520

and gained possession of the city of Lahore, where | they coined rupees with an inscription expressive of their conquest of the Punjaub. Although driven afterward out of this city, and overthrown with great slaughter by Ahmed Shah, yet their vitality and enterprise survived with invincible vigor; and, at length, on the death of Ahmed, they became the acknowledged sovereigns of the province of Lahore.

The nationality of the Sikhs may be regarded as established from this date; and we subsequently find them following the ordinary practice of the Oriental states, tendering their alliance indiscriminately to all parties around them, to serve the purposes of the moment. Their form of government now attracts particular notice. After the death of Govind, no gooroo, or spiritual leader, was elected to fill his place. This is said to have been in fulfilment of a prophecy which limited the number of the gooroos to ten. It is not easy to determine what species of authority followed, as the Sikhs, when fleeing before the Mogul and Afghan armies, were scattered among the remote hills and jungles of Northern India. When, however, they emerged from their hiding-places, and descended in triumph into the plains, we find them under an entirely new political constitution. Habituated, by their recent dispersion, to act in separate detachments, and under a variety of leaders, the Sikhs were now clustered, in several small bodies, round several sirdars, or chiefs, without any supreme head. Toward the close of the last century, this state of things passed into a sort of military oligarchy or federative republic. The general affairs of the commonwealth were debated in a national council, in which the supremacy was successively assigned to the most powerful chief of the time.

Runjeet Singh acquired a marked predominance among the Sikh chieftains at the close of the last century. He gained possession of Lahore in 1799, and lost no time in turning his arms against the surrounding districts, which he speedily brought under his control. Up to this period, although the Sikhs were undoubtedly the dominant race in those parts, yet the actual boundaries of their dominions were very indistinctly defined. The great bulk of the population of the Punjaub was still unconnected with them by creed or by race, and, in several provinces, Mahometan governors retained a species of independence. All, however, fell before the arms of Runjeet, who conquered Moultan, and incorporated it into his kingdom in 1818. The Punjaub was now distinctly recognized as a sovereign and independent state, on a footing of equality with the older powers of Hindostan. Runjeet enjoyed a long and prosperous reign. He strengthened himself by an alliance with the British, which gave him an opportunity for studying their military discipline, and introducing it into his own army. In particular, he caused the Sikhs to learn the British artillery practice, in which the pupils became so expert, as to give their teachers a memorable proof of their proficiency on a subsequent occasion.

The death of Runjeet Singh, in 1839, led to the ruin of his empire. His two immediate successors died suddenly, amid scenes of violence, and the succession to the throne was contested by a number of claimants. The British, pursuing their usual policy of interfering whenever a tempting occasion offered, took advantage of these troubles. Encroachments and intrigues at length produced an open rupture, and

several bloody battles. An interval of peace followed, after which the war was renewed. At the close of the year 1848, a British army, under Lord Gough, invaded the Punjaub, and, on the 14th of January, 1849, encountered the Sikhs at Chillianwallah, on the River Jhelum. The bad generalship of the British commander, and the skill of the Sikh artillerists, had nearly caused a total defeat of the invading army, who lost nearly three thousand men, and were driven from the field of battle. The British, however, were reënforced, and, in a few weeks, renewed their offensive operations. On the 21st of February, a second battle was fought near the town of Goojerat, in which the British were victorious. This was followed by the subjugation of the whole of the Punjaub, which is now formally incorporated with the British dominions.

scenes

THE kingdom of Lahore, recently conquered by the British, deserves a passing notice. It comprises an area of sixty thousand square miles, and four million of inhabitants. This is the country of King Porus, and here is the scene of Alexander's victory over that monarch. Here also is Cashmere, one of the loveliest valleys on the earth, and one which has often been selected as the Eden of the Scriptures. It is encircled by the Hindoo Koosh and Himmaleh Mountains, whose tops of everlasting snow look down upon which the natives celebrate by the titles of "Paradise | of India," "Flower Garden," and "Garden of Eternal || Spring." The scenery is indeed lovely beyond description. The hill sides are covered with Alpine forests: orchards, bending with fruit, occupy the lower slopes: at the foot are fields of corn and rice: the gardens are teeming with flowers, and vines, and other rich productions. Indeed, the whole valley presents an unrivalled aspect of native luxuriance, blent with cultivation. An English writer says, "Nature has done much for Cashmere art more: the whole valley is like a nobleman's park."

