Lahore, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, Rám

Dás[20], whom he had initiated in the sacred mysteries of his holy

profession, and who became famous for his piety, and still more from

the improvements he made at Amritsar, which was for some time called

Rámpúr, or Rámdáspúr, after him. Some Sikh authorities ascribe the

foundation of this city to him, which is not correct, as it was a very

ancient town, known formerly under the name of Chak. He, however, added

much to its population, and built a famous tank, or reservoir of water,

which he called Amritsar, a name signifying the water of immortality,

and which has become so sacred, that it has given its name, and

imparted its sanctity, to the town of Rámdáspúr, which has become the

sacred city of the Sikh nation, and is now only known by the name of

Amritsar.

After a life passed in the undisturbed propagation of his tenets, in

explanation of which he wrote several works, he died, in the year A. D.

1581, and of the Samvat 1638, at Amritsar, leaving two sons, Arjunmal

and Bharatmal. He was succeeded by the former[21], who has rendered

himself famous by compiling the Adí-Grant'h[22]. The Adí-Grant'h, or

first sacred volume of the Sikhs, contains ninety-two sections: it was

partly composed by Nánac and his immediate successors, but received its

present form and arrangement from Arjunmal[23], who has blended his

own additions with what he deemed most valuable in the compositions of

his predecessors. It is Arjun, then, who ought, from this act, to be

deemed the first who gave consistent form and order to the religion of

the Sikhs: an act which, though it has produced the effect he wished,

of uniting that nation more closely, and of increasing their numbers,

proved fatal to himself. The jealousy of the Muhammedan government was

excited, and he was made its sacrifice. The mode of his death, which

happened in the year of Christ 1606, and of the Samvat 1663, is related

very differently by different authorities: but several of the most

respectable agree in stating, that his martyrdom, for such they term

it, was caused by the active hatred of a rival Hindú zealot, Daníchand

Cshatríya, whose writings he refused to admit into the Adí-Grant'h, on

the ground that the tenets inculcated in them were irreconcileable to

the pure doctrine of the unity and omnipotence of God, taught in that

sacred volume. This rival had sufficient influence with the Muhammedan

governor of the province to procure the imprisonment of Arjun; who

is affirmed, by some writers, to have died from the severity of his

confinement; and, by others, to have been put to death in the most

cruel manner. In whatever way his life was terminated, there can be no

doubt, from its consequences, that it was considered, by his followers,

as an atrocious murder, committed by the Muhammedan government; and the

Sikhs, who had been, till then, an inoffensive, peaceable sect, took

arms under Har Góvind, the son of Arjunmal, and wreaked their vengeance

upon all whom they thought concerned in the death of their revered

priest.

The contest carried on by Har Góvind against the Muhammedan chiefs in

the Penjáb, though no doubt marked by that animosity which springs from

a deep and implacable sense of injury on one part, and the insolence

and violence of insulted power on the other, could not have been of

great magnitude or importance, else it would have been more noticed by

contemporary Muhammedan writers; but it was the first fruits of that

desperate spirit of hostility, which was soon after to distinguish the

wars between the followers of Nánac and those of Muhammed: and, from

every account of Har Góvind's life, it appears to have been his anxious

wish to inspire his followers with the most irreconcileable hatred of

their oppressors.

It is stated, that this warlike[24] Gúrú, or priest militant, wore

two swords in his girdle. Being asked why he did so: "The one," said

he, "is to revenge the death of my father; the other, to destroy the

miracles of Muhammed."

Har Góvind is reputed, by some authors, to have been the first who

allowed his followers to eat[25] the flesh of all animals, with the

exception of the cow: and it appears not improbable that he made

this great change in their diet at the time when he effected a still

more remarkable revolution in their habits, by converting a race of

peaceable enthusiasts into an intrepid band of soldiers[26]. He had

five sons, Bábú Gúrúdaitya, Saurat Singh, Tégh Bahádur, Anna Ráy, and

Atal Ráy. The two last died without descendants. Saurat Singh and

Tégh Singh, or Tégh Bahádur, were, by the cruel persecution of the

Muhammedans, forced to fly into the mountains to the northward of the

Penjáb. His eldest son, Gurudaítya, died early, but left two sons,

Dáharmal and Har Ráy; the latter of whom succeeded his grandfather,

who died in the year A. D. 1644, and of the Samvat 1701. It does not

appear that Har Ráy enjoyed much temporal power, or that he entered

into any hostilities with the Muhammedans: his rule was tranquil, and

passed without any remarkable event; owing, probably, to the vigor

which the Muhammedan power had attained in the early part of the reign

of Aurungzéb. At his death, which happened in the year A. D. 1661, and

of the Samvat 1718, a violent contest arose among the Sikhs, regarding

the succession to the office of spiritual leader; for the temporal

power of their ruler was, at this period, little more than nominal.

The dispute between his sons, or, as some Sikh authors state, his son

and grandson, Har Crishn and Rám Ráy, was referred to Dehli, whither

both parties went; and, by an imperial decree of Aurungzéb, the Sikhs

were allowed to elect their own priest. They chose Har Crishn, who

died at Dehli in the year A. D. 1664, and of the Samvat 1721; and was

succeeded by his uncle, Tégh Behádur. He, however, had to encounter the

most violent opposition from his nephew, Rám Ráy[27], who remained at

Dehli, and endeavoured, by every art and intrigue, to effect his ruin:

he was seized, and brought to Dehli, in consequence of his nephew's

misrepresentations; and, after being in prison for two years, was

released at the intercession of Jayasingh, Rájá of Jayapúr, whom he

accompanied to Bengal. Tégh Behádur afterwards took up his abode at

the city of Patna[28]; but was pursued, agreeable to Sikh authors, to

his retreat, with implacable rancour, by the jealousy and ambition of

Rám Ráy; who at last accomplished the destruction of his rival. He was

brought from Patna, and, by the accounts of the same authors, publicly

put to death, without even the allegation of a crime, beyond a firm

and undaunted assertion of the truth of that faith of which he was

the high priest. This event is said to have taken place in the year

A. D. 1675, and of the Samvat 1732: but the Sikh records of their own

history, from the death of Har Góvind to that of Tégh Behádur, are

contradictory and unsatisfactory, and appear to merit little attention.

The fact is, that the sect was almost crushed, in consequence of their

first effort to attain power, under Har Góvind; and, from the period

of his death to that of Tégh Behádur, the Mogul empire was, as has

been before stated, in the zenith of its power, under Aurungzéb: and

the Sikhs, who had never attained any real strength, were rendered

still weaker by their own internal dissensions. Their writers have

endeavoured to supply this chasm in their history by a fabulous account

of the numerous miracles which were wrought by their priests, Rám Ráy,

Har Crishn, and even the unfortunate Tégh Behádur, at Delhi, all of

whom are said to have astonished the emperor and his nobles, by a

display of their supernatural powers: but their wide difference from

each other, in these relations, would prove, if any proof was wanting,

that all the annals of that period are fabricated.

The history of the Sikhs, after the death of Tégh Behádur, assumes

a new aspect. It is no longer the record of a sect, who, revering

the conciliatory and mild tenets of their founder, desired more to

protect themselves than to injure others; but that of a nation, who,

adding to a deep sense of the injuries they had sustained from a

bigotted and overbearing government, all the ardour of men commencing

a military career of glory, listened, with rapture, to a son glowing

with vengeance against the murderers of his father, who taught a

doctrine suited to the troubled state of his mind, and called upon

his followers, by every feeling of manhood, to lay aside their

peaceable habits, to graft the resolute courage of the soldier on the

enthusiastic faith of the devotee, to swear eternal war with the cruel

and haughty Muhammedans, and to devote themselves to _steel_, as the

only means of obtaining every blessing that this world, or that to

come, could afford to mortals.

This was the doctrine of Gúrú Góvind, the son of Tégh Behádur; who,

though very young at his father's death, had his mind imbued with the

deepest horror at that event, and cherished a spirit of implacable

resentment against those whom he considered as his murderers. Devoting

his life to this object, we find him, when quite a youth, at the head

of a large party of his followers, amid the hills of Srínagar, where

he gave proofs of that ardent and daring mind, which afterwards raised

him to such eminence. He was not, however, able to maintain himself

against the prince of that country, with whom he had entered into

hostilities; and, being obliged to leave it, he went to the Penjáb,

where he was warmly welcomed by a Hindú chief in rebellion against the

government. This chief gave Góvind possession of Mák'havál[29], and

several other villages, where he settled with his followers, and repaid

his benefactor by aiding him in his depredations. Góvind appears, at

this moment, to have been universally acknowledged by the Sikhs, as

their Sat-gúrú, or chief spiritual leader; and he used the influence

which that station, his sufferings, and the popularity of his cause,

gave him, to effect a complete change in the habits and religion of

his countrymen[30]. It would be tedious and useless to follow the Sikh

writers through those volumes of fables in which they have narrated

the wonders that prognosticated the rise of this, the most revered of

all their priests, to power; or to enter, at any length, into those

accounts which they, and Góvind himself, for he is equally celebrated

as an author and as a warrior, have given of his exploits. It will be

sufficient, for the purpose of this sketch, to state the essential

changes which he effected in his tribe, and the consequences of his

innovations.

