1 Guru Govind Singh. 37
2 honesty, his thrift, and his unfailing industry. As
3 a cultivator he is second to none in India; and he
4 can wield a sword as skilfully as he can plough a
5 furrow. He is of a simple-minded, patient, and
6 withal independent disposition ; a loyal and law-
7 abiding citizen in times of peace, and a good fighter
8 in times of war. The Jat usually exhibits a splen-
9 did physique — tall, spare, but muscular and broad-
10 shouldered. His hair is black and his complexion
11 a deep olive brown, and he wears a long ample
12 beard.
13 During the years of his retirement Govind Singh
14 practised every form of manly exercise. He became
15 an expert horseman, swordsman, archer, and swimmer,
16 and was a keen follower of the chase. Armed with
17 no other weapon than his sword, he would hunt and
18 slay both lions and tigers. The Jats greatly admired
19 his courage and bodily prowess, and under his train-
20 ing they quickly developed into hardy and daring
21 soldiers. Anandpur, some fifty miles to the west of
22 Simla, on the banks of the Sutlej, was the place
23 selected by the guru as his headquarters ; and here,
24 with all the state of an independent chieftain, he
25 held his court and trained and disciplined his troops.
26 It was not long before the growing power of
27 Govind Singh excited the jealousy of the surrounding
28 hill chiefs, who saw in his democratic teaching and
29 the military zeal of his followers a serious menace
30 to their own influence and independence. Foremost
31 among these was Raja Bhim Chand of Bilaspiir, who
32 looked upon the Sikhs as upstarts, and lost no op-
33 portunity of molesting them. Amongst his other