Narayan Singh

“ Narayan Singh stayed out in the hall and looked them over. There is something in the make-up of the Sikh that, while it gives him to understand the strength and weaknesses of almost any alien race, yet constrains him more or less to the policeman’s view-point. It isn’t a moral view-point exactly; he doesn’t invariably disapprove; but he isn’t deceived as to the possibilities, and yields no jot or tittle of the upper hand if he can only once assume it. There was scant love lost between him and old Ali Baba. ”

“ Narayan Singh dropped down beside me on another man, nearly breaking his back, and in a second we were fighting blind-man's-buff in total darkness, with long knives whickering to right and left, and nothing to be seen at all. ”

“ Narayan Singh will go too, and of course Ayisha.”
Ayisha seemed about as safe an ambassador to send as an electric spark to a barrel of powder. I glanced at Narayan Singh and felt ashamed, for his eyes glowed unmistakably. He was enthusiastic.
Well, it seems I draw a color-line after all. I can’t fight like a Sikh, or be as good a man in lots of ways; but I’m not going to be outdone by one in daring, while the Sikh is looking. ”

“ Grim said a few words to Narayan Singh in Arabic, which so far as the sentry was concerned wasn't a language, but Narayan Singh spoke in turn in Punjabi, and the man just out from India began to droop like Jonah's gourd under the old soldier's scorn. ”

“ Then Narayan Singh the Sikh grinned hugely and thrust his bayonet forward. Ali Baba answered the threat by touching his knife and pointed to his sixteen sons.
“The more the better!” said Narayan Singh, perfectly ready to accept odds of seventeen to one. ”

“ Narayan Singh, Sardar Bahadur, Captain, Double Company Commander, Bharatpur Imperial Service Infantry, was born in 1867 and educated at Ludhiana and Lahore. He belongs to a family who have held high military posts, especiallv in the time of Maharaja Ranjit. ”

“ Narayan Singh, Sardar Bahadur 78 Narayan Singh, Sardar, R. S. 158 Nasrulla Khan, K.-I.-H. 178 Natha Singh, R. S. 155 Nauroz Ali Khan, K. S. 138 Nepal, His Majesty in — 20
Nilkanth, Ramanbhai Mahipatram. ”

“ As in the case of many other small native states, the royal family of Kuch Behar lays claim to a divine origin in order to conceal an impure aboriginal descent. The greatest monarch of the dynasty was Nar Narayan, the son of Visu Singh, who began to reign about 1550. He conquered the whole of Kamrup, built temples in Assam, of which ruins still exist bearing inscriptions with his name, and extended his power southwards over what is now part of the British districts of Rangpur and Purnea. His son, Lakshmi Narayan, who succeeded him in Kuch Behar, became tributary to the Mogul Empire. ”

“ Since that time the influence of the vicious system has prevailed, except when it was checked by such teachers as Chaityna who have regularly appeared at critical periods of the country’s history. Nanak’s influence in modern times has been the strongest in breaking down the barriers of caste. He was born near Lahore (Punjab) in the year 1469 A.D. and became the founder of the Sikh religion. He recognized the equality of all human beings, irrespective of their color, rank, or sex. In one of his most popular verses he says:
“One God produced the light, and all creatures are of His creation. ”

“ At the time of the Guru Ka Bagh incident the physical Gandhi was locked behind iron bars in a jail of India, but his spirit accompanied every Sikh as he stepped across the line to receive the enemy’s cowardly blows.
The amazing part of this whole story is the perfect peace that prevailed throughout its entire course. The program of passive resistance was carried to completion without one slip of action on the part of the passive resisters. No community in the whole length and breadth of India is more warlike and more inflammable for a righteous cause than the Sikhs ”

“ In 1803 the British captured Delhi from the Mahrattas, the one strong native power then left in India. Those who still kept the field were followed up by Lord Lake, who defeated them wherever they stood. He pursued Holkar, their chief, who fled to the Punjab with the remnants of his once powerful and numerous army in the hope of finding an ally in the Sikhs. In alarm at finding the Mahrattas and British in their midst, a "Guru Mata," or National Council of the Khalsa, was held at Amritsar for the last time. They decided to stand aloof, and Ranjit Singh acted as mediator. ”