Though the Sikhs had already, under Har Góvind, been initiated in

arms, yet they appear to have used these only in self-defence: and

as every tribe of Hindús, from the Bráhmen to the lowest of the

Súdra, may, in cases of necessity, use them without any infringement

of the original institutions of their tribe, no violation of these

institutions was caused by the rules of Nánac; which, framed with a

view to conciliation, carefully abstained from all interference with

the civil institutes of the Hindús. But his more daring successor, Gúrú

Góvind, saw that such observances were at variance with the plans of

his lofty ambition; and he wisely judged, that the only means by which

he could ever hope to oppose the Muhammedan government with success,

were not only to admit converts from all tribes, but to break, at once,

those rules by which the Hindús had been so long chained; to arm, in

short, the whole population of the country, and to make worldly wealth

and rank an object to which Hindús, of every class, might aspire.

The extent to which Góvind succeeded in this design will be more fully

noticed in another place. It is here only necessary to state the

leading features of those changes by which he subverted, in so short

a time, the hoary institutions of Brahmá[31], and excited terror and

astonishment in the minds of the Muhammedan conquerors of India, who

saw the religious prejudices of the Hindús, which they had calculated

upon as one of the pillars of their safety, because they limited the

great majority of the population to peaceable occupations, fall before

the touch of a bold and enthusiastic innovator, who opened at once, to

men of the lowest tribe[32], the dazzling prospect of earthly glory.

All who subscribed to his tenets were upon a level, and the Bráhmen

who entered his sect had no higher claims to eminence than the lowest

Súdra who swept his house. It was the object of Góvind to make all

Sikhs equal[33], and that their advancement should solely depend upon

their exertions: and well aware how necessary it was to inspire men

of a low race, and of groveling minds, with pride in themselves, he

changed the name of his followers from Sikh to Singh, or lion; thus

giving to all his followers that honourable title which had been before

exclusively assumed by the Rajapúts, the first military class of

Hindús: and every Sikh felt himself at once elevated to rank with the

highest, by this proud appellation.

The disciples of Góvind were required to devote themselves to arms,

always to have _steel_ about them in some shape or other; to wear a

blue dress; to allow their hair to grow; to exclaim, when they met each

other, _Wá! Gúrújí ká khálsah! Wá! Gúrújí kí futteh!_ which means,

"Success to the state of the Gúrú! Victory attend the Gúrú[34]!" The

intention of some of these institutions is obvious; such as that

principle of devotion to _steel_, by which all were made soldiers; and

that exclamation, which made the success of their priest, and that of

the commonwealth, the object of their hourly prayer. It became, in

fact, the watchword which was continually to revive, in the minds of

the Sikh disciple, the obligations he owed to that community of which

he had become a member, and to that faith which he had adopted.

Of the causes which led Góvind to enjoin his followers to regard it as

impious to cut the hair of their heads, or shave their beards, very

different accounts are given. Several Muhammedan authors state, that

both this ordination, and the one which directed his followers to

wear blue clothes, was given in consequence of his gratitude to some

Afghán mountaineers, who aided his escape from a fort, in which he was

besieged, by clothing him in a chequered blue dress, and causing him to

allow his hair to grow, in order to pass him for one of their own Pírs,

or holy fathers; in which they succeeded. This account, however, is

not supported by any Sikh writer; and one of the most respectable and

best informed authors of that sect states, that when Gúrú Góvind first

went to Anandpúr Mák'haval, which was also called Césgher, or the house

of hair, he spent much of his time in devotion, at a temple of Dúrga

Bhavaní, the goddess of courage, by whom he was directed to unloose

his hair and draw his sword. Góvind, in consequence of this pretended

divine order, vowed he would preserve his hair, as consecrated to that

divinity, and directed his followers to do the same[35]. The origin

of that blue chequered[36] dress, which was at one time worn by all

Góvind's followers, and is still worn by the Acálís, or _never-dying_,

(the most remarkable class of devotees of that sect,) is differently

stated by different authors: but it appears probable, that both

these institutions proceeded from the policy of Góvind, who sought

to separate his followers from all other classes of India, as much

by their appearance as by their religion: and he judged with wisdom

when he gave consequence to such distinctions; which, though first

established as mere forms, soon supersede the substance of belief;

and, when strengthened by usage, become the points to which ignorant

and unenlightened minds have, in all ages of the world, shown the most

resolute and unconquerable adherence.

Gúrú Góvind inculcated his tenets upon his followers by his preaching,

his actions, and his works; among which is the Dasama Pádsháh ká

Grant'h, or the book of the tenth king or ruler; Gúrú Góvind being the

tenth leader of the sect from Nánac. This volume, which is not limited

to religious subjects, but filled with accounts of his own battles, and

written with the view of stirring up a spirit of valour and emulation

among his followers, is at least as much revered, among the Sikhs, as

the Adí-Grant'h of Arjunmal. Góvind is said to have first instituted

the Gúrú Mata, or state council, among the Sikhs; which meets at

Amritsar. The constitution and usages of this national assembly will

be described hereafter: it is here only necessary to observe, that

its institution adds one more proof to those already stated, of the

comprehensive and able mind of this bold reformer, who gave, by its

foundation, that form of a federative republic, to the commonwealth

of the Sikhs, which was most calculated to rouse his followers from

their indolent habits, and deep-rooted prejudices, by giving them a

personal share in the government, and placing within the reach of every

individual the attainment of rank and influence in the state.

It could not be expected that Gúrú Góvind could accomplish all those

great schemes he had planned. He planted the tree; but it was not

permitted, according to Sikh writers, that he should see it in that

maturity which it was destined to reach: and this, these authors state,

was foretold to him by some Bráhmens, skilled in necromancy. It would

be tedious to dwell on such fables[37]; and it is time to return to

the political life of Góvind, which is marked by but few events of

importance. These are either related by Muhammedan authors, who detract

from all the pretensions of this enemy of their faith and name; by his

disciples, who exalt the slightest of his actions into the achievements

of a divinity; or by himself, for he wrote an account of his own wars.

This last work, however, is more calculated to inflame the courage of

his followers, than to convey correct information of actual events.

Gúrú Góvind Singh, in the Vichitra Nátac, a work written by himself,

and inserted in the Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, traces the descent of

the Cshatríya tribe of Sóndí, to which he belongs, from a race of

Hindú Rájás[38], who founded the cities of Casúr and Lahore. He was

born, he states, at Patán, or Patna, and brought up at Madra Dés, in

the Penjáb. He went, after his father's death, to the banks of the

Cálíndí, or Yamuná, and addicted himself to hunting the wild beasts of

the forest, and other manly diversions: but this occupation, he adds,

offended the emperor of Dehli, who ordered chiefs, of the Muhammedan

race, to attack him. Gúrú Góvind describes, in this work, with great

animation, his own feats, and those of his friends[39], in the first

of his actions; in which, by his account, the arrows of the Sikhs were

victorious over the sabres of the Muhammedans[40].

This first success appears to have greatly increased the number of

Gúrú Góvind's followers, whom he established at Anandpúr, Khílór, and

the towns in their vicinity; where they remained, till called to aid

the Rájá of Nadón[41], Bhíma Chand, who was threatened with an invasion

by the Rájá of Jammu; who had been excited to hostilities by Mía Khán,

a Mogul chief, then at war with Bhíma Chand.

Gúrú Góvind gives an account of this war, which consisted of attacking

and defending the narrow passes of the mountains. He describes Bhíma

Chand and himself as leading on their warriors, who advanced, he says,

to battle, "like a stream of flame consuming the forest." They were

completely successful in this expedition; the Rájá of Jammu, and his

Muhammedan allies, having been defeated, and chased with disgrace

across the Satléj.

Gúrú Góvind next relates the advance of the son of Diláwer Khán against

him. The object of the Muhammedan chief appears to have been, to

surprise Góvind and his followers at night: but, when that project was

defeated, his troops were seized with a panic, and fled from the Sikhs

without a contest. The father, enraged at the disgraceful retreat of

his son, collected all his followers, and sent Husain Khán, who made

successful inroads upon the Sikhs, taking several of their principal

forts[42]. A general action at last took place, in which the Khán,

after performing prodigies of valour, was defeated, and lost his life.

