[Sidenote: Persecutions of Aurangzeb.] The new faith was eagerly accepted by Hindus, especially those of the lower castes, but Mohammedans stood aloof from the heresy. The stern Aurangzeb, who reigned as Great Mogul from the days of Oliver Cromwell to those of Queen Anne, persecuted the Sikhs with relentless ferocity, and the ninth Guru was beheaded in the imperial palace of Delhi in the presence of Aurangzeb and his courtiers. [Sidenote: Guru Govind: the Khalsa.] Under Guru Govind, the tenth and last of the old Sikh pontiffs, the Sikhs were transformed by persecution from a brotherhood of saints into an army of warriors. Guru Govind stands out as the real founder of the Sikh Khalsa or "saved ones." He set apart five faithful disciples, namely, a Brahman, a Rajput, and three Sudras, to form a Khalsa, and to be a model for all other Khalsas. He consecrated them by sprinkling holy water; he gave to each the name of Singh, or "lion warrior," but he gave to the whole five collectively the name of Khalsa; and he solemnly promised that wherever a Khalsa was gathered together, he, their Guru, would be in the midst of them. [Sidenote: Army of the Khalsa.] Henceforth the Sikhs were known as the "Army of God and the Khalsa." The constitution was changed. Guru Govind was taken prisoner by the Moguls and executed, and his successors lost their spiritual prestige. The Sikhs were divided into twelve misls or clans, each having its own chief or Sirdar; but the Sirdars changed with the times. Some took the field at the head of their sons and vassals, zealous only for God and the Khalsa. Others were mere freebooters, who led bodies of irregular horse to devastate and plunder. Others again formed a brotherhood of fanatics known as Akalis, who called themselves soldiers of God, and were distinguished by steel bracelets and dark-blue dresses and turbans. [Sidenote: Runjeet Singh, 1800-39.] Out of these discordant elements Runjeet Singh created his famous army of the Khalsa. By consummate tact he stirred up the old enthusiasm of the Sikh soldiery, whilst employing French officers to drill and command them. He added Cashmere and Peshawar to his dominions, and was known as the "Lion of Lahore." His depravity is indescribable; his court at Lahore was a sink of iniquity, like the cities of the plain; but, knowing the real source of his power, he gloried in the title of "Commander-in-Chief of the Army of God and the Khalsa." When he died, in 1839, four queens and seven slaves were buried alive with his remains. [Sidenote: Hopeless anarchy.]