S I K 



The Mahometans, who become Sikhs, intermarry with 

 each other, but are allowed to preferve none of their ufages, 

 being obliged to eat hog's flefh, and abftain from circum- 

 cifion. 



The Sikhs are forbidden the ufe of tobacco, but allowed to 

 indulge in fpirituous liquors, which they almoft all drink to 

 excefs ; and it is rare to fee a Sinh foldier, after funfet, 

 quite fober. Their drink is an ardent fpirit, made in the 

 Pinjab ; but they have no objeftion to either the wine or 

 fpirits of Europe, when they can obtain them. 



The ufe of opium to intoxicate is very common with the 

 Sikhs, as with mod of the military tribes of India. They 

 alfo take b'hang (cannabis fativa), another inebriating drug. 



The conduft of the Sikhs to their women differs in no 

 material refpeft from that of the tribes of Hindoos, or Ma- 

 hometans, from whom they are defcendcd : their moral 

 charafter, with regard to women, and indeed in moft other 

 points, may, from the freedom of their habits, generally be 

 confidered as much more lax than that of their ancettors, 

 who lived under the reftraint of fevere reftridlions, and whofe 

 fear of excommunication from their caft, at lead obliged 

 them to cover their fins with the veil of decency. This the 

 emancipated Sikhs defpife ; and there is hardly an infamy 

 which this debauched and diflblute race are not accufed, and 

 with juftice, as fir John Malcolm believed, of committing 

 in the moft open and (hameful manner. 



The Sikhs are almoft all horfemen, and they take great 

 delight in riding. Their horfes were formerly famous for 

 their ftreijgth, temper, and aftivity ; but they are now no 

 better mounted than the Mahrattas. 



Their horfemen ufe fwords and fpears, and moft of them 

 now carry match-locks, though fome ftill ufe the bow and 

 arrow, a fpecies of arms for excellence in the ufe of which 

 their forefathers were celebrated, and which their defcend- 

 ants appear to abandon with great reluftance. 



The education of the Sikhs renders them hardy, and ca- 

 pable of great fatigue ; and the condition of the fociety in 

 which they live, affords conftant exercife to that reftlefs 

 fpirit of aftivity and enterprife which their religion has 

 generated. Such a race cannot be epicures ; they appear, 

 indeed, generally to defpife luxury of diet, and pride them- 

 felves in their coarfe fare. Their drefs is alfo plain, not 

 unlike the Hindoos, equally light, and diverted of ornament. 

 Some of the chiefs wear gold bangles, but this is rare ; and 

 the general charafteriftic of their drefs and mode of living 

 is fimplicity. 



The principal leaders among the Sikhs affeft to be fami- 

 liar and eafy of intercourfe with their inferiors, and to de- 

 fpife the pomp and ftate of the Mahometan chiefs ; but 

 their pride often counterafts this difpofition ; and they ap- 

 pear to have, in proportion to their rank and confequence, 

 more ftate, and to maintain equal, if not more referve and 

 dignity with their followers, than is ufual with the Mah- 

 ratta chiefs. 



It would be difficult, if not imprafticable, to afcertain 

 the amount of the population of the Sikh territories, or 

 even to compute the number of the armies which they could 

 bring into aftion. They boaft that they can raife more 

 than a hundred thoufand horfe ; and, if it were pofTible to 

 afTemble every Sikh horfeman, this ftatement might not be 

 an exaggeration ; but there is, perhaps, no chief among 

 them, except Ranjit Sinh, of Lahore, that could bring an 

 effeftive body of four thoufand men into the field ; and the 

 force of Ranjit Sinh did not, in 1805, aT-ount to eight 

 thoufand, and part of that was under chiefs who had been 

 fubdued from a ftate of independence, and whofe turbulent 

 minds ill-brooked an ufurpation, which they deemed fub- 



S I L 



verfive of the conftitution of their commonwealth. Hi 

 army is now more numerous than it was, but it is con 

 pofed of materials that have no natural cohefion, and th 

 firft ferious check which it meets will probably caufe its di£ 

 folution. 