Gúrú Góvind was not present at this battle. "The lord of the earth," he

says, "detained me from this conflict, and caused the rain of steel to

descend in another quarter."

Diláwer Khán and Rustam Khán next marched against the Sikhs, who appear

to have been disheartened at the loss of some of their principal

chiefs, and more at the accounts they received of Aurungzéb's rage at

their progress, and of his having detached his son to the district of

Madra[43], in order to take measures to quell them. At the prince's

approach, "every body," says Gúrú Góvind, "was struck with terror.

Unable to comprehend the ways of the Eternal, several deserted me,

and fled, and took refuge in the lofty mountains. These vile cowards

were," he adds, "too greatly alarmed in mind to understand their own

advantage; for the emperor sent troops, who burnt the habitations of

those that had fled." He takes this occasion of denouncing every misery

that this world can bring, and all the pains and horrors of the next,

on those who desert their Gúrú, or priest. "The man who does this,"

he writes, "shall neither have child nor offspring. His aged parents

shall die in grief and sorrow, and he shall perish like a dog, and be

thrown into hell to lament." After many more curses on apostates, he

concludes this anathema by stating, that the good genius of prosperity

in this world, and eternal blessings in the next, shall be the certain

reward of all who remain attached to their Gúrú: and, as an instance,

he affirms, that not one of those faithful followers, who had adhered

to him at this trying crisis, had received the least injury[44].

Gúrú Góvind closes his first work, the Vichitra Nátac, with a further

representation on the shame that attends apostasy, and the rewards that

await those that prove true to their religion; and he concludes by a

prayer to the Deity, and a declaration of his intention to compose,

for the use of his disciples, a still larger work; by which the Sikhs

conceive that he meant the rest of the Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, of

which the Vichitra Nátac forms the first section.

An account of Góvind's war with the Rájá of Kahilúr[45], is found in a

work written in the Dúgar, or mountain dialect of the Penjábi tongue,

which gives an account of some other actions of this chief. Though

this account is greatly exaggerated, it no doubt states some facts

correctly, and therefore merits a brief notice. According to this

authority, the Rájás of Kahilúr, Jiswál, and others, being defeated and

disgraced in several actions, applied to the court of Aurungzéb for aid

against Gúrú Góvind, from whom they stated that they had received great

injuries. When the emperor asked who made the complaint, the answer

was: "It is the chief of Kahilúr, thy servant, who has been despoiled

of his country by violence, though a faithful Zemindar (landholder),

and one who has always been punctual in paying his contributions." Such

were the representations, this author states, by which they obtained

the aid of an army from the emperor.

Their combined forces proceeded against Gúrú Góvind and his followers,

who were obliged to shut themselves up in their fortresses, where they

endured every misery that sickness and famine can bring upon a besieged

place. Góvind, after suffering the greatest hardships, determined to

attempt his escape. He ordered his followers to leave the fort, one

by one, at midnight, and to separate the moment they went out. The

misery of this separation, which divided the father from the child,

the husband from the wife, and brothers from sisters, was horrible;

but it was the only chance which they had of safety, and his orders

were obeyed. He himself went, among the rest; and, after undergoing

great fatigue, and escaping many dangers, he arrived at Chamkóur, by

the Rájá of which place he was received in a kind and friendly manner.

His enemies had entered the fortress which Góvind left, the moment

he fled, and made many prisoners; among which were his mother and

his two children, who were carried to Foujdar Khán, the governor of

Sirhind, by whose orders they were inhumanly massacred[46]. The army

of the emperor, aided by the Rájás hostile to Góvind, next marched to

Chamkóur, and encompassed it on all sides. Góvind, in despair, clasping

his hands, called upon the goddess of the sword[47]. "The world sees,"

he exclaimed, "that we have no help but thee!" saying which, he

prepared, with his few followers, to make the most desperate resistance.

The emperor's army, employed at this period against Góvind, was

commanded by Khwájeh Muhammed and Nahar Khán, who deputed, at the

commencement of the siege, an envoy to the Sikh leader, with the

following message: "This army is not one belonging to Rájás and Ránás:

it is that of the great Aurungzéb: show, therefore, thy respect, and

embrace the true faith." The envoy proceeded, in the execution of his

mission, with all the pride of those he represented. "Listen," said

he, from himself to Gúrú Góvind, "to the words of the Nawáb: leave off

contending with us, and playing the infidel; for it is evident you

never can reap advantage from such an unequal war." He was stopped by

Ajit Singh, the son of Góvind, from saying more. That youth, seizing

his scimetar, exclaimed: "If you utter another word, I will humble

your pride: I will smite your head from your body, and cut you to

pieces, for daring to speak such language before our chiefs." The blood

of the envoy boiled with rage, and he returned with this answer to his

master.

This effort to subdue the fortitude and faith of Góvind having failed,

the siege commenced with great vigour. A long description is given by

B'hai Gúrú Dás B'halé and other Sikh authors, of the actions that were

performed. Amongst the most distinguished, were those of the brave, but

unfortunate, Ajit Singh[48], the son of Gúrú Góvind, whose death is

thus recorded: "A second time the Khán advanced, and the battle raged.

Some fought, some fled. Ajit Singh, covered with glory, departed to

Swarga (heaven). Indra[49], first of the gods (Dévatás), advanced with

the celestial host to meet him; he conducted him to Dévapúr, the city

of the gods, and seated him on a celestial throne: having remained

there a short time, he proceeded to the region of the sun. Thus," he

concludes, "Ajit Singh departed in glory; and his fame extends over

three worlds, for the fame of the warrior lives for ever."

Though Góvind showed an invincible spirit, and performed prodigies

of valour, having killed, with his own hand, Nahar Khán, and wounded

Khwájeh Muhammed, the other leader of the emperor's troops, it was

impossible to contend longer against such superior numbers; and he at

last, taking advantage of a dark night, fled from Chamkóur, covering

his face, according to the Sikh author, from shame at his own disgrace.

This sketch of the life of Góvind is compiled from his own works, and

those of other Sikh writers, such as Nand and B'hai Gúrú Dás; and the

events recorded, allowing for the colouring with which such narratives

are written in the East, appear to be correct: the leading facts are

almost all established by the evidence of contemporary Muhammedan

writers, to whom we must trust for the remainder of his history; as

the authorities we have followed end at the period of his flight from

Chamkóur.

Most accounts agree that Gúrú Góvind, after his flight, was, from a

sense of his misfortunes, and the loss of his children, bereft of

his reason, and wandered about for a considerable time in the most

deplorable condition. One account states, that he died in the Penjáb;

another, that he went to Patna, where he ended his days; a third, taken

from a Sikh authority[50], asserts that Gúrú Góvind, after remaining

some time in the Lak'hi-Jungle, to which he had fled, returned without

molestation to his former residence in the Penjáb; and that, so far

from meeting with any persecution from the Muhammedan government, he

received favours from the emperor, Baháder Sháh; who, aware of his

military talents, gave him a small military command in the Dek'hin,

where he was stabbed by a Patán soldier's son, and expired of his

wounds, in the year 1708, at Nadér, a town situated on the Godaveri

river, about one hundred miles from Haiderabad.

It is sufficiently established, from these contradictory and imperfect

accounts of the latter years of Gúrú Góvind, that he performed no

actions worthy of record after his flight from Chamkóur: and when we

consider the enthusiastic ardour of his mind, his active habits, his

valour, and the insatiable thirst of revenge, which he had cherished

through life, against the murderers of his father, and the oppressors

of his sect, we cannot think, when that leading passion of his mind

must have been increased by the massacre of his children, and the

death or mutilation[51] of his most attached followers, that he would

have remained inactive; much less that he would have sunk into a

servant of that government, against which he had been in constant

rebellion: nor is it likely that such a leader as Gúrú Góvind could

ever have been trusted by a Muhammedan prince: and there appears,

therefore, every reason to give credit to those accounts which

state, that mental distraction, in consequence of deep distress and

disappointment, was the cause of the inactivity of Gúrú Góvind's

declining years. Nor is such a conclusion at all at variance with the

fact of his being killed at Nadér, as it is probable, even if he was

reduced to the state described, that he continued, till the close of

his existence, that wandering and adventurous life to which he had been

so early accustomed.

