THE SIKHS
'/
E
THE NATIONAL HERO OF THE SIKHS- RANJ1T SINGH. MAHARAJA OF THE PUNJAB, 1801-1839.
After a sketch by the Hon. 1 \ at Lahore,
■'■cr 1838, during Lord Auckland's visit.
BE IKHS
THE SIKHS
GENERAL
SIR JOHN Jr H.' GORDON, K.C.B.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
Hi'7
WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MCMIV
All Rights reserved
PEE FACE,
No visitors at the celebration of the King's Coronation in London received a heartier welcome than the soldiers of the many- races and classes who so well represented the Indian Army. Our home people were able to see the quality of the men who compose it, while they themselves were enabled to form a clearer conception of Britain's strength and resources and the character of her people. They were su- premely pleased at being present on such an auspicious occasion as the crowning of their King-Emperor, and carried away with them, and left behind them, feelings that should draw closer the ties which bind
vi PREFACE.
India and its people to the British Crown. Politically it was a practical gain for all.
Conspicuous among them were the Sikhs, — tall, bearded, dignified-looking men, in- telligent and keen observers, — whose sol- dierly bearing was the admiration of all who beheld them. The name Sikh is rem- iniscent of very hard fighting against us fifty years ago, and of equally hard fighting for us on many a field since. Belonging to an exceptional as well as a fine martial race, more than ordinary interest is attached to them on account of their origin and re- ligion. In the following pages I have given a short sketch of this warlike race, and of their rise through much tribulation to power as a nation, and transformation by the for- tune of war into loyal and hearty subjects of the Great Queen Victoria. In addition to personal notes made during many years' service with Sikhs, I have drawn informa- tion from various old works relating to
PREFACE.
Vll
them by Malcolm, Cunningham, M'Gregor, Smyth, and others, and also from the His- tory of the Punjab by Syad Muhammad Latif and Dr Trumpp's Translation of the ' Granth/ the Sacred Book of the Sikhs.
J. J. H. GORDON.
35 Onslow Square, London, 1st September 1904.
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS . .... .1
II. NANAK THE REFORMER, FOUNDER OF THE SIKH SECT . 13
III. SPREAD OF SIKHISM 27
IV. GURU GOVIND SINGH, FOUNDER OF THE KHALSA, THE
SIKH COMMONWEALTH 37
V. STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA FOR POSSESSION OF THE
PUNJAB ........ 55
VI. THE SIKH CONFEDERACIES EVOLUTION OF THE SIKH
SARDARS ........ 70
VII. SARDAR RANJIT SINGH ...... 79
VIII. MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH ...... 88
IX. DECLINE OF THE SIKH MONARCHY . . . .119
X. THE FIRST SIKH WAR WITH THE BRITISH, 1845-46 . 135
xi. the first sikh war — continued . . . .151
XII. THE SECOND SIKH WAR, 1848-49 ANNEXATION, 1849 . 165
XIII. THE ' GRANTH,' THE SIKH SACRED BOOK RELIGIOUS
OBSERVANCES . . . . . . .183
XIV. THE SIKHS UNDER THE BRITISH CROWN . . .201
ILLUSTBATIONS.
PAGE THE NATIONAL HERO OP THE SIKHS— RANJIT SINGH, MAHA- RAJA OP THE PUNJAB, 1801-39 . . . Frontispiece BABA SIR KHEM SINGH, BEDI, OP KULLAR, K.C.I.E., LINEAL
DESCENDANT IN THE FOURTEENTH GENERATION FROM BABA
NANAK, THE SIKH REFORMER . . . .24
GURU GOVIND SINGH'S ARMED DISCIPLES, THE EARLY SOLDIERS
OP THE KHALSA ...... 42
KHALSA HORSEMEN MAKING A DASH BY NIGHT TO AMRITSAR . 58
A SIKH SARDAR ....... 70
AN AKALI SIKH SOLDIER . . . . .74
MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH REVIEWING HIS ARMY . . 102
SHER SINGH, MAHARAJA OF THE PUNJAB, 1841-43 . . 122
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR INFANTRY, SIKH ARMY, 1845 . 152
THE GOLDEN TEMPLE, AMRITSAR . . . .184
CEREMONY OP SIKH BAPTISM . . . . .192
SIKH SOLDIERS BURNING THEIR DEAD ON THE BATTLEFIELD
AT PAIWAR KOTAL, AFGHANISTAN, 1878 . .198
HIGHLANDERS AND SIKHS STORMING THE SECUNDRA BAGH,
LUCKNOW, 1875 ...... 218
SIKH CAVALRY AND INFANTRY OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS, INDIAN
ARMY, PRESENT DAY ..... 224
MORNING PRAYERS AT A SIKH CHAPEL IN THE REGIMENTAL
LINES ....... 228
A NOTABLE SIKH CHIEF, COLONEL HIS HIGHNESS RAJA SIR
HIRA SINGH OF NABHA, G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., COLONEL 14TH
FEROZEPORE SIKHS, INDIAN ARMY .... 232
THE SIKHS,
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS.
Of all the many peoples of India none possesses for us greater or more varied his- torical interest than the Sikhs, a people who four hundred years ago as a reformed religious sect sprang from the ranks of the Jats, a numerous as well as the most im- portant agricultural tribe in the Punjab, descended from the ancient Scythian Getse. They stand out prominently as men of action, who have preserved inherited racial charac- teristics foreign to Orientals, and evolved themselves by the strength of their own arms into one of the finest military types to be
2 THE SIKHS.
found anywhere. Their story furnishes a stirring and romantic chapter in the world's history, carrying the imagination back in full flight over the lapse of centuries.
Taking their rise among the disciples of the peaceful JSTanak, a Jat Hindu religious reformer, they ultimately, under the pres- sure of persecution, became a community of warriors, who by the genius of a young Sikh chief, Ranjit Singh, were welded into a nation at the dawn of the nineteenth century. After they lost his strong guid- ing hand they struggled desperately with us for supremacy in several pitched battles on the Sutlej in 1845-46, when Ave found them indeed foemen worthy of our steel. Though then disastrously defeated, they doggedly clung to the idea that, after all, they were a match for the British, and rose a second time three years later. Again they fought with all their vigorous might, but being completely vanquished in the open field, they then, like brave men as they are, submitted to the decree of war,
ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS. 3
and in 1849 were absorbed with the Punjab into the British Indian Empire. They rose a third time in 1857, but then it was shoulder to shoulder with us to aid in beating down the revolt of our native army in Hindostan, when they flocked in thousands to the standards of their late conquerors at the summons of Sir John Lawrence, the great Pro-Consul of the Pun- jab, whose good government had converted them in a few years into loyal subjects of the British Crown. None have fought more stoutly and stubbornly against us, none more loyally and gallantly for us, than the Sikhs. They have taken part with us in many a "far-flung battle-line" in Asia and Africa, and become the symbol to India of all that is loyal and courageous. Wherever there has been hard fighting to be done, there they have been found in the forefront, maintaining their high reputation for stead- fast fidelity, dogged tenacity, and dauntless courage, — the undying heritage of the Sikhs. As they fought for their Gurus and for their
4 THE SIKHS.
Maharaja, so they have fought for Britain. Loyalty is in their blood.
The Punjab — the land of the five rivers, as the name signifies — is the home-land of the Sikhs. Through it passes the great highway from Central Asia, along which from the remotest antiquity invading hosts have marched bent on the plunder and conquest of India. In prehistoric times hordes of Aryans and Scythians surged through its northern mountain gateways. There Alexander and his Greeks fought and conquered, annexing it as a province of Macedon, while from the eleventh to the eighteenth century Afghan, Tartar, and Persian armies made it the scene of in- cessant war. There the battles were fought for the rich prize of Hindostan. Bred in a locality which has had to bear the brunt of every invasion, and im- bued with the traditions of these long centuries of tumult, the peasantry were as proficient with the sword as with the plough, passing to and from the pur-
ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS. 5
suits of war and peace according to the times.
The origin of the Jat tribe has been the subject of much discussion among distin- guished oriental writers, but the weight of authority is all in favour of it being a relic of the Scythians, who at various times be- fore and after the Christian era, swarming off from their camping - grounds in High Asia, pushed their way into the Punjab and established their dynasties there with the northern form of Budhism. The Indo- Aryans, who had occupied India many cen- turies before, vainly attempted to stem the torrent of these fresh invaders from the north, and waged constant war with them until, according to ancient legendary his- tory, they gained a great victory in the middle of the sixth century a.d. and "freed India from the Huns," by which name these Scythians were also known. After this Budhism gradually gave way to the ascendancy of the Brahmans, under whose influence Hinduism had lost all resemblance
6 THE SIKHS.
to the simple old religion taught in the Vedas — the worship of one Supreme and only God.
We have but a dim outline of these early times from ancient Indian literature, Greek and Chinese writers, traditions, temple in- scriptions, and coins. A portion of the Scythian invaders, descendants of the Massa- Getge of old Asia, were called Getes, from whom the modern Jats are said to have sprung, the name having been so trans- posed in progress of time. Arrian, the Greek historian of Alexander's campaign in Asia, mentions that the Getes, the Indo- Scythes as he terms them, who served as allies of Darius, formed the elite of his army in the great battle of Arbela on the Tigris, 331 b.c, when the Persian Empire, which then extended into the Punjab, was overthrown by Alexander. He dwells with pleasure on Indo-Scythic valour. Colonel Tod, the most scholarly of Indian writers on the old races, in his classical 'Annals of Rajasthan/ compiled eighty years ago,
ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS. 7
identifies the Jats of his day with the ancient Scythian Gete of Central Asia mentioned by Arrian, tracing their de- scendants under the names of Gete, Yothi, Yuti, Jote, to Jit and Jat, the last two being those by which the tribe was then known in Rajputana and the Punjab. He also describes an existing old temple in- scription which shows that the Jits were in power in the Punjab in the fifth century a.d., — the memorial of a Jit prince of Lal- pura dated 409, — and observes, " These Jit princes of Lalpura in the Punjab were the leaders of that very colony of the Yuti from the Jaxartes who, as recorded by De Guignes, crossed the Indus in the fifth cen- tury and possessed themselves of the Pun- jab." Apparently these Jits were one of the most important of the Scythic tribes, and entered the Punjab in large numbers at the same time as their congeners the Goths were invading Italy. This was their last irruption in force into India. Small bodies of emigrants are said to have con-
8 THE SIKHS.
tinued to follow up to the eleventh century, when the Getic Empire on the Oxus was overwhelmed in the tide of Islamism, many fugitives then fleeing to join their kind in the Indus valley, where they formed a powerful community, as is shown in the interesting records of the first invasion of India by Mahmud of Ghuzni, in the eleventh century, which led to the occupation of La- hore, and the establishment of the Mahom- edan Empire in India after a struggle on the frontier lasting for two centuries.
The Jats now emerged from the nebu- lous region of their history, and hence- forward they were never lost to sight. At every step taken by the Mahomedan invaders from the north they encountered the Jats, who showed themselves a power to be reckoned with. They so vigorously opposed Mahmud's army in the passage of the Indus, and harassed his line of march, that he had in person to lead his troops against them in 1027. The famous Tamer- lane in the fourteenth century, at the
ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS. 9
head of his mighty Tartar host, felt their weight, and waged a war of extermination against them ; while the Emperor Baber in his Memoirs writes in 1525 that in all his expeditions into India he was assailed by multitudes of Jits. These Afghan and Moghul invaders knew them by the name of Jits, but they were then known in the Punjab as Jats. Their early settlements were along the whole valley of the Indus from the north down to Sindh. Pliny and Ptolemy in their writings mention the Jatii of these regions. By the sixteenth century they had spread over the Punjab to the deserts of Rajputana and south to the banks of the Jumna as the results of wars and tumults following the Moslem invasions, when they were brushed aside for the time. To-day they are found in all these localities rooted to the soil. Among them the tradition is still strong of the Central Asian region being the cradle of their race. As the latest comers from the bracing north, recruited for
10 THE SIKHS.
several centuries by fresh blood, and established in a climate less liable to lead to deterioration than that of the plains of Hindostan, the Jats have maintained their hardy northern strain, and with it phys- ical superiority and force of character.
The Indo- Aryans, who had settled in India many centuries earlier, about 1500 b.c, looked on these Scythian invaders with scorn as inferiors, and termed them " excluded heretics." In the estimation of the orthodox Hindus the Jats hold an inferior social position below that of their leading castes. Their customs, habits, and indulgences, prohibited by the ordinances which govern the ordinary Hindus, go to confirm the tradition of their Getic origin ; for though there may be nothing of the Scythian in their language, there is un- doubtedly much in their customs, which have survived long after the old tongue has disappeared through changes in dynas- ties and religion. There is, therefore, the strongest ground for assuming that this
ORIGIN OF THE SIKHS. 11
warlike Jat tribe of to-day, to which the Sikhs belong, are the descendants of the Gete, the most conspicuous of the races of ancient Asia, whose bravery in fighting the Greeks hand to hand elicited the warm admiration of the Macedonian generals, as related by Arrian. Wars and anarchy failed to destroy them. They have braved the storms of centuries and preserved con- tinuity with the past, emerging at last from barbarism into light, civilisation, and good government under the British Crown as an industrious, bold, and loyal people who have never broken with their tra- ditions for tenacious energy and military virtues, and who to-day furnish us with thousands of splendid soldiers fit to go anywhere and stand in line against any enemy.
The rise* and progress of the Sikhs present one of those strange repetitions which have occurred in the life of nations ; for though in a precise sense they were at first but a religious sect, later on, bound
12 THE SIKHS.
together by the additional tie of military and political organisation, they, as a united people, recruited from the most important race in the Punjab, were, under the master hand of their Maharaja, Ranjit Singh, con- verted into an individual nation when the decay of the Moghul Empire gave this Jat Sikh chief the opportunity to establish a territorial dominion over the regions col- onised and ruled in former times by his ancestors, the ancient Jits.
CHAPTER II.
NANAK THE REFORMER, FOUNDER OF THE SIKH SECT.
The Sikh religion originated with the teach- ing of Nanak, who from being a wandering Hindu devotee settled down about the year 1500 as a missionary preacher to his countrymen, proclaiming a deistic doctrine, embracing what was best in the two ancient faiths of Hindu and Budhist — the personal God of the one and the spiritual equality of the other. He was born in 1469 in a village near Lahore in the Punjab, the son of a Jat farmer and small trader. As a boy he was thoughtful, re- served, and inclined to devotion. He early showed the bent of his mind by puzzling his teacher with questions as to
14 THE SIKHS.
the existence of God. At the age of nine he shocked the family Brahman priest by- refusing to be invested with the sacred thread at the Hindu ceremony of initia- tion, contending that it was a useless form. As a youth, to the distress of his father, he was antagonistic to the ways of the world, despising money-making. Later on marriage failed to divert his mind from the religious turn. He then at the age of thirty-two became a public preacher, and, garbed as a fakir, left his home to attain religious wisdom by travel and intercourse with others in foreign lands, accompanied by four companions as disciples, one of them being the family bard. His sayings and the verses he composed in praise of God were sung by this minstrel to the sound of the rabab, or Eastern lute, as he said the "skill of the strings" was neces- sary to attract listeners. His family now looked on him as mad. In his ardent desire to find a resting - place among the conflicting creeds of men he wandered
NANAK THE REFORMER 15
over all India, and visited Ceylon, Mecca, Persia, and Kabul. The story is told of him that while at Mecca the Kazi observed him asleep with his feet towards the holy Kaaba, the object of Mahomedan devotion. He was angrily roused, abused as an infidel, and asked how he dared to dis- honour God's house by turning his feet towards it. "Turn then, if you can, in a direction where God's house is not," was his reply.
On returning to his home after his wan- derings he threw aside the garb and habits of the fakir, saying that the numerous religions and castes which he had seen in the world were the devices of men ; that he had read Mahomedan Korans and Hindu Purans, but God was nowhere found in them. All was error. He now taught his followers that abandonment of the world after the manner of ascetics was quite un- necessary ; that true religion was inter- woven in the daily affairs and occupations of life ; that God treated all men with
16 THE SIKHS.
equal favour ; and that between the hermit in his cell and the king in his palace no difference was made in respect of the kingdom to come. "God will not ask man of what caste or race he is. He will ask him what he has done." As a man sows, that shall he reap. He contended against the furious bigotry of the Mahom- edans and the deep-rooted superstition and caste thraldom of the Hindus, and aimed at reforming and reconciling the two creeds. He proclaimed the unity of God and the equality of all men before God ; con- demned idolatry and inculcated a righteous religious life with brotherly love to one another. He said he was but a man among men, mortal and sinful as they were ; that God was all in all, and that belief in the Creator, self- existent, omni- present and omnipotent, without beginning and everlasting, was the only way to sal- vation— the one thing needful being firm reliance on God, who was to be worshipped in spirit and in truth ; to have abiding
NANAK THE REFORMER. 17
companionship with Him, to let His name be continually in their hearts and on their lips, and to pray without ceasing. "The just shall live by faith." This was the key- stone of his doctrine.
He now no longer avoided society, but lived as the head of his family and as a patriarch, preaching openly at all the country fairs in his neighbourhood. He met with violent opposition from the Hindu zealots, who reproached him for laying aside the habits of a fakir. "A holy teacher has no defence but the purity of his doctrine. The world may change, but the Creator is unchangeable," was his reply. No Brahman of any note now ac- knowledged him. The Jat peasantry formed the mass of his disciples. They resorted from all parts, attracted by his preaching, and he soon exercised great influence over vast numbers, who looked on him as their "Guru" or spiritual guide. With their offerings he established almshouses where -crowds of the poor and helpless were fed.
B
18 THE SIKHS.
He died at his home in 1538, at the age of seventy-one.
He was a contemporary of Luther, and, like the German Reformer, he preached no new faith, but contended that religion had become obscured and transformed during the course of centuries. One of the stories told of him in his crusade against the superstitious ceremonies and forms of the priesthood is that on one occasion seeing some Brahmans at their morning devotions by a stream baling out water with their hands facing the east, going through the ceremony of quenching the thirst of dead clients in another world, he, on the opposite bank, began to do the same facing the west. The Brahmans, thinking him a fakir out of his senses, remonstrated with him, saying that all his labours were in vain, and that he could not hope to relieve the thirst of the departed by such heretical actions. Nanak replied, "I am not giving water to my dead, but irrigating my fields in Kartarpur to prevent them drying up
NANAK THE REFORMER. 19
by the scorching heat of the sun." " Water- ing your fields in Kartarpur, such a long way off! How can these handfuls of water benefit your fields at such a distance ? " the Brahmans scoffingly replied. " How can, then, your waters," rejoined JSTanak, " reach the next world and quench the thirst of your dead ? If the water cannot benefit my crops, which are in this world, how can it benefit your dead in another?"
Nanak's followers were called Sikhs, from sicsha, a Sanscrit word signifying disciple or devoted follower, corrupted into Sikh, pronounced Sick, and he was called by them Baba JSTanak or Guru JNanak— Father Nanak or the Spiritual guide. When he felt that his end was approaching he ap- pointed as his successor in the Guru ship one of his most faithful followers, passing over his two sons despite their remon- strances, one of them being an ascetic and the other a man of the world. He selected whom he thought most fit by moral courage and devotion to the cause to carry on his
20 THE SIKHS.
ministry unimpaired. He did not consider the office he had created a hereditary one, but this was later on brought about by a father's strong affection for a devoted and ambitious daughter. The religion which Nanak founded would have sunk into oblivion, as befell that of other reformers in India before him, but his foresigltt in creating an apostleship and selecting a successor before his death saved it.
