SIKHS. 



of Delhi, very rapidly of late years ; and perhaps, the Ze- 

 mindars of that country may have found it convenient to 

 place themfelves under the protection of the Sikhs, in order 

 to avoid the more opprelfive government of their former 

 mailers. It is certain that the eaftern boundary of the Sikhs' 

 dommions has been advanced to the banks of the Jumnah river, 

 above Delhi, and to the neighbourhood of that city ; for the 

 adjoining territory of Schaurunpour is fubjeiS to their depre- 

 dations, if not adually tributary to them ; and they make 

 incurfions even to the fide of the Ganges. On the fouth, 

 they are bounded by the northern extreme of the fandy 

 defert of Regiftan, and on the fouth-weft their boundary 

 meets that of Sindy, or Tatta, at the city of Behker 

 or Bhekr, on the Indus. On the weft the Indus is their ge- 

 neral boundary, as high up as the city of Attock ; near to 

 which begin the territories of the- king of Candahar ; and 

 their northern boundary is the chain of mountains that lies 

 towards Thibet and Calhmere. As this is the cafe, they 

 will be found to poflefj the whole foubah or province of 

 Lahore, the principal part of Moultan, and the wellern part 

 of Delhi ; the dimeniions of which traCl are about 400 

 Britilh miles from N.W. to S.E., and from 150 to 200 

 broad, in general ; although in the part between Attock 

 and Behker (that is, along the Indus) the extent cannot be 

 lefs than 320. Their capital city is Lahore. 



According to the ftatement of brigadier-general Malcolm, 

 the country now polTefled by the Sikhs, which reaches from 

 N. lat. 28^40' to beyond N. lat. 32°, and includes all the 

 Panjab, a fmall part of Moultan, and moll of that tratl of 

 country which lies between the Jumnah and the Setlej, is 

 bounded, to the northward and weftward, by the territories 

 of the king- of Cabul ; to the eaflward, by the pofleflions of 

 the mountaineer rajas of Jammu, Nadon, and Srinagar ; and 

 to the fouthward, by the territories of the Englilh govern- 

 ment, and the fandy deferts of Jafalmer and Hanfya Hifar. 

 A general ellimate of the value of the country poffefTed by 

 the Sikhs may be formed, when it is ftated, that it contains, 

 befidcs other countries, the whole of the province of La- 

 hore ; which, according to Mr. Bernier, produced in the 

 reign of Aurungzebe, 246 lacks and 95,000 rupees ; or 

 2,469,500/. fterling. The Sikhs who inhabit the country 

 between the Setlej and the Jumnah, are called Malawa 

 Sinh, and were alnioll all converted from the Hindoo 

 tribes of Jats and Gujars. The country of the Malwa 

 Sinh is in fome parts fruitful ; but thofe dillrids which bor- 

 der on Hanfya and Carnal are very barren ; being covered 

 with low wood, and in many places almoft deftitutc of water. 

 Its former capital was Sirhind, but it is now a complete 

 ruin. Patiala is now the largell and molt flouriihing town 

 of tins province, and next to it is T'hanefur, which' is ilill 

 held in high veneration by the Hindoos, who have alfo a 

 high reverence for the river Serafweti, which flows through 

 this province. The country of Jalendra Dooab, which reaches 

 from the mountains to the junftion of the Setlej and the 

 Beali, is the moll fruitful of all the poffeffions of the Sikhs, 

 and is perhaps excelled, in climate and vegetation, by no 

 province in India. The foil is light, but very produftive ; 

 the country, which is open and level, abounds in every kind 

 of grain. The towns of Jalendra and Sultanpour are the 

 principal in the Dooab. The country between the Beyah 

 and Ravi rivers is called Bari Dooab, or Manj'ha ; and the 

 Sikhs inhabiting it are called Manj'ha Sinh. The cities of 

 Lahore and Amritfar are both in this province, and confe- 

 quently it becomes the great centre of the power of this na- 

 tion. The country of Bari is faid to be Itfs fertile, parti- 

 cularly towards the mountains, than Jalendra, but lying on 

 the fame level, its chraate and foil mull be nearly the fame. 



