1 34 STATE OF MANNERS, A. D. 1773.
2 chief would call upon his kindred and retainers to fur-
3 nish him the means of redress, and they would feel
4 bound by a sense of honor not to fail, when the Chara,
5 or gathering was demanded in such a cause ; but in a
6 matter of internal strife within the Misul, every one
7 would be free to choose his own side, and either party
8 would deem it fair to fortify itself with any aid it could
9 command from without. Upon occasions of gathering,
10 it became customary for the chief, or person demanding
11 it, to pay a rupee per kathee or saddle ; in other respects,
12 the service was gratuitous, and plunder was the reward
13 expected by those who joined either standard. The
14 past life and habits of the Sikhs precluded any scruples
15 on their part as to the conduct or character of their
16 associates. The most daring culprits found ready admis-
17 sion into their ranks, and it was a point of honor to deliver
18 no one upon demand of a neighbour, whatever might be
19 the crime laid to his charge. Hence arose the practise
20 of GaJia, or self-redress, by individuals, no less than by
21 chiefs ; and every owner of a village was compelled to
22 surround his possession with a wall and ditch, while in
23 towns, or places held in joint property, the houses of the
24 coparcenary, and of all who were exposed to the appetence
25 or revengeful passions of others, were built as towers or
26 keeps, and a fort in joint tenancy would ordinarily be
27 divided by an inner retrenchment, as a protection against
28 treachery from the fellow occupant.
29 The tenure that has been described above is the Pittefi-
30 daree, that of every associate in the Misul of less rank
31 than a Sirdar, down even to the single horseman, who
32 equipped and mounted himself: all these regulated entire-
33 ly the management of their piitee, fining, confining, or