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30 the other Gurus, with selected literary productions of the religious reformers of the age whose memory was still fresh in the minds of the people. This supplanted the Hindu Vedas and Puranas which the unlettered people were unable to read. He named it the 'Granth,' the Holy Book, which to the present day is held in the greatest veneration by the Sikhs as binding on all true disciples. He also instituted daily public worship at the temple of the sacred tank at Amritsar, where crowds came daily to bathe, when the 'Granth' was recited all day long with songs of praise to the accompaniment of stringed musical instruments.

Up to this time the income of the Guru proceeded from voluntary offerings. He now reduced this to a regular religious tax levied by deputies appointed in the various districts, who presented the amount to the Guru in the annual General Assembly at Amritsar. The Sikhs were thus gradually accustomed to a domestic government of their own, and began to feel themselves