In the character of this reformer of the Sikhs, it is impossible not

to recognise many of those features which have distinguished the most

celebrated founders of political communities. The object he attempted

was great and laudable. It was the emancipation of his tribe from

oppression and persecution; and the means which he adopted, were such

as a comprehensive mind could alone have suggested. The Muhammedan

conquerors of India, as they added to their territories, added to their

strength, by making proselytes through the double means of persuasion

and force; and these, the moment they had adopted their faith, became

the supporters of their power against the efforts of the Hindús; who,

bound in the chains of their civil and religious institutions, could

neither add to their number by admitting converts, nor allow more than

a small proportion of the population of the country to arm against

the enemy. Góvind saw that he could only hope for success by a bold

departure from usages which were calculated to keep those, by whom they

were observed, in a degraded subjection to an insulting and intolerant

race. "You make Hindús Muhammedans, and are justified by your laws,"

he is said to have written to Aurungzéb: "now I, on a principle of

self-preservation, which is superior to all laws, will make Muhammedans

Hindús[52]. You may rest," he added, "in fancied security: but beware!

for I will teach the sparrow to strike the eagle to the ground." A fine

allusion to his design of inspiring the lowest races among the Hindús

with that valour and ambition which would lead them to perform the

greatest actions.

The manner in which Góvind endeavoured to accomplish the great plan

he had formed, has been exhibited in the imperfect sketch given of

his life. His efforts to establish that temporal power in his own

person, of which he laid the foundation for his tribe, were daring and

successful in as great a degree as circumstances would admit: but it

was not possible he could create means, in a few years, to oppose, with

success, the force of one of the greatest empires in the universe. The

spirit, however, which he infused into his followers, was handed down

as a rich inheritance to their children; who, though they consider Bábá

Nánác as the author of their religion, revere, with a just gratitude,

Gúrú Góvind, as the founder of their worldly greatness and political

independence. They are conscious, indeed, that they have become,

from the adoption of his laws and institutions, the scourge of their

enemies; and have conquered and held, for more than half a century, the

finest portion of the once great empire of the house of Taimúr.

Gúrú Góvind was the last acknowledged religious ruler of the Sikhs.

A prophecy had limited their spiritual guides to the number of ten;

and their superstition, aided, no doubt, by the action of that spirit

of independence which his institutions had introduced, caused its

fulfilment. The success, however, of Banda, a Bairági, who was the

devoted follower and friend of Gúrú Góvind, established their union

under his banners. A short period after Góvind's death, the grief

of Banda at the misfortune of his priest, is said, by Sikh authors,

to have settled into a gloomy and desperate desire to revenge his

wrongs. The confusion which took place on the death of Aurungzéb,

which happened in the year 1707, was favourable to his wishes. After

plundering the country, and defeating most of the petty Muhammedan

chiefs that were opposed to him, he thought himself sufficiently strong

to venture on an action with Foujdar Khán, the governor of the province

of Sarhind, and the man of all others most abhorred by the Sikhs, as

the murderer of the infant children of Gúrú Góvind. This action was

fought with valour by the Muhammedans; and with all that desperation on

the part of the Sikhs, which the most savage spirit of revenge could

inspire: and this, aided by the courage and conduct of their leader,

gave them the victory, after a severe contest. Foujdar Khán fell, with

most of his army, to whom the enraged Sikhs gave no quarter. Nor was

their savage revenge satiated by the destruction of the Muhammedan

army: they put to death the wife and children of Vizír Khán, and almost

all the inhabitants of Sarhind. They destroyed or polluted the mosques

of that city; and, in a spirit of wild and brutal rage, dug up the

carcasses of the dead, and exposed them to be devoured by beasts of

prey. Encouraged by this success, and hardened by the lessons of Banda

to deeds of the most horrid atrocity, the Sikhs rushed forward, and

subdued all the country between the Satléj and the Jumna; and, crossing

that river, made inroads into the province of Sáháranpúr[53]. It is

unnecessary to state the particulars of this memorable incursion,

which, from all accounts, appears to have been one of the severest

scourges with which a country was ever afflicted. Every excess that the

most wanton barbarity could commit, every cruelty that an unappeased

appetite of revenge could suggest, was inflicted upon the miserable

inhabitants of the provinces through which they passed. Life was

only granted to those who conformed to the religion, and adopted the

habits and dress of the Sikhs; and if Behádur Sháh had not quitted the

Dek'hin, which he did in A. D. 1710, there is reason to think the whole

of Hindústan would have been subdued by these merciless invaders.

The first check the Sikhs received was from an army under Sultán Kúli

Khán. That chief defeated one of their advanced corps at Pánipat'h,

which, after being dispersed, fled to join their leader Banda, at

Sarhind. The death of Behádur Sháh prevented this success from being

pursued; and the confusion which followed that event, was favourable

to the Sikhs. Banda defeated Islám Khán, the viceroy of Lahore, and

one of his fanatic followers stabbed Báyezíd Khán, the governor of

Sarhind, who had marched out of that town to encounter this army.

This, however, was the last of Banda's successful atrocities. Abdal

Sámad Khán, a general of great reputation, was detached, with a large

army, by the emperor Farakhseir, against the Sikhs, whom he defeated

in a very desperate action; in which, agreeable to Muhammedan authors,

Banda performed prodigies of valour, and was only obliged to give way

to the superior numbers and discipline of the imperialists. The Sikhs

were never able to make a stand after this defeat, and were hunted,

like wild beasts, from one strong hold to another, by the army of

the emperor; by whom their leader, and his most devoted followers,

were at last taken, after having suffered every extreme of hunger and

fatigue[54].

Abdal Sámad Khán put to death great numbers of the Sikhs after the

surrender of Lóhgad, the fortress in which they took refuge; but sent

Banda, and the principal chiefs of the tribe, to Dehli, where they were

first treated with every kind of obloquy and insult, and then executed.

A Muhammedan writer[55] relates the intrepidity with which these Sikh

prisoners, but particularly their leader, Banda, met death. "It is

singular," he writes, "that these people not only behaved firmly during

the execution, but they would dispute and wrangle with each other who

should suffer first; and they made interest with the executioner to

obtain the preference. Banda," he continues, "was at last produced, his

son being seated in his lap. His father was ordered to cut his throat,

which he did, without uttering one word. Being then brought nearer the

magistrate's tribunal, the latter ordered his flesh to be torn off with

red hot pincers; and it was in those moments he expired: his black soul

taking its flight, by one of those wounds, towards the regions for

which it was so well fitted."

Thus perished Banda; who, though a brave and able leader, was one of

the most cruel and ferocious of men, and endeavoured to impart to his

followers that feeling of merciless resentment which he cherished

against the whole Muhammedan race, whom he appears to have thought

accountable for the cruelty and oppression of a few individuals of the

persuasion[56].

Though the Sikhs, from being animated by a similar feeling, and

encouraged by his first successes, followed Banda to the field, they

do not revere his memory; and he is termed, by some of their authors,

a heretic; who, intoxicated with victory, endeavoured to change the

religious institutions and laws of Gúrú Góvind, many of whose most

devoted followers this fierce chief put to death, because they refused

to depart from those usages which that revered spiritual leader had

taught them to consider sacred. Among other changes, Banda wished to

make the Sikhs abandon their blue dress, to refrain from drinking and

eating flesh; and, instead of exclaiming _Wá! Gúrúji ki Futteh! Wá!

Khálsaji ki Futteh!_ the salutations directed by Góvind, he directed

them to exclaim, _Futteh D'herm! Futteh dersan!_ which means, "Success

to piety! Success to the sect!" These innovations were very generally

resisted; but the dreaded severity of Banda made many conform to his

orders. The class of Acálís[57], or immortals, who had been established

by Gúrú Góvind, continued to oppose the innovations with great

obstinacy; and many of them suffered martyrdom, rather than change

either their mode of salutation, diet, or dress; and, at the death of

Banda, their cause triumphed. All the institutions of Gúrú Góvind were

restored: but the blue dress, instead of being, as at first, worn by

all, appears, from that date, to have become the particular right of

the Acálís, whose valour, in its defence, well merited the exclusive

privilege of wearing this original uniform of a true Sikh.

After the defeat and death of Banda, every measure was taken, that an

active resentment could suggest, not only to destroy the power, but to

extirpate the race, of the Sikhs. An astonishing number of that sect

must have fallen, in the last two or three years of the contest with

the imperial armies, as the irritated Muhammedans gave them no quarter.

After the execution of their chief, a royal edict was issued, ordering

all who professed the religion of Nánac to be taken and put to death,

wherever found. To give effect to this mandate, a reward was offered

for the head of every Sikh; and all Hindús were ordered to shave their

hair off, under pain of death. The few Sikhs, that escaped this general

execution, fled into the mountains to the N. E. of the Penjáb, where

they found a refuge from the rigorous persecution by which their tribe

was pursued; while numbers bent before the tempest which they could not

resist, and abandoning the outward usages of their religion, satisfied

their consciences with the secret practice of its rites.

