Page:Ranjit Singh (Griffin).djvu/68

62 others to Aden, and the less important were confined in Punjab jails. The proceeding of the local authorities of the Ambála Division in blowing the rebels from guns was disapproved by the Punjab and Supreme Governments, as too drastic a remedy for the disorder. But, on the other hand, their action was taken in good faith, and there is much to be said in favour of the policy of suppressing rebellion in the swiftest and surest manner. It is, in any case, certain that the proceedings then taken were the death-blow to a formidable agitation against the Government, and the Kukas, although not extinct, have subsided into a disreputable sect whose communistic and debauched habits have brought upon them the general reprobation of the Sikh community.

In ordinary matters the Sikhs obeyed the Hindu law. But in some important particulars, notably in that of marriage, they had customs of their own which, in their turn, affected the rules of succession to property. The accepted rule was that, failing male heirs, the widow inherited the estate. But in wild times, when the sword was the only arbiter in disputes, and women were too weak to hold what had been won by the force and strength of men, the practice had grave inconveniences. The Sikh women had some of the virtues of their sex, and have on occasion shown themselves the equals of men in wisdom and administrative ability. Ráni Aus Kour of Patiála, Ráni Dya Kour of Ambála, and Mai Sada Kour, for long the head of the great Kanheya