1881.] 
C. J. Rodgers— On the Coins of the Sikhs. 
73 
before him. In all this we can trace the influence of Muhammad’s Khali- 
fahs who acted at first similarly. 
3. Amar Das was a Khatri. He lived at Gobindwal. He, though un¬ 
able to read and write, composed some verses which are inserted in the 
sacred writings of the Sikhs — the G-ranth. He died in 1571 A. D., having 
nominated his son-in-law Ram Dass his successor. 
4. Ram Dass was an inhabitant of Clink or Umritsur, or rather he 
settled there after his marriage, and the place was afterwards known as 
Guruchak. About this word Chak, we may notice that the “ principality 
of Cheka, the ancient Sakalo, stretched from the Beas on the east to the 
Indus on the west, and from the foot of the Rajaori hills to the confluence 
of the Panjab rivers.* “ It therefore comprised all the plains of the Pan¬ 
jab.The Cheka of A. D. 650 had in fact the same limits as the king¬ 
dom of Lahore in A. I). 1650.”f Cheka would seem to be the country 
inhabited by the Sakas or Indo-Scythians. In the late trip of His Honor 
the Lieutenant-Governor of the Panjab to Ivulu, Thakur Hari Chand of 
Lahoul presented him with three Kanerki coins and a medallion, saying, 
that these coins belonged to “ the dynasty of the Sak-po kings which exist¬ 
ed very long ago.” But the word chak means also the wood placed under 
the brick work in a well. This, however, would not apply to Umritsur as 
here was a fountain and not a well. Hence we may regard Chak as being 
a remnant of the old Cheka or Sakata of the Scythians. 
Ram Dass prospered as a guru. He seems to have had a literary turn. 
As he collected alms, he dug out the tank from which Umritsur takes its 
name. But he did not build it, that is, as we say in India, he did not make 
the tank pakka. For in his successor’s time the tank was overgrown with 
weeds. He died in 1581 A. D. The tank was dug out in 1578 A. D. It 
was outside the city walls. Dr. Trumpp says the city grew round it. This 
was the case afterwards, but not in the time of Ram Dass. There is still 
visible in the city an old gate called the Darshani Darwaza. This was the 
gate by which worshippers were wont to leave the city, when they were 
going to visit ( darshan karnd ) the temple. There are several other gate¬ 
ways still visible, and the walls can be traced. The present city is many 
times larger than what was called Ramdaspur. At present it is the custom 
to dig tanks outside cities, not inside. There were several tanks outside 
Ramdaspur. These formed into dabs afterwards in some cases. They have 
now been filled in and will be converted into intra-mural parks or gardens. 
There were other tanks also outside the city which are now tanks inside, 
such as.the Santokhsar, Ram Sar and Viveksar. Sar is Persian for a foun- 
* J. A. S. B., p. 693, for 1854. 
f Ibid, footnote on same page. 
K 