Sikhism had its root solely in religious aspirations. It was a revolt against the tyranny of Brahmanism. On throwing off the yoke, Nanak and his disciples reverted instinctively to the old theistic creed of their ancestors. The simple-minded Jat peasantry to whom he spoke were inclined to the reception of religious reform. Brah- manism was not so deep-rooted in them as in the mass of Hindus in Hindostan ; regard for caste was weak, that of tribe and race strong. Their old Getic faith had left a lasting impression on their independent character which profoundly modified their
NANAK THE REFORMER. 21
beliefs as Hindus, for the ancient Getes, according to Herodotus, were Theists, and held the tenets of the soul's immortality. With the spread and ascendancy of Hindu- ism idolatry and priestcraft reigned supreme, and caste exclusiveness, with its narrow re- strictions, pressed heavily on the lower classes, who had little consolation to hope for in the next world for the hardships of the present.
As the period between the downfall of Budhism and the advent of Islam was of comparatively short duration, the doctrine of the innate superiority of Brahmanism was rudely shaken by the success of the Mahomedan invaders, inspired with the religious zeal of their new faith, proclaim- ing the unity of God, denouncing idolatry, and disregarding the bonds of caste. Early in the fifteenth century Hindu reformers had risen in Hindostan who seized upon the doctrine of man's equality before God, assailed the worship of idols, the authority of Hindu Shasters and Mahomedan Koran,
22 THE SIKHS.
and the exclusive use of a learned language in religious books unintelligible to the lower orders. They strove to emancipate men's minds from priestcraft and polytheism, and advanced in some measure the cause of enlightenment. The people were appealed to in their own tongue and told that per- fect devotion was compatible with the ordinary duties of the world. These re- formers passed away and left no successors, but their writings were very popular among the people from being in a spoken language. JNanak's susceptible mind had been influ- enced by these writings, some of which were afterwards embodied in the sacred book of the Sikhs.
Nanak was the only Hindu reformer who established a national faith. He rose out of the dust as a great preacher with a great theme which he boldly proclaimed, waking up the people to a higher notion of religion. It is a strange coincidence that from being a Hindu devotee he did so at the very time when Luther, the
NANAK THE REFORMER. 23
German monk, nailed his famous theses to his church door at Wittenberg, starting the Eeformation in the West, both intent on denouncing what they considered the errors in their religions. His preaching attracted the attention of the Mahomedan governors, who reported that a fakir preaching doc- trines at variance with Hindu Vedas and Mahomedan Koran was gaining much in- fluence among the peasantry, which might prove serious to the Government. At that time Baber with his conquering Moghuls was entering the Punjab from the north. He was summoned to Delhi to appear before the Emperor, who after hearing him ordered him to be confined in prison. There he remained for seven months, until Baber captured Delhi and established the Moghul power. Baber interviewed him, when he defended his doctrine with firm- ness and eloquence. He was released, re- turned to his home, and continued his ministry.
He extricated his disciples from the ac-
24 THE SIKHS.
cumulated errors of ages. Regarding them merely as disciples, he had no views of political advancement. As a preacher of peace and goodwill to man he told them to "fight with valour, but with no weapon except the Word of God/' an injunction to which his successors in the apostleship later on, when driven by persecution to defend themselves, added, "and with the sword of the Lord." His care was to prevent his people from contracting into a sect or into monastic distinctions, proving this by ex- cluding his son, a meditative ascetic, from the ministry after him — the son who justi- fied his fears by becoming the founder of a sect called " Oodasses, indifferent to the world," still existing in considerable numbers, proud of their origin, and using the 'Granth,' but not regarded as genuine Sikhs.
Nanak's line of the Bedi clan through his younger son has been preserved to the present day. During these four hundred years they have been held in much venera-
BABA SIR KHEM SINGH, BEDI, K.C.I.E.,
Lineal Descendant in the Fourteenth Generation from Baba Nanak, the Sikh Reformer.
NANAK THE REFORMER. 25
tion by all Sikhs, trusted and protected in the stormy times out of regard for their ancestor. An interesting personality at the recent Coronation celebration in London was Baba Sir Khem Singh, Bedi, K.C.I. E., one of the representatives sent from the Punjab, an old man of great influence and of proved loyalty, who has stood by the British Government from the day, as he expressed it, since the line of Eanjit Singh was ended — the lineal descendant in the fourteenth generation from the Sikh reformer, and the present head of the family. He spoke with decision for his co-religionists, of their fervid loyalty and of their readiness to prove it again and again in the future as they had done in the past, in defence of the King- Emperor and his kingdom. Kecently in the columns of a Punjab newspaper he has expressed his conviction that the political object which led the Sikhs to adopt a military life — viz., the establishment of a perfectly peaceful Government and the maintenance of a rule of justice and re-
26 THE SIKHS.
ligious toleration — has been completely real- ised under the benign reign of the British Government, and that the Sikhs, fully regarding that Government as a god-send, have accordingly placed themselves entirely at its service.
CHAPTER III.
SPREAD OF SIKH ISM.
Nine Gurus, all Jats, followed Nanak in succession during a period of 170 years, the tenth and last being the martial Govind Singh, who, after creating the religious military commonwealth of warrior Singks, declared the dispensation ended. He insti- tuted the distinction between a Sikh and a Singh, for every Sikh is not a Singh. All profess the religion of JSTanak, but the Singh in addition has by baptism become a Govindhi Sikh, a Singh of the Guru, a lion of his race.
Nanak's successor as Guru was a humble labouring man, who spread the religion by scrupulously adhering to his master's doctrine and commands. Before his death he, also
28 THE SIKHS.
deeming neither of his sons worthy of the office, nominated as successor one of his most earnest followers, a petty carrier by trade, who sent out many chosen disciples as missionaries to sow the seed of the Sikh faith. His daughter, to whom he was devotedly attached, married Ram Das, a Jat youth of good family of the Sodhi sept of the tribe, who became a zealous Sikh. The Guru at her request not only nominated him his successor, but also made the office hereditary in her offspring. Under Ram Das, who became the fourth Guru in 1574, the Sikhs greatly increased, and by their offerings he was enabled to live in state. He was of a quiet and peaceful disposition, given to literary pursuits, and devoted to the interests of the community. He laid the foundation of the city of Amritsar (Nectar Tank) upon a site granted to him by the tolerant Emperor Akbar, and excavated the holy tank, from which the town derives its name. In its midst on a small island he erected a temple, the future centre of Sikh
SPREAD OF SIKH1SM. 29
devotion. He died in 1581, after having appointed his son Arjun as his successor. The Guruship had now become hereditary.
Arjun, the fifth Guru, established himself at Amritsar and completed the sacred tank and temple. A flourishing town grew up around, which became the rallying-point of the Sikhs, who had now rapidly increased in numbers and importance. Up to this time the Gurus led a quiet life, averse to outward show, but Arjun, by means of the wealth resulting from the offerings of increased numbers of disciples, lived as a prince, and kept a numerous band of adherents about him. He was now looked upon by them as a king as well as spiritual leader. With system and method he organised them into a community, and in order to raise their status, to separate them from the mass of Hindus, and to unite them by one common religious tie, he compiled a sacred code written in the mother tongue of the Jats. In this was incorporated the sayings and Psalms of Nanak, his own compositions, and those of
30 THE SIKHS.
the other Gurus, with selected literary pro- ductions of the religious reformers of the age whose memory was still fresh in the minds of the people. This supplanted the Hindu Vedas and Puranas which the unlettered people were unable to read. He named it the 'Granth/ the Holy Book, which to the present day is held in the greatest veneration by the Sikhs as binding on all true disciples. He also instituted daily public worship at the temple of the sacred tank at Amritsar, where crowds came daily to bathe, when the 1 Granth ' was recited all day long with songs of praise to the accompaniment of stringed musical instruments.
Up to this time the income of the Guru proceeded from voluntary offerings. He now reduced this to a regular religious tax levied by deputies appointed in the various districts, who presented the amount to the Guru in the annual General Assembly at Amritsar. The Sikhs were thus gradually accustomed to a domestic government of their own, and began to feel themselves
SPREAD OF SIKHISM. 31
an organised and strong party. The teach- ing of the new faith having met with much success and taken firm root among the Jat peasantry by means of this secular policy, the Guru's personal power and means greatly increased, thereby attracting public attention to him. Accordingly he excited the jealousy and enmity of the imperial Governor of Lahore, was charged with treason in espous- ing the cause of the Emperor's rebel son in one of the numerous family disputes among the Moghuls, and thrown into prison at Lahore, where he died in 1606, his death being ascribed to torture. His last message to his people was, "God is the strength of the strengthless ; He neither cometh nor goeth, — He is permanent ever." His death was looked upon as that of a martyr to the faith. It inflamed the religious pas- sions of the peaceful sect, converting them into a warlike community ready to defend their religion with the sword. This became the turning-point of their his- tory, and developed the struggle which
32 THE SIKHS.
changed the whole character of the reforma- tory movement.
Har Govind succeeded his father as sixth Guru in 1606, and found himself at the head of a powerful and widespread religious order whose influence was felt far and near. Of a warlike spirit, he armed his followers and in- spired them with his own spirit of revenge and of hatred to their oppressors. At an audience with the Moghul Emperor he proved the treachery against his father and secured the execution of his powerful murderer. Political leadership now de- veloped in the young Guru, who assumed the character of a soldier, while his Sikhs became a brotherhood in arms as in faith. Like a fighting bishop of the middle ages, he led his warriors in person when impelled to play a part which was probably judged on both sides to be expedient, and took service in the Moghul army. After a time he fell under suspicion, and the Emperor imprisoned him in Gwalior Fort for twelve years. On being released at the accession
SPREAD OF SIKHISM. 33
of a new Emperor he re-entered the Moghul service, but later on, suspecting treachery, he fled to Amritsar, where the Sikh ecclesi- astical headquarters had remained under the system established by his father.
On three occasions after desperate fighting he defeated the royal troops sent against him. He was now looked upon as a hero and a master of the art of war, and the Sikhs were always ready to rally round his banner ; but being satisfied with his success *so far, and knowing the strength and re- sources of the Government, he retired to the sub - Himalayan hills to preserve his power and recruit his followers. The sect had now risen to the dignity of persecution, and, despite repressive measures, crowds of Jat peasantry joined it.
Har Govind quite changed the character of the peaceful Nanak's disciples, who now laid aside their rosaries and buckled on the sword in defence of their faith. His popu- larity increased with the warlike Jats, who, oppressed in their villages, joined him in
34 THE SIKHS.
large numbers. The camp became their home and the plunder of the Mahomedans their lawful prey. He died in 1638, after nominating as his successor his grandson, son of his eldest deceased son. The fight- ing spirit of the Sikhs having been roused and their quality proved, made them a power to be courted. Under their Guru they joined a son of the Emperor in re- bellion, who was friendly to them, but eventually had to flee to their retreats. On the death of their leader his young son, six years of age, succeeded him as eighth Guru ; but a contest now arose among the Sikhs regarding the succession, which, curi- ously enough, was referred to the arbitration of the Moghul Emperor, who summoned the boy to Delhi, where he died.
Tegh Bahadur, the younger son of the martial Har Govind, was now selected as ninth Guru. His mother, when the succes- sion went some years before to Har Govind's grandson, remonstrated at the decision ; but the dying Guru gave his arms to her to keep
SPREAD OF SIKHISM. 35
for her son Tegli Bahadur, who, he said, would yet become Guru. Tegh Bahadur demurred at first to accept the office, saying that he would rather be Degh Bahadur (Lord of the Cooking-Pot—" Hospitality") than Tegh Bahadur (Lord of the Sword), meaning that he preferred to support the poor and feed the hungry. The assembled Sikhs hailed this as a most auspicious offer of unbounded hospitality, and acted up to their maxim of "Jiska degh us ka tegh" (My sword is at the service of him who feeds me) by flocking in great numbers to his banner. He built a fort near the Sutlej, there estab- lished his ecclesiastical and military head- quarters, and continued the fitful life of struggle with the hated Mahomedans. He was captured and led to Delhi in 1675, where, on refusing to abjure his religion, he was beheaded by order of the Emperor. Before leaving he sent for his young and only son Govind, then fifteen years of age, and girding on him the sword of his father
36 THE SIKHS.
Har Govind, who had first used it in defence of the faith, hailed him as the future Guru of the Sikhs, as he said he knew he was going to his death, and exhorted him to recover his dead body. This was done by some daring men of low caste, who were afterwards, as a reward for their courage, enrolled by Govind as "Singhs" under the name of Muzhabi Sikhs, a charter which gave them higher status as brave fighting men. Several thousands of this class are in the Indian army at the present day.
The dragon's teeth thus sown at Delhi in the blood of the martyred Guru, Tegh Bahadur, soon brought to harvest an abun- dant crop.
CHAPTEE IV.
GURU GOVIND SINGH, FOUNDER OF THE KHALSA, THE SIKH COMMONWEALTH.
Young Govind, who became the tenth Guru on the death of his father, Tegh Bahadur, in 1675, being surrounded by enemies, retired to the Himalayas at the head- waters of the Jumna, and there lived for twenty years, devoting himself to study and the chase. At the age of thirty-five he issued from his retreat, having matured his plans for reforming the Sikhs and making them a separate people. The violent death of his father and the deep sense of the wrongs of his persecuted race resolved him to make them prominent as a nation. He summoned the dispersed Sikhs from all parts to join him : crowds
38 THE SIKHS.
obeyed. The time suited him, the bigot Emperor Aurangzeb having commenced a crusade against Hindu and Sikh alike. He called upon his disciples by all that was dear to them, in defence of their faith and in the name of their martyred Guru to exchange their rosaries and ploughs for swords : now was the time to raise their fallen race and to overthrow the hated Mahomedans, who were bent on subverting their religion. There could be no religious freedom while the Moslem ruled the land.
He then announced that converts to the Sikh faith would be admitted from all tribes, and caste abolished. In order to effect this he revived in the form of baptism an old initiatory ceremony called the pahal, which had ceased to be observed during the per- secutions, administering it first to five of his most resolute disciples who had given marked proof of devotion. After bathing and putting on clean garments they were seated side by side, each with his sword girded on. With a two-edged dagger the
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 39
Guru stirred a mixture of sugar-and-water in an iron dish, reciting over it verses in praise of God.1 Some of this they drank, part was poured on their heads, and the rest sprinkled on their faces. Then patting them with his hand, he commanded them to say, "The Khalsa of the Vah Guru, victory to the Vah Guru." They were then hailed as "Singhs" or lions of their race, and declared to be the Khalsa — the select, the purified, God's own — the Sikh brother- hood or commonwealth, which he foretold would grow up as a forest of trees firmly rooted, multiplying their leaves, become a nation and rule the land. Govind then took the pahal from their hands in the same manner and exclaimed, " The Khalsa arose from the Guru and the Guru from the Khalsa. They are the mutual pro- tectors of each other." All the rest of the
1 The tradition is that as the water was being poured into the iron dish, Govind's wife happened to pass by carrying five kinds of sugared sweetmeats. She was hailed by him as aus- picious. He took some sugar from her hands and mixed it in the baptismal water.
40 THE SIKHS.
disciples present were similarly baptised and declared Singhs. The Guru then announced that wherever five Sikhs should be as- sembled together, it should be considered as if the Guru was himself present ; that those who wished to see the Guru would see him in the Khalsa. From this time he changed his name to Govind Singh, and he added " Singh" to his baptised followers' names, an affix which up till then was exclusively assumed by the Raj- puts, the first military class of the Hindus, who alone were entitled to carry arms.
This baptismal rite is observed to this day — administered when five or more Sikhs are present, and not before the attainment of years of discretion.
The members of the Khalsa were required to carry arms and to salute one another with "The Khalsa is of the Lord Guru, victory attend the Lord ! " as an acknowledgment of obligation to the brotherhood. In order to mark them as a select body who should be known by outward signs, it was declared
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 41
that every true Sikh must always have five things with him, their names all commencing with the letter k — namely, kes (long hair of the head : the Sikh must never cut his hair or beard) ; kangi (comb), to secure the hair tied up in a knot on the top of the head ; kachh (breeches reaching to the knee), kard (knife), and kirpan (sword). Rules of con- duct were also enjoined by which they were to be known to all the world. All was designed to give the Sikhs a distinct national character in opposition to the ways of other people, and to keep alive a sense of duty and profession of faith. Hindus and Mahomedans are much given to shaving heads and beards : among the Scythians and ancient Hindus shaving the head was an infamous punishment. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate ; take the pahal of the Khalsa," was Govind's call to the Sikhs. "I bow with love and devotion to the Holy Sword/'1 was his
1 Herodotus refers to the worship of the Sword which prevailed among the Scythian Getae.
42 THE SIKHS.
address to the sword, by which religious liberty was to be won ; and his prayer enjoined to every Singh, " Grant, 0 God, that I may never hesitate to perform good and meritorious deeds, nor flee from my enemy in fear when I go to fight with him with the determination and certainty of victory. When the period of life may draw to its close on the field of battle, may I die like a hero. Let us prove our loyalty to our sovereign and master, and leave our life and death to God." His definition of the true Sikh was he who never fears though often overcome. Per- sonal courage in the fight for the cause was to be the highest of virtues, cowardice the basest of crimes. Neither loss of life nor loss of property in maintaining their cause was to be lamented.
Govind's next move was to issue orders that every Sikh house inhabited by four adult males should contribute two for service under him. In a short time 80,000 men were gathered round him. In ad-
GOVIND SINGH'S ARMED DISCIPLES. The Early Soldiers of the Khalsa.
GURU G0V1ND SINGH. 43
dressing them he commenced by praising God as the Omnipotent, Almighty, Invinc- ible, and Merciful, who must be worshipped in truthfulness and sincerity, and that no material resemblance must degrade Him. He could only be beheld by the eye of faith in the general body of the Khalsa. All Sikhs must be united in one chain of brotherhood. "Ye Sikhs are all brothers, all equal ; there must be no caste among you, you must all be equal, no man greater than the other. All must eat together and drink from the same cup. Caste must be forgotten, idols destroyed, the Brahmani- cal thread broken, the graves of saints abandoned, Korans and Purans torn to pieces." The only way to salvation w^as through the pahal [lit. gate] of the true Guru.
He appealed to the eternal human in- stinct of equality, liberty, and brotherhood, broke for ever with caste prejudices, and received into the Khalsa people of all classes who had hitherto been debarred
44 THE SIKHS.
from bearing arms. The Singhs of the Khalsa felt themselves at once elevated to rank and equality with the proud martial Rajputs. Personal pride and vigour were infused into them, and Sikhism knitted them together in the brotherhood of the Sword. Each became great in his own eyes, as forming one of the select Khalsa whom the Guru regarded as his own. The contagious momentum of enthusiasm created by Govind Singh's irresistible appeal brought thousands of the lower orders to receive the pahal and enter the Khalsa. The pride and prejudices of the Brahmans and Rajputs among his followers were offended by this levelling up of caste to such a degree that many of them left him, but he knew that his great strength lay among the Jat peasantry, who welcomed the brotherhood. The disciples who did not acknowledge these innovations of Govind simply called them- selves Sikhs, without adding to their names the title of " Singh."
He now disciplined his followers to some
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 45
extent, exercised them in the use of arms, organised then into troops and bands, and built forts along the skirt of the hills be- tween the Jumna and the Sutlej where their retreats lay. At the end of the century he felt his power equal to the hazard of a rebellion against the Imperial Government. He routed the hill rajas who opposed him, and defeated the Moghul troops sent to aid them, but the Emperor, roused to greater action, sent a powerful army, which eventually scattered the Sikhs for a time. His mother with his two youngest sons, mere boys, escaped to Sir- hind, where they fell into the hands of the Mahomedan governor. One day as they were sitting in his durbar he kindly said to them, "Boys, what would you do if I gave you your liberty ? " The boys answered, "We would collect our Sikhs, fight with you, and put you to death." The Governor said, "If you were defeated in the fight, what would you do then ? " to which they replied, "We would collect
46 THE SIKHS.
our army again, and either kill you or be killed." The Governor, enraged at this spirited answer, ordered them to be taken away. They were buried alive under a wall, and Govind's mother died of grief.
