MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



469 



gard and hatred. The Sikhs have 

 been reputed deceitful and cruel, 

 but I khow no grounds upon 

 which they can be considered 

 more so than the other tribes of 

 India. They seemed to me, from 

 all the intercourse I had with 

 them, to be more open and sin- 

 cere than the Mahratas, and less 

 rude and savage than the Afghans. 

 They have, indeed, become, from 

 national success, too proud of their 

 own strength, and too irritable in 

 their tempers, to have patience for 

 the wiles of the former; and they 

 retain, in spite of their change 

 of manners and religion, too much 

 of the original character of their 

 Hindu ancestors, (for the great 

 majoritj' are of the Hindu race,) 

 to have the constitutional ferocity 

 of the latter. The Sikh soldier is, 

 generally speaking, brave, active, 

 and cheerful, without polish, but 

 neither destitute of sincerity nor 

 nttachment ; and if he often ap- 

 pears wanting in humanity, it is 

 not so much to be attributed to his 

 national character, as to the habits 

 of a life, which, from the condi- 

 tion of the society in which he is 

 born, is generally passed in scenes 

 of violence and rapine. 



The Sikh merchant, or cultiva- 

 tor of the soil, if he is a Singh, 

 differs little in character from the 

 soldier, except that his occupation 

 renders him less presuming and 

 boisterous. He also wears arms, 

 and is, from education, prompt to 

 use them whenever his individual 

 interest, or that of the commu- 

 nity in which he lives, requires 

 him to do so. The general occu- 

 pations of the Khalasa Sikhs has 

 been before mentioned. Their cha- 

 racter diflcrs widely from tliat of 

 the Singhs. Full of intiigue, pli- 



ant, versatile, and insinuating, 

 they have all the art of the lower 

 classes of Hindus, who are usually 

 employed in transacting business: 

 from whom, indeed, as they have 

 no distinction of dress, it is very 

 difficult to distinguish them. 



The religious tribes of Acalis, 

 Shahid, and Nirmala, have been 

 noticed. Their general character 

 is formed from their habits of life. 

 The Acalis are insolent, ignorant, 

 and daring : presuming upon those 

 rights which their numbers and 

 fanatic courage have established, 

 their deportment is hardly tolerant 

 to the other Sikhs, and insuf- 

 ferable to strangers, for whom 

 they entertain a contempt, which 

 they take little pains to conceal. 

 The Shahid and the Nirmala, par- 

 ticularly the latter, have more 

 knowledge, and more urbanity. 

 They are almost all men of quiet, 

 peaceable habits ; and many of 

 them are said to possess learning. 



There is another tribe among 

 the Sikhs, called the Nanac Pau- 

 tra, or descendants of Nanac, who 

 have the character of being a mild, 

 inoffensive race ; and though they 

 do not acknowledge the institu- 

 tions of Guru Govind, they are 

 greatly revered by his followers, 

 who hold it sacrilege to injure 

 the race of their founder; and, 

 under the advantage which this 

 general veneration affords them, 

 the Nanac Pautra pursue their oc- 

 cupations ; which, if they are not 

 mendicants, is generally tliat of 

 travelling merchants. They do not 

 carry arms; and profess, agreeably 

 to the doctrine of Nanac, to be at 

 peace with all mankind. 



The Sikh converts, it has been 

 before stated, continue, after they 

 have quitted their original religion. 



