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THE SIKHS.

ship of the Sword. He imbued them with a warlike spirit, and made them a people separated from their Indian countrymen in political constitution and ambition as well as in religious tenets, leading them to reject caste and to abandon the institutes of Hinduism for a fraternity of arms and military daring. Faced by the intolerance and persecution of the Moghul Government, the time had gone for the preservation or diffusion of the Sikh faith in Nanak's spirit of meekness and humility. Nanak laid the broad foundations of religious reform, on which Govind built his militant doctrine to suit the changed times. He wished to infuse his own spirit into Nanak's 'Granth,' as he said it only instilled into the minds of the Sikhs a spirit of meekness and humility; but the guardians of the book signed by Arjun the compiler refused to let this be done, so Govind decided to make an additional book for his followers which should rouse their military valour and inflame them to deeds of courage. He completed it in