The Guru himself was hard pressed by the Moghul troops, and held a post with a small devoted band of his men against overwhelming numbers, indignantly refusing to surrender and embrace the Mahomedan faith. His two surviving sons and their mother were killed by his side. Escaping with five followers, he made his way to the jungles and desert south of the Sutlej. He met his adversities with undaunted resolu- tion ; submitted to the will of God, and rallied his Sikhs round him again, saying, "The affairs of this sorrowful world are transitory. God makes a thing and un- makes a thing ; who are we to grumble since the rein is in His hand ? Eely then firmly on His will, for He is the Almighty ; what are we poor mortals before Him ? " His disciples, seeing their Guru so firm
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 47
and resolute, recommenced fighting with the enemies of their faith, and defeated the imperial troops sent to disperse them, when great numbers fell on both sides. They were now left there undisturbed for some time, during which thousands of the Jat peasantry joined the Khalsa.
Later on Govind Singh returned to his old retreat near the Sutlej, passing by Sirhind, the scene of the murder of his two little sons. His Sikhs implored him for orders to burn the town. He said that the death of his sons would not be avenged by the destruction of the town, which had done no harm, but that for the future every true Sikh who passed that way should pull down two bricks and throw them into the river in detestation of the crime committed on innocent children. This act has been observed by the faithful Govindi Sikhs through the many years ; but little re- mains now, as the railway contractor some years ago appeared on the scene and carried away the mass of old Sirhind
48 THE SIKHS.
as ballast on which to lay the iron track — the iron made sacred by the martial Guru, and which every true Singh was commanded to wear always in some shape, either as a sword, a small hatchet, or as a bangle. The Sikh now in the railway carriage has the satisfaction of crushing under the wheels the ruins of the cursed city of Sirhind. Towards the close of the reign of his enemy Aurangzeb, Govind Singh remained in peace. He felt it a duty to save all that could be saved of the Sikhs for the time, to recuperate the race, and enable them to emerge more powerful after so much tribulation, as he no doubt saw that the Emperor's bigoted intolerance towards Hindus had weakened the Moghul power. In the meantime he was gaining many disciples, and had given them confidence in fighting. In a letter to the Emperor he wrote, " Beware ! I will teach the sparrows to strike the eagle to the ground/' an allusion to his inspiring the peasantry with valour and ambition.
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 49
Aurangzeb while in the Deccan felt nerv- ous about the Khalsa, and summoned Govind Singh to his Court. He replied in a letter, setting forth the calamities and persecution to which he had been subjected by the Imperial Government. He had been ren- dered childless and homeless ; he had lost all his family. The day of reckoning would at last come when the oppressor would have to account before the Creator for the wrongs done by him ; that for himself he despised death and was weary of life ; that he feared no one and was willing to die, but that if he was killed his death would be avenged. The Emperor did not resent this letter, but again desired the Guru to come to him, in which case he would be kindly received. He accordingly set out in 1707 to visit Aurangzeb, but on his way he heard of the Emperor's death. The new Emperor, Bahadur Shah, received Govind Singh with distinction, and as he had to contend with the younger brother for the crown, in- vited his aid and gave him a command
50 THE SIKHS.
of 5000 horse in his army in the Deccan. While there he was mortally wounded by a Pathan assassin. He left no successor ; he was the last lineal descendant of the Gurus. He said the appointed ten Gurus of the Sikhs had done their mission, the dispensation was ended, and that he in- trusted his beloved Khalsa to the care of God, "the never-dying.'7 "The 'Grants shall support you in all troubles in this world and be a true guide to the here- after. The Gurus shall dwell in the society of the Khalsa, and wherever there shall be five Sikhs gathered together there the true Guru shall be present also." They must have "firm belief in one God, and look to the 'Granth? as His inspired law." Feeling faint, he said to his disciples, "Bathe me, put on me new clothes, and arm me with all my weapons. When my breath departs do not take off these clothes, but burn me with them and with all my weapons."1 He was placed on the funeral
1 The ancient Scythian custom.
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 51
pyre dressed and armed, and expired in the performance of his devotions, his last words being, "0 Holy God, Thy mercy is such that though I have not perceived Thee by touch of hand, yet have I fully recog- nised Thee/' He died in 1708 at Nader, on the banks of the Godavari river, in the forty-eighth year of his age, having reigned as Guru for nearly thirty-three years.
The rule of the Gurus had now lasted for two hundred years, and the reformed religion established by them had taken firm root among the Jats. The dry bones of an oppressed peasantry were stirred into life, and the institution of the Sikh baptismal rite at the hands of a few disciples any- where— in a place of worship, in the house, or by the roadside — brought about the more full and widespread development of the new faith. In Govind were united the qualities of religious leader, king, warrior, and lawgiver. He was the right man for the needs of the Sikhs of his day. He devoted them to steel, and hence the wor-
52 THE SIKHS.
ship of the Sword. He imbued them with a warlike spirit, and made them a people separated from their Indian countrymen in political constitution and ambition as well as in religious tenets, leading them to reject caste and to abandon the institutes of Hinduism for a fraternity of arms and military daring. Faced by the intolerance and persecution of the Moghul Govern- ment, the time had gone for the preserva- tion or diffusion of the Sikh faith in Nanak's spirit of meekness and humility. Nanak laid the broad foundations of religious re- form, on which Govind built his militant doctrine to suit the changed times. He wished to infuse his own spirit into Nanak's 'Granth/ as he said it only instilled into the minds of the Sikhs a spirit of meekness and humility ; but the guardians of the book signed by Arjun the compiler refused to let this be done, so Govind decided to make an additional book for his followers which should rouse their military valour and inflame them to deeds of courage. He completed it in
GURU GOVIND SINGH. 53
1696, calling it the 'Granth of the tenth King/ or reign, as the rule of the Gurus is termed — the 'Granth of the Govindi Sikhs/ as distinguished from the 'Adi Granth/ the first book. In it he treats of the knowledge of God and the way to salvation ; urges the necessity of leading an active and useful life, giving lofty ideas of social freedom and rousing his disciples to deeds of valour, military glory, and national ascendancy. His 'Book of Guid- ance' contains the principles by which the Singhs were to adhere to the commands of the Guru in all affairs of life and conduct, and to preserve their separation from all other sects. He instituted the "Guru Mata," or National Council, to which all Sikhs were admitted and given the opportunity to ex- press their opinions on political matters. This with the ' Granth ' for guidance formed the Sikh constitution.
By converting a horde of undisciplined peasants into enthusiastic soldiers animated with religious fervour, by inuring them to
54 THE SIKHS.
warfare, and by his new ordinances mould- ing them into the distinct community of the Khalsa, — the Commonwealth bonded to- gether to fight until they triumphed, — Govind Singh contributed much to the weakening of the Mahomedan power at a time when the Emperor Aurangzeb, by his bigotry towards Hindus, was paving the way for the disintegration of his Empire. Under his strong hand the Sikhs rose by a feeling of nationality among a people who had none. He well and truly laid the corner-stone of that nation which Kanjit Singh a hundred years later, by the force of the religious bond of the Khalsa, raised in the Punjab on the ruins of the Moghul Empire, emancipating the land of his an- cestors from thraldom and persecution.
CHAPTER V.
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA FOR POSSESSION OF THE PUNJAB.
After Govind's death the Khalsa was left without any real head. Such a body with its turbulent elements could not remain quiet, and unfortunately some of them came under the evil influence of a Hindu ascetic, a late Sikh convert and friend of the deceased Guru, who posed as his suc- cessor, intrusted by him with the command to avenge his martyred father's blood and that of his young innocent sons. This false apostle appealed to their feelings of revenge, excited at the moment by the circumstances of Govind's death, and led them in a crus- ade against the hated Mahomedans when the spirit of the ruthless Goth in them
56 THE SIKHS.
flashed out fiercely. They captured Sir- hind, the scene of the murder of the Guru's sons, massacred the inhabitants, and then ravaged the country up to Lahore, sparing only those who became Sikhs. The new Emperor, Bahadur Shah, took the field in person against them with a powerful army, called on all Mahomedans to rise in defence of their religion, and gave orders merci- lessly to crush the revolt by slaying every Sikh to be found. The death of the Em- peror and the usual conflict for the succes- sion among the sons prolonged the anarchy and confusion in the Punjab for six years, during which Mahomedan and Sikh fought with ferocity. At last the Akalis among the Sikhs, a body of fanatical and uncom- promising followers of Govind, established by him in the name of his youngest sons, turned against their fiendish leader, alien- ated by his excesses and attempts to sub- vert the tenets and commands of their great Guru to suit his Hindu proclivities. His death at the hands of the Moghuls in 1715
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 57
ended the struggle. He was an undaunted leader : that is all that can be said in his favour. His memory is not revered by the Sikhs, who looked on him latterly as a heretic. As swords are proved when they bend, so in this case the Sikhs, after having swerved for a time from the path marked out for them by Govind, righted themselves and won in the end.
They now scattered, taking refuge in the hills and jungles, where for about twenty years they remained unorganised, only held together by a common faith and cause, patiently waiting for the opportunity, which came in 1738, when Nadir Shah, the Persian, at the head of his wild host of red-capped warriors, swept through the Punjab to the capture of Delhi. The Sikhs then issued from their retreats and, true to their race traditions, attacked the invaders. On the return march of the conquerors laden with the spoils of the Moghul capital, they fell on the rear of the army and secured much plunder, doubly acceptable to them as
58 THE SIKHS.
being that of accursed Delhi, the scene of the martyrdom of one of their Gurus. " Whence/7 demanded the imperious Nadir Shah, "come those long-haired barbarians who dare to molest me ? Destroy them and their homes." " Their homes are the saddles on their horses' backs/' was the reply.
The year 1738 saw the beginning of a new series of Mahomedan invasions from the north. Other invaders followed Nadir up to the close of the century, the Afghans being the last, as seven hundred years be- fore they had been the first under Mahmud of Ghuzni, who introduced his Islamic faith into India. Now commenced the long and fierce contest which was to decide whether the Mahomedan or the Sikh was to rule the Punjab. Much confusion reigned there after the invasion of Nadir. A mortal wound had been inflicted on the Moghul Empire, which was now tottering to its fall. The vigilant Sikhs gathered from all quarters, and again resorted to Amritsar, the cradle of their faith. They formed
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STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 59
themselves into armed associations and moved about the country, laying towns and villages under contribution. A pro- clamation was issued by the Lahore Vice- roy ordering a general massacre of the long-haired Singhs wherever found. They were hunted like wild beasts, a price being placed on their heads ; thousands were put to death, refusing pardon on condition of renouncing their faith and cutting their hair. They were looked on as martyrs to the cause, but, despite all, the Khalsa grew and increased in boldness. Bands of Sikh horsemen were to be seen at dawn riding at full gallop towards Amritsar, running the gantlet of the Mahomedan troops. The message would be sent round the distant villages, "Who will ride to-night?" — the watchword for a dash to be made to bathe in the sacred tank. It is said that no in- stance was known of a Sikh then captured consenting to abjure his religion. Death was the martyr's crown on such occasions. Henceforth the character of the Sikh resist-
60 THE SIKHS.
ance completely changed. To defend them- selves against the Mahomedan invaders they formed organised confederacies of fighting men, each under one head chief. The ne- cessity of fighting, how to resist, how to practise plunder, was the one law recog- nised.
In 1748 Ahmad Shah, the Afghan king, aspired to found an Indian Empire, invaded the Punjab, and crossed the Sutlej after capturing Lahore. He was repulsed by the Moghuls and recrossed the Indus. He made two other unsuccessful attempts, and finally in 1756 occupied Delhi, which then suffered a repetition of the former pillage and mas- sacre by the Persians eighteen years before. The Punjab was ceded to the conqueror as the price of peace. This completed the ruin of the Moghul power, which was now reduced to the condition of a province and left a prey to the Mahrattas, who were then overrunning Hindostan. Ahmad Shah returned to Kabul, leaving his son Tymur at Lahore as Viceroy of the Punjab. The
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 61
confusion and tumult arising from these repeated invasions enabled the Sikh associa- tions to acquire fresh strength by preying on both Moghul and Afghan. No other course was now left to them but to conquer or be conquered. It was war to the knife between them and their new and more robust masters, the Afghans. No quarter was given or asked. Time after time was Amritsar captured, but after each defeat Sikh enthusiasm rose with unabated vigour. When their temple was razed to the ground and the sacred tank filled up with pollution by the blood and entrails of slaughtered cows, they were roused to such a degree that they gathered in thousands, ravaged the country round Lahore, defeated the Afghan troops there, and forced the Vice- roy to retreat.
In 1758 the triumphant Sikhs occupied the capital under the leadership of one Jussa Singh, a carpenter, who declared the Khalsa a state. The Moghuls now attempted to recover their lost province,
62 THE SIKHS.
and invited the Mahrattas to aid them in this. They promptly responded with a large force, drove out the Afghans, and occupied the country up to the Indus. All order had now vanished in the Punjab, where Afghans, Moghuls, Mahrattas, and Sikhs were contending for power. The successes of the Mahrattas and Sikhs brought back Ahmad Shah with a num- erous army. He drove out the Mahrattas, and following them up, disastrously de- feated them at Panipat, near Delhi, in 1761 in one of the most sanguinary battles ever fought in India. He re- turned to Kabul the same year, leaving a governor shut up in Lahore, the Sikhs having continued active in his rear, swarm- ing round Amritsar and the capital. They now grew more daring, their chiefs ap- propriating lands and building forts in different parts of the country, which added greatly to their power and resources. Again they restored Amritsar, and assem- bling there in great force proceeded to
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 63
attack Sirhincl and other places held by the Afghans.
In 1762 Ahmad Shah reappeared, and by rapid marches reached Sirhind, where he routed with great slaughter the Sikh force of 50,000 men besieging that city ; then returning by Amritsar, utterly de- stroyed it. The Sikhs reeled at the blow struck at them, but were strong and con- fident enough to stand it. Extraordinary vitality was shown by them at this crisis. The prime necessity was to preserve their cause by renewed unremitting effort, and to regain what had been lost. They soon rallied, and once more emerged from the wreckage, beginning life again at Amritsar, and restoring their temple and sacred tank. They then showed what a powerful force character is in the formation of a nation — character moulded by religious persecu- tion and the unflinching courage of the true Sikh, instilled by Govind, "who never fears though oft overcome/' which en- gendered vitality under all conditions, the
64 THE SIKHS.
more adverse the better, with a deter- mination to struggle for the triumph of the Khalsa at all costs.
Thirsting for revenge, they convened a General Assembly and Council, formed a still more compact and formidable con- federation, and decided on their plan of campaign. Having assembled a force of 40,000 men, they captured the Pathan strongholds in their neighbourhood, marched to Sirhind, defeated the Afghan troops there, and destroyed that accursed city. They then partitioned out among them- selves the country between the Sutlej and the Jumna. This brought back Ahmad Shah with his army ; but they retired before him, as they knew they were no match in the open for the better armed Afghans with their artillery.
Sirhind being devastated by Pathan and Sikh alike, the Durrani king now adopted the policy of acknowledging the diplomatic Sikh chief of Patiala as his governor of that province. Disturbances having broken
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 65
out in Kabul, he, after leaving garrisons in Lahore and Ehotas on the Jhelum, hurriedly departed, the Sikhs as usual harassing his rear. They then captured Lahore, placed three of their chiefs in it as joint governors, and seized all the country between the Sutlej and the Jhelum, exacting fierce retribution from the Mahomedans. A General Assembly was now held at Amritsar, and by a decree the Khalsa was proclaimed the dominant Power in the Punjab and the Sikh religion supreme. This assumption of sovereignty was marked by striking a coin with the inscription, " Guru Govind received from Nanak degh, tegh, and futteh —hospitality, valour, and victory." They had now become masters of the plains from the Jhelum to the Jumna.
In 1767 Ahmad Shah made a final attempt to crush the Sikhs (his eighth invasion), and marching down at the head of his invincible army, engaged them on the banks of the Sutlej and forced them
66 THE SIKHS.
to fall back on their retreats. Failing health now induced him to adopt a policy of conciliation, so he invested the Patiala chief as independent ruler of Sirhind, with the title of Raja of Rajas, with colours and drum, the insignia of royalty, and the right to strike coins ; while he con- firmed a Sikh chief, who had been one of the joint governors of Lahore, in his possessions in the neighbourhood of that capital, in the vain hope of securing his aid for the Afghan governor he left there. He gave the inch, and the Sikhs soon took the ell : as the powerful Ahmad Shah had commenced to cede, they saw he felt his hold of the Punjab was reced- ing. They cut off the baggage train of his army on its retirement north, and no sooner had he crossed the Indus than they captured Lahore and Rhotas.
Not even the semblance of Afghan dominion now remained in the country between the Indus and the Jumna. The Sikh chiefs spread themselves over it and
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 67
occupied it as a permanent inheritance, every one of them according to his strength seizing what fell in his way and making himself independent. After a quarter of a century of fierce contest the Sikhs were now relieved from religious persecution. They had survived many a stricken field. Their dogged faith in themselves and in Govind's prophecy that they would become a nation was brought out strongly in the long years of adversity which determined and developed the char- acter of their resistance. The tide had turned at last, and taken at the flood it carried them on to the success which they never doubted would be theirs. They were left undisturbed by their mortal foes the Afghans for the next thirty years, during which time they built up a strong body of clan confederacies, with Amritsar as their central headquarters.
The redoubtable Ahmad Shah of Kabul died in 1773 and was succeeded by his son Tymur, who, deeming it beyond his power
68 THE SIKHS.
to force his way to Lahore, deterred by the wild daring Sikh leaders who had risen, turned his attention to the Lower Punjab, and sent an army of Durranis and Kazal- bashes to expel the Sikhs from Multan, which they had seized. After repeated attacks he drove them out with severe loss. Shah Zaman, who became King of Kabul in 1793, determined to recover Lahore. After several false starts and some fighting north of the Jhelum he occupied it in 1797, and again in 1798, without opposition; but each time was compelled to return hurriedly to Afghanistan to quell rebellion there. The Sikhs, though powerful for guerilla fighting, were not the equal of the Afghans in train- ing, armament, and disciplined warfare, and retired on the Shah's approach, only to re- turn as he departed and attack and cut off the Afghan posts left behind. During his last invasion he was conciliatory, and his army committed no outrages. Most of the Sikh Sardars accordingly came in and paid homage to him as an honoured guest, —
STRUGGLES OF THE KHALSA. 69
among them Ranjit Singh, the young chief of a powerful clan, who, by his military ability, address, and tact, attracted the Shah's attention. When his army was re- turning to Kabul in 1798, for the time unmolested, twelve of his guns stuck in the bed of the Jhelum river. He sent an order to Ranjit Singh to recover them for him, in which case he would consider his wish to be appointed Governor of Lahore. He recovered eight, sent them to Kabul, and as a reward received what he aspired to, a royal investiture as Governor of the capital of the Punjab. The joint Sikh Governors belonging to other clans having reoccupied Lahore on the departure of the Shah, Ranjit Singh in 1799, by combined diplomacy and force, ousted them, and established himself there with his own clan and allies.
CHAPTER VI.
THE SIKH CONFEDERACIES EVOLUTION OF THE
SIKH SARDARS.
On the dispersal of the Sikhs a few years after Govind's death they were left without a head to direct them in war. Following on the Persian invasion in 1738, when they again took the field, they organised them- selves in bands. Every village produced a sardar or chief with his followers, the boldest and most successful among whom attracted to his banner free-lances from elsewhere to join his party, which gradually grew into a larger one, with greater possessions, by means of raids and plunder under the old simple plan of "let him take who has the power, let him keep who can."
Experience in contending with the in-
A SIKH SARDAR.