The inhabitants are brave, industrious, lively, and fond of literature and art. They are of the Hindoo stock, but have complexions like the brunettes of our Southern States. Their language is a dialect of the Sanscrit; their popular songs are Persian. The celebrated Cashmere shawls are manufactured to a large extent, and are a source of great income. I Formerly there were forty thousand shawl looms here, but the number is now reduced. A pair of shawls of the larger size occupy fifteen men for eight months. The wool is brought from Thibet. Sheep are here used as beasts of burden. No venomous or voracious animal is found. Sirinagur, the capital, has two hundred thousand inhabitants. Beside its romantic beauty, Cashmere has long been regarded as a holy land, throughout India, and is resorted to as such by numerous pilgrims. The source of almost every

1

1

521

ument. Many of the ruins are ancient, and display great architectural beauty. The vestiges of a temple of black marble are reckoned as among the finest ruins

of India.

Cashmere has also its history. Abul Fazil enumerates one hundred and fifty kings who reigned there previous to the year 742 of the Hegira. It was subjugated by the Gaznevide dynasty, and afterwards annexed to the Mogul empire. About the middle of the last century, it was conquered by the Afghans; still later, it was taken by Runjeet Singh, and annexed to his kingdom of Lahore.

The conquest of Lahore, or the Punjaub, leaves the whole of India in the power of the British, except the small territories of France, Denmark, and Portugal, and the kingdom of Nepaul. This last lies to the north, between Thibet and Bengal. It is about equal to the state of New York in extent and population. It was formerly divided among several petty khans, but a chief of the Ghoraks reduced them to subjection, and founded the present kingdom. In 1792, in a war with China, Nepaul suffered defeat, and in 1816, lost a portion of its territory in a conflict with the British. It displayed symptoms of hostility in 1839, but was induced to remain quiet by the operations in Afghanistan. It is nominally independent, but whenever it may suit the purposes of the masters of India, this petty state must experience the fate of the other kingdoms of this quarter of the globe.

The absolute sway of the comparatively small island of Great Britain over an empire of one hundred millions of inhabitants, situated nearly at the antipodes of the dominant nation, presents one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of the world. There is no parallel in the annals of commercial and military power to the career of the British in India. A century has not elapsed since their possessions in this quarter were limited to three small factories, tenanted by a few hundred men, who were scarcely able to defend themselves against pirates and banditti. Now this association of merchants rules over an empire almost as populous as that of Augustus. Its capital, from being a miserable village, has become the metropolis of the East, and its minor cities rival, in wealth and traffic, the greatest commercial marts of the ancient world. Princes are the servants of the East India Company, and emperors are pensioners on its bounty. The conquest of Hindostan, regarded as a commercial enterprise, is a most magnificent one, and far before any thing that men have done elsewhere. But this grandeur has been costly; plunder, oppression, cruelty, treachery, robbery, and bloodshed, have been the main instruments by which it has been gained. Even of all this wrong-doing, the half, perhaps not the tenth part, has reached our ears. The conquerors have told their own story in their own way; the voice of India is not loud enough to be heard round half the globe. The only sources of our information are British records. These accounts tell us of valorous deeds done in India; of the glittering grandeur and pomp of Hindoo armies, that disappeared in slaughter before a tenth part of their number of Englishmen. They tell of vast territories ceded, of immense sums secured by capitulations, of prodigious tributes yielded, of treaties of peace, and finally of the power of unlimited taxation over half a million of square miles, in one of the richest countries of the globe. If the

can only refer to the right of the strongest-the same right by which Sesostris, Alexander, Timour, and Nadir Shah, entered this same country, slaughtered the inhabitants, and seized their property.

The subjection of India is, however, complete, and almost universally peaceable. The number of Europeans by whom these vast dominions are held in vassalage does not, on common occasions, much exceed thirty thousand. But this number is multiplied by that peculiarity in the character of the Hindoo which makes it easy to train him into an instrument for holding his own country in subjection. He fights for pay and plunder, and he will defend the man whose bread he eats against friends, country, and family. Accordingly the sepoys, or Hindoo troops, commanded by British officers, and trained after the European manner, are found nearly as efficient as troops entirely British; and, as long as nothing is done to shock their religious prejudices, they are equally faithful. The degree of vassalage in which the different states of India are held, varies considerably. Some are entirely under the control of the British authorities; others are allowed to call themselves friendly allies of the British, acting and governing under their protection.