The inhabitants of the country between Ravi and Chanhab 

 are called D'harpi Sinh, from D'harpi, the name of the 

 country : the D'hanigheb Sinh are beyond the Chanhab, 

 but within the Jehalara river. The Sind Sinh is the term by 

 which the inhabitants of the diltrifts under the Sikhs bor- 

 dering on the Sind are known ; and Nakai Sinh is the name 

 given to the Sikhs who refide in Moultan. 



The government of the Sikhs may be termed a theocracy. 

 Although they obey a temporal chief, that chief preferves 

 his power and authority by profeding himfelf the lervant of 

 the khalfa, or government, which can only be faid to aft, in 

 times of great public emergency, through the means of a 

 national council, of which every chief is a member, and 

 which is fuppofed to deliberate and refolve under the imme- 

 diate infpiration and impulfe of an invifible being ; who, as 

 they believe, always watches over the interefts of the com- 

 monwealth. It is natural, however, to imagine that the 

 power of this aflembly ftiould decline ; and from Col. 

 Malcolm's account, we may infer, that it is nearly de- 

 ftroyed. The laft Guru-mata was called in 1805, when the 

 Britifh army purfued Holkar into the Panjab. The go- 

 vernment is mild ; but in their mode of making war the 

 Sikhs are unqueltionably favage and cruel. Among the 

 Sikhs there is a clafs of devotees, called Acalis, or immortals, 

 who, under the double charafter of fanatic priells and def- 

 perate foldiers, have ufurped the fole direftion of all re- 

 ligious affairs at Amritfar ; and who, of courfe, are leading 

 men in a national council held at that facred place, and which 

 deliberates under all the influence of religious enthuCafm. 

 This order of Sikhs was firll founded by Guru Govind, and 

 are dillinguilhed by their drefs, as well as by their having al- 

 moll the fole direftion of the religious ceremonies at Amritfar. 

 They have a place on the bank of the facred refervoir of Am- 

 ritfar, where they generally refort, but are individually pof- 

 fefled of property, though they affeft poverty, and fubfilt 

 on charity. The principal chiefs of the Sikhs are all de- 

 fcended from Hindoo tribes. The lower order of Sikhs, 

 compared with the wretched Mahometans who are doomed 

 to oppreffion and hard labour, are happy ; they are pro- 

 tefted from the tyranny and violence of the chiefs under whom 

 they live by the precepts of their common religion, and by 

 the condition of their country, which enables them to aban- 

 don, whenever they chufe, a leader whom they diflike. The 

 civil ofBcers, to whom the chiefs entruil their accounts, and 

 the management of their property and revenue concerns, as 

 well as the conduft of their negociations, were in general 

 Sikhs of the Khalafa call, who, being followers of Nanac, 

 and not of Guru Govind, are not devoted to arms, but edu- 

 cated for peaceful occupations, in which they often become 

 very expert and intelligent. In the colleftion of the revenue 

 of the Panjab, it is faid to be a general rule, that the chiefs 

 to whom the territories belong fhould receive the half of the 

 produce, grain paying in kind, but fugar, melons, &c. 

 in calh, and the farmer the other : but the chief never levies 

 the whole of his (hare ; and in no country, perhaps, is the 

 ryat, or cultivator, treated with more indulgence. Com- 

 merce is rather reftrained than encouraged by the heavy du- 

 ties and the dittrafted ftate of the country. However, a 

 great part of the fliawl trade now flows through the cities of 

 Lahore, Amritfar, and Patiala, to Hindooltan. The ad- 

 miniftration of jullice among the Sikhs is in a very rude and 

 imperfeft ftate. 



Their law is all unwritten. Nothing is conligned to any 

 exprefs form of words. There is no definition of any 

 thing. The cultom of the country, the cuftom of the 

 court, (that is to fay, as far as the judge is pleafed to be 

 governed by thofe culloms), and the will of the judge, — are 



the 