THE SIKH CONFEDERACIES. 71
vaders taught them the necessity of some measure of union, so these various parties were later on leagued together in twelve confederacies or misls, signifying similitude, to imply equality whatever their strength, each being under a chief sardar. Most of these misls were called after the villages of their founders, a few being given personal and other names connected with their origin. Every sardar was personally known by the name of his native village. None were ad- mitted as members of these misls, which constituted the Khalsa or governing body, unless active horsemen and proficient in arms. After a successful expedition the boldest would ride far and wide to mark the villages they annexed by throwing into them some article to prove the identity of the captor. It was the aim of the daring Jat youths to qualify for admission to a misl, and considered by them a religious honour to receive the pahal of the Singhs at the hands of a renowned leader. The path to eminence was then open to them.
72 THE SIKHS.
These sardars did not exercise absolute supremacy over their mists, the constitu- tion of which was very democratic and the authority of the chiefs limited. The fighting men exacted a share in the land seized proportionate to the service they had rendered, and merely looked upon the chiefs as leaders in war and arbiters in peace. Many of these chiefs were men of humble birth, — ploughmen, shepherds, or artisans, — all bold stirring men who won their way to be heads of bands of maraud- ing horsemen. They administered accord- ing to the law laid down in the 'Granth/ and levied tribute or protection - monejr from the subdued tracts. All booty taken was divided equally among the chiefs, who in turn subdivided it among their men, who were free to abandon the profession of arms or to transfer their military alleg- iance from one chief to another, — ever ready to welcome them, — a system of volunteering which was calculated to secure for them good treatment from their chiefs.
THE SIKH CONFEDERACIES. 73
The sardars agreed by common consent that some one from among themselves should from time to time be appointed by the popular voice of the Khalsa to the head of Church and State in the National Council at Amritsar, and to be guided by him in all matters requiring united action, thus form- ing a federal union. The Akalis (Immortals), already referred to, the stern class of zealots which originated as a special body under Guru Govind Singh, formed a National league at Amritsar to maintain the primitive doc- trines and reformed worship of the Sikh Church and to watch over the general con- duct of the Khalsa. They exercised a fierce scrutiny as censors in upholding strict com- pliance with the militant creed of the Singhs, constituted themselves defenders of the faith against all innovations, took a prominent part in the Councils, in the planning and arranging of expeditions for averting national danger, and in educating the people in the doctrines of the Sikh religion.
74 THE SIKHS.
At these Councils business was preceded by the distribution of consecrated bread equally to all present, the "love feast" of the brotherhood, in commemoration of the injunction of JSTanak, all bowing the head before the 'Granth,' the Akalis exclaiming, " The Khalsa is of the Lord ; victory is of the Lord." When the link of a common enemy was removed the misls were often at war among themselves, mutually plundering and disposing of rivals ; but notwithstanding the multiplicity of chiefs and their inde- pendence, they well understood that union was strength, and that the paramount duty of one and all was to act unitedly irf de- fence of religion and country, being bound by the law laid down in their holy Scrip- tures to aid one another in the common cause.
All the confederacies had their centres about Lahore, Amritsar, and Sirhind, in the fertile and most populated districts. From there they extended their conquests in every direction, the outlying possessions being
AN AKALI SIKH.
THE SIKH CONFEDERACIES. 75
held by minor chiefs. Their strength lay in mobility, most of the Sikhs being good horse- men, armed with sword, spear, matchlocks, and bows. The footmen were employed in holding forts and in following up the cavalry to bring away plunder. The Akalis, always dressed in the sacred blue garments, were heavily armed, and in addition carried several thin sharp-edged quoits (the ancient discus) round their turbans, with which they cut down an enemy at a short distance. They kept up the fighting spirit when affairs were not going well, and were the forlorn- hope in many a fight. Some of the misls had a few guns taken from the debris of retiring armies, but beyond the prestige attached to their possession they were not used in the field. From all accounts these misldars were hard drinkers in their times of ease. Tobacco and snuff being Mahomedan indulgences, were expressly forbidden by Govind to his Sikhs, but as a set-off in the way of stimulants they were allowed to drink spirits, prohibited to Moslem and Brahman
76 THE SIKHS.
by their religion, and for this the authority of Nanak was quoted : —
" Eat and give others to eat, Drink and give others to drink, Be happy and make others happy."
These drinking-bouts are another relic of their Scythic origin.
Wow that the Sikhs were the masters, they treated the Mahomedans with scant con- sideration, in revenge for former persecution at their hands. They were little better than serfs, only employed as menials, or at best as tenants, to till the ground they had owned. Those who had embraced the religion of Govind did not fare much better than those who had adhered to their faith. As a rule they were from the class who had been forcibly converted to Mahomedanism by the Afghan, and the Sikhs despised them for having refused to die for their religion. Despite the strong democratic sentiment in the misis, which at first selected their chiefs, the position of sardar became hereditary in families. They seem to have drifted towards
THE SIKH CONFEDERACIES. 77
this just as the Guruship, which commenced as a democratic institution, became hered- itary, thereby firmly establishing the Sikh religion. Political influence and power thus fell into the hands of a military aristocracy — an oligarchy based on republican prin- ciples. There were no wide distinctions between class and class. Powerful as was the influence of bold independent action which brought fame and rank, it was an influence which pervaded all, and in which none was too poor to share. Friendship or a distant relationship made the minor chief partake the feeling of his feudal superior, and he in his turn formed a link between the highest and his own humble dependants. Simplicity of habits was the habit of all. The owner of twenty acres was as proud and independent as he of hundreds, boasting the same descent and the same exclusive posses- sion of arms and land. They wove into the interpretation of Govind's stern creed their own military characteristics. The articles of that creed nursed all the strength of national
78 THE SIKHS.
feeling, and evolved an individuality built upon traditions, the brotherhood bond of the pahal, and a common cause, resulting in a distinct type of mind, character, and physique. They became a select ruling race, self-confident and independent, the bone and sinew of the mass of the people. At the close of the eighteenth century the Sikh confederacies formed an unruly republic in which arms more than laws prevailed, and courage preferably to equity and justice was the virtue most valued and respected.
CHAPTER VII.
SARDAR RANJIT SINGH.
Ranjit Singh's family history is much the same as that of other sardars who rose in the eighteenth century from the ranks of the Jats. His ancestors with their village occupations alternated freebooting, which the oppressed peasantry had to practise to supplement the precarious subsistence they got from the soil, the long - continued ex- actions of the Mahomedan conquerors having reduced all to a dead level of poverty. The saying among them was that nothing was left for them except what was actually in their mouths. About the middle of the seventeenth century one of his forefathers, a quiet industrious man, took to preaching the religion of JN"anak in his village and
80 THE SIKHS.
neighbourhood north of Lahore. His dying injunction to his young son was to study the holy book and become a Sikh. This he did towards the end of the century at Amritsar, on attaining the age of discretion, the time when the baptism of the pahal is administered. He was not of the peaceful disposition of his father, for on returning home he associated himself with a band of cattle-lifters, and on Guru Govind Singh's appeal to the Sikhs he went south to the scene of action, became the leader of his band, and won the reputation of being the boldest and most resolute of the fraternity in capturing the enemy's herds and bringing them away north. Becoming thereby a man of importance and some wealth, he was elected headman of his village. When he died in 1716 his eldest son promoted him- self in the profession and became a gentle- man of the highway, which, compared with cattle -lifting, was considered more honour- able and lucrative. He was notorious for boldness, and amassed what in those times
SARDAR RAN JIT SINGH. 81
was looked on as riches. He joined a misl at the time of the first Afghan invasion in 1748, which by plundering the baggage and stragglers of the army secured much booty for its members. A wound in action led to his death in 1752, when his son Oharat Singh, grandfather of Ranjit Singh, suc- ceeded to his patrimony of three ploughs and a well, representing about thirty acres of land. He separated himself from the misl his father had joined, formed an in- dependent band of 150 horsemen, and be- came a noted freebooter and guerilla leader during the stormy times of the repeated Afghan invasions. He took forcible posses- sion of some villages, united with another successful leader like himself, and formed a misl, of which he became the active chief, calling it after the name of his native village. He next captured a town held by the Government troops, killed the com- mander, and carried away much plunder and munitions of war, then built a fort as his stronghold, which was attacked by the
F
82 THE SIKHS.
Mahomedan Governor of Lahore, whom he defeated. His misl now became powerful, and its prestige attracted many recruits to his banner. On Ahmad Shah of Kabul re- tiring in 1767 after his final invasion, he followed him up, captured the fort of Rhotas and several Mahomedan towns, and occupied the country north of the Jhelum. He con- tributed much to the success of the Sikhs at this final struggle for ascendancy. When the dreaded Afghan king had gone the sardars took to fighting among themselves for power. His successes involved him in conflicts with rival misls, and he died in the field in 1774 while engaged in one of these contests. He left a large territory to his young son Maha Singh, then ten years old, whose mother assumed charge for him during his minority. Sikh ladies played an im- portant part in the history of these warlike times. She ruled with vigour and diplomacy until her son, at the age of fifteen, cut his leading-strings and took the field at the head of his misl, to follow in his father's
SARDAR RANJIT SINGH. 83
victorious steps. He extended his influence and possessions by invading a powerful Mahomedan tribe on the Chenab, then de- feated another confederacy, and routed and humbled many rival sardars, showing him- self brave, enterprising, and prudent beyond his years. Many influential independent chiefs joined him, attracted by his courage in action and military ability, qualities which were inherited by his son Eanjit Singh, who as a boy of twelve succeeded him at his death in 1792.
Eanjit Singh, the national hero of the Sikhs, was born in 1780, and at an early age was afflicted by virulent smallpox, which left him disfigured and with the loss of an eye. The one-eyed boy grew up short of stature, and as chief of a misl he seemed what might be called a " sport" among the stalwart Jats who sur- rounded him ; but he early showed com- manding spirit, ability, and military genius, which maxked him as their superior in action, in intellect, diplomacy, and all the
84 THE SIKHS.
qualities which ensure success. When he first, as a boy of twelve, stood in his father's place everything was against him. He was beset by enemies, by doubtful friends, false allies, and open foes. No care had been bestowed on his education ; the little he had was that of the camp, as he often accompanied his father in his ex- peditions. A regency composed of his mother and his "father's minister ruled the confederacy in his name, but the guiding spirit in his interest was a Sikh lady to whose daughter he was affianced. She was one of the most artful and ambitious of her sex who ever figured in Sikh history, and became the ladder by which Ranjit Singh ascended to power : a masterful woman, the widow of a sardar — heir to a rival misl — killed while fighting against Maha Singh, she aimed, by bringing about a marriage alliance between her daughter and Ranjit Singh, to secure his support to her claims to the sardarship of the misl to which her husband would have succeeded. This she
SARDAR RAN JIT SINGH. 85
effected in a short time, and proved a valuable ally to her son-in-law. Under her counsel Eanjit Singh looked to alliances before he went to war. At the age of seventeen heredity asserted itself : he freed himself from the control of his guardians, and engaged in operations against the Mahomedan tribes and in defence of his mother - in - law's possessions, showing the marked ability of his bold father which had so impressed the sardars.
When the Shah of Kabul invaded the Punjab for the last time in 1798 he, to show his power, formed a coalition and proceeded to subdue distant tribes and exact tribute. He subsequently came in to pay his respects to the Shah, with the result, as has been related, of attracting his attention and gaining by diplomacy what he desired, the royal grant of the governorship of Lahore, which place he occupied in 1799, loyally aided by his astute mother-in-law. Firmly established there, he consolidated his possessions and
86 THE SIKHS.
made arrangements to secure his authority as governor of the capital. His success alarmed other raids, and a powerful coali- tion was formed in 1800 to wrest Lahore from him. He went out to meet the con- federates, broke them up, seized the posses- sions of the most powerful, and defeated in detail his declared enemies in other parts of the country. A king had now appeared among the lions. Lahore was ever after left in his undisturbed possession. In the following year, 1801, he formally assumed the title of Maharaja, going through the Hindu equivalent of a coronation cere- mony, proclaimed that he was now to be styled " Sarkar," signifying power and state, established a mint, and issued in token of sovereignty a coin in his name bearing the inscription, " Hospitality, the Sword, Vic- tory, and Conquest unfailing from Guru Govind Singh to Nanak."
The Sikhs had now reached nationhood under an able king fully equipped with confidence and energy, who, by trans-
SARDAR RANJIT SINGH. 87
forming the Khalsa into a territorial power, decided once and for all whether the Sikh or the Afghan was to rule the Punjab. Thus, after a hundred years of unflinching struggle, was fulfilled the prophecy of the martial Guru Govind Singh.
CHAPTER VIII.
MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH.
There was still much land to be possessed, Pathan governors to be expelled, and in- dependent Sikh misls to be subdued, before the young Maharaja became absolute master of the Punjab. Fortified by prestige, the belief of others in him, he proceeded by force and craft to effect this. One by one all fell under his absorbing sway. Equality among the sardars was a fundamental law of the Khalsa, but was now observed much as other laws enacting equality have ever been. The hour had come and with it the man, when it became necessary to establish a central authority for the organised unity of the State. The copartnery sys- tem had served its purpose while it was
MAHARAJA BAN JIT SINGH. 89
the policy to oppose the Mahomedan every- where in the land, whether Moghul, Persian, or Afghan — the policy of a struggle for life ; but the sardars, long accustomed to independent action, ill-brooked the change to Ranjit Singh's policy of a struggle for one-man power, and often in durbar an old chief would address him as "brother" and speak out his mind regarding the new order of Khalsa affairs. The Sikhs soon found in their Maharaja a master who could unite them, and under whom they grew into a coherent nation stretching from the Sutlej to the Khaibar, from Multan to Kashmir. Not till he had proved his superiority over the numerous chieftains, who with their feudal followers formed the force of the Khalsa, did the Sikhs rise to that political and military prominence in which we found them in 1838, when the tripartite alliance was made, which led to the first Afghan war, for the restoration of the Durrani kingdom of Kabul in the person of Shah Suja, who, with his brother
90 THE SIKHS.
Shah Zaman, from whom Ranjit Singh wrested the Punjab, had by an ironical stroke of fate been driven out of Afghan- istan to take refuge in the country which the Durranis had so often subdued. In the execution of his policy to abolish feudal tenures he not only annexed the possessions of actively hostile rivals, but exacted death duties on every occasion of a sardar dying, leaving only small estates for their families, sweeping the rest into his treasury. He created his own army, giving rank and commands to his partisans, and where any chiefs were left with terri- tory and power instituted "man-rent" in the form of contingents of irregular troops at his disposal for service.
In 1803 the British captured Delhi from the Mahrattas, the one strong native power then left in India. Those who still kept the field were followed up by Lord Lake, who defeated them wherever they stood. He pursued Holkar, their chief, who fled to the Punjab with the remnants of his
MAHARAJA RAN JIT SINGH. 91
once powerful and numerous army in the hope of finding an ally in the Sikhs. In alarm at finding the Mahrattas and British in their midst, a " Guru Mata," or National Council of the Khalsa, was held at Amritsar for the last time. They decided to stand aloof, and Kanjit Singh acted as mediator. The Mahrattas sued for peace from the victorious Lake, renounced all their pos- sessions and claims in Northern India, and the Sikhs agreed to have no further concern with them. What Eanjit Singh heard then from the Mahrattas, and what he saw of the disciplined strength of the British army, made a deep impression on him. He de- termined then and there to be at peace with the dreaded advancing Power. He knew his own weakness. He had yet to give complete unity to the scattered Sikh elements, so he proposed to Lord Lake, in order to maintain friendly relations, that the Sutlej river should be the boundary between Sikh and Briton ; but as the British Government had inaugurated a strict policy
92 THE SIKHS.
of non-interference north of Delhi, nothing then came of this.
In 1806 Kanjit Singh crossed the river with a large force to assert his power among the Malwa Sikhs, as those in the Cis-Sutlej states are called, on which the British strengthened their frontier post north of Delhi. Again in 1807 and 1808 he crossed in force, levying tribute as King of all the Sikhs. The Patiala and other chiefs were alarmed. They saw they must either submit to Ranjit Singh or seek the protection of the British. They unani- mously declined to accept him as their overlord and threw themselves on the pro- tection of the British, saying that they had always been more or less under the wing of whoever was master of Delhi. The policy of non-interference — of masterly inactivity — had now undergone a change. An English envoy was sent to Lahore armed with an ultimatum, to negotiate a treaty on the condition of the independence of the Malwa Sikhs, and the Sutlej as the
MAHARAJA RAN JIT SINGH. 93
boundary of the Maharaja's dominion, British troops at the same time advancing to that river. By right of conquest the British inherited the power formerly exer- cised by the Mahrattas in this region when in possession of Delhi. Eanjit Singh, see- ing that the British were in earnest, prudently concluded a treaty, agreeing to withdraw his claims over the Cis-Sutlej states and to recognise the river as the eastern boundary of his kingdom. He feared that other independent chiefs in the Punjab might claim British protection and defeat his cherished plan of kingship. Thus was preserved the independence of the Sikh states, called the Phulkian, which exists at the present day.
The Phulkian misl, one of the most power- ful of the original twelve Sikh confederacies, comprises the states of Patiala, Jhind, and Nabha. The founder was one Phul, a Jat of ancient lineage connected with Jesulmeer in the Rajputana desert, colonised by Jats who in the eleventh century migrated there
94 THE SIKHS.
from Multan, extending to Sirhind, about the same time that others of the tribe es- tablished themselves on the Jumna below Delhi, carving out the present Jat principal- ities of Bhurtpore and Dholpore. Phul built a village in 1640, calling it after his name. The Delhi emperor patronised him. He em- braced the Sikh religion, and his seven sons became the ancestors of the reigning families of Patiala,- Jhind, and Nabha. Other minor families sprang from them, all attaining to wealth and power. The chief of Patiala took the lead, and his successes over the Pathans and Rajputs brought many Sikhs from over the Sutlej to his banner. Ahmad Shah of Kabul, the conqueror of Delhi, to whom the Punjab was ceded by the Mog- huls, made him Governor of Sirhind, with the title of Raja, later on investing his son with the insignia of an independent prince. Often the State was under the influence of women of courage, wisdom, and activity, who fought in person at the head of their troops. One of these Ranis in the field
MAHARAJA BAN JIT SINGH. 95
against the Mahrattas turned the fortune of the day by personal valour, drawing her sword and addressing her soldiers : " I have resolved not to retreat. It would be a shame for the Sikh nation if at this moment they left a woman, the sister of their sovereign, to be slain by their enemies/' The British Government, by throwing its mantle over these states in 1809, saved them from the rapacity and absorbing power of Ranjit Singh ; and they have ever since proved their gratitude by conspicuous at- tachment to their suzerain, markedly so in the darkest days of the great military revolt in 1857.
Though the Maharaja felt this check to his ambition, he soon brought his mind to see the great advantage which this treaty secured him. The Sutlej was a well-marked geographical as well as political frontier. He fully trusted the British. He knew he was safe in that quarter, so was now free to direct his whole force in other directions where he had yet many enemies to over-
96 THE SIKHS.
come, and to pursue his policy of reducing to subjection all sardars and Mahomedan chiefs within his kingdom having any pre- tensions to independence and power. Soon all the Sikh confederacies were swept away except the Ahluwalia, now represented by the Eaja of Kapurthalla, who had gained the interest of the British Government by services rendered at the time Lord Lake drove tl\e Mahrattas into the Punjab.
When the English envoy was at Amritsar in 1809 negotiating the treaty, his small military escort was attacked by a large body of the fanatical Akali Sikhs, who were completely routed by the few dis- ciplined redcoats. Ranjit Singh witnessed this, apologised for the outrage, compli- mented the envoy on the bravery of his soldiers, and expressed his admiration of their steadiness. He realised the effect of their discipline as absolutely decisive against the courage and numbers of his own fiercest soldiers devoid of organisation. It was an object - lesson to him which decided him
MAHARAJA BAN JIT SINGH. 97
to train his army according to European methods. He commenced by means of some deserters from the Indian army to drill his men, and formed a few battalions of Sikhs, Hindostanis, and Gurkhas after the British model, adopting the red coat. The turbu- lent Sikhs at first resented the new order of things. He had great difficulty in in- ducing them to abandon their old weapons and mode of fighting, but with tact and patience won them over by good pay and rations, and by personal example in shoulder- ing the musket himself, wearing the red coat, and drilling in the ranks under the instructors.
The Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, when returning in 1810 from a mission to the Durrani King of Afghanistan, gives an account of his first meeting with a detach- ment of Sikh soldiers of that day guarding the Indus frontier. Contrasted with the Afghan Court and army he found them very Goths in manners and habits, loud talking, boisterous, and addicted to drinking-bouts.
98 THE SIKHS.
They were tall and muscular, wild-looking, with uncut beards and long hair, legs bare up to the thighs, wearing loose scarves thrown over one shoulder, armed with sword and shield, matchlock, spear, and also the bow and arrows of their forefathers, with which they were expert. Chiefs and men all sat down together to eat and drink on a footing of equality. They obeyed instruc- tions, but there was little order. They were merely unruly guerillas.
Like other Indian princes who succeeded in raising their armies to any degree of efficiency, Ranjit Singh appreciated the value of European officers. In 1822 two French colonels arrived at Lahore by way of Persia in search of military employment, asking if they could render any service by their " knowledge of the art of war acquired as superior officers under the immediate command of the great Napoleon Bonaparte, Sovereign of France." They were told to write out their application in French, and this was sent to the English political
MAHARAJA RAN JIT SINGH. 99
officer at the frontier for translation. The Maharaja was satisfied, and took them into his service as generals. Two others followed who had also served in the Napoleonic wars, and were given the same rank. Eventually about twenty foreign officers of various nationalities were employed in the Sikh army, some of whom were now and then placed in charge of districts as governors. With their aid he put into execution his cherished design to convert his horde of horsemen into a trained regular army, and established arsenals for the manufacture of cannon, small-arms, ammunition, and mili- tary stores.
These European officers were handsomely paid, and enjoyed the confidence of the Maharaja, but were never consulted in affairs of State. The ablest and most im- portant among them were the four French officers who first arrived — Generals Ventura, Allard, Court, and Avitabile. They held the commands of the strong trained divisions of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, the first
100 THE SIKHS.
in rank, equipment, and discipline, forming the old guard of the army on which Ranjit Singh relied for success. All were dismissed after his death during the anarchy which then prevailed, the sardars being jealous of their influence among the troops. Dr Wolff, the Eastern traveller, gives an amusing account of meeting one of these foreigners in Sikh employ. Arriving late one night at the town of Gujrat, he was taken to the governor's house, when to his surprise he heard some one singing " Yankee Doodle" with the true American tone. It was the governor himself! Wolff asked him how he came to know this pleasant song, and received the reply, "I am a free citizen of the United States, from the State of Pennsylvania, city of Philadelphia. I am the son of a Quaker. My name is Josiah Harlan." When roving in the Afghan border, he was captured by the Sikhs. Ranjit Singh, appreciating his talents, told him, " I will make you Gover- nor of Gujrat, and give you 3000 rupees
MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 101
a - month. If you behave well I will increase your salary ; if not, I will cut off your nose."
Enlistment in the trained Sikh army was quite voluntary, and once the objection to the changes introduced was overcome, the service was very popular, the men being picked from large numbers of candidates, which rendered the army capable of ex- pansion in an emergency. He also incor- porated in the ranks his various subjects, Dogra Rajputs and Punjabi Mahomedans. Opposing elements were useful to him on occasions. The pay was good, higher than in the Indian army, but no pensions were given. Special attention was paid to the training of infantry and artillery as the principal arms for pitched battles. Except in head- and foot-gear they were dressed and accoutred like the British, in red and blue, with regimental facings to distinguish corps. The organised cavalry, under a French general, were trained and uniformed as cuirassiers and dragoons a la Francais.
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In addition there was a large force of light troops in the form of irregular cavalry and infantry which certain chiefs had to furnish on requisition, all armed after their own fashion, the cavalry wearing chain-armour and steel helmets, round which they wound turbans — the helmets similar to those worn by the Parthians who overwhelmed the legions of Orassus, and by the soldiers of Saladin and Tymur.
Ranjit Singh's reign was one long cam- paign in consolidating his power. By 1831, after repeated attempts, he had at last brought into subjection the Mahomedan provinces of Multan, Kashmir, and Pesh- awar, the Rajput hill states, and all other independent chiefs. His supremacy ex- tended to the foothills beyond the Indus, to Ladakh in Thibet beyond Kashmir, and to the snowy Himalayas in the north.
Shah Suja, the last of the Durrani dyn- asty, was driven out of Afghanistan in 1822, and the country was divided among the Barakzai chiefs (the present ruling house in
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Kabul), one of whom held Peshawar as a vassal of the Sikhs, while his brother, Amir Dost Mahomed, ruled Kabul — he who played such an important part against the British in the first Afghan war. He plotted to re- cover Peshawar. This decided Eanjit Singh in 1834 regularly to annex it. He met the Afghans under the Amir and forced them to retreat. When hotly pushing on to re- trieve a check to his advanced troops, he boldly at much loss forded the Indus at the head of 15,000 cavalry, crossing his light guns on elephants, and swept through the valley. Another and last attempt was made in 1837 by the Afghans, led by the Amir, to recover Peshawar, when again they were defeated and retreated precip- itately. Fierce and sanguinary were the struggles for the possession of the northern gate into the Punjab. There the Sikhs de- cisively overcame the Pathans in a deadly tug of war, and also stemmed the tide of Wahabi invasion so fraught with danger to India.
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The occupation of Peshawar was Ranjit Singh's last campaign ; it effectually sealed the solidarity of his power. There was now nothing more left in the Punjab for him to conquer, and he longed to extend his sway over the rich lands of Sindh south of Multan, for he was a conqueror at heart, animated to the end of his life with all the energy and fire of his early days of power. Being checkmated in this design by the British, he quietly controlled the hostile element at his Court, which urged him to action. On one of his sons, impelled by the war party, at a great parade implor- ing his father to let him lead the army against the English, the reply was, "No, my son ; remember the two hundred thou- sand Mahratta spearmen who opposed the English ; not one remains." Some of the old Sikh sardars, whose blood never ran cool enough for diplomacy, were very free now and then in expressing their ideas regarding his policy. A few years before, when the Jats of Bhurtpore, besieged by a British
MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH. 105
force, begged for his aid, which he refused, they, to mark their opinion of his conduct in not responding to the call of his kindred race, sent him a woman's garments ; but it had no effect in his decision to abide by his treaty not to cross the Sutlej. His opinion of them was that although they were capable as generals they were incap- able as "men of affairs." When the first Afghan war was decided on to eject Dost Mahomed and restore the Durrani kingdom, he joined in the alliance with the British against the wish of his sardars, who advo- cated independent Sikh action beyond Peshawar, but he adhered to his decision and faithfully performed his part.
He died in 1839, while the British army was in Afghanistan, but his policy was maintained by his sons to the close of the war, true to their father's trust. He never wavered in his loyalty to the treaty made by him in 1809 at a critical time in the history of the Sikh nation. Prom the first when he met the British, although he had
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Holkar and the Mahrattas as refugees sup- plicating an alliance, and all Hindostan was in a blaze, he formed a clear conception of English strength and resources, and acquired a great respect for their character. Though a man of immense ambition, he was gifted with a far-sightedness that few Indian rulers have possessed, and one of the main lines of his policy was to keep his word with the British and avoid under all circumstances collision with them. To his death he re- mained with them on terms of implicit con- fidence and the utmost friendliness, and never ceased to impress on all around him to maintain this as they valued their inde- pendence ; but that he had doubts in his mind as to what the future might bring was shown when, a short time before his death, on looking at a map of India, he asked why so much of it was coloured red, and being told it marked British territory, he said with a sigh, "It will soon be all red."
The only time when he ever apparently
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showed any doubt of the good faith of the British was, as related by the French Gen- eral Allard, on the occasion of his going to meet the Governor -General of India in 1831 on the banks of the Sutlej, a meeting which he desired politically in order to strengthen his status. Some of his sardars were very averse to this, fearing kidnapping, which as a recognised method of political action was not unknown among the Sikhs as well as in other countries in olden times. He however proceeded in state with a large force, encamping on his side of the river, the British camp being on the other. The night before he was to cross over to the British camp he suddenly changed his mind, having been again warned that he would act unwisely in leaving his own territory to meet the English on their ground ; that it would be safer to have the meeting at Amritsar, or to postpone it altogether. He sent for his French General Allard to inform him that he would not attend the meeting next morning. Allard argued with
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him to allay his apprehensions, and offered to stake his head that nothing unpleasant would happen. The Court astrologers were summoned ; after consulting their mystic books they declared that the British were his sincere friends, and that the meeting would lead to more valuable friendship be- tween the two States, but they also advised him to hold an apple in each hand, and on meeting the Governor-General to offer him one of these, keeping the other himself. If it was accepted the meeting would be favour- able, and the visit could be carried out with- out the least fear. The next morning, when he crossed mounted on an elephant sur- rounded by his sardars and escort of Allard's dragoons, on meeting Lord George Bentinck he presented the apple to him, which was at once accepted. Delighted at this good omen, he stepped from his howdah into that of the Governor -General and proceeded to the audience tent, vivacious and charming every one by his manners, full of inquiry about all he saw. It may be that this little
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comedy of nervous fear was played by the clever Maharaja to show his suspicious sar- dars how ignorant they were to judge of his English friends by themselves.
Seven years later, in 1838, he again went to meet the Governor - General at Feroze- pore, where the British army was assembled prior to the invasion of Afghanistan. There was no opposition then from his sardars. On this occasion Lord Auckland in state made a return visit to the Maharaja at Amritsar, being received with great honour and cordiality. With his staff he accom- panied his royal host to the sacred Golden Temple, where they sat side by side listen- ing to an oration by the priest to the effect that the two potentates were brothers and friends, and never could be otherwise. He took his own line, determined to show how complete his confidence was, and, to the amazement of his ministers and sardars, and against their wishes, conducted his English friends over the fort of Govindgurh, kept carefully guarded and only opened to
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his personal order, where his treasures were stored, allowing all the officers of the British escort, and even the engineers, to inspect it. His people then said that they now saw Sikhs and Englishmen were "to be all of one family and to live in the same house." Afterwards at an evening entertainment he took up a yellow-red apple, remarking on its colours, the yellow the favourite colour of the Sikhs and the red that of England, blended together as a symbol of the alliance of the two kingdoms, — a fruit pleasant to look upon and solid to the core. The treaty of perpetual friendship was then renewed.
Ranjit Singh was a unique personality among the rude Jats of those times. De- ficient in the physical characteristics that win respect from barbarians, yet by his personal bravery, ability, and address he drew all around him to his wishes. He knew when to execute, when to yield, and how to contract his measures. With a clear conception of the object in view, when it became necessary to secure it by
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force he ruthlessly employed every means to gain it, always "grasping his nettles." As a soldier, though he sacrificed his men with prodigality to win the day, yet he was carefully economical of their lives. They were devotedly attached to him, all feeling under his command the exhilarating effects of confident success. Generous to the vanquished, it never being his policy to reduce any one to desperation, there seems to have been no sentimental mani- festations in his politics, as he would not allow to remain any remnants of hostile power enough to furnish the elements of revival — to stultify his main purpose of rendering rebellion impossible. Continuity was the essence of his policy. Though illiterate, he managed better than others more learned to transact the current duties of his state by means of his retentive memory, quickness of mind, and keen ob- servation. The evolution of a monarchy was irresistible under his masterful action. He wras at home in the saddle and in
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camp among his soldiers, taking his meals in their presence. Love of horses was a passion with him ; he procured the best at all costs from far and near, once even sending an army under his son and a French general to secure at an exorbitant price a celebrated one from his Pathan vassal at Peshawar. Possessing great powers of endurance, he was given to long journeys on horseback, surprise visits to distant parts of his dominions enabling him to check his governors in their reports as to revenue and other matters. His Court was brilliant with oriental pageantry, but personally he was free from pomp and show, and so scrupulously simple in his dress among his gorgeously clad sardars as to be distin- guished among the distinguished ; yet all feared him. Notwithstanding his apparent insignificant appearance, at first sight in strong contrast to the stalwart chiefs about him, he at once impressed and charmed foreign visitors by his superior mind, frank manners, and speech.
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Captain Burnes, the English envoy sent in 1831 with a letter and presents from King William IV. of England, writes of his reception, when he suddenly found him- self in the arms and tight embrace of a " diminutive old -looking man/' the great Maharaja Ranjit Singh: "I never quitted the presence of a native of India with such impressions as I left this man. Without education and without a guide he conducts all the affairs of his kingdom with surpassing energy and vigour, and yet he wields his power with a consideration quite unpre- cedented in an Indian prince." In con- versation with him he praised the bravery of his Sikhs, to whom he acknowledged he owed his success ; that they were devoted to their duty and free from prejudice ; would in emergencies carry eight days' provisions on their backs, dig wells when water was scarce, build forts and construct roads. Jacquemont, the distinguished French oriental traveller, who visited him at Lahore, wrote of him as an extraordinary man, a
H
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Bonaparte in miniature. " His conversation is like a nightmare. He is almost the first inquisitive Indian I have met, and his curiosity balances the apathy of his nation. He has asked me a hundred thousand ques- tions about India, the British, Europe, Bona- parte, this world in general and the next, hell, Paradise, God, the devil, and a myriad of others of the same kind."
King and political head of the Punjab, as well as chief of the Khalsa, he aimed at reconciling the varied divisions of race and creed among his subjects by employing all in his service. He kept up, however, the theory of the Khalsa, attributing every success to the favour of the Guru in the name of the Lord. "God the helper — Ranjit Singh," was his sign -manual. The Sikhs retained special privileges as the ruling race, the heart and soul of the military nation — the favoured of the State. As landowners they were lightly assessed, while all others were heavily taxed. Much scope was given to their individual ambition,
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which maintained the independence of their character.
Many of the old orthodox Sikhs lamented his assumption of irresponsible power, which destroyed the theocratic Khalsa policy of preventing any one chief establishing abso- lute power ; and they recalled the days of equality when he lived at Amritsar as one of themselves, though the first among the equals. They viewed with alarm his Court surroundings of men who were not Sikhs, who encouraged him to confine the Jats to the army as not clever enough for statecraft. The Brahmans and Dogra Eajput chiefs looked on them as inferiors, only fit as soldiers to obey their orders. Their object was to adopt the Mahratta policy — to com- bine the Sikh fighting power with their statesmanship. The rude Jat soldiery were eventually at the mercy of these intriguers. Govind Singh's warning against the class was forgotten. The Maharaja's religious tolerance was not agreeable to the old school, who reproached him for countenancing the
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presence of Hindu and Moslem ascetics at his Court, and departing from the doctrines of those who had shed their blood to found a purified faith. Clever Brahmans exercised influence over him during his last days to such an extent that at their instiga- tion he resorted to the " pious tricks" for securing salvation denounced by Guru Govind Singh, by giving away to them to gain their prayers for him all his jewels, horses, and other personal valuables. He even willed away as a gift to the Hindu shrine of Juggarnath the great Koh-i-noor diamond, formerly taken from Delhi by Nadir Shah, and which had been extorted from Shah Suja of Kabul when he fled to Lahore ; but the peerless gem was saved by the state treasurer refusing to pass it out for dedication, as he said it was Government property which should not be given away in alms. In this he was supported by the sardars, who associated its possession with the independence of the Sikh kingdom, it being a saying of the Maharaja's that who-
MAHARAJA RAN JIT SINGH. 117
ever owned it would be the conqueror of the Punjab.
Eanjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab as he was called, by courage, energy, promptness, and decision raised himself from the chief- ship of a freebooting clan to be a king whose friendship was sought by distant sovereigns and princes. He undoubtedly saved the Sikhs from anarchy, disintegration, and sinking into insignificance by his masterly action in binding them together at a time when, persecution and common danger having disappeared, the confederacies were, like a loosely tied bundle of faggots, inimical to one another and intent on personal aggrandisement. The misls had done their work, and union was absolutely necessary to preserve their strength. As Nanak woke up the people by reforming their religion, and Govind by stern discipline developed their political independence, so Eanjit Singh, with a wise old head on his young shoulders, seizing the opportunity to found a military monarchy on the fruits of their labours, gave
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coherence to the Sikh nation. He was a great man of action and a good ruler for his time, his Government — a mild despotism — being then the only one suited to control the diverse and turbulent elements in the Punjab. Under his strong hand such order and security reigned there as had never been known before. He left to his successor (unfortunately a weak man) a united king- dom, a territory larger than the present Italy, and a well-appointed trained army provided with the best weapons of the day, which the British, a few years later, found the most difficult to overcome that they had ever met in India. When he died the Sikh power was at its zenith, and then it exploded, disappearing in fierce but fading flames.
i
CHAPTER IX.
DECLINE OF THE SIKH MONARCHY.
The Sikh kingdom, built up by forty years of resolute ability, did not long survive its founder. Its vigorous life was summed up in the person of Ranjit Singh : he sym- bolised its unity ; he spoke for it to his neighbours. Neither his wisdom nor masterly spirit was in any measure pos- sessed by his successors. On the loss of his strong hand the State was torn asunder by dissensions between rival princes, mini- sters, queens, and sardars, and rapidly declined, until ten years later it fell by conquest to the British, on whom the Sikhs fatuously forced war. The Khalsa, the one united power left, became praetorian in character, selljng their services to the
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highest bidder. Army delegates decided in Council the fate of king and country, making and unmaking their rulers and officers. Murder was to settle every claimant, whether as Maharaja or Wuzir. There is not to be found in the annals of any country a more blood-stained record of relentless struggles for power than that of this epoch in Sikh history, when three Maharajas, three Wuzirs, and other aspir- ants to power in quick succession met violent deaths.
Some time previous to his death Ranjit Singh had taken into special favour the family of his minister Raja Dhian Singh, a Dogra Rajput, consisting of his son and two brothers, upon all of whom he conferred the title of Raja with princely jagirs or fiefs for their maintenance. Poor, but of good family, they entered the Sikh service as troopers ; handsome and well-mannered, they soon attracted notice by their ability, and rapidly rose to high positions, where their influence in public affairs became
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paramount ; but not being Sikhs, they were looked on with great jealousy by the other sardars. They played a deep game in the intriguing policy of that time, bent on gaining power and wealth, and on becom- ing independent, a policy which ultimately was successful.
The Dogra Rajputs, a branch of the old Aryan invaders of India, survived the Mahomedan invasions by occupying the hilly country north of the Punjab plains, where they maintained their independence till conquered by Ranjit Singh. They held aloof from the Sikh movement, as one in which their high caste was disregarded. They are strict Hindus, very clannish, loyal to their chiefs, and good soldiers, with all the Rajput pride of ancient lineage, dis- daining every service but that of arms.
Kharak Singh, eldest son of Ranjit Singh, succeeded as Maharaja in 1839. He was weak in character and incompetent as a ruler. Under the evil influence of a syco- phant Court favourite, his father's minister
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was ignored and insulted, and a plan made to assassinate him; but this coming to his knowledge, he resolutely formed a coalition with Nao Nihal Singh, the Maharaja's only son, a capable youth of fiery temper, and some sardars, lineal descendants from a common ancestor with Ranjit, to depose Kharak, regarding whom a rumour had been set afloat that he contemplated sub- mission to the British when the Sikh army would be disbanded. This powerfully ap- pealed to the soldiery, who now looked on the Maharaja as a traitor to his country. The minister with his adherents entered the palace before sunrise, cut down the royal guards, penetrated to the private apartments, and killed the obnoxious favourite in the presence of his master. Kharak Singh was then deposed after a reign of three months, and his son Nao Nihal Singh placed on the throne.
The deposed Maharaja died the following year, not without suspicion of poisoning, and the son mysteriously met his death
PRINCE SHER SI NG H— M AH AR A J A OF THE PUNJAB, 1841-1843.
