1 224 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 fighting qualities, the Sikhs increased the efficiency of
3 every regiment in which they took service, and in
4 a short time came to be regarded as the most useful
5 and reliable soldiers in the native army. They have
6 since fully sustained their reputation, and have served
7 with distinction under British colours not only in
8 India, but in Egypt, in Afghanistan, in China, and
9 in South Africa.
10 In the dark days of the Mutiny, the Sikh people
11 as a whole loyally supported the British Raj. The
12 Raja of Jind was the first man, European or native,
13 to take the field against the mutineers. His ex-
14 ample was followed by the Rajas of Patiala, Nabha,
15 and Kaparthala, and afterwards by the Sikhs
16 throughout the Punjab. At the siege of Delhi the
17 contingents of the Sikh chiefs fought with great
18 gallantry and materially assisted in the subsequent
19 reoccupation of the surrounding territory. The fall
20 of Delhi was the death-blow to the rebel cause, but
21 the final issue of the struggle had ceased to be in
22 doubt when the Punjab declared itself on the side of
23 the British.
24 There are now 30,000 Sikh troops in the service
25 of the Government,, and they constitute the flower of
26 the Indian army. Unhampered by caste prohibitions,
27 the Sikh soldier will go anywhere and do anything.
28 He is hardy, good-tempered, patient under privations,
29 and obedient to discipline, and his courage is such
30 that he never knows when he is beaten. " I would
31 venture," says Sir Lepel Griffin, "to express my
32 conviction, which is shared by many distinguished
33 officers of the Indian army, that the Sikhs, infantry