Washington sentinel., 1898-03-26
TT. : - SENTINEL
The Evolution of the sikh Soldier,
BEaemillan's Magazine.

campaign, InaC SONIC account VI
the origin OF these fighting men
may be found interesting, To
those unacquainted with Indian
history it may be difficult to real
ize that the Sikh soldier OF to-day,
so brave in the charge or in the
assault, so steady in retreat, so
devoted--in spite OF race and creed
to his English officer, should be
the representative OF the ianatical
and savage foemen who, but fifty
years ago, shook the power of
Britain in half a dozen bloody bat
ties, and earned almost as much
infamy by the cruelty with which
they treated our wounded as honor
by the tenacity OF their resistance.
The evolution OF the Sikh soldier
dates, however, from a much ear
lier period, and its history is very
strange. The Sikhs, it must be
remembered, were in the beginning
no nation, but merely a weak and
prosecuted religious community,
formed by procession OF priestlY
rulers, known as the ten Gurus,
from the Hindoos who desired to
free themselves from the preten-
sions OF the Brahmans, and to find
in a reformed communion a purer
morality and that religious equal
ity which had been taken from
them by. the development of the
system OF caste. This being an
account Of the Sikh soldier, il must
suffice TO say that their national
religion dates from the period in
the life OF Nanak, its founder. when
(as his disciples believe) he was
carried by angels into the Divine
Presence, and received a mandate
to preach the doctrine OF the true
God on earth. Nanak was born in
- they I46o near the city of La
hore, and had attained manhood
before this miraculous occurrence,
which took place, therefore, toward
the end Of the fifteenth century.
Passing briefly over the gradual
increase in numbers and strength
OF the Sikhs, we arrive, some two
centuries later, at GovInd Singh,
the tenth and last Of the Gurus,
who took upon himself the task Of
uniting the scattered disciples Of
his creed into a military nation.
With this object Goyind Singh re-
suscitated the disused baptismal
rite of the Sikhs, the administrator
and the recipient Of the baptism
both shouting to the assembled
disciples the battlecTy, as it really
was rather than a profession Of
faith, "Wak GNyllji ka Khaksa
Victory to the Khalsa of the
Guru)," which may perhaps be
best interpreted as Victory to the
belongings (or followers) Of God 4"
Govind Singh was assassinated
in the year 1903, by which time the
Sikhs had become a powerful and
waTlike people, strongly united by
the consciousness that by unity and
vigor alone could they hope to
hold their own against the sur
rounding power Of Islam; but they
had yet to await the coming OF the
man who was to weld their con-
iederacies into a nation oi warriors,
to form for them policy, and, by
long years of war and conquest, to
acquire for them kingdom whose
limits should be respected by the
Afghans on the north, and by the
all devouring English on the south.
AT length, in the year 1880. was
born at Goojerat, Runjit Singh,
destined to become a great ruler
OF men, and to be deemed worthy
by many Of the designation Of the
Napoleon of the East. Runjit
Singh was the son of Mahan Singh.
chief Of one of the least powerful
of the twelve coniederacies in
which the Sikhs were at that time
embodied, and, succeeding his
father at the age Of eleven years,
devoted persistent and unswerv-
ing ambition to the task Of gradu-
ally bringing confederacy after
confederacy under his rule, until
he became the absolute monarch
OF the Sikhs and of the kingdom
OF the Punjab.
By the year 1909 RunJit Singh,
though still far from the iul6lment
OF his ambition, had become the
most powerful of the Sikh chief
tains, and it was in that year that
he learned from a triAing incident
the value Of the European system
of military discipline. The weak
Indian escort OF a British mission
vas attacked without the slightest
warning by a fanatical band Of
Sikhs, who had been irritated by
the religious observances of the
Sepoys. The ease with which the
latter, though taken at so great a
disadvantage, repulsed their assail-
ants, greatly impressed the Maha-
rsjah, and decided him on intro
ducing into his army the discipline
which had defeated his most for
midable soldiers. 1t WINS the exc,
--ss--- - & sA-s- -l--.es---L=-a- -saaDiSd
Runjit Singh TO consolidate his
power, and to add to his dominions
those outlying provinces which he
conquered from their former own
eTs, The old Sikh army, from
which the new one was to be
formed, consisted principally of
cavalry, the only arm held in con.
sideration by the Sikhs, raised and
paid under a feudal system, each
chieftain furnishing his followers
with arms and horses- The Sikh
weapon was the sword, which,
when mounted, they used with
great skill. Bows and arrows were