(Son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.) clad in chain armour and steel helmet with heron plumes.
DECLINE OF SIKH MONARCHY. 123
by what was called an accident while re- turning from his father's funeral obsequies. The designing minister now supported the queen-mother in her claim to govern as regent, on the ground that her deceased son's widow was enceinte. He also at the same time inspired Prince Sher Singh, a son of Eanjit Singh, to advance his claim to the throne. An armed contest com- menced between the two claimants. The Prince appealed to the army, secured its aid by lavish promises, and made a dash at the capital, when the queen-mother with a Dogra force retired to the citadel and made a stout right against overwhelming numbers, but had to capitulate after a five days' siege, during which time some thousands were killed and the city of Lahore plundered. The loss of her life soon after- wards followed her loss of power. The clever Dogra Rajas on this occasion actively participated on both sides and secured much wealth.
Sher Singh became Maharaja in 1841,
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but intrigue being rampant in the army, his Government lost all control over it. The military administration was now con- ducted by panchayats, or Councils of five delegates from each company in each regi- ment elected by their comrades — a demo- cratic mode of self-government common in India, in villages, guilds, and other bodies, — synonymous with "Vox populi, vox Dei," as according to the Indian saying, "God is in the panchayat" These army councils formulated demands for increased pay and the dismissal of all officers obnoxious to them. On being refused they murdered many of their officers, sending them " aloft," according to their slang, and then plundered Lahore. The European officers had to flee. The mutiny extended to the provinces, and for some months all government was in abeyance, the soldiery being complete masters. At last, tired of their own ex- cesses, they modified their requests, and tranquillity was restored. But from this time discipline and subordination ceased
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in the army ; the soldiers, conscious of their power, cared little for any authority.
Maharaja Sher Singh on all occasions expressed himself favourable to the British, scrupulously adhering to his father's policy. It was solely owing to him that the British army, returning from Afghanistan in 1842, was allowed undisputed passage through the Punjab, many of the Sikh sardars being strongly disposed to attack it, as they thought the potent spell of victory so long attached to it had been broken at Kabul and by the policy of evacuating Afghanistan. His constancy exasperated the hostile party, of which the sardars who had taken part in deposing Kharak Singh were the active spirits, and they disputed Sher Singh's right to the throne as that of a reputed son only. They formed a plot to assassinate him. This was effected in 1843 while he was inspecting some cavalry on parade, and was followed by the murder of his son and heir and the rest of the family. The
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Dogra minister was in the plot ; but after the deed, while conferring with the con- spirators as to the future form of govern- ment, he was killed in order to get rid of the ascendancy of the powerful Dogras. Then followed further bloodshed. His son Raja Heera Singh appealed to the army to avenge these murders, and inflamed the soldiers by asserting that unless they acted with him the British would seize the Punjab and disband them, when, he added, from the Rajput point of view, " The Sikhs who now took a pride in the profession of arms would be compelled to seek an ignoble living by following the plough/' This, coupled with a promise to increase their pay by one-half, was enough for the soldiery, now masters of the gov- ernment. They in great force attacked the conspirators, who had shut themselves up in the citadel, captured it, and extir- pated them, Lahore being again sacked. The young Raja brought the head of his father's murderer to the widow, a noble
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Eajputni dame, who was waiting by her husband's body. She then said, placing his father's warrior plume on the son's turban : " My mind is now at perfect ease. Let the funeral pyre be prepared, and I will follow my lord in his journey to the next world. When I see your father I will tell him you acted as a brave and dutiful son."
The assembled Councils decided to place on the throne Duleep Singh, a boy of ten, who had been tardily acknowledged as the youngest son of Eanjit Singh, with Raja Heera Singh as Wuzir. Again the army demanded concessions and also the dis- missal of the European officers, all of which were complied with, their power being irresistible. A brother Raja of the murdered Wuzir appeared on the scene as a claimant for the wuzirship. He was killed in his attempt to supplant his nephew. Then two young princes, adopted sons of Ranjit Singh, — Kishmira Singh and Peshora Singh, so called after the conquest
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of Kashmir and Peshawar, — bade for power, instigated by the last of the three Dogra brother Rajas. Some of the old Khalsa chiefs, although hostile to the Dogra party, took the bait and supported the claimants, hoping thereby to get one of themselves made Wuzir. The Maharani Jindan, mother of Duleep Singh, cajoled them and tem- porised with the object of getting rid of all rivals. She feared and distrusted them all, and schemed so that the minister who had placed her son on the throne, under whose patronage she chafed, was killed, and her brother, Sardar Jowahir Singh, appointed in his place. In the conflicts and intrigues the two princes were treach- erously slain. The rejoicings of the Court over this infuriated the army, with whom they were favourites as adopted sons of their old Maharaja, and they with some good reason ascribed their deaths to the new minister, being encouraged in this by the Dogra element. The Maharani was powerless in their hands : she bribed them,
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and even admitted the fact, recommending them to be quiet, as " there was no use in lamenting over those who were no longer among the living." They, however, swore to take vengeance on her brother as the author of the crime, and sent mess- ages to him demanding his presence before them to answer the charge. He ignored them. They then insisted on the Maharani coming to the main camp of the army with the young Maharaja and the minister, on pain of seeing her son deposed. She very reluctantly obeyed the summons, being assured by one of her Court advisers, Lai Singh, a Brahman sardar, who had his own aims in view, that all would go well.
The State procession, escorted by the royal bodyguard, set out on the fateful visit, — the minister on an elephant holding in his arms the young Maharaja, the last of Ranjit Singh's acknowledged line, the queen-mother following in her golden howdah on another. As they approached the camp the Khalsa was
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assembled on parade ; there was a strange quiet along the line. The Maharaja was received with royal honours, his mother making lavish promises as she passed on. On reaching the centre a Sikh soldier came forward and gave the order to halt. The military councils, deliberating on the right of the line, had decided that the minister was guilty of the murder of the two princes and was to be executed. Suddenly the bugles sounded and the drums beat ; four battalions advanced, removed the escort to a distance, and surrounded the elephants of the cortege. Ten of the Council appeared ; the minister was ordered to descend. He tried parleying : a soldier ascended to his howdah and removed the young Maharaja, who was placed in his mother's arms. She was escorted to a tent prepared for her, holding up her son and crying for mercy in his name for her brother. The doomed minister was then executed in full view of the army. A soldier mounted his elephant, calling out, "How dare you disobey the
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order of the Khalsa?" bayoneted him and flung him to the ground, where he was at once despatched with many wounds. The Maharani heard her brother's cry of pain, and, cursing the Khalsa, flung away in her grief and rage the boy Maharaja, who was caught by a soldier. Thus did the Khalsa, with wild justice and in memory of their beloved old chief, avenge the murder of the two princes. Next morning, after an agon- ised scene over her brother's body, the queen with her son was escorted back to the palace. This took place in September 1845. Inconsolable for many weeks after this tragedy, she became regent and managed her own ministerial duties, but she was de- termined to be revenged. This judicial murder of her brother became the direct factor in bringing about war with the British.
The power of the army was now at its height. The highest officers of the State dreaded it. There were no means of meet- ing its rapacity, as the treasury was empty.
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Anarchy reigned everywhere, and no revenue was forthcoming from the distant provinces. Stimulated by these internal dangers, the Durbar sought relief in external adventure. War with the British was to be the remedy. Anti-British feeling ever since the death of the wise Eanjit Singh was the prevailing weapon used in political intrigues. The fire which had been so long played with now became master. The idea of the Maharani in her spirit of revenge was after that of Iago, " Whether Briton killed Sikh, or Sikh killed Briton, or each do kill one another, either way makes my gain." She feared the Sikhs far more than the British. If victori- ous, the Khalsa would be engaged in plunder- ing India, and she would gain the credit ; if not, she could depend upon the British for life and generosity. At her instigation Eaja Lai Singh, a Brahman favourite, was made Wuzir, and another Brahman, Eaja Tej Singh, appointed commander-in-chief. The Dogra Eaja Gulab Singh, the last of the brothers who had taken such a prominent
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part in the policy of these revolutionary- times, held aloof and left the Khalsa to its doom. He thirsted for revenge on them for having killed so many of his family, but kept his head, biding his time to carry out his cherished design of independence.
A council of sardars and military dele- gates was held in the end of November 1845 to discuss the situation, when it was urged that unless something was done the Sikh power would collapse, and, as often happens in such cases, the something was fatuous — namely, the tragic error of violating the treaty with the British. The army was swept into the vortex of intrigue. There was a unanimous cry for war, and they be- came importunate to be led against the British — to the plunder of India. Some of the old Sikh sardars were averse to this, but they were powerless against the Court and the insolence of the soldiery. War was then declared without a shadow of provocation, and the order issued for the army to prepare to march. Now came a lull in revolution
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and assassination — the calm before the storm. The Khalsa prepared for the war with enthusiasm. They would take Delhi, sack it to pay off old scores, plunder the other rich cities of India, march to Calcutta and even to London ! They were as well armed as the British, and could bring on the ground a preponderating force of men and guns ; an initial victory would certainly be theirs, and then they would be joined by the Sikh states across the Sutlej. Such were their boasts. The glamour was soon dispelled. Only the iron hand of a Ranjit Singh could then have saved them from rushing to their ruin, but there was no one of such a calibre among them now. The chief sardars had gained affluence and lost moral force ; the army was venal ; and the arrogant ignorant punches, the military coun- cils, ruled the Khalsa, which, deprived of the guidance of the European officers whom they had discarded, dashed itself against the British ranks in fierce but unavailing efforts to overcome them.
CHAPTER X,
THE FIRST SIKH WAR WITH THE BRITISH, 1845-46.
On the 11th December 1845 the Khalsa, confident of victory in all its pride of strength, crossed the Sutlej with 60,000 men and over 100 guns, and proceeded to invest the British garrison in Ferozepore, cutting off its line of communication before reliable information had reached British headquarters of the movement. While the Sikhs were concentrating on their side of the river, the Government of India, cautious to a fault, loth from political reasons to precipitate a collision, took no steps to strengthen their frontier posts of Ferozepore and Ludhiana beyond being ready to move up troops in case of actual aggression. These two posts, eighty miles apart, were each held by a
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division numbering between them 12,000 men and 36 guns, while at Amballa, 160 miles distant from Ferozepore, there was another strong division in support, the inter- vening country being practically roadless with a scanty water-supply. The enemy's plan of campaign was to cut off the British troops in detail by intercepting those coming up from the rear. Ferozepore, their objec- tive, was the nearest point to their base and the farthest from British support.
Sir Henry Hardinge, the Governor-General of India, then in camp near Ludhiana, on hearing of the invasion of British territory declared war, and Sir Hugh Gough, Com- mander-in-Chief, marched on the 12th with the Amballa division, effected a junction on the way with that from Ludhiana, and by forced marches reached Moodkee, twenty miles distant from Ferozepore, on the 18th. On hearing of their approach the Sikhs moved out with 30,000 men and 40 guns to fall on them, hoping to fight only one division, but found that as the result of
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magnificent marching they were faced by- two, numbering 11,000 men and 42 guns. This force had just concluded a long tedious march over sandy tracks when the informa- tion was received that the enemy was ad- vancing in strength. They rapidly prepared for action at 4 p.m. The Sikhs took up a strong position among low sandhills in bush jungle and opened fire. The British horse artillery and cavalry vigorously assailed them in flank, and sweeping along their rear routed their cavalry, while they were attacked in front by the field-guns sup- porting the infantry, which, charging with the bayonet, drove them from position after position with great slaughter, and captured 17 guns. The Sikhs fought fiercely and retired sullenly in good order, seizing every opportunity to turn on their foes. Night only saved them from worse disaster. They retreated in the darkness to their main camp at Ferozeshah, ten miles off, which was strongly intrenched. They had tasted of British resolution and steel, and knew
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what to expect. They now laboured night and day to further strengthen their position, which consisted of a parallelogram one mile long by half a mile broad, surrounded by a ditch and earthworks ten feet high.
Reinforcements having reached the British army on the 19th, it was decided to follow up the victory of Moodkee by an immediate attack on this formidable work. Delay was dangerous ; no further reinforcements could arrive for some time, and a decisive blow had to be struck to keep the protected Sikh states true to their allegiance. The invested Ferozepore division by a masterly movement effected a junction with the Commander-in- Chief near the enemy's work at Ferozeshah on the afternoon of the 21st, bringing his force up to 17,000 men and 69 guns ; and although there only remained three hours to sunset and the troops had been marching since early morning, it was resolved to de- liver the assault at once. In the words of the despatch, " a very heavy cannonade was opened by the enemy, who had dispersed over
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the position upwards of 100 guns, more than 40 of which were of battering calibre. These kept up a heavy and well-directed fire, which the practice from our far less numer- ous artillery of much lighter metal checked in some degree but could not silence ; finally in the face of a storm of shot and shell our infantry advanced and carried these formid- able intrenchments : they threw themselves upon the guns with matchless gallantry, and wrested them from the enemy ; but when the batteries were partially within our grasp our soldiery had to face such a fire of musketry from the Sikh infantry arrayed behind their guns, that in spite of the most heroic efforts a portion only of the intrench- ments could be carried. Night fell while the conflict was everywhere raging/' The British attack on the left was repulsed, but a firm foothold was secured in the centre and right, despite fierce hand-to-hand fight- ing, when again and again the Sikh batteries were charged and the gunners bayoneted. The reserve division was brought up. " The
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3rd Light Dragoons with a troop of horse artillery charged over the intrenchments, cutting down the gunners of some batteries which still kept up their deadly showers, dashed among the infantry and swept through the Sikh camp ; yet the brave dogged enemy remained in possession of a considerable portion of the position, whilst oar troops, mingled with theirs, kept pos- session of the remainder and bivouacked upon it, wellnigh exhausted by their gallant struggles, greatly reduced in numbers, and suffering severely from thirst and intense cold, but still animated with an indomitable spirit. In this state of things the long night (the longest in the year) wore away." The Governor-General, General Sir Henry Hardinge, a Peninsula veteran, who chival- rously served with the army as second in command, in a letter to Sir Robert Peel, the Prime Minister of the day, graphically described the situation : " The night of the 21st was the most extraordinary of my life. I bivouacked with the men without food or
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covering, and our nights are very cold — a burning camp in our front, our brave fellows lying down under a heavy cannonade, which continued during the whole night — mixed with the wild cry of the Sikhs our English hurrah, the tramp of men, and the groans of the dying. In this state, wdth a handful of men who had carried the batteries the night before, I remained till morning, taking very short intervals of rest by lying down with various regiments in succession to ascertain their temper and revive their spirits. I found myself again with my old friends of the 29th, 31st, 50th, and 9th (regiments which had served in the Penin- sula), all in good heart. My answer to all and every man was that we must fight it out, attack the enemy vigorously at day- break, beat him, or die honourably in the field. When morning broke we went at it in true English style." Headed by Sir Henry Hardinge and Sir Hugh Gough, the infantry in line, supported by horse artillery, advanced steadily, unchecked by the enemy's
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fire, without a halt, from one end of the Sikh camp to the other, capturing more guns as they went along, which were served obstinately to the last, and dislodging the enemy from the whole position. The line then halted "as if on a day of manoeuvre/' receiving their leaders as they rode down its front with a hearty cheer, and displaying the captured standards of the Khalsa army, which was now in Ml retreat to the Sutlej, having lost 73 guns and several thousands of their numbers, and abandoned all their camp equipage and stores. The great object of checking the advance of the Sikhs had been accomplished by invincible energy and unbending deter- mination.
The British casualties in these two actions of the 18th and 21st December amounted to about one -fifth of their number, the English troops suffering most in propor- tion, as the enemy specially directed their fire on them. Generally they lost about one-third of their strength, exceeding that
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of many hard -fought battles in Spain, in which some of the corps engaged had taken part. The loss of the Sikhs was never accurately known, but it was estimated at from 5000 to 8000, the number of guns captured being 90.
The battle of Ferozeshah was one of the most momentous, and certainly the hardest fought-out one, ever engaged in by the British in India. It has been said that the Sikhs then shook our Indian Empire to its base : the British soldiers, however, — true pillars of the Empire, — animated with all their prestige and pride of race, were strong and firmly rooted enough to stand the shock and uphold the fabric. The enemy were attacked at a late hour in the day when their force was divided, one portion being then still engaged in watching Ferozepore (probably intent on its plunder), where a small body of British was left intrenched, while the main portion, realising from their Moodkee experience the danger of fighting in the open, remained on the
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defensive within their earthworks, which they were actively engaged in strengthening. The British leaders knew the danger of even one night's delay, which might bring fatal consequences : a battle at once was absolutely necessary. They were obliged to be the assailants, and thus to incur heavy loss at the commencement ; but they relied on the bravery and discipline of their men to make amends for disadvantages, and well were they justified. They had con- fidence in themselves and in one another; their disparity in numbers only made them act as if every man felt that the result depended on his own single conduct. They were conscious of their instinctive soldiership at close quarters and inspired with un- bounded audacity. The attacking brigades were formed of an English regiment in the centre with a native one on each flank : the white-capped English corps formed the steel head of the lances which penetrated the Sikh works, marking out the path for their native comrades, hence their greater loss
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from the brunt of the righting falling on them.
After Ferozeshah the British force took up positions near the Sutlej, and there awaited the reinforcements of all arms which were now moving up from India, preparatory to advancing on Lahore. The Sikhs rallied on the right bank of the river and com- menced energetically to prepare to renew the contest. Though twice sorely defeated they were not subdued ; they were yet destined to suffer on other " stricken fields " before they were left without excuse for defeat — without hope of recovery. With large bodies of well-trained old soldiers who joined them, and a fresh supply of guns from their arsenals, they became almost as strong as before. Under the direction of a Spanish officer they threw up batteries and extensive earthworks on both banks in a skilfully chosen position at a loop of the river, connected by a bridge of boats and a ford. Having lost all their great store of food-supplies their army delegates
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were sent to Lahore to demand more from the Durbar, as they were starving, and also to induce the Dogra Eaja Gulab Singh to join them with his Dogra troops. They offered to make him Wuzir though not a Sikh, and to despatch their Brahman leaders, whom they distrusted ; but he thought of himself, of his slain brothers and sons, and of the fickle Khalsa. He had undertaken the office of Minister after the defeat of Ferozeshah, and opened negotiations for peace ; but when told the first demand of the British Government was the immediate disbandment of the Sikh army, he declared he was helpless to effect it, as he could not deal with the turbulent soldiery. He now cajoled the deputies, temporised, and col- lected supplies. The Maharani, however, was getting desperate ; the Khalsa was on her nerves ; she was in terror at the thought of their returning. She with the little Maharaja Duleep Singh received the deputation in Durbar, and heard their appeal. She upbraided them as cowards,
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took off part of her dress and threw it among them, saying, "This is your dress. Remain at home ; I will go and fight." The resolve to get them destroyed was known to them, but such was the stern democratic discipline of their army councils, such their devotion to their warlike faith, that determination even now animated every man. They fiercely reproached her and her courtiers. Addressing the Maharaja, they said, "We will go and die for you, your kingdom, and the Khalsaji " ; but to the others who had incited them to war and now taunted them with their folly in hoping to vanquish the conquerors of Hin- dostan, "We will leave you to answer to your God and your Guru, while we, deserted and betrayed as we are, will do what we can to preserve the independence of our country."