From the defeat and death of Banda till the invasion of India by Nádir

Sháh, a period of nearly thirty years, we hear nothing of the Sikhs;

but, on the occurrence of that event, they are stated to have fallen

upon the peaceable inhabitants of the Penjáb, who sought shelter in

the hills, and to have plundered them of that property which they were

endeavouring to secure from the rapacity of the Persian invader.

Enriched with these spoils, the Sikhs left the hills, and built

the fort of Dalewál, on the Rávi, from whence they made predatory

incursions, and are stated to have added both to their wealth and

reputation, by harassing and plundering the rear of Nádir Sháh's army,

which, when it returned to Persia, was encumbered with spoil, and

marched, from a contempt of its enemies, with a disregard to all order.

The weak state to which the empire of Hindústan was reduced; and the

confusion into which the provinces of Lahore and Cábul were thrown, by

the death of Nádir; were events of too favourable a nature to the Sikhs

to be neglected by that race, who became daily more bold, from their

numbers being greatly increased by the union of all those who had taken

shelter in the mountains; the readmission into the sect of those who,

to save their lives, had abjured, for a period, their usages; and the

conversion of a number of proselytes, who hastened to join a standard,

under which robbery was made sacred; and to plunder, was to be pious.

Aided with these recruits, the Sikhs now extended their irruptions

over most of the provinces of the Penjáb: and though it was some time

before they repossessed themselves of Amritsar, they began, immediately

after they quitted their fastnesses, to flock to that holy city at the

periods of their feasts. Some performed this pilgrimage in secret, and

in disguise: but in general, according to a contemporary Muhammedan

author, the Sikh horsemen were seen riding, at full gallop, towards

"their favourite shrine of devotion. They were often slain in making

this attempt, and sometimes taken prisoners; but they used, on such

occasions, to seek, instead of avoiding, the crown of martyrdom: and

the same authority states, that an instance was never known of a Sikh,

taken in his way to Amritsar, consenting to abjure his faith."

It is foreign to the object of this sketch to enter into a detail of

those efforts by which the Sikhs rose into that power which they now

possess. It will be sufficient to glance at the principal events which

have marked their progress, from the period of their emerging from the

mountains, to which they had been driven after the death of Banda,

to that of the conquest and subjection of those fine provinces over

which their rule is now established. This sect, as has been before

stated, have never admitted a spiritual leader since the death of Gúrú

Góvind. It was success, and the force of a savage but strong genius,

which united them, for a period, under Banda; and they have, since his

death, had no acknowledged general, leader, or prince. Each individual

followed to the field the Sirdar or chief, who, from birth, the

possession of property, or from valour and experience, had become his

superior. These chiefs again were of different rank and pretensions:

a greater number of followers, higher reputation, the possession of

wealth, or lands, constituted that difference; and, from one or other

of these causes, one chief generally enjoyed a decided pre-eminence,

and, consequently, had a lead in their military councils. But,

nevertheless, they always went through the form of selecting a military

leader at their Gúrú-matá, or national council; where, however,

influence prevailed, and the most powerful was certain of being elected.

Such a mode of government was in itself little calculated to give that

strength and union which the cause of the Sikhs required: but the

peculiarities of their usages, the ardent character of their faith, the

power of their enemies, and the oppression they endured, amply supplied

the place of all other ordinances. To unite and to act in one body,

and on one principle, was, with the first Sikhs, a law of necessity:

it was, amid the dangers with which they were surrounded, their only

hope of success, and their sole means of preservation: and it was to

these causes, combined with the weakness and internal contests of their

enemies, to which this sect owes its extraordinary rise,--not to their

boasted constitution; which, whether we call it an oligarchy, which

it really is; or a theocracy, which the Sikhs consider it; has not a

principle in its composition that would preserve it one day from ruin,

if vigorously assailed. But of this their history will furnish the best

example.

Encouraged by the confusion which took place on the first Afghán[58]

invasion, the Sikhs made themselves masters of a considerable part of

the Duáb of Rávi and Jaléndra[59], and extended their incursions to the

neighbouring countries. They, however, at this period received several

severe checks from Mír Manu, the governor of Lahore, who is said, by

Muhammedan authors, to have been only withheld from destroying them by

the counsel of his minister, Kodá Mal, who was himself a Sikh of the

Khalása[60] tribe. Mír Manu appointed Adína Bég Khán to the charge of

the countries in which the Sikhs maintained themselves; and, as that

able but artful chief considered this turbulent tribe in no other light

than as the means of his personal advancement, he was careful not to

reduce them altogether; but, after defeating them in an action, which

was fought near Mak'havál, he entered into a secret understanding with

them, by which, though their excursions were limited, they enjoyed

a security to which they had been unaccustomed, and from which they

gathered strength and resources for future efforts.

At the death of Mír Manu[61], the Sikhs took all those advantages,

which the local distractions of a falling empire offered them, of

extending and establishing their power. Their bands, under their most

active leaders, plundered in every direction, and were successful in

obtaining possession of several countries, from which they have never

since been expelled: and their success, at this period, was promoted,

instead of being checked, by the appointment of their old friend, Adína

Bég Khán, to Lahore; as that brave chief, anxious to defend his own

government against the Afgháns, immediately entered into a confederacy

with the Sikhs, whom he encouraged to plunder the territories of Ahmed

Sháh Abdáli.

The Afghán monarch, resenting this predatory warfare, in which the

governor of Lahore was supported by the court of Dehli, determined upon

invading India. Adína Bég, unable to oppose him, fled; and the Sikhs

could only venture to plunder the baggage, and cut off the stragglers

of the Afghán army; by which they so irritated Ahmed Sháh, that he

threatened them with punishment on his return; and, when he marched

to Cábul, he left his son, Taimúr Khán, and his vizír, Jehán Khán, at

Lahore, with orders to take vengeance on the Sikhs for all the excesses

which they had committed. The first expedition of Taimúr Khán was

against their capital, Amritsar, which he destroyed, filling up their

sacred tank, and polluting all their places of worship: by which action

he provoked the whole race to such a degree, that they all assembled at

Lahore, and not only attempted to cut off the communication between the

fort and country, but collected and divided the revenues of the towns

and villages around it. Taimúr Khán, enraged at this presumption, made

several attacks upon them, but was constantly defeated; and being at

last reduced to the necessity of evacuating Lahore, and retreating to

Cábul, the Sikhs, under one of their celebrated leaders, called Jasa

Singh Calál, immediately took possession of the vacant Subah of Lahore,

and ordered rupees to be coined, with an inscription to the following

import: "Coined by the grace of Khálsah jí, in the country of Ahmed,

conquered by Jasa Singh Calál."

The Sikhs, who were so deeply indebted to the forbearance of Adína Bég

Khán, now considered themselves above the power of that chief; who, in

order to regain his government from them and the Afgháns, was obliged

to invite the Mahráta leaders, Raghunát'h Ráo, Sáheb Pateil, and Malhár

Ráo, to enter the Penjáb. Aided by these chiefs, he first advanced to

Sarhind, where he was joined by some Sikhs that remained attached to

him. Sámad Khán, the officer who had been left in charge of Sarhind by

Ahmed Khán, found himself obliged to evacuate that place; which he had

no sooner done, than the Sikhs began to plunder. The Mahrátas, always

jealous of their booty, determined to attack and punish them for this

violation of what they deemed their exclusive privilege: but Adína

Bég receiving intelligence of their intentions, communicated it to

the Sikhs; who, taking advantage of the darkness of the night, saved

themselves by flight.

After the fall of Sarhind, the Mahrátas, accompanied by Adína Bég

Khán, advanced to Lahore, and soon expelled both the Sikhs and the

Afgháns from the principal towns of the provinces of Sarhind and

Lahore; of which they not only took possession, but sent a governor to

the province of Multán; and Sáheb Pateil advanced to the Attock[62],

where he remained for a few months. But the commotions of Hindústan

and the Dek'hin soon obliged these foreigners to abandon the Penjáb;

which they did the same year they had reduced it. They appointed Adína

Bég Khán governor of Lahore. He died in the ensuing year; and, by

his death, afforded an opportunity to the Sikhs, which they eagerly

seized, to make themselves again masters of the province of Lahore.

