The country of the Málawá Singh is, in some parts, fruitful: but those districts of it, which border on Hánsyá and Carnál, are very barren; being covered with low wood, and, in many places, almost destitute of water. Sarhind was formerly the capital of this country; but it is now a complete ruin, and has probably never recovered the dreadful ravages of the Bairágí Banda, who is stated not only to have destroyed its mosques, but to have levelled all its palaces and public buildings with the ground. Patiálá is now the largest and most flourishing town of this province, and next to it T'hánésur, which is still held in high religious veneration by the Hindús; who have also a very high reverence for the river Seraswetí, which flows through this province. The territories of the chiefs of Málawá Singh are bounded to the N. W. by the Satléj; between which and the Béyah, is the country called the Jaléndra Beit, or Jaléndra Dúáb; the Sikhs inhabiting which are called the Dúábá Singh, or the Singhs who dwell between the rivers[69]. The country of Jaléndra Dúáb, which reaches from the mountains to the junction of the Satléj and the Béyah, is the most fruitful of all the possessions of the Sikhs; and is, perhaps, excelled in climate and vegetation by no province of India. The soil is light, but very productive: the country, which is open and level, abounds with every kind of grain. That want of water, which is so much felt in other parts of India, must be here unknown; as it is found every where in abundance, within two, or at furthest three, feet from the surface of the soil. The towns of Jaléndra and Sultánpúr are the principal in the Dúáb.
The country between the Béyah and Ráví rivers is called Bári Dúáb, or Mánj'há; and the Sikhs inhabiting it are called Mánj'há Singh. The cities of Lahore and Amritsar are both in this province; and it becomes, in consequence, the great centre of the power of this nation. Ranjít Singh, of Lahore; Fateh Singh[70], of Alluwál; and Jud'h Singh, of Rámgadiá[71]; are the principal chiefs of this country.
The country of Bári is said to be less fertile, particularly towards the mountains, than Jaléndra; but, as it lies on the same level, it must possess nearly the same climate and soil.
The inhabitants of the country between the Ráví and Chanháb, are called D'harpí Singh, from the country being called D'harpí. The D'haníghéb Singh are beyond the Chanháb[72], but within the Jéhalam river.
The Sind Singh is the term by which the inhabitants of the districts under the Sikhs, bordering on the Sind, are known; and Nakái Singh is the name given to the Sikhs who reside in Multán. With the leaders of the Sikhs in these provinces, the extent of their possessions, or the climate and productions of the country under their rule, I am little acquainted. Those in Multán, as well as those settled on the river Jéhalam, are said to be constantly engaged in a predatory warfare, either with the officers of the Afghán government, or with Muhammedan chiefs who have jágírs in their vicinity.
The government of the Sikhs, considered in its theory, may, as has been before stated, be termed a theocracy. They obey a temporal chief, it is true; but that chief preserves his power and authority by professing himself the servant of the Khálsá[73], or government, which can only be said to act, in times of great public emergency, through the means of a national council, of which every chief is a member, and which is supposed to deliberate and resolve under the immediate inspiration and impulse of an invisible being; who, they believe, always watches over the interests of the commonwealth.
The nature of the power established by the temporal chiefs of the Sikhs, has been sufficiently explained in the narrative of their history. It will be necessary, before any account is given of the forms and actions of their Gúrú-matá, or great national council, which is intended to have a supreme authority over their federative republic, to take a view of that body of Acálís, or immortals, who, under the double character of fanatic priests and desperate soldiers, have usurped the sole direction of all religious affairs at Amritsar, and are, consequently, leading men in a council which is held at that sacred place, and which deliberates under all the influence of religious enthusiasm.