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.