“ As Nanak woke up the people by reforming their religion, and Govind by stern discipline developed their political independence, so Ranjit Singh, with a wise old head on his young shoulders, seizing the opportunity to found a military monarchy on the fruits of their labours, gave coherence to the Sikh nation. ”

“ Once aroused to sense of duty towards the weak and the oppressed, they have always been found willing to give their lives without remorse or regret. Sikhs constitute a major portion of the military and police forces of India and of several British colonies. Those tourists who have been in the East will recall the tall, bearded Sikh policemen of the British principalities of Shanghai and Hongkong. Since the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, Sikhs have always been regarded as the most loyal and devoted subjects of the British Crown in India. ”

“ Punjab in the northwest part of India. They constitute by themselves a very important community, which is closely bound together by a feeling of common brotherhood. They all go by the name of Singh, meaning the lion, and are rightly proud of their history, which though brief in scope of time, is yet full of inspiring deeds committed by the Sikh forefathers in the defense of religious freedom and justice during the evil days of a few corrupt and fanatic Moghul rulers of India. As a rule Sikhs belong to the agriculturist class and both men and women are stalwart and healthy-looking. ”

“ King and political head of the Punjab, as well as chief of the Khalsa, he aimed at reconciling the varied divisions of race and creed among his subjects by employing all in his service. He kept up, however, the theory of the Khalsa, attributing every success to the favour of the Guru in the name of the Lord. "God the helper—Ranjit Singh," was his sign-manual. The Sikhs retained special privileges as the ruling race, the heart and soul of the military nation—the favoured of the State. ”

“ When again shall all Hindustan be ripe for revolt?... Aho! Thou wouldst have sweet patience in the waiting, Salig Singh!... Let matters rest as they be, my lord"—this a trace imperiously. "Leave the man to me: I stand sponsor for him until the Gateway shall have received him and—and perhaps for a little afterwards."
"Thou art right as ever." He lifted his gaze to meet hers and his eyes flamed. "I leave my life on your knees, Naraini. I love thee and ... by all the gods, thou art altogether a woman!"
"And thou ... a man, your Highness?" ”

“ We find later that when Sikhs are reduced to mere groups of anarchists, declared outlaws, and were continuously compelled to be confined to the forests, no new literature could be created. They had a warrior spirit, a sense of courage and sacrifice and a spirit to continue their war against Muslim rulers, but they could not chalk out their future beyond this . This explains why these warrior groups fought among themselves. It is here that their lack of contemporary spirit worries us. ”

“ This act has been observed by the faithful Govindi Sikhs through the many years; but little remains now, as the railway contractor some years ago appeared on the scene and carried away the mass of old Sirhind as ballast on which to lay the iron track—the iron made sacred by the martial Guru, and which every true Singh was commanded to wear always in some shape, either as a sword, a small hatchet, or as a bangle. ”

“ Freedom from the trammels of superstitious caste ceremonies as inculcated by their spiritual guides, the stem and warlike nature of the iron creed of Guru Govind, the baptism of fire through which the nation passed in its early days, and the coherent rule of Ranjit Singh have undoubtedly stamped them with a national character, a marked trait in which is their reserved and self-respecting pride. Like Britons, the fighting spirit is built into them, and they do not lose it by years of peace. ”

“ Our Sikh wars saw the hardest fighting which has ever taken place in India. The army which Runjit Singh had spent his life in training was a splendid force, and proved able in the shock of battle to beat the sepoys of the Company. It was only by the desperate fighting of the British troops, little aided by their native auxiliaries, that the Sikhs were finally driven back. Unfortunately, Lord Gough, the commander-in-chief, was a reckless general, whose only idea of tactics was to dash his men at the centre of the enemy's position, regardless of batteries, obstacles, and earthworks. ”

“ What we prize in the Sikhs is not their ability to kill. The late Sardar Lachman Singh will go down to posterity as a hero, because he knew how to die. The Mahant of Nankhana Saheb will go down to posterity as a murderer. I hope therefore that no man will decline to learn the beautiful life-giving art of hand-spinning on the ground of its supposed inferiority. ”

