'E^XPl.ANATIOXS OF THE PLATFS. 



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The lithographic engravincrs in thi"^, the first volume, arc 

 faitliful copies of Portraits and Sketches, taken by a native 

 at Lahore — excepting only the likeness of the Faqueer 

 Haridas. which I had from Captain Gardner ; and thoujrh I 

 never saw Haridas, I rely no the resemblance ; for, on show- 

 incT it to several natives, who knew him well, as also to 

 General Ventura and Colonel Sir C. M. Wade, who were 

 present at the restoration of the Faqueer, they recognised the 

 likeness. 



Before entering upon the Explanations of the Plates, I 

 shall give some account of the manners and customs of the 

 Sikhs and Hindoos, in addition to the communications already 

 made. 



Sikh, Sing^ Singh, Khalsa^ are names of that people known 

 to the English by the appellation Sikhs. Sikh is a deriva- 

 tion from Sikhna, to learn ; hence, the Sikhs are disciples 

 ( pupils ) of Baba Nanuk, the Reformer. Sing, signifies a 

 hon, or hero ; the Sikhs conceiving themselves to be a power- 

 ful race, a nation of warriors. 



In their religious principles, they are Reformed Indians. 

 Formerly, the Sikhs inhabited the Punjab only, but, are now 

 to be met with in various parts of Hindostan; as in Cashmere, 

 Thibet, in the North ; in the South, at Moultan and Scinde ; 

 as far as Calcutta, in the East ; and, in the West, at Pisha- 

 wur and Cabul. Notwithstanding their Reformation, the 

 Shikhs, like the Hindoos, burn their dead ; and were they 

 not prohibited by the English, they would burn living be- 

 ings also with the dead. Their hair, as elsewhere stated, is 

 long ; it is wound up in a knot, placed on the fore-part of 

 the head, around which, beginning at tiie knot, they wind 

 a long and narrow muslin of fine texture, which they 

 denominate Destar, r. e. head-dress, bearing the appearance 



