Tempo:
96 1764.
incomplete
and temporary.
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
CHAP. IV
dictates of our common nature, than in the enactments of assemblies, or in the injunctions of their religious guides. It was soon apparent that the strong were ever ready to make themselves obeyed, and ever anxious to appropriate all within their power, and that unity of creed or of race nowhere deters men from full persuasion of God's preying upon one another. grace was nevertheless present to the mind of a Sikh, and every member of that faith continues to defer to the mystic Khalsa; but it requires the touch of genius, or the operation of peculiar circumstances, to give direction and complete effect to the enthusiastic belief of a multitude.
A
The conI'ederacies
called Misals.
The confederacies into which the Sikhs resolved themselves have been usually recorded as twelve in number, and the term used to denote such a union was Each Misal the Arabic word 'Misal', alike or equal. obeyed or followed a 'Sirdar', that is simply, a chief or leader; but so general a title was as applicable to the head of a small band as to the commander of a large host of the free and equal 'Singhs' of the system. ^
The confederacies did not all exist in their full strength at the same time, but one 'Misal' gave birth to another;
Their
names and particular origin.
for the federative principle necessarily pervaded the union, and an aspiring chief could separate himself from his immediate party, to form, perhaps, a greater one of his own. The Misals were again distinguished
by titles derived from the name, the village, the district, or the progeni'tor of the first or most eminent chief,
or
from some peculiarity of custom or of leadership.
Thus, of the twelve (1) the Bhangis were so called from the real or fancied fondness of its members for the use of an intoxicating drug; (2) the Nishanias followed the standard bearers of the united army; (3) the Shahids and Nihangs were headed, by the descend:
ants of honoured martyrs and zealots; (4) the Ramgarhias took their name from the Ram Rauni, or Fortalice of God, at Amritsar, enlarged into Ramgarh, or Fort of the Lord, by Jassa the Carpenter; (5) the Nakkais arose in a tract of country to the south of Lahore so-called; (6) the Ahluwalias derived their title 1 Notwithstanding this usual derivation of the term, it maybe remembered that the Arabic term 'Musluhut' (spelt with another s than that in 'misal') means armed men and warlike people. 'Misal', moreover, means, in India, a file of papers, or indeed anything serried or placed in ranks. 2 Bhang is a product of the hemp plant, and it is to the Sikhs what opium is to Rajputs, and strong liquor to Europeans. Its qualities are abused to an extent prejudicial to the health and understanding.
incomplete
and temporary.
HISTORY OF THE SIKHS
CHAP. IV
dictates of our common nature, than in the enactments of assemblies, or in the injunctions of their religious guides. It was soon apparent that the strong were ever ready to make themselves obeyed, and ever anxious to appropriate all within their power, and that unity of creed or of race nowhere deters men from full persuasion of God's preying upon one another. grace was nevertheless present to the mind of a Sikh, and every member of that faith continues to defer to the mystic Khalsa; but it requires the touch of genius, or the operation of peculiar circumstances, to give direction and complete effect to the enthusiastic belief of a multitude.
A
The conI'ederacies
called Misals.
The confederacies into which the Sikhs resolved themselves have been usually recorded as twelve in number, and the term used to denote such a union was Each Misal the Arabic word 'Misal', alike or equal. obeyed or followed a 'Sirdar', that is simply, a chief or leader; but so general a title was as applicable to the head of a small band as to the commander of a large host of the free and equal 'Singhs' of the system. ^
The confederacies did not all exist in their full strength at the same time, but one 'Misal' gave birth to another;
Their
names and particular origin.
for the federative principle necessarily pervaded the union, and an aspiring chief could separate himself from his immediate party, to form, perhaps, a greater one of his own. The Misals were again distinguished
by titles derived from the name, the village, the district, or the progeni'tor of the first or most eminent chief,
or
from some peculiarity of custom or of leadership.
Thus, of the twelve (1) the Bhangis were so called from the real or fancied fondness of its members for the use of an intoxicating drug; (2) the Nishanias followed the standard bearers of the united army; (3) the Shahids and Nihangs were headed, by the descend:
ants of honoured martyrs and zealots; (4) the Ramgarhias took their name from the Ram Rauni, or Fortalice of God, at Amritsar, enlarged into Ramgarh, or Fort of the Lord, by Jassa the Carpenter; (5) the Nakkais arose in a tract of country to the south of Lahore so-called; (6) the Ahluwalias derived their title 1 Notwithstanding this usual derivation of the term, it maybe remembered that the Arabic term 'Musluhut' (spelt with another s than that in 'misal') means armed men and warlike people. 'Misal', moreover, means, in India, a file of papers, or indeed anything serried or placed in ranks. 2 Bhang is a product of the hemp plant, and it is to the Sikhs what opium is to Rajputs, and strong liquor to Europeans. Its qualities are abused to an extent prejudicial to the health and understanding.
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