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ON THE SIKHS.
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house of Timur the propagators of the doctrines of Nának were unmolested, and seem to have risen rapidly in temporal as well as spiritual consideration. Rámpás, the third Guru, enjoyed the favour of Akbar', and settled himself in an ancient city in the Panjab, which he so much enlarged and improved that it was called after him Ramdáspur. Among his improvements was the construction of a large tank which was called by the people the lake of Ambrosia or Amritsar, and this has, in modern times, given its designation and sanctity to the town so denominated, Amritsar. The wealth and consequence attained by the Sikh Gurus had, however, the effect of drawing upon them the jealousy and persecution of the Mohammedans, and ARJUNMAL, the fourth Guru after Nának, was seized and thrown into prison, where he either died or was put to death. The act was resented by the Sikhs of the province, who took up arms under Har Govind *, the son of Arjun, and exacted vengeance from all whom they regarded as hostile to their religion. Their rising, however, seems to have been regarded as a mere local disturbance, involving no political crisis, much less as indicating the future development of an independent state.
This persecuting spirit continued through several successions of Sikh Gurus, and in some cases, it might be more correctly termed retribution; for the Sikhs, dispossessed of their acquisitions or inheritance
* [According to the Dabistán, II, p. 273, Arjummal was followed by his brother Bharata. See Troyer's note.]