The army maintained by the Company amounts to more than two hundred thousand men. These forces are distributed throughout India; for, besides defending and holding in subjection the territories immediately under British sway, armies are stationed at the capitals of the subsidiary princes, at once to secure and overawe them. For the purpose of civil government, the country is divided into the three presidencies of Bengal, Madras, and Bombay. The president of Bengal is styled the Governor-General of India. This officer, in connection with his council, has a power of legislation for India, under certain limitations, and subject to the revision of the government in England. The other presidents have the same power within their respective governments, but are subject, in all matters of general policy, to the governor-general, who has the power of declaring war, making peace, and concluding treaties. The India government in England consists of a Court of Directors of the East India Company, who are under the authority of a Board of Commissioners, comprising several of the chief ministers of the crown, and bearing the name of the Board of Control.

If we may credit the accounts of judicious and impartial observers, the splendid fabric of British empire in the East, externally so imposing, is in a state of progressive poverty and decline. The nature of the connection which binds India to Great Britain will sufficiently account for this tendency, without referring to local maleadministration. All the offices of emolument, civil and military, and all the commanding stations in commerce, are in the hands of strangers, who, after a temporary residence, depart with the fortunes they have earned. Immense wealth is, therefore, shipped off every year to Great Britain, for which nothing is returned. The cost of maintaining the military and civil establishment of the East India Company is enormous. The salary of the governor-general is one hundred and eighteen thousand dollars a year, and all the other salaries are in proportion. The pay and pensions of the military are on the same scale. Each British soldier costs five hundred dollars

522

by the time he is landed in India from England. All the clothing and equipments of the army, and most of the luxuries of the officers and gentry are manufactured in England. Every expense of the Company, beside their profits, must be drawn from the natives.

From time immemorial, the land has constituted the chief source of revenue in India, and for obvious reasons. The habits of the great body of the people are simple and uniform. Their diet is spare, and confined generally to a few articles of the first necessity. Their clothing is scanty and mean, their habitations are poor and unfurnished, and what we term luxuries, are confined to the opulent few. In all this, the keen eye of the financier sees nothing to touch, and he is driven to the expedient of taxing produce in the aggregate..

The government share of the rice crops is, on an average, fifty per cent., but the mode of collection causes the cultivator to pay about three fourths of the produce of his land. The public treasury is replenished by monopolies, duties on exports and imports, licenses for the sale of arrack and toddy, court fees, stamps, &c. The entire revenue of the Company is about one hundred millions of dollars annually.

The Mogul emperor was absolute and sole arbiter of every man's fate, and under the control of no law. All the lands in his dominion were considered as his property, except a few districts possessed hereditarily by Hindoo princes. The right of succession was vested in the eldest son, but the will of the monarch often set him aside. All children born in the royal harem were legitimate, whether the issue of wives or concubines. The vizier was first minister of state and chief treas. urer; all edicts and public deeds passed under his hand and seal. The omrahs, or nobles, comprised three orders: 1. The ameers, or emirs, who were the first executive officers of state, and the viceroys of provinces; 2. The khans or cawns, who held high posts in the army; 3. The bahadurs, who were a sort of knight. The number of individuals in these orders was arbitrary, and each had peculiar privileges in the empire. The great officers of state, by a sort of prescriptive right, formed a council, which corresponded to the cabinet of the governments of Christendom. But the splendid fabric of the Mogul empire has perished, leaving the people, whom it neither enlightened nor elevated, to become the prey of foreign invaders. As their fate could hardly be worse, we may indulge the hope that it will, in fact, be better.

CHAPTER CCLX.

Population - Cities and Towns in India Calcutta Delhi - Surat -Lahore-Umritsir - Poonah - Bombay - Madras.

THE population of Hindostan we have stated in round numbers, at one hundred and forty millions. Of these, nine tenths are Hindoos of the native original race, who, though subjected to a foreign power for many ages, have remained always unmixed, and have retained unaltered their ancient habits and institutions. About ten millions are Mahometans, the descendants of the Mongolian, Afghan, and Persian conquerors. There are also a few Parsees, Jews, Armenians, Arabs, Portuguese, and English; but their united numbers are insignificant in comparison with the Hindoos and Mahometans.

Calcutta, though not the most populous, is the most

important city in Hindostan, and the capital of the British empire in the East. The growth of this city has been very rapid, and it owes all its wealth and importance to the establishment of the English in the country. It stands on the River Hoogly, one of the channels by which the Ganges flows to the sea. On the arrival of the English, about the close of the seventeenth century, it consisted of a few strag gling cottages, surrounded by a wooded marsh. In 1696, the emperor, Aurungzebe, gave the Eng lish permission to establish a factory here, and in the following year to secure it by a fort. This was named Fort William. At first, the settlement did not prosper. In 1757, Calcutta had not above seventy English houses, and in this state it was captured by Sujah ul Dowlah, who threw the inhabitants into the Black Hole, as we have already related. After the recovery of the place by Lord Clive, he made it the

