1 709
2 Further notes on Sikh sects.
3 Gurd Govind Singh, bat another version has it that during one of
4 Zaradn Sh&h's marauding inroads they donned the high-peaked turbans
5 of the Turki soldiers and so disguised attacked his force at night and
6 destroyed it. Yet a third account is that , the lofty turban or dumb&ld
7 (f high-tailed ') was not adopted by them till Ranjft Singh's time when
8 the example of Bhol& Singh, a gigantic Ak&K whose height was
9 enhanced by his high-peaked turban, induced them to adopt a similar
10 head- gear,1
11 Authorities differ as to the origin of the blue dress. It is said to
12 have been adopted in imitation of Guru Govind Singh who escaped by
13 donning the blue garb of a Muhammadan pilgrim to Mecca and per¬
14 sonating a priest of Uoh when he was driven from Chamkaur and
15 pursued into the wastes round Bhatinda.
16 According to Maoauliffe2 the Nirmalas do not deem the pahul or
17 rite of initiation of vital importance though they are baptised Sikhs.
18 Many do not wear long hair and for the kachh they substitute the
19 loosely tied langota or loin-cloth t>f the Hindu Jaqir. Above all they
20 wear the ochre-coloured bhagwa, a colour forbidden to all true followers
21 of Guru Govind Singh.
22 Some account of the Sanwal-sh&tus, an off-shoot of the Sikhs, will
23 be found in Volume III, page 380 infra. -.The conjeoture put for¬
24 ward in the Punjab Census Report, 1902 (page 135), that they are iden¬
25 tical with the Ch&wal-shdhis appears correct, since their founder Somdn
26 was an Arora of the Chdwala section. The title of Shah was bestowed
27 on him by Guru Arjan as a reward for bis zeal in helping to construct
28 the Hari-mandar tank at Amritsar. To its cost he devoted his income
29 His descendants continued to serve the Gurus, and when the tenth
30 Gurd gave amrit to his disciples Mihar Shdh, a descendant of Somdn
31 Sh&h, was allowed to take it also. Hence the Gurd added the title of
32 Singh to that of Shah and his descendants still bear the double title.
33 The Guru also conferred on him the right to levy sxk\i% in Sindh etc"
34 and made him Gurd of those parts of India. He also bestowed on him
35 5 gifts, viz. a writ of appointment, a copy of the Grant A in his own
36 hand-writing, a drum, a hammer and 5 sers of khichrf. He was en¬
37 joined : (1) to keep alive the memory of Ml (death) and Altai (God!
38 (2) to propagate religion and take peaceful measures for the public weal’
39 (3) to rise in the last watch of the night in order to show humility bv
40 worshipping God, (4) to maintain the Guru's lan gar, (5) to lead plordo
41 to the right path ; and (6) to cherish a sincere 'belief in the bank'd, is
42 (sayings) and hints (hymns) composed by the Gurd. Many people ‘of
43 all castes, Brahmans, Aeharajs, Bbdts, Khatris and other Hindus
44 became his disciples. His followers are' to this day found in Kabul
45 Kandahar, Khost, Bangash and Dawar, as well as all over the Western
46 Punjab. They pay an animal mzrdnd as well as dues at marriages
47 ilQu ClO&tuS.
48 1 ^lacauliffe, The S\Jch Religion under Banda in Cato, Ret., 1881, p. 104
49 * The Sikh Religion under Banda r in Oala. Rev., 1881, p. 168.