Sir Henry Hardinge, 1845-48.
§5. Sir Henry Hardinge succeeded Lord Ellenborough as Governor-General. At this period the Punjab was a political volcano, and the Sikh army was a menace to Hindustan.
Rise of the Sikhs, 1400-1500.
The Sikhs were religious fanatics, dating back to the fifteenth century. Their founder was a prophet, or Guru, named Nanuk Guru, who was at once priest and king. The object of the Guru was to reconcile the Hindu religion with the Mohammedan by teaching that there was but one God, one Supreme Spirit, and that the Vishnu of Hinduism and the Allah of Islam were one and the same deity. The church of Nanuk was a platform of comprehension. A brotherhood was formed, known as Sikhs, and all its members were declared to be equal in the eyes of God and His Guru, whatever might be their individual caste, wealth, or position.
Sikh religion.
The Sikh religion was in reality a revival of a Buddhism recognising deity. Nanuk Guru bears a striking resemblance to Gotama Buddha. He was born in 1460 of the royal race of Kshatriyas, the modern Rajputs, or "sons of Rajas." He taught that goodness in thought and deed was especially pleasing to God. He denounced the distinctions of caste, and preached universal charity and toleration. He was followed by a line of nine Gurus, who taught the same doctrines and formed an apostolic succession, inspired by God, and worshipped as incarnations or avatars of deity. The city of Amritsar, the "pool of immortality," became the sacred city of the Sikhs, and every year formed a centre of Sikh gatherings like those of the Hebrews at Jerusalem and those of Mohammedans at Mecca.
Persecutions of Aurangzeb.
The new faith was eagerly accepted by Hindus, especially those of the lower castes, but Mohammedans stood aloof from the heresy. The stern Aurangzeb, who reigned as Great Mogul from the days of Oliver Cromwell to those of Queen Anne, persecuted the Sikhs with relentless ferocity, and the ninth Guru was beheaded in the imperial palace of Delhi in the presence of Aurangzeb and his courtiers.
Guru Govind: the Khalsa.
Under Guru Govind, the tenth and last of the old Sikh pontiffs, the Sikhs were transformed by persecution from a brotherhood of saints into an army of warriors. Guru Govind stands out as the real founder of the Sikh Khalsa or "saved ones." He set apart five faithful disciples, namely, a Brahman, a Rajput, and three Sudras, to form a Khalsa, and to be a model for all other Khalsas. He consecrated them by sprinkling holy water; he gave to each the name of Singh, or "lion warrior," but he gave to the whole five collectively the name of Khalsa; and he solemnly promised that wherever a Khalsa was gathered together, he, their Guru, would be in the midst of them.