523

scale. From this time, Calcutta has steadily advanced in population and wealth till the present day, when it is supposed to contain half a million of inhabitants. The greater part of the city is inhabited by Hindoos. This is called the Black Town, and, like most large cities in India, consists of mean dwellings or cottages, built of mud and bamboo. The English town, or suburb, is called Chowringhee, and contains between four and five thousand houses. They are of brick, covered with chunam, or plaster, and are generally of an elegant style, each house standing detached, and surrounded by a wall. The government palace is a very splendid and costly structure. The banks of the river in the neighborhood are studded with beautiful villas. The climate in this quarter is hot and unhealthy, but less noxious than formerly, as the swamps and forests in the neighborhood have been cleared to a considerable extent. Calcutta has a college well endowed. The officers of the Indian government enjoy liberal salaries, and the style of living prevalent here is showy and expensive. Large dinner parties are the favorite recreation.

Delhi, formerly the capital of Hindostan, stands on the Jumna, a branch of the Ganges. In the days of its prosperity, it was a most splendid city; but it is now mouldering in decay. What remains of it is handsome. The streets, though narrow, contain many fine houses of stone and brick. The palace of Shah Jehan, with its gardens, a mile in circuit, still presents a most magnificent aspect; but the long ranges of those belonging to the great chiefs and omrahs of the empire, adorned with gilded mosques, pavilions, and tanks, now exhibit only one vast scene of desolation. Delhi, notwithstanding its dilapidated condition, contains the most splendid modern edifices in India. The mosque called the Jumna Musjeed, erected by a daughter of Aurungzebe, of red stone, inlaid with marble, is regarded as the finest structure in the East, dedicated to the Mahometan religion. The Cuttab Minar is a tower two hundred and forty-two feet high, consisting of five stories, the three lowest of which are of red granite, and the others of white marble. It was built by one of the Patan emperors. Delhi has some manufactures of cotton, and is the rendezvous of the caravans, which maintain the communication between India, Cabul, and Cashmere.

Surat, on the western coast, was the chief emporium of trade on the first arrival of the Europeans in India. It is still a very large city, though inferior in wealth to Calcutta. The ravages of war in its neighborhood, and the transfer of its trade by the English to Bombay, have materially diminished its importance. It still, however, carries on large manufactures of silk, brocades, and fine cotton stuffs. It exports the fabrics of the rich province of Guzerat, of which it is the capital. Cashmere shawls are also an important article of trade here. Surat is the port through which the central and western parts of Hindostan are supplied with foreign commodities. It exhibits a variety of architecture, many of the houses being handsomely built of stone; but these are mixed up with wretched cottages of reeds and mud. Among the inhabitants are many very rich merchants, chiefly Banians and Parsees. The former carry to an extreme the peculiarities of their religion, and manifest in a striking degree their regard for animal life, by erecting hospitals for birds, monkeys, and other animals accounted

hundred thousand.

Lahore, the capital of the Punjaub, was formerly one of the most beautiful cities of India. Acbar, Jehanghire, and other emperors, successively contributed to its embellishment. The mausoleum of Jehanghire, a most sumptuous edifice, is still entire; and there are ample remains of an imperial palace, adorned in the highest style of Eastern magnificence. Its terraced roof, covered with a parterre of the richest flowers, seems to have been copied from the hanging gardens of Babylon. But this beautiful city, amid the ravages of the various wars to which the Punjaub has been subjected, went rapidly to ruin. Its situation, however, on the fertile banks of a fine river, on the high road from India to Persia, must always secure to it a certain degree of prosperity. Runjeet Singh, the Sikh chieftain of the Punjaub, made Lahore his capital, and its population under his dominion was estimated at eighty thousand. Should the British retain permanent possession of the Punjaub, and maintain tranquillity in the country, there is reason to believe that Lahore will recover much of its lost wealth and importance.

Umritsir, in the Punjaub, is the holy city of the Sikhs, and the rendezvous of their gooroomata, or great national council. The object of attraction here is a tank, or pond, formed by Gooroo Govind, an ancient chief and saint, who gave it the name of the Pool of Immortality, and taught that those who bathed in its waters were purified from all sin. This belief has caused an immense concourse of the sect to resort to this place, and their contributions support a large temple, built in the midst of the water, with six hundred priests attached to it. Umritsir is eight miles in circuit, and is well built of brick, but has no structures of great magnificence. Runjeet Singh kept his treasure and arsenal in a strong castle in this city. At present, it is the centre of a considerable caravan trade with Cashmere, and from the security it afforded amidst the recent revolution, it was chosen as a residence by the rich men of Northern India. It has now a population of one hundred thousand.

