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  SKETCH
  OF
  THE SIKHS;
  A Singular Nation,
  WHO INHABIT THE
  PROVINCES OF THE PENJAB,
  SITUATED BETWEEN
  The Rivers Jumna and Indus.

  BY
  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL MALCOLM,
  AUTHOR OF THE POLITICAL SKETCH OF INDIA.

  LONDON:
  PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET,
  By James Moyes, Greville Street, Hatton Garden.

  1812.




ADVERTISEMENT.


This Sketch has already appeared in the eleventh volume of the Asiatic
Researches: but, as that valuable work is not in common circulation,
it is now republished; and may prove acceptable, as a short and clear
account of an oriental people, of singular religion and manners, with
whose history the European reader can be but little acquainted.




SKETCH OF THE SIKHS.




INTRODUCTION.


When with the British army in the Penjáb, in 1805, I endeavoured to
collect materials that would throw light upon the history, manners, and
religion of the Sikhs. Though this subject had been treated by several
English writers, none of them had possessed opportunities of obtaining
more than very general information regarding this extraordinary race;
and their narratives therefore, though meriting regard, have served
more to excite than to gratify curiosity.

In addition to the information I collected while the army continued
within the territories of the Sikhs, and the personal observations
I was able to make, during that period, upon the customs and manners
of that nation, I succeeded with difficulty in obtaining a copy of
the Adí-Grant'h[1], and of some historical tracts, the most essential
parts of which, when I returned to Calcutta, were explained to me by a
Sikh priest of the Nirmala order, whom I found equally intelligent and
communicative, and who spoke of the religion and ceremonies of his sect
with less restraint than any of his brethren whom I had met with in the
Penjáb. This slender stock of materials was subsequently much enriched
by my friend Dr. Leyden, who has favoured me with a translation of
several tracts written by Sikh authors in the Penjábí and Dúggar
dialects, treating of their history and religion; which, though full
of that warm imagery which marks all oriental works, and particularly
those whose authors enter on the boundless field of Hindú mythology,
contain the most valuable verifications of the different religious
institutions of the Sikh nation.

It was my first intention to have endeavoured to add to these
materials, and to have written, when I had leisure, a history of the
Sikhs; but the active nature of my public duties has made it impossible
to carry this plan into early execution, and I have had the choice of
deferring it to a distant and uncertain period; or of giving, from
what I actually possessed, a short and hasty sketch of their history,
customs, and religion. The latter alternative I have adopted: for,
although the information I may convey in such a sketch may be very
defective, it will be useful at a moment when every information
regarding the Sikhs is of importance; and it may, perhaps, stimulate
and aid some person, who has more leisure and better opportunities, to
accomplish that task which I once contemplated.

In composing this rapid sketch of the Sikhs, I have still had to
encounter various difficulties. There is no part of oriental biography
in which it is more difficult to separate truth from falsehood, than
that which relates to the history of religious impostors. The account
of their lives is generally recorded, either by devoted disciples
and warm adherents, or by violent enemies and bigotted persecutors.
The former, from enthusiastic admiration, decorate them with every
quality and accomplishment that can adorn men: the latter misrepresent
their characters, and detract from all their merits and pretensions.
This general remark I have found to apply with peculiar force to the
varying accounts given, by Sikh and Muhammedan authors, of Nánac and
his successors. As it would have been an endless and unprofitable task
to have entered into a disquisition concerning all the points in which
these authors differ, many considerations have induced me to give a
preference, on almost all occasions, to the original Sikh writers. In
every research into the general history of mankind, it is of the most
essential importance to hear what a nation has to say of itself; and
the knowledge obtained from such sources has a value, independent of
its historical utility. It aids the promotion of social intercourse,
and leads to the establishment of friendship between nations. The
most savage states are those who have most prejudices, and who are
consequently most easily conciliated or offended: they are always
pleased and flattered, when they find, that those whom they cannot
but admit to possess superior intelligence, are acquainted with their
history, and respect their belief and usages: and, on the