1 HISTORY OR THE SIKHS,
2 101
3 <SL
4 and crowds of them frequent it, and are fed by the,
5 Nawab of Hydrabad.
6 Gooroo Govind Singh reigned thirty years arid
7 eleven months.
8 If we consider the work which Govind accotn- h& Jwracter.
9 plished, both in reforming his religion and institu¬
10 ting a new code of laws for his followers ; his
11 personal bravery under all circumstances ; his
12 persevering endurance amidst difficulties, which
13 would have disheartened others, and overwhelmed
14 them in inextricable distress; and, lastly, his final
15 victory over his powerful enemies by the very men
16 who had previously forsaken him, we need not be
17 surprised that the Sikhs venerate his memory. He
18 was, undoubtedly, a great man; and enjoying as he
19 did the knowledge of both Mussulman and Hindoo
20 religions, he was well fitted for instituting a new
21 system of his own, which would secure to him all
22 the lower castes of the Hindoos. He knew well
23 that so long as the Hindoos adhered to caste,
24 and respected the Brahminical string, it would be
25 in vain to expect proselytes; and he, therefore,
26 destroyed this powerful bond of union among
27 the Hindoos, and thus brought the high caste
28 Brahmin on a level with the Soodur. He next
29 proceeded to destroy the distinctive form of the
30 Chuttree caste, which contained the fighting-men
31 among the Hindoos, and this he did by raising
32 the two lowest castes to a level with the Chuttree
33 as soldiers.