ive inhabitants of India are
absolutely unchangeable in their sacred, domestic, and political
institutions, and, at first sight, there would appear to be much to
warrant such an opinion; but the history of many of them, and
especially of the Sikhs, who inhabit the provinces of the Panjab,
between the rivers Jumna and Indus, may be alleged as proofs to the
contrary. Still, in the religion of the Sikhs, Mohammedan fable and
Hindu absurdity are mixed; its founder wishing to unite both these
prevalent systems in one. He had been educated in a part of the
country where these two religions appeared to touch each other, if not
commingle, and he was no stranger to the violent animosity existing
between their respective professors; he sought, therefore, to blend the
jarring elements of both in peaceful union. The Hindu was required to
abandon his idols, and to worship the one Supreme Deity whom his
religion acknowledged; while the Mohammedan {284} was to abstain from
such practices (especially the killing of cows) as were offensive to
the superstition of the Hindus. This plan so far prevailed, that,
without acknowledging the Prophet, the Sikhs became more Mohammedans
than Hindus; and though the institutions of Brahma are not admitted
among them, they insult and persecute true Moslems more fiercely and
cruelly than any other people. They compel them to eat that which is
forbidden by their law; animals which they account unclean are
frequently thrown into their places of public assembly, and they are
prohibited from proclaiming the hour of prayer to the faithful.

China is one of those countries to which Mohammedanism was carried by
the hordes of Tartary. From the scrupulous jealousy with which this
vast empire is guarded from observation, it is difficult to say to what
extent the Mohammedan faith, or, indeed, any other, prevails among its
numberless inhabitants; but, beyond question, it is tolerated.

The irruption of the Saracens into China under Walid can scarcely be
termed a conquest. Subsequently, the successors of Zenghis Khan seated
themselves on the throne of Pekin, and opened the country to an
intercourse with all nations. The commercial Arabs had visited the
ports and cities in the south of China; and, now that access to the
{285} capital was unrestrained, multitudes of them repaired thither.
They acquired the language, and adopted the dress and manners of the
people, to whom also they rendered valuable aid in a