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Debating Revolution: Early eighteenth century Sikh public philosophy on the formation of the Khalsa*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2013

HARDIP SINGH SYAN
HARDIP SINGH SYAN*
Affiliation:
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK Email: 140850@soas.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper examines the public debate that happened among Delhi's Sikh community following the formation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh. The detail of this debate was expressed in the early eighteenth century Sikh text, Sri Gur Sobha. The Sri Gur Sobha explains how Delhi's Sikhs became divided into pro-Khalsa and anti-Khalsa factions, and how this conflict resulted in a campaign of persecution against Delhi's Khalsa Sikhs. In this paper I endeavour to analyse exactly why this dispute occurred and how it reflects wider political and socio-economic processes in early modern India and Sikh society. In addition, the paper will explore how the elite Khatri community consequently became an object of hatred in eighteenth century Khalsa Sikh literature.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , July 2014 , pp. 1096 - 1133
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

I would like to thank Professor Sunil Kumar, University of Delhi; Professor Gurinder Singh Mann, University of California; and the anonymous Modern Asian Studies reviewers for their input into this paper. Needless to say, all opinions expressed are my own. All translations, unless stated, are my own. This paper is an extension of earlier research: see Syan, H. S. (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India, I. B. Tauris, London, pp. 186–205.

References

1 Guru Gobind Singh is described as the last ‘living’ Sikh Guru because he named the Sri Guru Granth Sahib [Sikh holy book] as his successor. In Sikh theology the Sri Guru Granth Sahib is believed to be the actual embodiment of the Guru and each word of the text is literally considered to be the Guru's limb and the text as a whole forms his complete body. For further discussion of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and its history and role in Sikhism, see Mann, G. S. (2001). The Making of Sikh Scripture, Oxford University Press, New DelhiCrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Singh, P. (2000). The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and Authority, Oxford University Press, New DelhiGoogle Scholar.

2 The study of the Khalsa's formation and issues regarding Khalsa ‘code of conduct’ have been comprehensively discussed in McLeod, W. H. (2003). Sikhs of the Khalsa: A History of the Khalsa Rahit, Oxford University Press, New DelhiGoogle Scholar.

3 Of course, this narrative is a ‘living’ one that has been modified by different authors and Sikh communities since the eighteenth century and will continue to change in accordance with the author and audience. What I mean by ‘above narrative’ is that it is the central narrative of formation: that Guru Gobind Singh formed this distinctive order, known as the Khalsa. And the Khalsa's creation was something radical. My own brief narrative is an amalgamation of earlier narratives, without any interesting additional details; it is simply an attempt at producing a literary narrative for the purposes of this paper.

4 For further analysis of medieval Sikh discussions about the goddess Durga and the Khalsa's purpose, see Syan, Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century.

5 Padam, P. S. (2000). Rahitname, Singh Brothers, Amritsar, p. 68Google Scholar.

6 See Gupta, S. and Gombrich, R. (November 1986), ‘Kings, Power and the Goddess’, South Asia Research, 6 (2), pp. 123–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 Ibid, p. 132.

8 Sainapati (1996), in Singh, Ganda (ed.), Kavi Sainapati rachit Sri Gur Sobha, Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala, p. 170Google Scholar.

9 For further discussion, see Gordon, S. (2003). Robes of Honor: Khil’at in Pre-Colonial and Colonial India, Oxford University Press, New DelhiGoogle Scholar.

10 For a history of the lesser discussed Indo-Afghan empire, see Gommans, J. (1995). The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, c.1710–1780, E. J. Brill, LeidenGoogle Scholar.

11 Bayly, C. A. (1983). Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 202–204Google Scholar.

12 Obviously there are many such irredentist narratives on the Khalsa's creation by Sikh specialists and non-Sikh specialists. For a particularly historically based patriotic narrative, see Gupta, H. R. (1978). History of the Sikhs. Volume 1, The Sikh Gurus, 1469–1708, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 248–282Google Scholar. For a specialist Mughal history, see Richards, J. F. (1999). The Mughal Empire, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 178Google Scholar.

13 For a discussion of this Sikh opinion on Aurangzeb and the Mughal empire, see Syan, Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 214–250.

