Note 60 — A (continued 2)

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.