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Akâli; Nihang.—A few of these Sikh devotees are sometimes seen at Benares, Hardwâr, and Prayâg. The best account of them is that of Mr. MacLagan:[60] “The fanatical order of Akâlis or Nihangs owes its origin to the express patronage of Guru Govind Sinh. There are two accounts of the founding of this order. According to one, the Guru, seeing his son, Fateh Sinh, playing before him with his turban peaked in the fashion now adopted by Akâlis, blessed him, and instituted a sect which should follow the same custom. According to the other account, the Akâli dress was started by the Guru as a disguise when he was fleeing from Chamkaur, in Ambâla, to the house of some friendly Pathâns, at Machiwâra, in Samrâla. The name means ‘immortal.’ Some understand the term to apply that the Akâlis are followers of the ‘immortal man’ (Akâl Purukh), that is, of God; others that they are invincible in fight. The former is probably the true derivation. It is said by some that Ajît Sinh, the youngest son of Govind, was the first convert. The Akâlis came into prominence very early by their stout resistance to the invocations introduced by the Bairâgi Banda, after the death of Guru Govind, but they do not appear to have had much influence during the following century until the days of Mahârâja Ranjît Sinh. During the Mahârâja’s reign the celebrated Phûla Sinh entered the Panth, and, being a man of great force of character, induced a number of Sikhs to join it. They constituted at once the most unruly and the bravest portion of the very unruly and brave Sikh army. Their head-quarters were at Amritsar, where they constituted themselves the guardians of the faith, and assumed the right to convoke synods. They levied offerings by force, and were the terror of the Sikh chiefs. Their good qualities were, however, well appreciated by the Mahârâja, and when there were specially fierce foes to meet, such as the Pathâns, beyond the Indus, the Akâlis were always to the front.
2. The Akâli is distinguished very conspicuously by his dark, blue, and checked dress, his peaked turban, often surmounted by steel quoits, and by the fact of his strutting about like Ali Babâ’s prince, ‘with his thorax and abdomen festooned with curious cutlery.’ He is most particular in retaining the five kakkas (kes, or uncut hair; kachh, or short drawers; the kara, or iron bangle; the khanda, or steel dagger, and the kangha, or comb), and in preserving every [[77]]outward form prescribed by Guru Govind Sinh. Some of the Akâlis wear a yellow turban underneath the blue one, leaving a yellow band across the forehead; the story being that a Delhi Khatri, called Nand Lâl (the author of the Zindagi nâma), having a desire to see the true Guru in yellow, was gratified by Govind Sinh to this extent. The yellow turban is worn by many Sikhs at the Basant Panchami, and the Akâlis are fond of wearing it at all times. There is a couplet by Bhâi Gurdâs, which says:—
Siâh, sufed, surkh, zardâi,
Jo pahne, soi Gurbhâi.
‘Those that wear black (the Akâlis), white (the Nirmalas), red (the Udasis), or yellow, are all members of the brotherhood of the Sikhs.’ The Akâlis do not, it is true, drink spirits or eat meat as other Sikhs do, but they are immoderate in the consumption of bhang. They are in other respects such purists that they will avoid Hindu rites even in their marriage ceremonies.
3. The Akâli is full of memories of the glorious days of the Khâlsa; and he is nothing if he is not a soldier—a soldier of the Guru. He dreams of armies, and he thinks in lakhs. If he wishes to imply that five Akâlis are present, he will say that ‘five lakhs are before you;’ or, if he would explain that he is alone, he will say that he is ‘with 1,25,000 Khâlsa.’ You ask him how he is, and he replies that ‘the army is well;’ you enquire where he has come from and he says, ‘the troops marched from Lahore.’
4. These sectaries are also known as Nihang, ‘the reckless,’ (others derive the word from nanga ‘naked,’ or the Sanskrit niranga, ‘having no resources’). They meet together at such places as the Akâlbhunga, at Amritsar; the Pîr Sâhib, at Attock, and the shrines of Govind Sinh, at Patna and Apchalnagar; but their chief home is at Kiratpur, in the Hoshyârpur District, where the sacred place of Phûla Sinh stands, and at Anandpur at the shrine par excellence of the Akâlis, the Gurudwâra Anandpur Sâhib, which was Guru Govind’s own house. The presence of these Akâlis at the annual Holi fair at Anandpur renders disturbances likely, and in 1864, a Missionary of the Ludhiâna Mission was killed at this fair by a Sikh fanatic. The influence of these sectaries has, however, very considerably diminished since the downfall of the Sikh power. They have not for some time past had any political significance.” [[78]]
Akâshmukhi.—A Saiva sect so called because they keep their face (mukha) turned towards the sky (akâsha) until the neck muscles become rigid, and the head remains fixed in that position. Some live a lonely, mendicant life: others associate in monasteries, where their natural wants are provided for by the piety of the faithful. They allow the hair of their head and face to grow, cover their bodies with ashes, and wear clothes dyed with ochre (geru).
Alakhgir, Alakhnâmi, Alakhiya.—A Saiva sect said to have been founded by a Chamâr, named Lâlgir. They are so called because when they beg they cry Alakh! Alakh! “the invisible God” (Sans. Alakshya). They wear usually a blanket cloak hanging down to their heels, and a high conical cap. They come to a man’s door and raise their characteristic cry. If their request is granted, they will accept alms: otherwise they go away at once. They are considered a quiet, harmless, begging class. They are generally classed among Jogis. The rule of their founder was that charity was to be practised, the taking of life and use of meat as food forbidden, and asceticism encouraged. The sole rewards he held out to his followers in this life were the attainment of purity, untroubled contemplation, and serenity. There was no future state: heaven and hell (that is, happiness and misery), were within. All perishes with the body, which is finally dissolved into the elements, and man cannot gain immortality.