14 For an analysis of the Zafarnama, see Melikian-Chirvani, S. A. (2002). ‘The Shah-Name Echoes in Sikh Poetry and the Origins of the Nihangs Name’, Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 16, pp. 1–23Google Scholar. For a translation of the Zafarnama, see Shackle, C. and Mandair, A. S. (2005). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from Sikh Scriptures, Routledge, London, pp. 137–144Google Scholar.

15 See Wink, A. (1986). Land and Sovereignty in India: Agrarian Society and Politics under the Eighteenth-century Maratha Svarajya, Cambridge University Press, CambridgeGoogle Scholar; Hallissey, R. C. (1977). The Rajput Rebellion Against Aurangzeb: A Study of the Mughal Empire in Seventeenth-century India, University of Missouri Press, Columbia and LondonGoogle Scholar; and Hastings, J. M. (2002). ‘Poets, Saints, and Warriors: The Dadu Panth, Religious Change and Identity Formation in Jaipur State, c.1562–1860 CE’, PhD thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

16 See Bhangu, R. S. (2005), in Jit Singh, Sital (ed.), Sri Gur Panth Prakash, Sikh Itihas Research Board, AmritsarGoogle Scholar; and Singh, S. (1961–1964), in Vir Singh (ed.), Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granthvali, Khalsa Samachar, AmritsarGoogle Scholar.

17 For thematic essays on the Sri Gur Sobha, see Murphy, A. (2007). ‘History in the Sikh Past’, History and Theory, 46 (3), pp. 345–365CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Singh, R. (1998). ‘Creation of Khalsa and Sri Gur Sobha’, Journal of Sikh Studies, 22 (2), pp. 61–68Google Scholar; and Deol, J. S. (2000). ‘18th century Khalsa Identity: Discourse, Praxis and Narrative’ in Shackle, C., Singh, G. and Mandair, A. S.Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity, Curzon, Richmond, pp. 25–46Google Scholar.

18 Due to a misspelling of the date in the manuscript tradition, some scholars have suggested that the text was completed in 1748 instead of 1711. Recently Mann has suggested that 1701 may be a more accurate date. For this paper I will place the text in the early eighteenth century, composed between 1700 to 1711. For this paper I have utilized a published version of the text edited by Ganda Singh, who unfortunately does not identify the manuscript he has used. The authorship has also proved problematic, with some scholars suggesting that Sainapati was a Mann Jat who served Guru Gobind Singh's court as a litterateur. See Ganda Singh's essay on Sainapati's background: Sainapati, Sri Gur Sobha, pp. 1–4. The textual history of the text has been discussed in McLeod, Sikhs of the Khalsa, pp. 59–61, and Mann, G. S. (2008). ‘Sources for the Study of Guru Gobind Singh's Life and Times’, Journal of Punjab Studies, 15 (1 and 2), p. 248Google Scholar.

19 Unfortunately the Dasam Granth's authorship is riddled with textual and historical controversies; for a comprehensive background of the text, see Loehlin, C. H. (1971). The Granth of Guru Gobind Singh and the Khalsa Brotherhood, Lucknow Publishing House, LucknowGoogle Scholar; Rinehart, R. (2011). Debating the Dasam Granth, Oxford University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

20 See Fenech, L. (2008). The Darbar of the Sikh Gurus: The Court of God in the World of Men, Oxford University Press, New DelhiGoogle Scholar, for a history of early Sikh courts.

21 For a history of the political rise of the Sikh Gurus, see Syan, Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century.

22 For an analysis of both these executions, see Singh, P. (2006). Life and Work of Guru Arjan, Oxford University Press, New DelhiCrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Talib, G. S. and Singh, F. (1975). Guru Tegh Bahadur: Martyr and Teacher, Punjabi University, PatialaGoogle Scholar.

23 Grewal, J. S. and Habib, I. (2004). Sikh History from Persian Sources, Fiction House, Lahore, p. 113Google Scholar.

24 For detailed narrative of this conflict, see Grewal, J. S. and Bal, S. S. (1967). Guru Gobind Singh (A Biographical Study), Punjab University, ChandigarhGoogle Scholar.

25 Alam, M. (1986). The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India: Awadh and the Punjab, 1707–1748, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 134–136Google Scholar.

