A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

CHAP. I THE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE

5

of Ranjit Singh. It is sufficient to observe that the vigorous
Hindu civilization of the first ages of Christianity soon
absorbed its barbarous invaders, and that in the lapse of
centuries the Jats became essentially Brahmanical in language and belief. Along the southern Indus they soon
yielded their conscience to the guidance of Islam; those
of the north longer retained their idolatrous faith, but they
have lately had a new life breathed into them; they now
preach the unity of God and the equality of man, and,
after obeying Hindu and Muhammadan rulers, they have
themselves once more succeeded to sovereign power.' The
Musalman occupation forms the next grand epoch in
general Indian history after the extinction of the Buddhist
religion; the common speech of the people has been partially changed, and the tenets of Muhammad are gradually
revolutionizing the whole fabric of Indian society; but the
difference of race, or the savage manners of the conquerors,
struck the vanquished even more forcibly than their creed,
and to this day Jats and others talk of' Turks ' as synonymous with oppressors, and the proud RSjpfits not only
bowed before the Musalmans, but have perpetuated the
remembrance of their servitude by adopting 'Turkhana',
or Turk money, into their language as the equivalent of
tribute.
In the valley of the Upper Indus, that is, in Ladakh' and The
Little Tibet, the prevailing caste is the Bhoti subdivision Tartars of
of the great Tartar variety of the human race. Lower down
that classical stream, or in Gilgit and Chulass, the remains The ancient
of the old and secluded races of Dardus and Diingars are Dardus.
still to be found, but both in Iskardo and in Gilgit itself, Turkomans
there is some mixture of Turkoman tribes from the wilds of Gilgit.
of Pamer and Kashkar. The people of Kashmir have from The Kashtime to time lIeen mixed with races from the north, the mlrls
south, and the west; and while their language is Hindu
and their faith Muhammadan, the manners of the primitive
Kash or Katch tribes, have been influenced by their proximity to the Tartars. The hills westward from Kashmir to and their
the Indus are inhabited by Kfikas and Bambas, of whom western
neighlittle is known, but towards the river itself the Yfsufzais bours,
1 See Appendix I.