From this time on the Sikhs fought with doom against them. They now made a further effort upon the Upper Sutlej, which they crossed with 15,000 men and 67 guns
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to invest Ludhiana and cut off its com- munications. They met with some slight success at first, but a British force of 11,000 men and 32 guns sent from headquarters camp and Amballa having concentrated in that quarter relieved Ludhiana, and attacked the enemy at Aliwal on the 28th January 1846, signally defeating them, capturing their guns, and driving them over the river with severe loss. The Sikhs took up a strong semicircular position, within which was the village of Aliwal, their flanks resting on the Sutlej. In front lay open undulating hard grass -land ; some manoeuvring took place on both sides previous to the action. The local conditions were ideal for a set battle as a trial of strength. " There was no dust ; the sun shone brightly, and the manoeuvres were performed with the celerity and pre- cision of the most correct field-day and with all the pomp of war." The enemy opened artillery-fire from his whole line upon the advancing British, who, throwing forward their right, captured at the point of the
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bayonet the village of Aliwal on the left of the position. The whole line then ad- vanced and the battle became general ; the British cavalry on the right flank charging that of the Sikhs, driving them on to their infantry, while the British infantry attack- ing in front drove everything before it, capturing battery after battery. The enemy, driven back on his left and centre, held on to a village on his right covering the passage of the river. There stood Avitabele's French brigade, so called from its organiser, 4000 strong with guns — the elite of the Sikh army. The 16th Lancers charged right through a square of their infantry, wheeling about and re-entering it to finish it off with the deadly lance. The Sikhs fought fiercely and with much resolution, maintaining hand-to-hand fighting. In one charge of their infantry upon the lancers they threw down their muskets and came on sword and shield in hand, after the manner of the Scottish clans- men, who were wont, when the decisive moment arrived, to drop their firelocks, draw
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their claymores, and rush upon the English dragoons. The British infantry concentrated upon the village held, carried it and the guns there, the remnants of Avitabele's brigade being driven to the river. The enemy, completely hemmed in, precipitated themselves in disordered masses into the boats and ford, while horse artillery gallop- ing up committed great havoc among them. The debris of the Sikh force appeared on the opposite bank in full flight to their base position there. Fifty -six guns were taken and the rest sunk in the river. The victory was complete. The conquerors fired a royal salute in its honour, which was repeated by the vanquished on the other side as their au revoir. The Sikh camp at Sobraon was soon made aware of the defeat by the sight of the many dead floating down the river.
CHAPTER XL
THE FIRST SIKH WAR Continued.
The British troops now concentrated for the decisive struggle at Sobraon. On the 10th February 1846 the Sikh position there was attacked by a force of 15,000 men and 60 guns. They took up their station for close action during a dense fog which clung over the ground ; when it rolled away under the rising sun the guns opened fire on the enemy's long line of strong intrenchments held by 35,000 men and 70 guns, mostly heavy, with a reserve in a strong position on the opposite bank of the Sutlej ; the Sikhs, on the alert, returned the fire steadily. After three hours' cannonading the order was given for the infantry to storm the works. On this, as a regimental
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historian has it, "wild and long was the shout as, amidst showers of grape and musketry, they dashed forward towards the ramparts of clay and wood, upwards of ten feet high, where nothing appeared to view but the muzzles of the guns, behind which the Sikh infantry, four deep, were lining the intrenchments." Though driven back by superior numbers to take shelter in the ravines and folds of the ground, they leapt forward again and again at the call of their regimental leaders, till they gained a footing by shouldering one another up to the em- brasures, capturing and spiking the guns in their front. The Sikhs fought stubbornly and desperately hand to hand, till at last the assailants, swarming through the breaches, mounted the ramparts with cheers of victory and took the whole line of intrenchments ; but not till the weight of all the three divisions, all the cavalry, and the fire of every gun was felt did the Sikhs give way. They slowly retired in good order under cover of interior works, harassed by in-
REGULAR AND IRREGULAR INFANTRY— SIKH ARMY, 1845.
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cessant volleys of musketry ; but no Sikh offered to submit — no disciple of Govind asked for quarter. Everywhere they showed a bold front to the victors, whilst many rushed singly forth to meet assured death. Step by step they were forced back to the bridge of boats, which gave way under the pressure. The river had suddenly risen seven feet during the night, making the ford impassable. In the crowd many of their mounted officers, grey - bearded old chiefs, scorning to save themselves, were seen waving their swords on high, calling on their men to drive back the English, to vindicate their honour or die. Their heroic efforts to retrieve the day were of no avail ; destruction awaited them on every side. The horse artillery coming up poured in a hot fire among them ; terrible was the carnage, and thousands were drowned attempting to swim across. The Khalsa was disastrously routed ; 67 cannon, 200 swivel guns, numerous standards, and vast munitions of war were the spoils of
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victory. Sir Henry Hardinge referred to it as " one of the most daring ever achieved, by which in open day a * triple line of breastworks, flanked by formidable redoubts, bristling with guns, manned by thirty -two regular regiments of infantry, were assaulted and carried."
The British loss was 2400 killed and wounded, — about one - sixth of their force engaged, — that of the Sikhs in killed, wounded, and drowned being estimated at 10,000. Some of the English regiments, on whom the brunt of the fighting fell, lost one-third of their strength.
On the following day a party of Sikhs came in with a request to take away the bodies of their slain chiefs, among them that of Sardar Sham Singh, whose death they all deplored, a comrade of Eanjit Singh and an experienced and gallant old soldier. He had opposed the ill-fated cry of war against the British, but, unheeded in Council, threw in his lot with the Khalsa when the die was cast, and at the head of
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his men joined the army. At Sobraon he announced his determination not to survive another defeat, which he feared more than death. Dressed in white clothes, he was, with his long flowing white beard, con- spicuous on the ramparts cheering on his ardent followers, directing the gunners where to fire on the English soldiers, confident, if they were destroyed, the day was gained. He fell honoured by his gallant opponents. His wife, a high-spirited Sikh dame, on hearing at her home of the defeat of the Khalsa, without waiting for details, im- molated herself on the funeral pyre, as she said she knew her lord was dead, he having assured her he would not disgrace his family by returning defeated.
On the night of the victory at Sobraon advanced brigades were pushed across the river, and by the 13th the whole force was over and marching to the capital, which was reached without opposition within a week. The shattered remnant of the Sikh army retired and halted near Lahore, ready
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to lay down their arms. Within the short period of sixty days from the time when the Sikhs crossed the Sutlej so confident of victory, the British force, far inferior in numbers of men and guns, but superior in everything which makes for success, had defeated the flower of the great Khalsa in four well - fought - out pitched battles and wrested from them in action 220 guns, while only 14,000 of that derelict army now remained in the field. The much- plundered city of Lahore was amazed to find that it was spared from pillage, and to hear that the British had committed no outrages during their victorious march and scrupulously paid for everything they took. There was now nothing left to encourage the Sikhs to continue the contest ; they had been well and fairly beaten, but they had forgot nothing of their praetorian pride. Their vanity was mortally wounded, so they raised the cry of treachery and turned on their Brahman leaders, to whom they ascribed all their disasters. They had, however,
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rAR.
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learned a good deal and unlearned much regarding the British ; but, as was shown later on, they were not yet subdued, al- though they had found out that it was not bravery, of which they had plenty, nor numbers and good arms alone, that made a successful army, but also good generals and good leaders. An old Sikh soldier remarked to an English officer after the battle, "If we only had had your sahibs [officers] to lead and direct us in the way they did your soldiers, there would have been another story to tell."
The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, in the House of Commons, when proposing the thanks of Parliament to the Indian Army of the Sutlej, spoke enthusiastically of their victories, interrupted by no single failure, — unsullied by any imputations on our arms or character, — and quoted from a letter to him the generous tribute of their brave veteran chief to the gallant foe : " Policy precluded me from publicly recording my sentiments on the splendid gallantry of our
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fallen foe, or to record the acts of heroism displayed not only individually but almost collectively by the Sikh sardars and army; and I declare, were it not from a deep conviction that my country's good de- manded the sacrifice, I could have wept to witness the fearful slaughter of so de- voted a body of men."
The Sikh army — the weapon which Ranjit Singh had so well forged — turned against his best friends, the British, who met in it the hardest fighting enemy they had en- countered in the Bast, and whose gallantry and steadiness in action excited the admira- tion of their opponents just as that of their remote ancestors the Getae or Indo-Scythic warriors at Arbela, twenty -two centuries before, when fighting under Darius against the Macedonian phalanx, drew forth the praise of the great Alexander. The names of Moodkee, Ferozeshah, Aliwal, and So- braon have rung in history. A great tradi- tion connected with the rise of our Indian Empire hovers round them, immortalising
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the unsurpassed example of unflinching courage set by the British soldier. They are emblazoned alongside other glorious battle - scrolls on the colours of the dis- tinguished regiments who so nobly main- tained on the banks of the Sutlej the high reputation of those before them in building up England's power.
Ranjit Singh's star set in red anarchy. Anti- British feeling ever since his death prevailed as the remedy to distract the Khalsa. The moment they thought was favourable to take the fatal step to occupy the Ois- Sutlej Sikh states, to rally their population to the blood-and-plunder cry. The British were nearly caught by their own unwillingness to move — to believe that the Khalsa was in earnest. Dilatory mea- sures to move up troops to meet the menace being deemed expedient by the political authorities, the strong men armed were within our gates when the assembly sounded ; but hard marching, and the devotion of the British soldier in response to (rough's stern
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appeal to close with the enemy, saved the situation. He stood eye to eye in front of an active strong power having greater ele- ments at his back and in our own territory. The Sikh giant commenced the fight by de- livering with his fist a solid blow full in the Briton's face. It was quickly and strongly returned, and he was grievously worsted. The problem Sir Hugh Gough had to deal with was to confine the war to the banks of the Sutlej. It was more of a soldier's war than a general's. He did not attempt to bring off strategical movements in the nature of evading the enemy, to fall on him unawares or force him to shift his ground to fight. He had few but very good troops. Support was far off ; his main object was to meet the enemy and fight, — the harder the fighting the better, in order by bold tactics to shorten the war, — and he suc- ceeded. At every stage he was greatly out- numbered ; he saw that a stubborn foe behind works was not to be beaten down by his own inferior gun-fire, their guns being
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far more numerous, heavier, and well served. The keynote of his tactics was a bold in- trepid charge — close quarters and the bayonet — to impress the enemy by audacity and daring. He clung with bulldog tenacity to the Sikhs after Ferozeshah, rejecting pro- posals to harry their rear over the river, waiting to deal a final knock-out blow when his force was refreshed, so as to leave farther advance unopposed. After this had been done our friends in rear and ahead were as thick as flies in summer. He was essentially a fighting general, a hard hitter, whose maxim was "L'audace, toujours Taudace." He grasped success. The generals, among them veterans of the Peninsula, Waterloo, and Afghanistan, were first and foremost in the thick of battle, exposing their lives freely and rousing the daring of their men to the utmost by personal example, several of them falling "in the rapture of the strife," cheering on to victory. With a small de- termined force it was the only decisive form of conducting the campaign, and every one
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was inspired by the direct spirit of their gallant chief. It made a great impression on the Sikhs, who would have extended the area of operations had strategical manoeuv- ring been resorted to. They found that, whether in the open field or behind formid- able works, they had met more than their match.
Immediately after the crushing defeat at Sobraon, the Lahore durbar, with all the Sikh sardars and army delegates, sued for peace on any terms, and the young Ma- haraja, with Raja Gulab Singh, came into the British camp to submit in the name of his Government. The work of the soldier having been completed and the enemy made amenable to reason at the point of the bayonet, a thick velvet glove was now put on the iron hand and generous terms dic- tated. By a treaty ratified in March 1846 the Maharaja was restored to the throne, the country between the Sutlej and Bias rivers ceded to the British, and a war indemnity of one and a half millions sterling imposed ;
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but as this amount was not forthcoming from an empty treasury, the hill country north of the plains of the Punjab was also ceded as an equivalent for one million. The regular army of the Lahore State was not to exceed twenty -five infantry battalions with 12,000 cavalry, to be paid and organ- ised under the system which existed in the time of Ranjit Singh, the guns remain- ing in the arsenal being left to them. 250 guns, including all that had been pointed against the British, were marched off to Calcutta under escort, to be seen by all India as the spoils of battle and victory.
At the urgent request of the Durbar, who feared the disbanded Khalsa army, a British force of 10,000 men was left till the close of the year for the protection of the Maharaja and the city of Lahore, pending reorganisa- tion of the Government and their army, which time was afterwards, on a special appeal signed by fifty-two of the chief sar- dars, by a new treaty in December 1846,
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extended reluctantly by the Governor-Gen- eral until the Maharaja should attain his majority in 1854. The British Government invested the Dogra Eaja Gulab Singh with the title of Maharaja, and in consideration of his paying out of his wealth, amassed during the troublous times, one million ster- ling of the war indemnity for the im- poverished Durbar, Kashmir with its de- pendencies was transferred to him as in- dependent ruler and vassal of the British — a very bad bargain for the Government, which unfortunately was rendered necessary by the political exigency of the moment. He, however, now reaped what he had sown by craft, and attained the object of all the diplomacy and bloodshed of his family since the death of his patron Ranjit Singh, The Maharani Jindan was acknowledged as queen-regent of the state, with her minion Raja Lai Singh as executive minister, and Major Henry Lawrence was left in charge of political affairs at Lahore with a voice in the Durbar.
CHAPTER XII.
THE SECOND SIKH WAR, 1848-49 ANNEXATION,
1849.
The policy of maintaining the Sikh kingdom was considered highly important, but the attempt to govern by a British protectorate broke down after a fair trial. The evil seeds of disintegration were in the Sikhs themselves. The Durbar was corrupt, weak, and divided against itself. Before the year was out the minister Lai Singh was caught red-handed in treachery. After the order was issued for the transfer of Kashmir to Maharaja Golab Singh according to the treaty, he sent letters to the governor there to resist this by force. Several con- flicts ensued ; and not till Colonel Henry Lawrence proceeded there, at the head of a
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body of Sikh troops who had been so lately fighting against us, was the transfer effected. Lai Singh was proved guilty by the pro- duction of his own letters ; not a voice was raised for him, and he was banished to his native land in Hindostan.
A Council of Kegency of the principal chiefs was now formed under the direction of the British Resident ; but at the Lahore Court the witches' caldron, brimful with intrigue, again began to bubble. The queen - regent had hoped that everything except the dread Khalsa would have been restored to her as before the war. She bitterly resented the expulsion of her favourite minister, the arch - traitor Lai Singh, and after a short time the sardars also came to repent of the treaty they had made. Faithlessness to the too merciful British Government was encouraged ; an army and guns still remained to them ; disaffection was excited among the soldiery and the disbanded Khalsa, who swarmed, dis- contented, in the villages. The new wine,
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in the form of English officers sent by the Eegency Council to various parts of the country to see orders obeyed, burst the old bottles of Sikh government, which had so long held methods of barbarism. The climax came in April 1848, when the reformed Durbar was forced to interfere with Mul Raj, the rapacious Hindu Governor of Multan, whose tyranny could not be tolerated under the eye of the British protectorate. He resigned, and a Sikh sardar was sent to relieve him, accom- panied by two English officers — Mr Vans Agnew of the Civil Service and Lieutenant Anderson, with an escort of Durbar troops — to see him installed. They were treacher- ously wounded while returning from the fort with Mul Raj on his giving over the keys, and shortly afterwards murdered by some of his soldiers. Only the new Sikh Governor, his son, a few faithful horsemen, and some servants remained with them to the end, the escort having gone over to the enemy. They scorned to wave the white sheet of
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submission, Vans Agnew saying : " The time for mercy has gone ; let none be asked for. They can kill us two if they like, but we are not the last of the English. Thousands of Englishmen will come here after we are gone and annihilate Mul Eaj and his soldiers and his fort." The loyal Sikh sardar Kahan Singh and his son were imprisoned, and taunted with showing sympathy for the foreigners. When the fort was ultimately captured by the British, their dead bodies were found in the ruins of their prison clasped in one another's arms.
Mul Raj declared war against the British, and, gathering a force of some thousands, put his fort in a state of defence by making a deep ditch lined with masonry round a wall thirty feet high. Great im- portance was attached to the possession of this celebrated old stronghold for which so many battles had been fought in ancient and modern times — the scene of one of the great Alexander's exploits on his march down the Indus valley, where, lead-
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ing the victorious Greek assault, he was severely wounded. The Mahomedan tribes in the neighbourhood had no love for the Sikh rule. They rallied to the summons of a young English officer, Lieutenant Edwardes, then in charge of the Derajat frontier, and twice sorely defeated the rebels, shutting them up in the city and fort. Sardar Sher Singh, one of the Court of Regency, sent down with 12,000 men and 12 guns, joined Edward es ; but they were unreliable.
The very hot summer was on in that hottest of hot localities in the Punjab ; the proceedings of the Durbar were dilatory, and when told by the British Resident that the rebellion must be put down they professed their inability to undertake the task. A division of British troops was then sent : they reached the scene in August, when after some severe fighting they found the fort too strong to be suc- cessfully attacked, and took up a position awaiting reinforcements. Sher Singh with
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his Sikh force went over to the enemy in September, and before the end of the month left them, marching away north to join his father, Sardar Chutter Singh, the Sikh Governor of Hazara, who in August had revolted with all his troops. Not till December, when the British force at Multan was joined by a division from Bombay, was the siege vigorously resumed, ending by the capture of the city and surrender of the fort on 22nd January 1849, after a loss by them of 1200 killed and wounded. The bodies of the two murdered English officers were then taken from their neglected grave, wrapped in Kashmir shawls, carried up through the breach by the thousands of their countrymen who had come to avenge their death, and buried with military honours on the summit of the citadel.
The delay before Multan changed a local emeute into the rebellion of the whole Sikh nation, which now rose to re-establish the supremacy of the Khalsa and shake off the hold of the British, thinking that as
THE SECOND SIKH WAR.
they had abandoned Kabul some years before, so they would march out of the Punjab. The Maharani had not been idle at Lahore ; she was mixed up with in- trigues which demanded the sternest measures against the ringleaders, one of them being her confidential adviser : she was banished to India. Overtures for aid had been made by Mul Raj and the Sikh sardars to the Amir Dost Mahomed, the price being the cession of Peshawar, the province which Ranjit Singh had won from the Afghans, and for which his best had so freely shed their blood. The Amir marched there and sent his son with a contingent of Afghan troops to join the Sikh army, — an unnatural alliance between hereditary enemies, which drowned for a time creed antipathies. The Durbar troops at Pesha- war now revolted and joined the rebels.
Sher Singh with his troops took up a position on the Chenab river, where the Khalsa in their thousands joined him. The Punjab was now aflame ; the trumpet again
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spoke to the cannon, and the sound of battle rolled through the land. A rising took place of discontented leaders in the ceded districts, of which John Lawrence was Commissioner. The rebels proclaimed that the English rule had ceased. They were on the flank of the British army advancing from Lahore. Lawrence, with the genius of a born general, was promptly on the spot with a small force and some raw levies. "If you will excite rebellion, as I live I will severely punish you," was his dictum. He made short work of them, and then offered the people the choice be- tween the sword and the pen as the instru- ment by which they wished to be ruled, — between enforced submission or willing obedience. His pen was grasped with enthusiasm, and the sword was sheathed and kept in reserve.
The Sikhs held the fords of the Chenab river and threw up strong works at Ram- nugger on both banks to oppose the ad- vance of the British under Lord Gough.
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After severe fighting there and some de- sultory operations elsewhere, the passage was effected, and by the end of December all the British force had crossed to the north bank to drive the enemy towards the Jhelum and hold him in check, while waiting for the fall of Multan to set free more troops to join it.