“ None among my many brave and faithful servants is so rarely seen in Court—none is so frequently heard of for his deeds in the remotest parts of my Empire. Thou hast confirmed our rule in Kabulistan and Zabulistan in the West, thou hast wrested Bengal and Orissa from the determined Afghans in the East, success has ever attended thy great endeavours."
"Monarch of many nations," spoke Man Singh in his gruff voice, "I am ill fitted to speak, but gratitude dwells in my heart. ”

“ They held aloof from the Sikh movement, as one in which their high caste was disregarded. They are strict Hindus, very clannish, loyal to their chiefs, and good soldiers, with all the Rajput pride of ancient lineage, disdaining every service but that of arms.
Kharak Singh, eldest son of Ranjit Singh, succeeded as Maharaja in 1839. He was weak in character and incompetent as a ruler. Under the evil influence of a sycophant Court favourite, his father's minister was ignored and insulted, and a plan made to assassinate him ”

“ At the census of 1901 over 2000 were returned as supported by the ownership of land and 3000 as labourers and farmservants. Practically all the remainder are tenants. They are industrious, and their women work in the fields. The only crops which they object to grow are kusum or safflower and san-hemp. The Nahonia Dāngis, being the highest subcaste, refuse to sell milk or ghī. The men usually have Singh as a termination to their names, like Rājpūts. Their dress and ornaments are of the type common in the northern Districts. The women tattoo their bodies. ”

“ By converting a horde of undisciplined peasants into enthusiastic soldiers animated with religious fervour, by inuring them to warfare, and by his new ordinances moulding them into the distinct community of the Khalsa,—the Commonwealth bonded together to fight until they triumphed,—Govind Singh contributed much to the weakening of the Mahomedan power at a time when the Emperor Aurangzeb, by his bigotry towards Hindus, was paving the way for the disintegration of his Empire. Under his strong hand the Sikhs rose by a feeling of nationality among a people who had none. ”

“ War is a necessary stimulus for Sikhism. In the reaction of peace the Sikh population dwindles. It was in the struggle with Islam, during the ascendency of Ranjit Singh, in the two wars against the British, and after in the Mutiny, when the Sikhs proved our loyal allies, that the Khalsa was strongest. Without the incentive to honour and the door open to military service the ineradicable instincts of the Hindu reassert themselves. ”

“ As they say in Persian, 'Shooduni-Shooduni'—what is to be, is to be," returned Pahar Singh; "nay, for that matter, why did I bring your father and his men at all? Some of those pig-headed servants of Nimbalkur's began it by shutting the gate, and killing my poor Rama; and after the Peer Sahib's cry of 'Deen, Deen!' you might as well have tried to stop the Beema in flood as the men. All I could do was to save Nimbalkur and others, while the Peer was pulling down the Mother from her altar, and spitting on her. Aha! holy priest! we shall see who is strongest, the Mother or thee. ”

“ But of Risaldar-major Ranjoor Singh bahadur in the flesh, I have not had another glimpse. I went in search of him the very first evening, only to learn that he had "passed his medical" that afternoon and had returned at once to active service.
We Sikhs have a proverb, sahib, that the ruler and the ruled are one. That has many sides to it of which one is this: India having many moods and minds, the British are versatile. Not altogether wise, for who is? When, for instance, did India make an end of wooing foolishness? ”

“ Our Guru tells us Sikhs should fight ever on the side of the oppressed; the weaker the oppressed, the more the reason for our taking part with them. Our officers made no secret about the strength of the enemy, and we made none with them of our feeling in the matter. They were proud men that day. Colonel Kirby was a very proud man. We were prouder than he, except when we thought of Ranjoor Singh. ”

“ He had been a wanderer, on the verge of starvation, a pedlar, and a bandit, who raised money by plundering caravans. His courage was lightly reputed, and it was as a mere creature of circumstance that he reached the throne. His reign was perturbed, and in 1809 he was a fugitive and an exile. Runjeet Singh, the Sikh ruler of the Punjaub, defrauded him of the famous Koh-i-noor, which is now the most precious of the crown jewels of England, and plundered and imprisoned the fallen man. ”