SIKHS. 



tlie circumllances wliich guide the decifion. Among the 

 Hindoos fome of the facred books, among the Mahometans 

 the Koran, are ufed as the books of hiw. Among the Sikhs 

 there is no fuch reference to any facred books ; and their litna- 

 tion is, in all probability, fo much the better : for the Ko- 

 ran or Hindoo books afford fcarcely any rules or principles 

 of law, whieh are not fo vague as to fpeak any language 

 which the interpreter chufes to give them ; and while their 

 authority is fufficient to fuperfede that of the natural dictates 

 of juflice and equity, which are the only guides of the Sikh 

 judges, the Hindoo or Mahometan has only to fisd or to feign 

 a principle of his book, which may enable him to decide as he 

 pleafes. 



Trifling difputes about property are fettled by the heads 

 of the village, by arbitration, or by the chiefs. The court 

 of arbitration is csWeA panchayat, or a court of five, the ge- 

 neral number of arbitrators chofen to adjuft differences and 

 difputes. It is ufual to aifemble a panchayat, or a court of 

 arbitration, in every part of India under a native govern- 

 ment ; and, as they are always chofen from men of the belt 

 reputation in the place where they meet, this court has a 

 high charafter for juilice. The decifion obtained by either 

 of thefe modes is final. If a tlieft occurs, the property 

 is recovered, and the party punifhed, not with death, by the 

 perfon from whom it was Itolcn, or by the inhabitants of the 

 village, or his chief. Murder is fometimes punifhed by the 

 chief; but more generally by the relatives of the deceafcd, 

 who, in fuch cafes, rigoroufly retaliate or the murderer, and 

 fometimes on all who endeavour to prote£l him. 



The character of the Sikhs, or rather Sinhs, which is the 

 , name by which the followers of Guru Govind, who are all 

 devoted to arms, are dillinguifhed, is very marked. They 

 have, in general, the Hindoo call of countenance, fomewhat 

 altered by their long beards, and are to the full as aftive as the 

 Mahrattas, and much more robufl, from their living fuller, 

 and enjoying a better and colder climate. Their courage is 

 equal at all times to that of any natives of India ; and when 

 wrought upon by prejudice or religion, is quite defperatc. 

 They are all horfemen, and have no infantry in their own 

 country, except for the defence of their forts and villages, 

 though they generally ferve as infantry in foreign armies. 

 They are bold, and rather rough in their addrefs, which ap- 

 pears more to a flranger from their invariably fpeaking in a 

 loud tone of voice : but this is quite a habit, and is alike 

 ufed by them to exprefs the fcntimcnts of regard and hatred. 

 The Sikhs have been reputed deceitful and cruel, but fir John 

 Malcolm knew no grounds upon which they could be con- 

 fidercd more fo than the other tribes of India : they fcemed to 

 him, from all the intercourle he had with them, to be more 

 open and fincere than the Mahrattas, and lefs rude and lavage 

 than the Afghans. They have, indeed, become, from national 

 fucccfj, too proud of their own flrcngth, and too irritable in 

 their tempers, to have patience for the wiles of the former : 

 and they retain, in fpite of their change of manners and 

 religion, too much of the orignial charaftcr of their Hindoo 

 anceftors, (for the great majority are of the Hindoo race,) 

 to have the conftitutional ferocity of the latter. The Sikh 

 foldier is, generally fpeaking, brave, aftive, and cheerful ; 

 without polifh, but delluute neither of fincerity nor attach- 

 ment ; and, if he often appears wanting in humanity, it is 

 not fo much to be attributed to his national character, as 

 to the habits of a life, which, from the condition of the 

 fociety in which he is born, is generally pall in feenes of 

 violence and rapine. 



The Sikh merchant, or cultivator of the foil, if he is a 

 Sinh, differs little in charafter from the foldier, except that 

 bit occupation renders him lefs prefuraing and boilierous. 



