THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER AND RELIGIOUS MISCELLANY. JANUARY, 1850. ART. I. THE BRITISH EMPIRE IN INDIA.* THE progress of conquest has, within the last few years, brought the English into conflict with a people remarkable alike for its religious, social, and political history, the Sikhs of Northern India. This nation is, comparatively, of recent origin. It dates back to the close of the fifteenth century. It traces its foundation to a Gooroo, or priest, named Nânuk, who, becoming dissatisfied both with the Hindoo and Mahometan beliefs and usages, rejected them all as unauthoritative, drew from Braminism, Buddhism, and Mahometanism whatever seemed to him of value, and elaborated the materials thus collected into an eclectic system of his own. He was a moral and religious reformer. He taught a pure theism, inculcated universal toleration, rejected all forms as immaterial, and taught that the Hindoo and the Mahometan worship were equally acceptable to God. He discouraged asceticism, and the Hindoo system of caste.. "God will not ask man of his birth, He will ask him what he has done." "Of the impure among the noblest, Of one pure among the most despised, Nanuk will become the footstool." A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej. By JOSEPH DAVEY CUNNINGHAM, Lieut. of Engineers and Captain in the Army of India. London: John Murray. 1849. 8vo. VOL. XLVIII. · -4TH S. VOL. XIII. NO. I. 1 He enjoined on his followers the practice of devotion, charity, and good works. His system was a kind of Oriental Quakerism, and it seemed as if its votaries must live at peace with all mankind. His followers, called Sikhs, which word means disciples, were at first few in number, and constituted a religious body. It increased slowly, by the addition of converts, for a century, when it began to excite the jealousy of the Mahometan sovereigns at Delhi, and in attempts made by the latter to suppress them, the spiritual head of the Sikhs was put to death. This act of tyranny kindled the passion for revenge, and converted those who had been almost religious quietists into fanatical soldiers. The first step in the changes through which they passed led to the universal use of arms, and the adoption of a military system. The tenth and last Gooroo, Govind Singh, organized them into a political society, inspired them with the idea of social freedom and equality, and with the desire for a national existence and independence. This took place at the conclusion of the seventeenth century. Under Govind Singh, the Sikhs became organized into a political and military commonwealth. The system of caste was entirely abolished, and converts from every faith were admitted on equal terms. Socially, all were regarded as standing on the same level. The usual forms of worship were laid aside, and, with the exception of the prohibition of the cow and of swine, all distinctions relating to food and liquors were removed. To give unity to the state, their leader adopted new modes of salutation, and introduced peculiar customs, by which his followers should be separated from the rest of the world. They were to be dressed in blue garments; a peculiar form of initiation was invented; the faithful were to worship the one invisible God, to hold in honor the memory of Nânuk and his successors, but to revere nothing visible except their sacred book. They were all to be called Singhs, or soldiers. Each one was a soldier "devoted to steel" from his birth or initiation. He was always to carry steel in some form about his person, should be ever waging war, while he should be held in special honor who fought in the van, and who, even when overcome, did not despair. 1850.] The Commonwealth of the Sikhs. 3 This commonwealth was of such a kind as to draw into it large numbers of the boldest and most adventurous spirits of the neighbouring states. After the death of Govind, there was no longer a visible, priestly head, but in place of it was substituted the idea of the Khalsa, or church, by which term they designated their commonwealth, and in which they arrogated to themselves the exclusive title of the Faithful. This blended religious and military organization was of a kind to call into action the strongest passions of human nature. Personal freedom was a right secured by religion. Each member of the Khalsa had an equal interest and pride in its growing power, and military skill and devotion became a prominent part of their religious duty. Buddhism and Braminism had both become inert by time. Their adherents no longer thought of making converts, and rested contented in a lethargic conservatism. Mahometanism, as a religion, had almost ceased to be aggressive. In the midst of these inert systems sprang up this new commonwealth, full of youthful blood, and with institutions suited to develop in the freest manner the individual energies of its members. Its numbers were not yet large, but they constituted an important power in Central Asia. The influence of the social freedom and equality enjoyed, it is said, may be seen even in the better developed forms and features of the Sikhs; and in war, although less amenable to discipline than the Hindoo, the self-relying enterprise of the individual soldier has more than compensated for all other deficiencies. Brave, vigorous, bred