Sher Singh showed considerable general- ship in handling his army, now about 40,000 strong with over 60 guns. He took up a well-chosen position near the Jhelum, close to the classic field of Alexander's great battle with Porus in 32^ b.c, and as the revolted Sikh troops were now marching from Peshawar to join him, Lord Gough determined to engage before they arrived. On the 13th January 1849 he advanced with 15,000 men and 66 guns to Chillianwala, where he drove in their advanced outposts, intending to halt there, reconnoitre, and attack the following day. Sher Singh, however, under cover of a long belt of jungle which lay in front of his posi-
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tion, moved out with all his force and cleverly manoeuvred to bring on an action at once on ground of his own choosing, which afforded little opportunity for cavalry, and where with his superior numbers he could overlap the flanks of his enemy. After an hour's artillery duel a general advance of the British line was made in the after- noon. Lord Gough again took the bull by the horns, and, as was expressed on a previous occasion, found it "all horns." The dense patches of thorny bush which screened the Sikhs broke the ordered ad- vance of brigades, and the battle devolved into a series of detached combats — regiments singly forcing their way through the jungle to the open spaces, where they suddenly found themselves face to face with the enemy's guns and infantry massed by them. Then followed the volley, the cheer, the run upon the cannon's mouth, and fierce hand - to - hand fighting : gunners were bayonetted serving their guns to the last, and their infantry, in many cases after de-
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livering their fire, dropped their firelocks and met the bayonet charge sword in hand, answering the "hurrah" with the Khalsa war-cry. One English regiment had sixty casualties from sword-cuts in capturing a battery, but the bayonet triumphed over the sword. The fight was waged with varying fortune in different parts of the field ; each side could claim some success. From want of knowledge of the ground surprises awaited the British here and there. An impassable swamp, beyond which was posted a battery, effectually checked the advance of a brigade, which had to retire with heavy loss, but the other on its flank forged ahead and repaired the loss. The Sikhs fought gallantly and doggedly, as they did on the Sutlej. When their regular infantry retired they did so in good order, loading, halting, and turning to fire as if on parade : they belonged to the old well-trained Khalsa brigades, big, long- bearded men, clad in red coats. Darkness alone put an end to the deadly hurly-burly,
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— to another soldiers' battle fought under the most adverse circumstances.
The Sikhs withdrew towards the Jhelum, retired within their prepared position masked by the jungle, and there fired a royal salute of victory, while the British bivouacked on the field of Chillianwala. Both sides sustained severe loss, that of the British being about 16 per cent of the force engaged, individual units suffering more severely than others, some dropping one- third and even one-half of their numbers. Heavy rain for the two following days pre- vented further operations, and on the third day the Sikh reinforcements joined. For a month the two armies lay facing one another, Sher Singh during that time making ineffect- ual attempts to induce his opponent to move out of his position, which covered the routes to the Chenab in rear. In the meantime Multan had fallen, and troops were marching up from there to reinforce the British. On hearing of their approach Sher Singh skil- fully made a flank march by night along the
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front, and got a start of a day in an attempt to cross the Chenab farther up and make for Lahore ; but on rinding the fords guarded, took up a position round the town of Gujerat, where he concentrated 61,000 men and 60 guns, the finest and best commanded force the Sikhs ever assembled against us.
Lord Gough, having been reinforced, at- tacked the Sikh army early on the morning of the 21st February with 25,000 men and 96 guns, being for the first time in the two campaigns superior in artillery. The enemy's full power was now massed in front of him, prepared to fight a pitched battle. The blow that was to be struck would be all the more effective if dealt deliberately, without leaving anything to chance. For three hours all the British guns did deadly exe- cution in the Sikh ranks, which they en- dured with stern resolution and tried their best to meet. In vain their infantry and cavalry attempted to advance to the attack ; their bravery was of no avail against the murderous artillery - fire. Indian irregular
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horse charged and routed the Afghan cavalry. When the Sikh guns were nearly silenced a general advance of the British line swept the field, capturing 53 guns and all the camp with its materiel. The British casualties were 800, those of the Sikhs 7000.
The Sikh army had now been smashed on thoroughly scientific principles : no mistake was possible as to the decisive character of their defeat. Completely routed, they broke away in full flight to the north, pursued by the relentless cavalry, which inflicted further execution on them. A column of 12,000 men was promptly sent across the Jhelum to follow the wreck of the army and gather up all the fruits of victory. Sher Singh sent in to the British camp the English officers he had as prisoners, who had been taken when on duty with the Durbar troops. They had been well treated. He asked for terms, and received the reply, Unconditional surrender. The shattered Khalsa, flying north, were now nearing the Pathan country, where little mercy would be shown them by their hereditary foes. They were between
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the devil ahead and the deep sea rolling up behind them : annihilation was inevit- able unless they accepted the British terms. On the 12th March 1849 they surrendered unconditionally. The Afghan contingent, after losing half their numbers, deserted their allies, and were hotly pursued by the British cavalry through Peshawar and driven into the Khaibar Pass.
At Rawal Pindi Raja Sher Singh, the Sikh commander-in-chief, with his sardars, one by one gave up their swords to the British general, and their men following grounded their arms at the victor's feet — most in gloomy silence, some in passionate tears on throwing down their cherished weapons, some reverently saluting them as they placed them on the ground, others mutter- ing curses at their hard fate — all proud in bearing. They frankly acknowledged that they had been well and fairly beaten, and that now their cause was hopeless. They had been worthy and gallant foes, and were respected in their misfortune by their con- querors, who did not use their victory to
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humiliate them. The rank and file were furnished with means of returning to their homes. Back to their villages they went to toil, — to the plough again, — not as con- quered enemies, but as free subjects of the Great Queen Victoria, to enjoy the same protection and privileges as the others under the British Crown. They would remain the same men as before ; they had tasted of the salt of life, and its savour would never leave them. They had shed their blood in what they considered a good cause, and loyalty was still theirs to give, as we found so soon later on, when it was kindled anew after they re- cognised the spirit in which we met them and willingly grasped the hand held out to them. With the crushing defeat of Gujerat per- ished the last hopes of resuscitating the Sikh kingdom. It was the final act of the tragedy which commenced on the banks of the Sut- lej. The last stake had now been played and lost in a war exclusively of their own making. They had fought the British on more than equal terms ; they were the first
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to draw the sword, and they were the first to lay it down and end the contest for supremacy by manly submission.
On the 1st February Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General, always definite and spe- cific in his ideas, declared that "the peace and vital interests of the British Empire now require that the power of the Sikh Government should not only be defeated but subverted, and their dynasty abolished/7 In his words, the victory gained at Gujerat was " memorable from the greatness of the occasion, and from the brilliant and decisive nature of the encounter, — it equalled the highest hopes entertained." On the 29th March 1849 he proclaimed that "the king- dom of the Punjab is at an end, and that the territories of Maharaja Ranjit Singh are now and henceforth a portion of the British Empire in India." All the inhabitants of the Punjab, sardars and people, were called upon to submit themselves peacefully to the authority of the British Government. " Over those who shall live as obedient and peaceful
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subjects the British Government will rule with mildness and beneficence, but if resist- ance to constituted authority shall again be attempted, if violence and turbulence are renewed, the Governor - General warns the people of the Punjab that the time for leniency will then have passed away, and that their offences will be punished with prompt and most vigorous severity."
The Sikh government went the way of all governments which will not learn to rule intelligently. The whole of the Punjab came under the British flag, which now waved over the continent of India from the sea to the Himalaya and Sulaiman Mountains. Little was it thought then of what the near future had in store for this land of soldiers. A few years later, when the storm of the great mutiny of the Bengal army suddenly burst as a bolt from the blue, the Sikhs were again in the field, but this time as loyal soldiers of their honoured Queen Victoria, fighting in her cause alongside their English comrades.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE 'GRANTH, THE SIKH SACRED BOOK- RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES.
The 'Grants is the holy scripture of the Sikhs, containing spiritual and moral teach- ing. Its leading creed may be summed up in the words, The one God is a spirit, and is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth. It is written in verses, measured by quantity only, in the form of psalms, chants, and songs of praise. They rhyme together, in- tended for singing or intoned rhythmical recitation, great attention being paid to the rhyme. They are sung in public worship, especially in the Hur-mandar (the House of the Lord) at Amritsar, accompanied by stringed musical instruments. The book is written in the Punjabi dialect spoken by
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the people of the plains, with a mixture of Hindi idioms, — the character, a modified Hindi one, being called " Guru-mukhi " (out of the mouth of the Guru), used by the Sikhs in correspondence. All classes and castes are represented among the contribu- tors besides the Gurus, — Hindu reformers, Brahmans, Jats, musicians, weavers, a Ma- homedan saint, a holy woman, down to members even of lowly and despised castes, Nanak having preached, "God will not ask man of what caste or race he is ; He will ask him what he has done."
The 'Adi-Granth/ the book of the humble Nanak, is held the most sacred, as the foun- dation of the Sikh religion. It was compiled by Arjun, the fifth Guru. After him a few verses only were added from the succeeding Gurus — a message from Tegh Bahadur, the martyr, while in prison at Delhi, to his son Govind, and the reply. The s Granth of the Tenth King/ as it is called, that of Guru Govind Singh, concerns chiefly the cere- monial and social duties of his disciples —
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the Khalsa — and the practical course of their life.
The Sikh religion as it was founded by JNanak was a pure monotheism, the chief point in his doctrine being the unity of the Supreme Being. That the Supreme is One, and that there is none other, is over and over again inculcated by him.
" Whom shall I call the second ? there is none. In all is that one spotless One."
He alone, he said, is really existing, un- created, endless, timeless, invisible, and in- describable — the Eoot of all things, the Source from which all have sprung.
" He Himself is One, and He Himself is many." " From the Lord all the creation has sprung. By Himself the vessels are formed : He Himself also fills them."
Nanak's constant theme was personal love for a personal God, "More love to thee, 0 God." He strove to win his hearers to love and trust God, who claimed them as His creatures, to learn His sufficiency for all and everything. Scattered throughout
186 THE SIKHS.
the book are phrases like flashes of light, many of which parallel sentences in our own Scriptures, these thoughts and ideas being repeated in endless variations running into mystic darkness. Such phrases are : "Thou art my support, Thou art my trust, without Thee there is none other." " Wan- dering and wandering about, I have come and fallen in Thy asylum, 0 Lord." " Thou art my Lord, I am at Thy gate — 0 Lord, this is the prayer of Nanak, apply me to Thy worship." " Thou alone art the support of the helpless one, Thou art my strong protector." " What happiness shall I obtain without God ? whose friend and beloved the Lord is, say, what may that man stand in need of?" "Our confidence is placed in God ; He is my refuge — without Him I have not other assistance or reliance." "Thou art my friend and companion, my Lord, why should my soul be afraid." " True is the Lord, of a true name ; in language His love is infinite. 0 ISTanak, His worshippers are always happy." " Great
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is the Lord, of a great name, by whom creation is made. Higher than high is His name. His praise is continually in my mouth." "I sing the many and innumer- able excellences of God ; outside I sing, inside I sing, waking early I sing." "The Lord is merciful to the poor ; Thou art my refuge. Thou art my hope." "Keep the eternal Lord in thy heart." "Who art on intimate terms with God, they remain fully satisfied with food."
" Thou art the Creator, true my Lord, — What is pleasing to Thee, that will be done ; What Thou givest, that I obtain ; Without Thee there is none other."
" Their faces are always bright in the true court of God."
There is much expressed regarding humil- ity and the transitory nature of life, with its vanity, pride, egotism, idolatry, and mal- practices : —
" Think not of caste : abase thyself and attain to salvation." " 0 brother, thy body and prosperity will not go with thee after death." "Man is but as the passing shade
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of the flying bird." " Wealth, youth, and a flower are guests for four days." "I may fasten a crown, royal hat and umbrella, on my head, I may be called a khan, king, or raja, but without God I am nothing."
" Who dwells in the house of the true one death shall not overcome. Who does crores [millions] of religious works but retains his selfishness, he incurs only fatigue. All his works are in vain." "The Lord is the strength of the weak. He neither comes nor goes. He is always firm." "At the last moment, 0 Nanak, none but God is any avail." " Fall at the feet of God ; in sense- less stone God is not ; worship not another than God ; bow not to the dead."
Although Nanak always spoke humbly of himself and confessed himself unlearned and the lowest of learners, the high position which the Guru occupied naturally led to his deification, and his disciples commenced to identify his successors with the Supreme Himself. It was therefore a fortunate event for the more free and moral development of
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the Sikh community that with the tenth Guru, Govind Singh, the Guruship was alto- gether abolished. Govind apparently dis- cerned this. By developing a religious commonwealth he saved the Sikhs from sinking into a state of dull apathy to the world around them, to drifting into a com- munity of monks, jogis, and fakirs. JSTanak ever enjoined his disciples to remain in their secular occupations and not to leave the world, — that their religion was one of common life. He taught that the state of a householder was equally acceptable to God as retirement from the world ; that salvation did not depend on outward circum- stances, or in the performance of austerities, but on the inward state of the mind, which even in the daily business of life may remain absorbed in meditation on God. The evil practices of mendicant fakirs as well as the superstitions of the Brahman priesthood are frequently exposed in the 'Granth? and severely censured. His sound sense as well as that of Govind Singh saw that austerities,
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self- mortification, and penances in such a land soon degenerate a race. "No confi- dence whatever should be placed in jogis" (ascetics).
JSTanak received all men as his disciples on an equality regardless of caste, for "in the other world there is no caste." Govind Singh finally abolished caste among his disciples, though the deeply-rooted preju- dices of the higher castes refused to submit to this. He positively forbade the employ- ment of Brahman priests in any capacity. He introduced a new ritual, partly taken from the ' Adi-Granth/ but mostly originat- ing with himself. He appealed to the God of battles in his combat for a righteous cause, to defend his people against persecu- tion, in his determination to form a nation, which he saw could not be effected unless they made the study of arms their aim and glory. Nanak the humble strove by personal example to inspire his disciples to live worthily, and after death to leave behind them the memory of a righteous life and good
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deeds, the only passports for the better life beyond.
In spite of all the abstruse definitions of the 'Granth,' the common people were con- tented to accept Nanak's definition of God, adapted for their everyday life and to meet inward and outward wants. The mystical speculations contained in the book as to the " higher form" and the secret were beyond their comprehension, but its teaching gradu- ally " turned them from idols to serve the living God," and impressed them with the idea of one Supreme Lord, whom they could only realise as a personal, self-conscious Supreme Being, who creates all, governs all, and dispenses all according to His will.
Govind Singh did not make any change in the teaching of Nanak. He made the worship of the one Supreme obligatory and denounced idolatry. The additions he made in his 'Granth' are mainly regarding the duties of the Khalsa — the Commonwealth which he established. He received into it men of all castes and creeds on a footing
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of equality, and aimed at welding them into one religious and political body. To effect this he set up a number of ordinances binding on all.
In a Sikh household on the thirteenth day after a boy is born the father takes him to a Granthi (Scripture reader), who, after reading certain portions of the 'Granth/ solemnly lets it fall open wherever it chances. He then looks at the heading of the stanza where it opens, and its initial letter must be the initial of the boy's name, which is then selected from the stock of names which they have commencing with every letter of their alphabet. The pahal or Sikh oath of initiation may be administered to a boy when he reaches an intelligent age — at twelve or so — or at any age afterwards. There must be five Sikhs present to make this lawful. The candidate is dressed in a white tunic, and in the ketch or tight white drawers reaching half way down to the knee, and is girt with a sword. The 1st chapter of the 'Adi-Granth? and Govind's 'Granth' are
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read to him. He is then asked if he con- sents to be of the faith of Govind ; on the reply, " I do consent," he is addressed, " The Guru is thy holy teacher and thou art his Sikh/' and a solemn promise demanded from him to abide by the canons of the faith for the rest of his life. Then follows the cere- mony already described in the chapter relating to Guru Govind Singh, of sprinkling a mixture of sugar -and -water, called amrit (water of life), on his head and face, and of drinking some of it out of the iron dish, exclaiming, " Wah, Guru ji ka Khalsa ! Wah, Guru ji ka fatteh ! " — Hail, Guru of the Khalsa ! Hail, victory to the Guru ! The warrior designation of " Singh " is then added to his name. He is now a Govindhi Sikh, and is commanded to wear always about him certain outward signs of the brotherhood, and directed how to keep and care for his kes, the long hair worn by Sikhs, how to knot it into the jurah knot on the top of the head, and which has to be taken down and combed out twice a-day. He is
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forbidden to cut or dye his hair or beard, to eat or drink uncovered, and to smoke or touch tobacco.
Every disciple is also enjoined to daily repeat some portion of the holy book. There are three prayers appointed for daily use : one in the morning before breaking fast, one before the evening meal, and one be- fore going to rest. Idolatry, the worship of saints, and asceticism are prohibited. Hindu and Mahomedan ceremonies and re- ligious books are not to be minded. He must never buy meat from a butcher, but eat only the flesh of such animals whose head was severed by a Sikh with a stroke of the sword. Beef is not so much as mentioned, as to eat it is considered an abominable crime, — sacrilege, — the cow being venerated as the favoured animal of the Almighty, whose preservation is a religious obligation, since it is so useful to man ^for domestic and agricultural pur- poses. The Govindhi Sikh adheres religi- ously to the command never to cut his
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hair. He will not even submit to this for a surgical operation, preferring to risk death. There is an old tomb extant outside Lahore, at a spot called "the place of martyrdom/' in memory of a brave old chief, a companion of Govind's, who with 1000 Sikhs was captured by the Moghuls during the cruel persecutions in 1746. He was offered par- don on condition of having his long hair cut and renouncing his faith. He in- dignantly refused, saying, "The hair, the scalp, and the skull have a mutual connec- tion. The head is linked with life, and I am prepared to yield it with pleasure." He and the 1000 Sikhs were all beheaded there and then.
Special attention is paid to the making and distributing of karah prasad, or con- secrated bread, at their assemblies for ad- ministering baptism or other occasions, partaking of the character of a communion service. It is made of equal quantities of flour, butter, and sugar, mixed with water drawn from a well with an iron bucket
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and placed in a new jar. When prepared it is blessed and put on a stand round which the disciples sit praying, after which it is distributed by the Granthi, or Scripture reader, in equal portions to all present to eat. This is the love -feast of the brother- hood, when, according to Govind's injunction, "all must eat together and drink together from the same cup."
Every Sikh is enjoined to aid in the diffusion of the religion, and is not to have intercourse with the sectarians, of which several classes arose. They were accursed, and were to be treated as im- placable foes of the faith. There are many other injunctions as to conduct and family matters, which Govind Singh insisted on as essential to rendering the Khalsa a select body, and to kindle their martial valour and hatred to the Mahomedans, whom he looked upon as the powerful persecutors of his race and the one bar against the attainment of religious freedom and national ambition.
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One of the dogmas of the faith is equality of mankind, but this extends rather to religious tenets than to social laws. All Sikhs will eat consecrated bread and drink water one from another's hand except from the lowest classes, where caste is measured by occupation ; but they will not inter- marry. Each caste occupies a social posi- tion of its own, partaking more of family or race pride than of religious usage. It is maintained among the Jats mainly as a matrimonial system, social custom not per- mitting a man to seek a bride among the members of his own sub-clan. He must go afield to other septs of his tribe for a wife.
Among the Sikhs births and deaths should take place on the ground. The impress of their origin is still strongly maintained in their regard for the " Mother Earth," the ancient honoured deity. The strongest phrase to denote a human being is liter- ally earth. "From one Mother is the world born." In the house, as soon as death approaches, the patient is taken off
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the bed and laid upon wheat -straw which has been spread on the ground. The dead body is carried to the funeral pyre on a wooden frame and placed on it with the head to the north, five Sikhs or more being present. The nearest relative takes a torch, and after walking three times round the pile of wood sets fire to it under the head. The earliest record of burning the dead is among the ancient Scythians, with whom the idea of purification by fire was universal.
Just as in the middle ages the strong nations of the West emerged from the bonds of religious superstition, so the Sikh refor- matory movement took its rise at the same time, breaking away from the thraldom of the Brahman priesthood. It had its origin in small and peaceful beginnings on the part of humble preachers, — a low - class movement, conversion, not conquest, being its object. But cruel persecution gave it the impetus which culminated in secular power and kingship. The religion having
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no venerable history like that of Hindu, Budhist, and Moslem, it has had much to contend with since the Khalsa lost its position as a ruling class fifty years ago ; and for a time there was the danger under the powerful influence of Brahmanism, directed to overcome such a levelling simple faith, of it drifting into a back- water of Hinduism. But its robust strength has outlived this