1 Annexation — and After. 223
2 the followers of Guru Govind Singh that they were
3 thus able to find an outlet for their military zeal, and
4 to it they owe the strong position which their faith
5 holds to-day amongst the religions of India. The
6 martial spirit is the life of the Khalsa, and there is
7 little doubt that had there been no army for the
8 Sikhs to enlist in they would ere now have been
9 absorbed into the Hindu communities by which they
10 were surrounded. As a man of peace the Sikh is apt
11 to allow his religious fervour to cool ; but at the first
12 sound of the call to arms the spirit of Govind Singh
13 stirs him anew, and he straightway returns, sword in
14 hand, to the paths of orthodoxy. A great revival of
15 this nature took place during the Mutiny, and again,
16 though in a less marked degree, during the last
17 Afghan War, and in each case the restoration of
18 peace led to a sharp decline. Of late years the
19 increased demand for Sikhs in the Indian army and
20 farther afield has given a new and powerful impetus
21 to Sikhism. The revival has been assisted by the
22 spread of education and by the establishment of the
23 Singh Sabhas and the Chief Khalsa Diwan (to which
24 further reference will be made), and as a result the
25 influence of the Khalsa has never, since the reign of
26 Ranjit Singh, been stronger than it is to-day.
27 Lord Dalhousie's action in opening the ranks of
28 the Indian army to his late foes, though severely
29 criticized at the time, has been amply justified by
30 subsequent events, and the British Government, no
31 less than the Khalsa, has reaped the benefit of his
32 bold policy. Conspicuous alike for their fine physique,
33 their ready submission to discipline, and their splendid