to war, the military passions exalted and directed by religious enthusiasm, as may well be conceived, they soon became troublesome to their neighbours. At the beginning of the present century their commonwealth had risen to its highest power, but had materially changed its form. Under Runjeet Singh this military democracy had become a military despotism. When Lieutenant, afterwards Sir Alexander Burnes, visited Labore, about seventeen years ago, he found Runjeet Singh at the head of a large and disciplined army of infantry, cavalry, and artillery; and he speaks of it as a remarkable coincidence, that his dominions extended almost over the same regions as those occupied by Porus two thousand years ago, and that the troops under his orders were, in number and comparative efficiency, very much the same as those with which Porus resisted the invasion of Alexander. Since the death of Runjeet Singh, no one has been found competent to take his place as the head of the state. The Sikhs have been held together by a common reverence for the Khalsa, but the commonwealth has been split into factions under the leading of different chiefs, and the government and the army have looked on each other with mutual distrust. In this disordered state of things, with no central power competent to control the subordinate members of the state, the Sikhs were rapidly becoming a nation of banditti, whose incursions were the terror of all who possessed a different faith. Under these circumstances, it could scarcely fail that occasions would arise when they would come into collision with the English power. The original seat of the Sikhs, their "mother earth," was between the Sutlej and the Ravee, in the neighbourhood of Lahore. Their sacred city was Amritsir. When the Mahometan persecution began, they were scattered abroad, and found protection along the moun tains which bound the North of India. Under Runjeet Singh they had subjected to their dominion nearly the whole of the Punjaub, or the country watered by the five tributary branches of the Indus. In the mean while, the English power advanced so as to touch their southern boundary. The English had conquered the Goorkhas on the east, had subdued Scinde, and their battalions, crossing the Indus, had traversed Afghanistan in the midst of alternate victory and defeat; and thus, while English conquest seemed to be fast closing upon all the borders of the Sikh empire, the political and military agents of England were constantly interfering with its internal arrangements. The Sikhs naturally became jealous of a power which seemed destined to be the master of Asia. Individual chiefs, in their marauding expeditions, paid little attention to the engagements entered into between the central government and the English. The English, accustomed to command, were hardly disposed to treat a semi-civilized race with much delicacy, and after a series of mutual misunderstandings and aggressions, a war sprang 1850.] The East India Company. 5 up, which resulted in a succession of bloody battles along the Sutlej, and the final subjugation of the Sikhs. This singular empire has thus ceased to have an independent political existence, and the Punjaub is now embraced within the ever-enlarging circle of British sovereignty. The particulars of this history are, however, so recent, and have attracted public attention to such an extent, that we shall not dwell on a story with which our readers are familiar. Instead of occupying their time with discussions respecting a single event in the history of the East, we shall endeavour to give a general view of the growth of the British empire in India, of the various causes which have opened the way to English conquests, and of the results of English supremacy. Almost within the memory of some now living, the world has witnessed the wonderful spectacle of a small company of British merchants-persons at home destitute of any special political weight or considerationeffecting conquests, and establishing and ruling as sovereigns, on the other side of the globe, an empire with which nothing in history can be compared in extent or apparent stability, save the conquests of Alexander, or the empire of Rome. The East India Company was a joint-stock corporation for the purpose of carrying on trade with the East. Its affairs were managed in England by a body of directors, chosen by the proprietors. The interests of the company in India were under their control, and all officers, from the governor-general to the youngest writer, were appointed, and liable to be removed, by them. As a compensation for the hazards encountered, the company was invested with a monopoly of the Indian trade, and, to secure this monopoly, was also invested with sovereign power in India. No English ship, or English subject, could enter India except with its permission. It had authority to organize armies, to establish courts of justice, raise revenues, and exercise the power of life and death. It was almost independent of the British government till 1784, when, by Mr. Pitt's India Bill, a Board of Control was established. This board was to be appointed by and to belong to the British government. It was invested with authority to superintend and control the territorial and political affairs of the company, which |