As for the religion of the Sikhs, it feems, fays fir Job 

 Malcolm, to have been a fort of pure deifm, grounded ( 

 moft fublime general truths, blended with the belief of 

 the abfurdities of the Hindoo mythology, and the fables oi 

 Mahometanifm ; for Nanac profeffed to concihate Hindoo* ' 

 and Mahometans to the belief of his doftrine, by perfuading 

 them to reject thofe parts of their refpeftive belief and 

 ufages, which, he contended, were unworthy of that God 

 whom they both adored. He endeavoured to imprefs both 

 Hindoos and Mahometans with a love of toleration, and an 

 abhorrence of war ; and his life was as peaceable as his 

 dottrine. 



We cannot forbear remarking on the inconfiftency and 

 contradiftion which are involved in the idea of " pure 

 deifm" blended with the belief of abfurdities. As well 

 might we call a fyftem of philofophy perfeft, the greater 

 part of which is nonfenfe. Is it not evident, fays an ano- 

 nymous writer, that fo far as abfurdities are mixed with a 

 religious creed, fo far the purity of its deifm is excluded. 

 — But to proceed ; Guru Govind, as we have already fug- 

 gefted, gave a new charafter to the religion of his followers^ 

 by eftablifhing inftitutions and ufages, which not only fepa- 

 rated them from other Hindoos, but which, by a complete 

 abolition of all diltinftions of cafts, deftroyed a fyftem of 

 civil polity, which, from being interwoven with the religion 

 of a weak and bigotted race, fixed the rule of its prieila 

 upon a bafis that had withftood the Ihock of ages. For 

 further particulars we muft refer to the author, whofe ela- 

 borate account of the Sikhs has furnifhed the principal ma- 

 terials of this article. Malcolm's Sketch of the Sikhs, in 

 vol. xi. of the Afiatic Refearches ; or Sketch of the Sikht, 

 &c. London, 1812. Rennell's Memoir, Introd. £din. 

 Rev. No. 42. 



SIKI, in Geography, atown of Afiatic Turkey, in Cara- 

 mania, on the Draganto ; 27 miles W. of Selefkeh. 



SI-KIANG, or JVeJl River, a river of China, which 

 rifes near Fong-tcheou, in Quang-tong, and runs into the 

 fea, S. of Canton. 



SIKIATZKOI, a town of Ruffia, on the Lena; 140 

 miles N. of Ziganfli. N. lat. 69° 20'. E. long. 121^40'. 



SIKINOS, an ifland in the Grecian Archipelago, which 

 lies feven or eight miles to the W.S.W. of Nio. This 

 ifland is lofty and mountainous, of fmall extent, being about 

 twenty miles in circumference, and contains, according to 

 Olivier, no more than 200 inhabitants. It has no harbour, 

 and is now little frequented by Europeans. Its produftions 

 confift of wheat, barley, wine, cotton, and fruits. It pays 

 about 2000 piaitres to the captain-pacha. A town of the 

 fame name with the ifland is fituatcd on a rock, which hangs 

 over the fea. N. lat. 36^ 43'. E. long. 25° 10'. 



SIKKE. See SiGG. 



SIKNA, a river of Moldavia, which runs into the Zita, 

 20 miles S.W. of Batufzani. 



SIKOKO. See Xicoco. 



SIKOVOE, a fmall ifland in the Eaft Indian fea. S. 

 lat. 7° 12'. E. long. 131° 51'. 



SIL, a river of Switzerland, which runs into the Limat, 

 one mile below Zurich. — Alfo, a river of Spain, in Galicia, 

 which rifes in the mountains to the weft of Leon, where it 

 receives the Bseza and the Burvia in Galicia, paiies on to 

 San-Eftevan and to Torbe, where it receives the Lor, and 



in 



