Page:The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors Vol 1.djvu/33

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
PREFACE
xxvii

fifth volume of this work. Though they may sound bizarre to European ears, they will be appreciated by the Sikhs and by many European lovers of art who regret the loss of the music to which the Odes of Pindar and Sappho and the choral exercises of the Greek tragedians were sung.

There are also added pictures of the Gurus as far as ascertainable, of famous Sikh temples, and of some scenes memorable in Sikh history. These pictures have been prepared by Bhai Lal Singh under the auspices of the Honourable Tikka Ripudaman Singh, the young heir to the Nabha gadi.

The expense attendant on the production of this work, which has been the labour of many years, and has been completed with the assistance for long periods of a large staff of Sikh scholars and of English and vernacular copyists, has been very considerable, and I am indebted to His Highness the Raja of Nabha, His Highness Sir Rajindar Singh, the late much lamented Maharaja of Patiala, His Highness Raja Ranbir Singh, Raja of Jind, the Tikka Sahib of Nabha, and the late Sardar Ranjit Singh of Chichrauli for defraying a portion of it. His Highness the Gaekwar of Baroda has promised his patronage after the publication of the work.

Several persons have recommended this work to the patronage of the Indian Government and the Secretary of State for India. The distinguished scholar, Count Angelo de Gubernatis, president of the Roman Congress of Orientalists, thus addressed the Secretary of State for India in a letter dated October 19, 1899 :—

Dans l'intérêt de la science, je prends la liberté de vous signaler fort particulièrement à votre attention la pro-