Tempo:
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
94 1764.
sect
esta-
blished as a
CHAP, rv
coin with an inscription to the effect that Guru Gobind had received from Nanak 'Deg, Tegh, and Fath', or Grace, Power, and Rapid Victory.^
ruLng people. The Sikhs were not interfered with for two years, The Sikhs form or fall and the short interval was employed in ascertaining into a tical
poli-
system,
which may be termed n theocratic
confederate feudalism.
actual possessions, and in determining their mutual relations in their unaccustomed condition of liberty and power. Every Sikh was free, and each was a substantive member of the commonwealth; but their means, their abilities, and their opportunities were various and unequal, and it was soon found that all could not lead, and that there were even then masters as well as servants. Their system naturally resolved itself into a theocratic confederate feudalism, with all the confusion and uncertainty attendant upon a triple their
alliance of the kind in a society half-barbarous.
God
was their helper and only judge, community of faith or object was their moving principle, and warlike array, the devotion to steel of Gobind, was their material instrument. Year by year the 'Sarbat Khalsa', or whole Sikh people, met once at least at Amritsar, on the occasion of the festival of the mythological Rama,
Their Gurumattas, or diets.
when the cessation of the periodical rains rendered military operations practicable. It was perhaps hoped that the performance of religious duties, and the awe inspired by so holy a place, might cause selfishness to yield to a regard for the general welfare, and the assembly of chiefs was termed a 'Gurumatta', to denote that, in conformity with Gobind's injunction, they sought wisdom and unanimity of counsel from their teacher and the book of his word.- The leaders who Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 25, 27; Forster, Travels, i. 321, 323; Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 296, 297; and Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 26, 27. 1
The rupees struck were called 'Gobindshahi', and the use name was rejected (Browne, Tracts, ii. 28), although existing coins show that it was afterwards occasionallyinserted by petty chiefs. On most coins struck by Ranjit Singh of the emperor's
is
the inscription, 'Deg, tegh, wa fath, wa nasrat be darang Yaft az Nanak Guru Gobind Singh',
that is literally, 'Grace, power, and victory, victory without pause, Guru Gobind Singh obtained from Nanak.' For some observations on the words Deg, and Tegh, and Fath, see Appendices IX and XII. Browne (Tracts, ii. Introd. vii) gives no typical import to 'Deg', and therefore leaves it meaningless; but he is perhaps more prudent than Col. Sleeman, who writes of 'the sword, the pot victory, and conquest being quickly found', &c. &c. (See Rambles of An Indiaii Official, ~
'Mat'
ii.
233, note.)
means understanding, and 'Malta' counsel or wis-
94 1764.
sect
esta-
blished as a
CHAP, rv
coin with an inscription to the effect that Guru Gobind had received from Nanak 'Deg, Tegh, and Fath', or Grace, Power, and Rapid Victory.^
ruLng people. The Sikhs were not interfered with for two years, The Sikhs form or fall and the short interval was employed in ascertaining into a tical
poli-
system,
which may be termed n theocratic
confederate feudalism.
actual possessions, and in determining their mutual relations in their unaccustomed condition of liberty and power. Every Sikh was free, and each was a substantive member of the commonwealth; but their means, their abilities, and their opportunities were various and unequal, and it was soon found that all could not lead, and that there were even then masters as well as servants. Their system naturally resolved itself into a theocratic confederate feudalism, with all the confusion and uncertainty attendant upon a triple their
alliance of the kind in a society half-barbarous.
God
was their helper and only judge, community of faith or object was their moving principle, and warlike array, the devotion to steel of Gobind, was their material instrument. Year by year the 'Sarbat Khalsa', or whole Sikh people, met once at least at Amritsar, on the occasion of the festival of the mythological Rama,
Their Gurumattas, or diets.
when the cessation of the periodical rains rendered military operations practicable. It was perhaps hoped that the performance of religious duties, and the awe inspired by so holy a place, might cause selfishness to yield to a regard for the general welfare, and the assembly of chiefs was termed a 'Gurumatta', to denote that, in conformity with Gobind's injunction, they sought wisdom and unanimity of counsel from their teacher and the book of his word.- The leaders who Cf. Browne, India Tracts, ii. 25, 27; Forster, Travels, i. 321, 323; Elphinstone, Kabul, ii. 296, 297; and Murray, Ranjit Singh, pp. 26, 27. 1
The rupees struck were called 'Gobindshahi', and the use name was rejected (Browne, Tracts, ii. 28), although existing coins show that it was afterwards occasionallyinserted by petty chiefs. On most coins struck by Ranjit Singh of the emperor's
is
the inscription, 'Deg, tegh, wa fath, wa nasrat be darang Yaft az Nanak Guru Gobind Singh',
that is literally, 'Grace, power, and victory, victory without pause, Guru Gobind Singh obtained from Nanak.' For some observations on the words Deg, and Tegh, and Fath, see Appendices IX and XII. Browne (Tracts, ii. Introd. vii) gives no typical import to 'Deg', and therefore leaves it meaningless; but he is perhaps more prudent than Col. Sleeman, who writes of 'the sword, the pot victory, and conquest being quickly found', &c. &c. (See Rambles of An Indiaii Official, ~
'Mat'
ii.
233, note.)
means understanding, and 'Malta' counsel or wis-
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