Their success was, however, soon checked by Ahmed Sháh Abdáli; who,

irritated by their unsubdued turbulence, and obstinate intrepidity,

made every effort (after he had gained the victory of Pánipat'h, which

established his supremacy at Dehli) to destroy their power; and, with

this view, he entered the Penjáb early in 1762, and overran the whole

of that country with a numerous army, defeating and dispersing the

Sikhs in every direction. That sect, unable to make any stand against

the army of the Abdáli, pursued their old plan of retreating near the

mountains; and collected a large force in the northern districts of

Sarhind, a distance of above one hundred miles from Lahore, where the

army of Ahmed Sháh was encamped. Here they conceived themselves to be

in perfect safety: but that prince made one of those rapid movements

for which he was so celebrated, and reaching the Sikh army on the

second day, completely surprised, and defeated it with great slaughter.

In this action, which was fought in February, 1762, the Sikhs are said

to have lost upwards of twenty thousand men, and the remainder fled

into the hills, abandoning all the lower countries to the Afgháns, who

committed every ravage that a barbarous and savage enemy could devise.

Amritsar was razed to the ground, and the sacred reservoir again

choaked with its ruins. Pyramids[63] were erected, and covered with

the heads of slaughtered Sikhs: and it is mentioned, that Ahmed Sháh

caused the walls of those mosques, which the Sikhs had polluted, to be

washed with their blood, that the contamination might be removed, and

the insult offered to the religion of Muhammed expiated[64].

This species of savage retaliation appears to have animated, instead

of depressing, the courage of the Sikhs; who, though they could not

venture to meet Ahmed Sháh's army in action, harassed it with an

incessant predatory warfare; and, when that sovereign was obliged, by

the commotions of Afghánistan, to return to Cábul, they attacked and

defeated the general he had left in Lahore, and made themselves masters

of that city, in which they levelled with the ground those mosques

which the Afgháns had, a few months before, purified with the blood of

their brethren.

Ahmed Sháh, in 1763, retook Lahore, and plundered the provinces around

it; but, being obliged to return to his own country in the ensuing

year, the Sikhs again expelled his garrison, and made themselves

masters of the Penjáb; and, from that period until his death, a

constant war was maintained, in which the enterprise and courage of

the Afgháns gradually gave way before the astonishing activity and

invincible perseverance of their enemies; who, if unable to stand a

general action, retreated to impenetrable mountains, and the moment

they saw an advantage, rushed again into the plains with renewed

vigour, and recruited numbers. Several Sikh authors, treating of the

events of this period, mention a great action having been fought,

by their countrymen, near Amritsar, against the whole Afghán army,

commanded by Ahmed Sháh in person; but they differ with regard to the

date of this battle, some fixing it in 1762, and others later. They

pretend that the Sikhs, inspired by the sacredness of the ground on

which this action was fought, contended for victory against superior

numbers with the most desperate fury, and that the battle terminated

in both parties quitting the field, without either being able to claim

the least advantage. The historians of Ahmed Sháh are, however, silent

regarding this action; which, indeed, from all the events of his long

contests with the Sikhs, appears unlikely to have occurred. It is

possible the Sikhs fought, at Amritsar, with a division of the Afghán

army, and that might have been commanded by the prince; but it is very

improbable they had ever force to encounter the concentrated army of

the Abdális; before which, while it remained in a body, they appear,

from the first to the last of their contests with that prince, to have

always retreated, or rather fled.

The internal state of Afghánistan, since the death of Ahmed Sháh,

has prevented the progress of the Sikh nation receiving any serious

check from that quarter; and the distracted and powerless condition

of the empire of India has offered province after province to their

usurpation. Their history, during this latter period, affords little

but a relation of village warfare, and predatory incursions. Their

hostilities were first directed against the numerous Muhammedan chiefs

who were settled in the Penjáb, and who defended, as long as they

could, their jágírs, or estates, against them: but these have either

been conquered, or reduced to such narrow limits, as to owe their

security to their insignificance, or the precarious friendship of

some powerful Sikh chief, whose support they have gained; and who,

by protecting them against the other leaders of his tribe, obtains a

slight accession of strength and influence.

The Sikh nation, who have, throughout their early history, always

appeared, like a suppressed flame, to rise into higher splendour from

every attempt to crush them, had become, while they were oppressed,

as formidable for their union, as for their determined courage and

unconquerable spirit of resistance: but a state of persecution and

distress was the one most favourable for the action of a constitution

like theirs; which, formed upon general and abstract principles,

required constant and great sacrifices of personal advantage to the

public good; and such can alone be expected from men, acting under the

influence of that enthusiasm, which the fervor of a new religion, or a

struggle for independence, can alone impart, and which are ever most

readily made, when it becomes obvious to all, that a complete union in

the general cause is the only hope of individual safety.

The Sikhs would appear, from their own historians, to have attributed

the conquests they made entirely to their valour, and to have

altogether forgot that they owed them chiefly to the decline of the

house of Taimúr, and the dissensions of the government of Cábul.

Intoxicated with their success, they have given way to all those

passions which assail the minds of men in the possession of power.

The desire, which every petty chief entertained, of increasing his

territories, of building strong forts, and adding to the numbers of his

troops, involved them in internal wars; and these, however commenced,

soon communicated to numbers, who engaged in the dispute as passion or

interest dictated. Though such feuds have, no doubt, helped to maintain

their military spirit, yet their extent and virulence have completely

broken down that union, which their great legislator, Góvind, laboured

to establish. Quarrels have been transmitted from father to son; and,

in a country where the infant is devoted to _steel_, and taught to

consider war as his only occupation, these could not but multiply in

an extraordinary degree; and, independent of the comparative large

conquests in which the greater chiefs occasionally engaged, every

village[65] has become an object of dispute; and there are few, if any,

in the Penjáb, the rule of which is not contested between brothers or

near relations[66]. In such a state, it is obvious, the Sikhs could

alone be formidable to the most weak and distracted governments. Such,

indeed, was the character, till within a very late period, of all their

neighbours; and they continued to plunder, with impunity, the upper

provinces of Hindústan, until the establishment of the power of Daulet

Ráo Sindíá, when the regular brigades, commanded by French officers

in the service of that prince, not only checked their inroads, but

made all the Sikh chiefs, to the southward of the Satléj, acknowledge

obedience and pay tribute to Sindíá: and it was in the contemplation of

General Perron, had the war with the English government not occurred,

to have subdued the Penjáb, and made the Indus the limit of his

possession: and every person acquainted with his means, and with the

condition and resources of the Sikhs, must be satisfied he would have

accomplished this project with great ease, and at a very early period.

When Holkár fled into the Penjáb, in 1805, and was pursued by that

illustrious British commander, Lord Lake, a complete opportunity was

given of observing the actual state of this nation, which was found

weak and distracted, in a degree that could hardly have been imagined.

It was altogether destitute of union. And though a Gúrú-matá, or

national council, was called, with a view to decide on those means

by which they could best avert the danger by which their country was

threatened, from the presence of the English and Mahráta armies, it

was attended by few chiefs: and most of the absentees, who had any

power, were bold and forward in their offers to resist any resolution

to which this council might come. The intrigues and negotiations of all

appeared, indeed, at this moment, to be entirely directed to objects of

personal resentment, or personal aggrandizement; and every shadow of

that concord, which once formed the strength of the Sikh nation, seemed

to be extinguished.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The sacred volume of the Sikhs. The chief, who gave me this copy,

sent it at night, and with either a real or affected reluctance, after

having obtained a promise that I would treat it with great respect. I

understand, however, that the indefatigable research of Mr. Colebrooke

has procured not only the Adí-Grant'h, but also the Dasima Pádsháh ká

Grant'h; and that, consequently, he is in possession of the two most

sacred books of the Sikhs.

[2] Sikh or Sicsha, is a Sanscrit word, which means a disciple, or

devoted follower. In the Penjábí it is corrupted into Sikh: it is a

general term, and applicable to any person that follows a particular

teacher.

[3] This village, or rather town, for such it has become, is now called

Ráyapúr. It is situated on the banks of the Béyah, or Hyphasis.

[4] He is called, by some authors, Kálú Védí; but Védí is a name

derived from his tribe or family.

[5] Several Sikh authors have been very precise in establishing the

date of the consummation of this marriage, which they fix in the month

of Asárh, of the Hindú æra of Vicramáditya, 1545.

[6] Bála Sand'hú, who gave this advice, continued, through Nánac's

life, to be his favourite attendant and disciple.

[7] The veneration which the Hindús have for the snake is well known;

and this tradition, like many others, proves the attachment of the Sikh

writers to that mythology, the errors of which they pretend to have

wholly abandoned.

[8] Ráy, a title inferior to that of a Rájah, generally applied to the

Hindú chief of a village, or small district.

[9] This remarkable anecdote in Nánac's life is told very differently

by different Sikh authors. I have followed the narrative of Bhacta

Mallí. They all agree in Nánac's having, at this period, quitted the

occupations of the world, and become Fakír.

