Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-06-17
Geographic News
Bulletins By the
National Geographic Society

THE PUNJAB AND THE SKIES
Good weather in the Dakotas,
! plus adequate transportation, means
an ample wheat supply for n
United States. In Punjab, the Da-
kotas of India, there is a third fac
tor religion, which may affect ma
terially the wheat supply of the Brit
ish Empire. This unknown guam
tity, religion, plays a part in h
geography of the East which is often
puZziing to the son of the Occi-
dent" says a bulletin from the
Washington, d.. c., headquarters OF
the National Geographic Society.
concerning recent revolutionary ac-
tivities in the Punjab.
THE Sikhs. who number fewer
than nine per cent of the 25,000,-
600 crowded into this wheat-teld
area of Kipling's tales, constitute
the present disturbing factor. And,
strangely enough, this religion which
probably is the closest to Christian
ity hat ever sprang from west of
the Suez shows a development ex-
actly opposite to that which marked
the prevailing religion of Europe
and America.
An Opposite Development
The Christian religions generally
regard the eye for an eye doctrine
of the Old Testament to have been
superseded by the teaching regard
ing forgiveness until seventy times
seven which is TO be found in the
New Testament. The Granth, or
Bible of the Sikhs has in its early
portion this injunction, If anyone
treat you i'll, bear it. II you bear
it three times God himself will fight
for you and humble your enemies
1t 10 interesting to note that tbs
philosophy forms the keynote of
GaEdhis activities.
However. in a second book, OF
New Testament, called 'Granth of
the Tenth Reign IL to be found
this bit of poetry:
Il bow to the Arrow and the Cannon
Which destroy the enemy.
l bow to the Sword and the Rapier
Which destroy the will
And it is because the latter pass
age today is more generally ad-
hered to by the Sikhs, with whom
religion is the most intense reality
OF life. that their minority popula-
don in the Punjab has become an
important factor in India's geog-
raphy. economics, and political
history.
THE region OF the five rivers
which Ii the meaning of Punjab, is
n OF the hest known areas of
India. since 1t not only is a favorite
Kipling locale, but also contains the
semi-capital. Simla; the Sikh Holy
City, Amritsar, of massacre memory;
and the new capital. Delhi. with
its world-famed bazaars. The en-
tire Punjab comprises an area about
equal to that of North and South
Dakota. 1t rests upon q broad basC
along the foothills of the Himala-
vas, n a major portion slopes
between the valleys of the Indus and
the Sutlej to an apex southwest of
their confluence. A ~rectangle lies
west of the Indus along the Balucn-
istan border, while a second tri-
angle, with the upper Sutlej as it's
base, projects toward the southeast.
The Mecca of the Sikhs
Near the geographical center of
the Pun1ab is Amritsar. city of car
pets and malaria to the outside
world. but. what Is more important
IN India, holy city of the Sikhs.
Thirty-six miles to the west is La
hore. where the founder of Sikhism,
Nanak, was born less than a quar-
ter of a century before Columbus
discovered America.
'cNioh was SuCCetuGu DY nine
gurus or teachers. The fifth of
these. Arjan, compiled tn. Granth,
n h tenth. Govind, added those
portions which exalt the sworn. The
last OF the gurus also Initiated the
ceremony bapt.ziIg the Sikh youths
with water dripping from a two
eSged sword, after which they must |
wear their hair long and carry a
dagger.
Emancipate Their Women
The standard English work on
the Sikh religion comprises six VOL
umnes, and Sikhism is one of the
newer and simpler religions of In
Ola. at that! The Sikh teachings
give their women greater freedom,
break down rigid caste lines. forbid
piigrimages to Hindu holy places,
and discourage the use of wines and
tobacco. Sikhism embodies the con-
cept of a universal god rather than
a tribal diety, 1t is strikingly akin
70 Christian teachings regarding |
family life, but it differs from Chris
tlanity in holding fast to the Orien-
tai belief In transmigration of souls
and in a fatalism which is accepted |
literally than the western |
mind ever accepted predestination.
The Sikh religion developed in |
tnat part of India which has been
a corridor for many migrations and |
a battlefield for centuries. 1t has
reacted upon Nthe hidebound and
age-long beliefslthat are more pecu- |
liarly OF the East and yet it has
caused clashes with the British nota- |
bly, during the Sikh wars because |
1t was able to meet sword with
sword, where other Indian religions |
employed subtler, and more
methods, notably the |
non-co-operation tactics of Gandhi's
followers"