26 See Hans, S. (1988). A Reconstruction of Sikh History from Sikh Literature, ABS Publications, JalandarGoogle Scholar, for an understanding of pre-colonial Sikh views on Sikhism.

27 Sainapati, Sri Gur Sobha, p. 65.

28 Ibid, p. 78.

29 Ibid, p. 78.

30 See the various Rahitnama texts in original form in Padam, Rahitname.

31 Sainapati, Sri Gur Sobha, pp. 78–101.

32 Ibid, p. 87.

33 Ibid, p. 80.

34 Ibid, pp. 88–89.

35 Ibid, p. 90.

36 Ibid, pp. 90–91.

37 Ibid, p. 91.

38 Ibid, p. 92.

39 Ibid, p. 93.

40 Ibid, pp. 93–94.

41 Ibid, p. 94.

42 Ibid, p. 97.

43 Ibid, p. 98.

44 Ibid, pp. 98–99.

45 Ibid, pp. 99–100.

46 Ibid, p. 100.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Ibid, p. 101.

50 Ibid.

51 Ibid.

52 Ibid.

53 Some have argued that Bhakti religions were particularly conducive to capitalist enterprises; see Larocque, B. P. (2004). ‘Trade, State, and Religion in Early Modern India: Devotionalism and the Market Economy in the Mughal Empire’, PhD thesis, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

54 Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars, p. 179.

55 For a discussion of caste in early Sikh society in Punjab, see Syan, Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 24–40.

56 The presence of significant Sikh communities in these specific cities can be confirmed by the fact that the Sikh Gurus sent Hukumnamas (letters of command) to Sikh congregations principally in these cities. For examples of these Hukumnamas, see Singh, G. (1999). Hukumname: Guru Sahiban, Mata Sahiban, Banda Singh ate Khalsa ji de, Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala.Google Scholar

57 Singh, Hukumname, p. 93.

58 Myrvold, K. (2007). ‘Inside the Guru's Gate: Ritual Uses of Texts among the Sikhs in Varanasi’, PhD thesis, University of Lund, pp. 38–57.

59 See Singh, C. (1991). Region and Empire: Panjab in the Seventeenth Century, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, pp. 271–285Google Scholar.

60 Alam, The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India, pp. 39–42.

61 For a detailed discussion of the Khatri kinship system in medieval India, see Syan, Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 27–40.

62 For a discussion of the lives and works of various seventeenth century Sikh savants such as Bhai Gurdas and Sodhi Miharvan, see Syan, Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century.

63 To the best of my knowledge there have not been any studies on the history of Sikh schools in the modern or pre-modern periods. There is a big difference between run-of-the-mill schools in Sikh temples and Sikh schools with a spiritual genealogy and tradition (parampara). Schools with a parampara were founded by an apotheosized Sikh and they usually have an exegetical tradition. These parampara schools are usually called taksal or akhara. In 1781, the British orientalist, Charles Wilkins, visited a Sikh college in Patna; for his account, see Singh, G. (1974). Early European Accounts of the Sikhs, Today and Tomorrow Publishers, New Delhi, pp. 71–73Google Scholar. This account has been reprinted in Madra, A. S. and Singh, P. (2005). Sicques, Tiger or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs, 1606–1809, Palgrave Macmillan, BasingstokeGoogle Scholar.

64 Grewal and Habib, Sikh History from Persian Sources, p. 66.

65 For an insight into the Kayasths, see Leonard, K. S. (1978). Social History of an Indian Caste: The Kayasths of Hyderabad, Sangam Books, LondonGoogle Scholar.

66 The Khatris had a highly refined matrimonial system. For a detailed background of colonial Khatri kinship practices, see Rose, H. A. (1990). A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Provinces, Volume 2, Language Department, Patiala, pp. 501–526Google Scholar. For a modern account of Khatri marriage practices, see Das, V. (1993). ‘Masks and Faces: an Essay on Punjabi Kinship’ in Uberoi, P.Family, Kinship, and Marriage in India, Oxford University Press, New DelhiGoogle Scholar.