[10] Bhai Gúrú Vali, author of the Gnyána Ratnávali, a work written in

the Sikh dialect of the Penjábí.

[11] Though his biographers have ascribed miracles to Nánac, we never

find that he pretended to work any: on the contrary, he derided those

who did, as deriving power from evil spirits.

[12] It is believed that this work of Nánac has been incorporated in

the first part of the Adí-Grant'h.

[13] This interview must have taken place in 1526 or 1527; as it is

stated to have been immediately after Daulet Khán Lódí had visited

Paniput, in 1526; where that prince had fought, and subdued Ibrahim,

emperor of Hindústan.

[14] Recluse penitents, who, by means of mental and corporeal

mortifications, have acquired a command over the powers of nature.

[15] Kírtipúr Dehra, on the banks of the Rávi, or Hydraotes.

[16] He is, throughout this sketch, called Nánac. Muhammedan historians

generally term him Nánac Sháh, to denote his being a Fakír, the name

of Sháh being frequently given to men of celebrity in that sect. The

Sikhs, in speaking of him, call him Bábá Nánac, or Gúrú Nánac, father

Nánac, or Nánac the teacher; and their writers term him Nánac Nirinkar,

which means Nánac the omnipresent.

[17] This fanciful etymology represents the word Angad as a compound

of the Sanscrit _Ang_, which signifies _body_, and the Persian _Khúd_,

which signifies _own_. This mixture of language is quite common in the

jargon of the Penjáb.

[18] Angad died at Khandúr, a village about forty miles east of Lahore.

[19] Though a contrary belief is inculcated by Nánac, the Sikhs, like

the Hindús, are inclined to be predestinarians, and this gives their

minds a great tendency to view accidents as decrees of Providence; and

it is probable that this instance of early good fortune in Rám Dás,

by impressing his countrymen with an idea of his being particularly

favoured of Heaven, gave rise to an impression that promoted, in no

slight degree, that success which it anticipated.

[20] No dates of the events which occurred during the rule of Rám Dás

are given in any of the authorities from which this sketch is drawn.

One author, however, states, that he lived in the time of Akber, and

was honoured with the favour of that truly tolerant and great emperor.

[21] Arjunmal, or Arjun, as he is more commonly called, according to

B'hai Gúrú Dás B'halé, the author of the Gnyán Ratnávalí, was not

initiated in the sacred mysteries of his father. This author says, that

Arjun, though a secular man, did not suffer the office of Gúrú, or

priest, to leave the Sóndi tribe. "Like a substance," he adds, "which

none else could digest, the property of the family remained in the

family."

[22] Grant'h means book; but, as a mark of its superiority to all

others, is given to this work, as "The Book." Adí-Grant'h means,

the first Grant'h, or book, and is generally given to this work to

distinguish it from the Dasama Pádsháh ká Grant'h, or the book of the

tenth king, composed by Gúrú Góvind.

[23] Though the original Adí-Grant'h was compiled by Arjunmal, from

the writings of Nánac, Angad, Amera Dás, and Rám Dás, and enlarged and

improved by his own additions and commentaries, some small portions

have been subsequently added by thirteen different persons, whose

numbers, however, are reduced, by the Sikh authors, to twelve and a

half: the last contributor to this sacred volume being a woman, is only

admitted to rank in the list as a fraction, by these ungallant writers.

[24] Several historical accounts of the Sikhs, particularly that

published by Major Browne, which is, in general, drawn from authentic

sources, appear to be in error with regard to the period at which this

race first took arms, which the last author states to have occurred

under Gúrú Góvind; but several Sikh authors, of great respectability

and information, agree in ascribing to the efforts of Har Góvind, the

son of Arjun, this great change in the Sikh commonwealth; and their

correctness, in this point, appears to be placed beyond all question,

by a passage in the Ratnávalí of B'hai Gúrú Dás B'halé; who observes,

"That five phials (of divine grace) were distributed to five Pírs

(holy men), but the sixth Pír was a mighty Gúrú (priest). Arjun threw

off his earthly frame, and the form of Har Góvind mounted the seat of

authority. The Sóndi race continued exhibiting their different forms

in their turns. Har Góvind was the destroyer of armies, a martial Gúrú

(priest), a great warrior, and performed great actions." The mistake

of some European writers on this subject probably originated in a

confusion of verbal accounts; and the similarity of the name of Har

Góvind, the son of Arjunmal, and Góvínd, the last and greatest of the

Sikh Gúrús, the son of Tégh Bahádur. In the Persian sketch, which Major

Browne translates, the name of Har Góvind is not mentioned. The son of

Arjunmal is called Gúrú Rám Ráy, which is obviously a mistake of the

author of that manuscript.

[25] Nánac had forbidden hog's flesh, though a common species of food

among the lower tribe of Hindús, in compliance with the prejudices of

the Muhammedans, whom it was his great wish to reconcile to his faith

by every concession and persuasion.

[26] It is stated, by a Sikh author named Nand, that Har Góvind, during

his ministry, established the practice of invoking the three great

Hindú deities, Brahmá, Vishnu, and Síva: but this is not confirmed by

any other authority which I have seen.

[27] The violent contests of the Sikhs are mentioned by most of

their writers; and, though they disagree in their accounts, they all

represent Tégh Behádur as falling the innocent sacrifice of Muhammedan

despotism and intolerance; which, from the evidence of all respectable

contemporary Muhammedan authors, would appear not to be the fact.

Tégh Behádur, agreeable to them, provoked his execution by a series

of crimes. He joined, they state, with a Moslem Fakír, of the name of

Hafiz ed Dín; and, supported by a body of armed mendicants, committed

the most violent depredations on the peaceable inhabitants of the

Penjáb. The author of the Seir Mutákhherin says he was, in consequence

of these excesses, put to death at Gwalior, and his body cut into four

quarters, one of which was hung up at each gate of the fortress.

[28] A Sikh college was founded in that city.

[29] A town on the Satléj.

[30] Gúrú Góvind is stated, by a Sikh author of respectability, B'hai

Gúrú Dás B'halé, to have been fourteen years of age when his father was

put to death.

[31] The object of Nánac was to abolish the distinctions of cast

amongst the Hindús, and to bring them to the adoration of that Supreme

Being, before whom all men, he contended, were equal. Gúrú Góvind,

who adopted all the principles of his celebrated predecessor, as far

as religious usages were concerned, is reported to have said, on this

subject, that the four tribes of Hindús, the Bráhmen, Cshatríya,

Vaisya, and Súdra, would, like _pán_ (betle-leaf), _chunám_ (lime),

_supári_ (betle-nut), and _khat_ (_terra japonica_, or _catechu_),

become all of one colour, when well chewed.

[32] Some men of the lowest Hindú tribe, of the occupation of sweepers,

were employed to bring away the corpse of Tégh Béhadur from Dehli.

Their success was rewarded by high rank and employment. Several of

the same tribe, who have become Sikhs, have been remarkable for their

valour, and have attained great reputation. They are distinguished,

among the Sikhs, by the name of Ran-Rata Singh.

[33] That is, equal in civil rights. He wished to remove the

disqualifications of birth, and do away cast. That he did not

completely effect this object, and that some distinctions of their

former tribes, particularly those relating to intermarriage, should

still be kept up by the Sikhs, cannot be a matter of astonishment to

those acquainted with the deep-rooted prejudices of the Hindús upon

this point; which is as much a feeling of family pride as of religious

usage.

[34] Spiritual leader.

[35] The goddess Durgá Bhavání is said, by a Sikh author, to be

represented, in some images, with her hair long and dishevelled.

[36] This institution is also said to be borrowed from the Hindú

mythology. Bála Rám, the elder brother of Crishna, wore blue clothes;

from which he is called Nilámbar, or _the clothed in dark blue_; and

Shitivas, or _the blue clothed_.

[37] One of the most popular of these fables states, that in the year

of the Híjerah 1118, Gúrú Góvind, agreeably to the directions he had

received from two Bráhmen necromancers, threw a number of magical

compounds, given him by these Bráhmens, into a fire, near which he

continued in prayers for several days. A sword of lightning at last

burst from the flame of fire; but Góvind, instead of seizing this

sword in an undaunted manner, as he was instructed, was dazzled by its

splendour, and shrunk from it in alarm. The sword instantly flew to

heaven; from whence a loud voice was heard to say, "Gúrú Góvind! thy

wishes shall be fulfilled by thy posterity, and thy followers shall

daily increase." The Bráhmens were in despair at this failure; but,

after deep reflection, they told Góvind, there was still one mode of

acquiring that honour for himself, which appeared, by the decree that

had been pronounced, doomed for his posterity. If he would only allow

them to take off his head, and throw it into the fire, he would be

resuscitated to the enjoyment of the greatest glory. The Gúrú excused

himself from trying this experiment, declaring that he was content

that his descendants should enjoy the fruits of that tree which he had

planted.