He alfo wears arms, and is, from education, prompt to ufe 

 them, whenever his individual intcrell, «r that of the com- 

 munity in which he lives, reqnires him to do fo. The gene- 

 ral occupations of the Khalala Sikhs has been before men- 

 tioned. Their character differs widely from that of the 

 Sinhs. Full of intrigue, pliant, verfatilc, and inlinuating, 

 they have all the art of the lower claffes of Hindoos, who 

 are ufually employed in tranfafting bufinefs ; from whom, 

 indeed, as they have no diflinclion of drefs, it is very diffi- 

 cult to dillinguifli them. 



The general character of the religious tribes of Acalis, 

 Shahid, and Nirmala, is formed from their habits of life. The 

 Acalis are infolent, ignorant, and daring : prefuming upon 

 thofe rights which their numbers and fanatic courap-e have 

 ellablifhed, their deportment is hardly tolerant to the other 

 Sikhs, and infufferable to tlrangers, for whom they enter- 

 tain a contempt whieh they take little pains to conceal. 

 The Shahid and the Nirmala, particularly the latter, have 

 more knowledge and more urbanity ; they are almoll all 

 men of quiet, peaceable habits ; and many of them are faid 

 to poffefs learning. 



There is another tribe among the Sikhs, called the Na- 

 nac Pautra, or defcendants of Nanac, who have the charac- 

 ter of being a mild, inoffenfive race ; and though they do 

 not acknowledge the inflitutions of Guru Govind, they are 

 greatly revered by his followers, who hold it facrilege to 

 injure the race of their founder ; and, under the advantage 

 which this general veneration affords them, the Nanac Pautra 

 purfue their occupations ; which, if they are not mendicants, 

 is generally that of traveUing merchants. They do not carry 

 arms ; and protefs, agreeably to the doftrine of Nanac, to be 

 at peace with all mankind. 



The Sikh convert? continue, after they have quitted their 

 original religion, all thofe civil ufages and cufioms of the 

 tribes to which they belonged, that they can praftife, with- 

 out infringement of the tenets of Nanac, or the inflitutions of 

 Guru Govind. They are moft particular with regard to 

 their intermarriages ; and on this point, Sikhs defccnded 

 from Hindoos almoll invariably conform to Hindoo culloms, 

 every tribe intermarrying within itfelf. The Hindoo ulage 

 regarding diet, is alfo held equally facred; no Sikh de- 

 feended from a Hindoo family ever violating it, except upon 

 particular occafions, fuch as a Guru-mata, when they are 

 obliged, by tiieir tenets and inflitutions, to eat promifcu- 

 oufly. The ftri£t obfervance of thefe ufages has enabled 

 many of the Sikhs, particularly of tiie Jat and Gujar tribes, 

 which include almoll all thofe fettled to the foulh of the 

 Setlej, to preferve an intimate intercourfe with their original 

 tribes ; who, confidering the Sikhs not as having loll call, 

 but as Hindoos that have joined a political allociation, which 

 obliges them to conform to general rules ellablifhed for its pre- 

 fervation, neither refufe to intermarry, nor to eat with them. 



Wc (liall here add, that the " Jats" are Hindoos of a low 

 tribe, who, taking advantage of the declining Hate of the 

 Mogul empire, have, by their courage and enterprile, raifed 

 themlclver. to lome coiifcquence on the iiorth-wclleni parts of 

 Hindoollan, and many of the tlrongell forts of that p.irl of 

 India are iliU in their polklhon. The " Gujars" are alfo 

 Hindoos, and have railed themfelvcs to power by means rot 

 dilfimilar to thole ufed by the .Fats. Almoll all the thieves 

 in Hindoollan are of tiiis tribe. 



The iiigher call of Hindoos, fuch as Brahmens and Cflia- 

 triyas, who liave become Sikhs, continue to intermarry with 

 emiverts of their own tribes, but not with Hindoos ofllie 

 call they have abandoned, as they are polluted by eating 

 animal food, all kinds of winch are lawful to Sikhs, except 

 the cow, which it is held fscrilege to Hay. 



2 Tl« 



