LAHORE. 



501 



Indus, which divides it from Afghanistan. It was re- 

 duced by the Mahommedan invaders under Sultan Ba- 

 ber, in tt.e year 1520, and continued for some time to 

 be the principal seat of the Mogul government, before 

 they had e*tablihed thrir power in the central parts of 

 Hindustan. In 1.5VJ, as described by Abel Fazel, it 

 contained five circars, which were subdivided into Z3\ 

 pergunnahs ; and was capable of furnishing 54,480 ca- 

 valry, and 4-t),08(>' infantry. It has, of late years, fallen 

 under the dominion of the Seiks, and greatly decayed 

 in it-s prosperity. It consists of two portions of nearly 

 equal extent; the mountainous districts, which occupy 

 the whole space from 32 north ; and the flat country, 

 to the south of this latitude, which is generally known 

 by the name of the Punjab. This appellation is some- 

 time* erroneou-ly applied to the whole province, but 

 properly describe* the lower part, referring to the five 

 noble river: by which it is intersected, viz. the Sutu- 

 leje, the Bevah (or Hynhasis), the Chinaub (or A Ce- 

 line*), the ILtvey (or Hydraotei), the Behat (or Hy- 

 daapes). The climate is generally temperate; and in 

 the northern regions the degree of cold, during winter, 

 it little inferior to that of the central countries of Eu- 

 rope. The Punjab is by far the mo-t fertile part of 

 the province , and, when properly cultivated, produces 

 abundantly wheat, barley, rice, pulse of all sorts, su- 

 gar-cane, tobacco, and various fruits. In the eastern 

 parts, the side* of the inhabited mountains, where the 

 earth washed down by the rain is supported by but- 

 treMea of looat ttoae*, to as to form range* of separate 

 flat*, produce wheat, barley, and a variety of small 

 now ; while rice, though not the usual food of the in- 

 habitants, ia cultivated in the narrow vallie*. In the 

 naowitaiaou* tract towards Cashmere, pines and wil- 

 low* are *een on the aide* of the hill-, ; but the climate 

 of the northern district, being too hot for the Pcnw 

 production*, vet not nJJciantly warm to mature Uiose 

 of India, b ufa.oaMbfa for fruit, and niitarilBi In 



many part* of the province large l>ed* of fossil salt are 

 i ; and it i* conjectured, that tbe mountainous 

 tract* arc rich in all sort* of mineral*. A* die country 

 is subject to a* many petty chiefs, in a greet degree in- 

 dependent of one another, and scarcely subject to any 

 authoritative head, tbe commerce of the country is 

 greatly obstructed l>y heavy duties in passing through 

 their different territories ; and tbe regular trade, which 

 the Punjab used to carry on with the other parts of 

 Hindostan, ha* ia a great measure r rased, The Seik 

 chief*, however, have began to perceive their error, 

 and are endeavouring to afford facilities, and restore 

 nmtideace to tbe merchant A trifling commerce is, 

 .n the mean time, carried on by petty traders, who 

 procure pauport* from the respective rajahs through 

 whose boundarie* they have to pass. In this way the 

 province expert* to the countries west of the Indus, 

 sugar, rice, indigo, wheat, and white cotton cloth*; 

 and import* from these countries, swords, horses, fruits, 

 lead, and jpices. 



To Cashmere, its exports are nearly the same ; and 

 its import* shawls and other cloths, saffron, and fruits. 

 To the Deccan are exported horses, cameU, sugar, rice, 

 white cloth, matchlock*, swords, bows, and arrow* ; and 

 from that country are imported sulphur, indigo, salt, 

 lead, iron, -put*, and European broad cloth. With 

 tbe inhabitant* of the mountainous part* of the pro- 

 vince, the people of the Punjab exchange cloth, match- 

 locks, and horse*, for iron, and other smaller commo- 

 dities^ Tbe general rate of the revenue exacted by the 



Seik chiefs is one half of the produce ; but the whole 

 of this assessment is never levied, and the ryots or cul- 

 tivators are treated with considerable indulgence. Ow- 

 ing, however, to the number of petty hostile states into 

 which the country is divided, and the frequent devasta- 

 tions to which it is exposed, many of its best portions, 

 especially that which lies betwixt the Jumna and the 

 Indus, are very imperfectly cultivated, and much of the 

 land entirely waste. The inhabitants are composed of 

 Jauts, Mahommedans, Rajpoots, and other Hindoos of 

 lower castes, Seiks, and Singhs. The Jauts, originally 

 a tribe of Hindoos, who erected a state in the province 

 of Agra, but no longer exist as a nation, and are chief- 

 ly found among the cultivators of the soil in Lahore. 

 The Mahommedans, who are numerous, are, in the Seik 

 territories, a poor, oppressed, and despised race, em- 

 ployed chiefly in tilling the ground, carrying burdens, 

 and performing other kinds of hard labour. They are 

 not allowed to eat beef, or say their prayers aloud, and 

 seldom permitted to assemble in their mosques, of which 

 few in the province have escaped destruction. The 

 natives of the mountains are composed of different class- 

 es of Hindoo*, and differ very little from the Southern 

 Hindoos. The goitre or swelled throat is very com- 

 mon among tliem. The inhabitants of the north-west 

 borders are chiefly Afghans, living ill small forts, or 

 walled villages, mutually distrusting one another, and 

 often subjected to the depredations of the Seiks. The 

 Seiks, whose religion is a kind of deism, blended with 

 many of the Hindoo and Mahommedan tenets, form 

 one-fourth part of the inhabitants of the Punjab ; and 

 are daily increasing in number by converts from other 

 rl**if. They are chiefly descended from the Hindoos, 

 whom they resemble in their cast of countenance ; but, 

 from their fuller diet, are more robust and active, even 

 than the Mahrattas. The original Seiks are full of in- 

 trigue, a,id remarkable from their insinuating manners, 

 pouaxing all the artifice of the lower classes of Hin- 

 doaa employed in business, and resembling them in 

 dreat, &c. to as to be with difficulty distinguished. 

 Tbe Singh*, a name signifying lions, are those Seiks, 

 by far the majority, who follow the tenets of Gooroo 

 Govind, their last acknowledged religious ruler ; and 

 have become a band of ferocious soldiers, distinguished 

 by the free growth of the hair on their heads and beards. 

 They are all horsemen, though many of them serve as 

 infantry in other armies ; and their courage is equal to 

 that of any of the natives of India, frequently roused, 

 by their enthusiasm, to a degree of absolute desperation. 

 They are extremely rough and intrepid in their ad- 

 dreit, peak ing invariably in a loud tone of voice. They 

 indulge freely in spiritous liquors, as well as in opium 

 and bang, and are rarely quite sober after sunset. The 

 whole lower orders of the Seiks, or Singhs, are tolera- 

 bly well protected from the oppression of their chiefs, 

 by the precepts of their religion, which teaches univer- 

 sal equality among all who hold their faith, and by the 

 condition of their country, which enables them easily to 

 transfer themselves to the territories and service of a 

 new leader. Owing, however, to the unsettled nature 

 of the government, the whole province is in a most 

 wretched state of cultivation, and is one of the most 

 thinly inhabited in India. The population, dispersed 

 over a surface of 70,<MX> square miles, is not supposed 

 to exceed four millions. It might otherwise, with its 

 great natural advantages, the remarkable fertility of its 

 southern plains, and the temperate cliniate of its north- 

 ern district*, form the basis of a powerful empire ; and, 



Lahore. 



