The
Punjab is the melting pot of many races, religions and cultures. It housed some
of the earliest civilisations on earth, and has seen many invasions, battles
and wars. These include: the Aryan invasions which started around 1500 BCE;
invasion by the Persian King Darius and the occupation in 516 BCE by the Persians
under King Gustasp; the conquering of the Persians by Alexander the Great and
his entry into the Punjab in 321 BCE; and around 711 CE, the Muslims attacked
and occupied much of the Punjab.
With the multitudes of cultures having
established themselves, the 9th century began to see the fallout between the
vested interests. Buddhist were virtually exterminated from India by Hindu zealots.
By the beginning of the 11th century, it was the turn of Muslims to subjugate
the Hindus for the next eight centuries. The Bhakti movement began to spread
its influence, and was firmly established in the Punjab by the fifteenth century.
By the time Guru Nanak(1469-1539)
was born in the Punjab, many of the Saints of Sikhism such as Farid and Kabir
had already come and gone. Nanak was an exceptional soul and this is apparent
from the clarity and completeness of his teachings. Guru Nanak's teachings did
not contain any of the burdens, inhibitions, or limitations of Hinduism, Buddhism
or Islam. Guru Nanak was followed by nine successors who established the infrastructure
to meet the needs and requirements of the growing community of followers. The
successors were: Guru Angad(1504-1552) who popularised the Punjabi language
and the Gurumukhi script; Guru Amardas(1479-1574) who made administrative and
cultural development; Guru RamDas(1534-1581) who founded the city of Amritsar;
Guru Arjan(1563-1606) who compiled the Guru Granth Sahib; Guru Hargobind(1595-1644)
who established the military tradition for just fights and thus establishing
the doctrine of miri-piri; Guru Har Rai(1630-1661); Guru Har Krishan (1656-1664);
Guru Teg Bahadur (1621-1675); and Guru Gobind Singh(1666-1708) who founded the
Khalsa and directed Sikhs to accept the Guru Granth Sahib to be their permanent
living Guru.
Guru Gobind appointed Banda Bahadur
as the commander of the Sikh armies. Banda caused great panic in the heart of
the Mughals and reciprocated their enormous barbarity. At this time, the Sikhs
won the freedom of India from the Mughals for the first time in 8 centuries.
It was being felt by the Muslim invaders that there was a new and growing force
that threatened their ability to govern and expand their influence. Following
Banda death in 1716, the Mughals started a campaign to exterminate or control
the Khalsa. Among the numerous heroes of this period are Kapur Singh and Mani
Singh. In 1746 the Hindu chief minister of the governor of Lahore was responsible
for Chhota Ghullughara (Lesser Holocaust) when more than 10,000 Sikhs were tricked
and killed. This was followed in 1762 by the Wadda Ghullughara (Greater Holocaust)
when more than 30,000 Sikhs (mainly the elderly and children) were killed by
the invading Afghan army of Ahmad Shah Abdali.
By 1760, the balance had begun to
shift in favour of the Sikhs. Abdali carried out nine invasions between 1747
and 1769. New heroes such as Jassa Singh Auluhawalia (who headed one of the
various Sikh misls) emerged that could engage the Afghan army and stand a reasonable
chance of winning. Once Abdali was dead, the Mughal power was at an end in India.
What Sikhs needed now was a leader who could hammer the various Sikhs confederacies
into a secular nation. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was just such a person. Ranjit
Singh was at the head of a Khalsa government for 4 decades till 1839. This brought
unprecendented peace and prosperity to the people of the Punjab, and peace to
the rest of India. There were no real developments in this period in so far
as Sikhism was concerned and Ranjit Singh was certainly not a good example of
a Sikh. Following the death of Ranjit Singh, and the demise of the Sikh monarchy
with treachery all around, the Sikhs fought two wars with the British in 1846
and 1849 and the Punjab was annexed on March 29, 1849.
The British Raj had a positive and
negative aspect to it. The observance of the Khalsa tradition (long hair and
Gurdwara attendance) was compulsory thus indicating that the British, at least,
were willing to treat Sikhism as quite distinct from Hinduism. The Sikhs faced
a real struggle in convincing the Hindus that they did not want to be associated
with Hinduism at all. These aspects took the form of trying to establish separate
forums and groups to take up specific issues related to religious and political
freedom. These included: the Singh Sabha Movement (formed 1873) and the ensuing
debate between the Santan Sikhs and the Tat Khalsa; and the Gurdwara Reform
Movement (1920 to 1925). Sikhs were actively involved in the agitations against
the British Raj, and faced the bloodiest scenes during the partition of the
India sub-continent (1947). The Sikhs had served the British well in their various
campaigns of World War II (1939-1945). However, what faced the Sikhs now was
the treachery and intrigue of the Hindus leadership.
In recent years, the sikhs have had
minor causes for celebration. The Sikh Rehit Maryada (1950) was a major milestone
in formalising the identiry and rituals of the Sikhs. Another achievement has
been the Punjabi Suba (1966). Sikhs in many ways feel that they are being held
back from real progress as they cannot establish a society that is truly in
keeping with the word of their Gurus. They feel that this has resulted from
governments that use Sikhs as pawns in electoral games (1947-present). The Sikh
demands for fair share of indigenous resources such as river waters and a free
market control over what they produce is not acceptable to the Indian masses.
This has led to increasing agitation and militancy. There has emerged a movement
that is dedicated to establishing Khalistan and the government of India will
do all it can to ensure that this cannot happen. Most of the important members
of this movement have been killed by the Indian army (1978-1992). With the spread
of Sikh sphere of influence elsewhere in the world, Sikhs can try establishing
and living out their ideals in various parts of the world.
The fact that Sikhs were almost exclusively
responsible for keeping Mugal invaders out of India, for liberating India from
800 years of foreign rule, and for safeguarding the Indian interests is no longer
important to the Indian masses. Consumerism means that religious and spiritual
ideals, fights for freedom, depth and breadth in character are not important.
It is now that Sikhism, like other main religions, faces its real test - will
it survive when the masses are too busy with worldly things, and the ego of
individuals grows out of all proportions.