The Source Book On Sikhism

After Guru Gobind Singh Ji

For about seven years after the death of Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur (he was so-called on account of his unparalleled bravery) won resounding victories against the imperial Moghul forces and established his own rule in large tracts of land west of Delhi, ransacking Sirhind and killing the Nawab. He also stuck his own coin, but was captured at Gurdas Nangal near Gurdaspur and was put to death at Delhi along with seven hundred others. For fifty years thereafter, it was a battle of life and death for the Sikhs. Price was put on their heads and they were hounded out of town and country to seek refuge in the woods. But this also gave Sikhs an excellent opportunity for training in guerrilla warfare by which they harassed the invading armies of Nadir Shah and Ahmad Shah Abdali. They were so divided into twelve Misals (or clans), but whenever they attacked a target, they did so jointly after passing a unanimous resolution (Gurmata). And even before Ranjit Singh, lion of the Punjab, came to power and created an empire which included a greater portion of the present Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, the North-West Frontier Province, etc., the twelve Misals of the Sikhs had each created for itself an independent dominion. The Sikh States of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Faridkot, Kalsia and Kapurthala were established in those days.

After Ranjit Singh’s death in 1839, confusion prevailed in the Sikh regime due to the intrigues of leadership of power. Meanwhile, the British, who were waiting for an opportunity to annex the Punjab, doorway to Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, struck and, following two wars, the Sikh kingdom was integrated with the British India.

During the early British days, several movements of reform ensued, including the Namdhari movement, which not only propagated the Gospel of the Name, but also led an anti-British crusade. No Namdhari was to study the Ferangi’s language, nor seek employment with him, nor use the post offices, nor any of the British products. The leader of the Namdhari movement, Baba Ram Singh, was imprisoned and died during his incarceration in Rangoon. Namdharis, however, made a few departures in the original Path of the Guru and became strike vegetarians, discarded the sword in preference to the rosary and did not accept the GURU GRANTH as Guru, as they continued to believe in a living Guru.

But the greatest upsurge for reform came with the Akali movement which, beginning with the Singh Sabha movement in the late nineteenth century and insisting on holding on to the orthodox faith of Guru Gobind, culminated in the movement for expulsion of corrupt hereditary priests from the Sikh temples and handing over their management to an elected body of the whole community, called the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (S.G.P.C. for short). This movement involved them in a tussle with the British Government as well, because they stood by the vested interests of the priests. The Sikhs, thereafter participated actively in the movement for the country’s liberation, though the British continued to recruit them in the imperial army in large numbers and grant the awards of land in the Canal-irrigated areas of the Punjab.

During this period many Sikhs travelled and settled abroad in Canada, Malaya, East Africa and California as farmers, lumbermen, factory and office workers, artisans and lawyers. At home also they made tremendous progress in all spheres of activity, notably as engineers, medical scientists, carpenters, contractors and merchants.

After the partition of the country, all that the Sikhs had created was ruined, but it gave them also the first opportunity to congregate in a compact piece of land which is now Punjab.

Though the Sikhs are only 20 million, mainly concentrated in the Punjab, the Sikh faith is owned by many more people, notably the Sindhis. A large number of the Hindus also believe in the tenets of the Sikh faith and look upon the Sikh Gurus as their very own.

Editors Note: It must be pointed out that “post-independent history” of the Sikhs has been very troubled. It can be read in a very well researched book written by Dr. Sangat Singh entitled, The Sikhs in History (3rd Edition, 1999).

Dr. Sangat Singh can be reached at S-181 Greater Kailash 11, New Delhi, India 110048.

Phone: [phone].