67 See Dale, S. F. (1994). Indian Merchants and Eurasian Trade, 1600–1750, Cambridge University Press, CambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

68 See Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars.

69 See Blake, S. P. (1991). Shahjahanabad: The Sovereign City in Mughal India, 1639–1739, Cambridge University Press, CambridgeCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

70 For a history on the importance of Persian to Mughal society, see Alam, M. (1998). ‘The Pursuit of Persian: Language in Mughal Politics’, Modern Asian Studies, 32 (2), pp. 317–49CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

71 See Alam, M. and Subrahmanyam, S. (2004). ‘The Making of a Munshi’, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and Middle East, 24 (2), pp. 61–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

72 Olivelle, P. (1998). ‘Hair and Society: Social Significance of Hair in South Asian Traditions’ in Hiltebeitel, A. and Miller, B. D.Hair: Its Power and Meaning in Asian Cultures, State University of New York Press, New York, pp. 11–49Google Scholar.

73 Rose, A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab, Vol. 1, p. 843.

74 Ibid, pp. 755–756.

75 Ibid, pp. 904–905.

76 For further details on the ritual of the sacred thread in Punjab, see ibid, pp. 756–758.

77 Trust was an important virtue for the early modern merchant family; see Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars, pp. 369–426.

78 Deol has suggested that the Khatris also rejected the injunction on the tonsure rites because of the existence of a ‘death tax’. But this is questionable because it is unclear whether or not this ‘death tax’ was ever collected and what exactly its purpose was. See Deol, J. S. ‘18th century Khalsa Identity: Discourse, Praxis and Narrative’ in Shackle, C. et al. Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity, Curzon, Richmond, pp. 25–46Google Scholar.

79 See Richards, J. F. (1984). ‘Norms of Comportment among Imperial Mughal Officers’ in Metcalf, B. D.Moral Conduct and Authority: The Place of Adab in South Asian Islam, University of California Press, BerkeleyGoogle Scholar; O’Hanlon, R. (2007). ‘Kingdom, Household and Body: History, Gender and Imperial Service under Akbar’, Modern Asian Studies, 41 (5), pp. 889–923CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Alam, M. (2000). ‘Akhlaqi Norms and Mughal Governance’ in Alam, M., Delvoye, F. and Gaborieau, M.The Making of Indo-Persian Culture, Centre de Sciences Humaines, New DelhiGoogle Scholar.

80 O’Hanlon, R. (1999). ‘Manliness and Imperial Service in Mughal North India’, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 42 (1), p. 72Google Scholar.

81 Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars, p. 383. Bayly notes that in anecdotes from late eighteenth century Benares the figure of the ‘great sahu’ was represented by the head of the city's Khatri community, Lala Kashmiri Mull.

82 Alam and Subrahmanyam, ‘The Making of a Munshi’, p. 74.

83 A prominent eighteenth century Khatri intellectual and administrator was Anand Ram ‘Mukhlis’ (1699–1751); see Alam, M. and Subrahmanyam, S. (1996). ‘Discovering the Familiar: Notes on the Travel Account of Anand Ram Mukhlis’, South Asia Research, 16 (2), pp. 131–154CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

84 For further discussion of the virtue of being farsiyat, see Phukan, S. (2000). ‘Through a Persian Prism: Hindi and Padmavat in the Mughal Imagination’, PhD thesis, University of Chicago.

85 Alam, The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India, pp. 134–203.

86 Ibid, p. 149.

87 Ibid.

88 See Dhavan, P. (2011). When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799, Oxford University Press, New YorkCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

89 Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars, p. 156.

90 Ibid, p. 367.

91 Padam, Rahitname, p. 85.

92 Ibid, p. 109.

93 Ibid, p. 74.

94 Ibid, p. 75.

95 Ibid, p. 138.

96 Ibid, p. 129.

97 Chhibbar, K. S. (2005), in Padam, Piara Singh (ed.), Bhai Kesar Singh Chhibbar krit Bansavalinama Dasan Patshahian Ka, Singh Brothers, Amritsar, pp. 150–151Google Scholar.

98 The word bhaddar is used by Sainapati, although it is more commonly known as bhaddan in Sikh texts after Sainapati's Sri Gur Sobha.

99 Quoted in Alam, The Crisis of Empire in Mughal North India, p. 150.

100 Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars, pp. 387–388.