Poonah, in Central India, is the capital of the Mahrattas. It was originally destined rather for a camp than a city, and in the great assemblages of the Mahratta confederacy, half a million of men have been convened at this place. The fixed population at present is about one hundred thousand. It resembles a huge village rather than a city. The houses are of brick, but irregularly and slightly built. They are painted with innumerable representations of the Hindoo Pantheon. Poonah is now included in the British territory, and attached to the government of Bombay.

Bombay is the western capital of British India. It is situated on an island lying close to the main land, and commands a beautiful view over a bay diversified with rocky islets, and crowned by a back ground of lofty and picturesque hills. It is the trading emporium of the western part of the peninsula, and contains a population of two hundred and twenty thousand. Of these, eight thousand are Parsees, who are the most wealthy of the inhabitants, and contribute much to the prosperity of the place. There are also Jews, Mahometans, and Portuguese, in considerable numbers; but three fourths of the population are Hindoos. The commerce of Bombay is very great. This is the first port in India at which the British steam packets touch on their way from the Red Sea to China.

524

Madras, on the eastern coast, is the metropolis of the British possessions in that quarter. It is unfavorably situated for commerce, having no harbor, but only an open road, with a beach exposed to a continual surf, so violent and dangerous that no vessels can approach it, except a peculiar species of large and light boats, the thin planks of which are sewed together. For the conveyance of letters and messages, the natives employ a catamaran, which consists of a couple of planks fastened together, and which they manage with wonderful success. The seat of government would long since have been removed from this place to Pondicherry, in the neighborhood, a much more convenient situation; but the immense sums which have been expended upon the fortifications and government buildings at Madras, are an objection to such a removal. The public offices and storehouses form

a handsome range of buildings along the beach, their upper stories being adorned with colonnades, resting on arches. With this exception, the European part of Madras is merely an assemblage of country-houses, situated in the midst of gardens, and scattered over an extent of several miles. The houses are usually one story in height, of a light and elegant structure, having porticoes and verandas, supported by columns incrusted with fine polished chunam. The Black Town is very extensive, and the scene which it presents of minarets and pagodas, intermixed with trees and gardens, is very striking at a distance. The interior, however, is found to consist chiefly of bamboo cottages, thatched with leaves. There are some rich Hindoo merchants, who have splendid mansions in the Oriental style. The population of Madras is estimated at three hundred and fifty thousand.

CHAPTER CCLXI.

Religion of the Hindoos Brahma The Avatars - Extravagance of the Hindoo Mythology - Inferior Deities - Religious Ceremonies Festivals - Juggernaut Devotees Fakirs - The Metempsychosis.

It is difficult to determine whether the political constitution or the religion of the Hindoos has exercised the greatest influence upon the lives of individuals and the operations of society in India. Beside the causes which usually give superstition a powerful sway in ignorant and credulous ages, the priestly order have obtained a greater authority in that country than in any other region of the globe. According to the Hindoo doctrine, every thing is transacted by the Deity: the laws are promulgated, the people are classified, and the government is established, by the Divine Being. The astonishing exploits of the Divinity are endless in that sacred land. For every stage of life from the cradle to the grave, for every hour of the day, for every function of nature, for every social transaction, the Deity is believed to have prescribed a number of religious ceremonies.

oracular books: "Being immaterial, he is above all conception; being invisible, he can have no form: from what we behold in his works, we may conclude that he is eternal, omnipotent, knowing all things, and present every where. God is the only Creator of all existent things. God is like a perfect sphere, without | beginning or end." From this description, it is apparent that the primary notions of the Hindoos respecting the Deity were just and reasonable. Their religious belief, however, was afterwards corrupted by a thousand absurd fancies. No mythology is more extrava- || gant than that of the Hindoos.

The foundation of the religious system of the Hindoos is a trinity. Brahma, the creating power, Vishnu, the preserver, and Siva, the destroyer, are the three persons of this triune deity. Brahma, although he created the world, is supposed since that time to have interested himself little with terrestrial affairs. He is regarded as the father of legislators, and from his ten sons all human science is believed to have proceeded. Brahma was the author of the Vedas, or four sacred books, in the Sanscrit language, which are still extant, and are the groundwork of the religious creed and jurisprudence of the Hindoos. They comprise a system of divine ordinances, explaining the duty of man, both social and religious, together with treatises on medicine, music, war, and the mechanic arts. Το these books are appended the sastras, or commentaries, which have been written upon them from the earliest period. Brahma is represented with four heads, and wearing a crown. Vishnu, whose province it is to pro

i

1.