[38] These Rájás appear, from the same authority, to be descended in a

direct line from Hindú gods.

[39] The following short extract from the translation of the Vichitra

Nátac, will show that Góvind gave his friends their full meed of

praise, and will also exhibit the character of his style: "Cripál

rages, wielding his mace: he crushed the skull of the fierce Hyát Khán.

He made the blood spurt aloft, and scattered the brains of the chief,

as Crishna crushed the earthen vessel of butter. Then Nand Chand raged

in dreadful ire, launching the spear, and wielding the sword. He broke

his keen scimitar, and drew his dagger, to support the honour of the

Sóndi race. Then my maternal uncle, Cripál, advanced in his rage,

and exhibited the skilful war-feats of a true Cshatríya. The mighty

warrior, though struck by an arrow, with another made a valiant Khán

fall from his saddle, and Sáheb Chand, of the Cshatríya race, strove

in the battle's fury, and slew a blood-thirsty Khán, a warrior of

Khorásan." After recording the actions of many others, Góvind thus

describes his own deeds: "The blood-drinking spectres and ghosts yelled

for carnage; the fierce Vetála, the chief of the spectres, laughed

for joy, and sternly prepared for his repast. The vultures hovered

around, screaming for their prey. Hari Chand, (a Hindú chief in the

emperor's army,) in his wrath, drawing his bow, first struck my steed

with an arrow: aiming a second time, he discharged his arrow; but the

Deity preserved me, and it passed me, and only grazed my ear. His

third arrow struck my breast: it tore open the mail, and pierced the

skin, leaving a slight scar; but the God whom I adore saved me. When I

felt this hurt, my anger was kindled; I drew my bow and discharged an

arrow: all my champions did the same, rushing onwards to the battle.

Then I aimed at the young hero, and struck him. Hari Chand perished,

and many of his host; death devoured him, who was called a Rájá among a

hundred thousand Rájás. Then all the host, struck with consternation,

fled, deserting the field of combat. I obtained the victory through the

favour of the Most High; and, victorious in the field, we raised aloud

the song of triumph. Riches fell on us like rain, and all our warriors

were glad."

[40] Hyát Khán and Nejábet Khán are mentioned as two of the principal

chiefs of the emperor's army that fell in this first action. Góvind,

speaking of the fall of the latter, says: "When Nejábet Khán fell, the

world exclaimed, Alas! but the region of Swarga (the heavens) shouted

victory."

[41] A mountainous tract of country, that borders on the Penjáb. It

lies to the N. W. of Srínagar, and the S. E. of Jammu. The present

Rájá, Sansár Chand, is a chief of great respectability. His country

has lately been overrun by the Rájá of Nepál and Gore'ha. I derived

considerable information regarding this family, and their territories,

from the envoy of Sansár Chand, who attended Lord Lake, in 1805, when

the British army was in the Penjáb.

[42] Though the account of this war is given in a style sufficiently

inflated for the wars of the demons and angels; yet, as Góvind relates,

that Husain Khán returned a messenger, which one of the principal

Rájás had sent him, with this message to his master; "Pay down ten

thousand rupees, or destruction descends on thy head;" we may judge,

both from the demand, and the amount of the contribution, of the nature

of this contest, as well as its scale. It was evidently one of those

petty provincial wars, which took place in every remote part of the

Indian empire, when it was distracted: and, at this period, Aurungzéb

was wholly engaged in the Dek'hin, and the northern provinces were

consequently neglected, and their governments in a weak and unsettled

state.

[43] This must have been in the year 1701, when Baháder Sháh was

detached from the Dek'hin to take charge of the government of Cábul,

and was probably ordered, at the same time, to settle the disturbances

in the Penjáb.

[44] There is a remarkable passage in this chapter, in which Gúrú

Góvind appears to acknowledge the supremacy of the emperor. "God," he

says, "formed both Bábá (Nánac) and Báber (the emperor of that name).

Look upon Bábá as the Pádsháh (king) of religion, and Báber, the lord

of the world. He who will not give Nánac a single damri, (a coin the

sixteenth part of an ana,) will receive a severe punishment from Báber."

[45] Kahilúr, or Kahlóre, is situated on the Satléj, above Mák'havál.

It is near the mountains through which that river flows into the

Penjáb. Another place of the name of Kahilúr, or Kahlóre, is situated

a short distance from Lahore, to the N. E. of that city.

[46] The Muhammedan authors blame Vízír Khán for this unnecessary and

impolitic act of barbarity.

[47] Bhavání Durgá.

[48] In the Penjábi narrative of B'hai Gúrú Dás B'halé, the actions

of Ajit Singh, and Ranjít Singh, sons of Góvind, are particularly

described; and, from one part of the description, it would appear

that the family of Góvind, proud of their descent, had not laid aside

the _zunár_, or holy cord, to which they were, as belonging to the

Cshatríya race, entitled. Speaking of these youths, the author says:

"Slaughtering every Turk and Pahlan whom they saw, they adorned their

sacred strings, by converting them into sword-belts. Returning from the

field, they sought their father, who bestowed a hundred blessings on

their scimetars."

[49] The Sikh author, though he may reject the superstitious idolatry

of the Hindús, adorns his descriptions with every image its mythology

can furnish; and claims for his hero the same high honours in Swarga,

that a Bráhmen would expect for one of the Pándu race.

[50] Mr. Foster has followed this authority in his account of the Sikh

nation: and I am inclined to believe that the part of it which relates

to Gúrú Góvind's dying at Nadér, in the Dek'hin, of a wound received

from a Patán, is correct; as it is written on the last page of a copy

of the Adí-Grant'h, in my possession, with several other facts relative

to the dates of the births and deaths of the principal high priests of

the Sikhs.

[51] Both at Chamkóur, and other forts, from which the famished Sikhs

attempted to escape, many of them were taken, and had their noses and

ears cut off.

[52] Meaning Sikhs; whose faith, though it differs widely from the

present worship of the Hindús, has been thought to have considerable

analogy to the pure and simple religion originally followed by that

nation.

[53] This province lies a few miles to the N. E. of Delhi, between the

rivers Jumna and Ganges.

[54] They were taken in the fort of Lóhgad, which is one hundred miles

to the north-east of Lahore. This fortress was completely surrounded,

and the Sikhs were only starved into surrender, having been reduced to

such extremes, that they were reported to have eaten, what to them must

have been most horrible, the flesh of the cow.

[55] The author of the _Seir Mutákherin_.

[56] It is necessary, however, to state, that there is a schismatical

sect of Sikhs, who are termed Bandái, or the followers of Banda, who

totally deny this account of the death of Banda, and maintain that

he escaped severely wounded from his last battle, and took refuge in

B'habar, where he quietly ended his days, leaving two sons, Ajit Singh

and Zoráwer Singh, who successfully propagated his doctrine. This sect

chiefly resides in Multán, Tata, and the other cities on the banks of

the Indus. They receive the Adí-Grant'h, but not the Dasama Pádsháh ká

Grant'h.

[57] An account of this class of Sikhs will be hereafter given.

[58] A. D. 1746.

[59] The country between the rivers Raví and Béyah, and that river and

the Satléj.

[60] A sect of non-conformist Sikhs, who believe in the Adí-Grant'h

of Nánac, but do not conform to the institutions of Gúrú Góvind. They

are called Khalása. This word is said, by some, to be from _khális_,

_pure_ or _select_, and to mean the purest, or the select: by others,

from _khalás_, _free_, and to mean the freed or exempt, alluding to the

tribe being exempt from the usages imposed on the other Sikhs.

[61] A. D. 1752.

[62] The empire of the Mahrátas had, at this proud moment, reached its

zenith. The battle of Pánipat'h took place soon afterwards; since which

it has rapidly declined.

[63] This is a very common usage amongst eastern conquerors. The

history of Jénghíz Khán, Taimúr and Nádir Sháh, afford many examples of

this mode of treating their vanquished enemies.

[64] Foster's Travels, Vol. I. p. 279.

[65] All the villages in the Penjáb are walled round; as they are in

almost all the countries of India that are exposed to sudden incursions

of horse, which this defence can always repel.

[66] When the British and Máhráta armies entered the Penjáb, they

were both daily joined by discontented petty chiefs of the Sikhs, who

offered their aid to the power that would put them in the possession of

a village or a fort, from which, agreeably to their statement, they had

been unjustly excluded by a father or brother. Holkár encouraged these

applications, and used them to his advantage. The British commander

abstained from all interference in such disputes.