How The British Sowed The Seeds For Khalistani Movement Before Indians Took Over: Part 2

How The British Divided Punjab (1860 to 1947)

During a 2012 visit to Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh, about an hour's drive from Anandpur Sahib, I wondered why so many Sikhs come to the temple for darshan. The answer lies in the events of 1699.

In the Chandi Charitra, the tenth Guru says that in the past god had deputed Goddess Durga to destroy evil doers. That duty was now assigned to him hence he wanted her blessings. So he invited Pandit Kesho from Kashi to conduct the ceremony at the hill of Naina Devi. The ceremony started on Durga Ashtami day, in the autumn of October 1698, and lasted for six months. At the end of this period, the sacred spring Navratras began on 21 March 1699.

Then, “When all the ghee and incense had been burnt and the goddess had yet not appeared, the Guru came forward with a naked sword and, flashing it before the assembly declared: ‘This is the goddess of power!” This took place on 28 March 1699, the Durga Ashtami day. The congregation was then asked to move to Anandpur, where on New Year Day of 1st Baisakh, 1699, the Guru would create a new nation.” (3)

They were designated the Five “Beloved Ones” and termed “Khalsa” (ie Purified). “In India 'five' has been a sacred number from time immemorial. Panchon mein Parmeshwar hai is an old saying indicating the presence of Divinity in five, as are as the five elements of nature.

“Each of the five letters in the Persian word Khalsa has a significance. The first two, kh and a, stand, respectively for Khud or oneself and the Akal Purakh (God). ‘L’ signifies Labbaik meaning the following questions of God: "What do you want with me? Here am I. What would you have? and the reply of the Singh (devotee): Lord, give us liberty and sovereignty. ‘S’ signifies Sahib (Lord or Master). The last letter is written as a or, more usually, h. The former signifies Azadi and the latter refers to Huma, a legendary bird.” (4)

Dr Satish K Kapoor, distinguished educationist, historian and spiritualist wrote:

According to Khalsa tradition, its followers had to sport the five Ks i.e. Kesh (long hair), Kangha (comb), Kirpan (sword), Kara (steel bracelet), Kachcha (knickers). Long hair and turbans were supposed to protect the face and head from sword cuts and lathi blows. The kara was a reminder that the Sikh spirit was strong and unbending. The kachcha was more suitable for fighting the Mughals in than the dhotis and loose trousers of the Muslims. The kara was also useful in hand to hand fights and “guarded the vulnerable portion of the right hand which wielded the kripan”. (6)

Initially, the Khalsa followers were mostly Jats. Though others considered themselves Sikhs, they held back since they were not followers of the Khalsa. According to Sikh scholar W H Mcleod:

The birth of the Khalsa resulted in the rise of Jat power in Punjab. Khalsa was raised to fight Mughal oppression and persecution of Hindus and Sikhs (who then were considered part of the larger Hindu community). The word “Sikh” comes from the “Sanskrit word sishya meaning a learner or a person who takes spiritual lessons from a teacher.”(8)

The birth of an aggressive community so close to them made the hill chiefs, particularly Raja Bhim Chand of Bilaspur uneasy. Together, they were apprehensive that a Guru king, who treated all subjects equally, was a threat to a feudal raja steeped in caste hierarchy. Their fear was that their subjects would find Guru Govind Singhji’s policies more attractive and shift their support to him. Something had to be done or they would incur the wrath of the Mughal king too. The hill chiefs successfully got the Guru to move out of Anandpur to a small village near Kiratpur. However, when the raja tried to ambush his forces he was defeated.

The chiefs realised the Guru was too strong for them so they requested Aurangzeb for help. The Mughal ruler ordered the subedars of Sirhind and Lahore to help the raja destroy the Khalsa. Together they laid a siege on Anandpur where Govind Singh lived. Unable to face the combined onslaught, Govind Singh evacuated the fort entrusting his mother, wife and two sons to a Brahmin servant Gangu Kaul. It is because this servant made their whereabouts known to the Mughals that the Sikhs are upset with the Hindus.

Yet, Hindus also suffered alongside the Sikhs in their struggle. Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dyal Das sacrificed their lives along with Guru Tegh Bahadur, and were Brahmins. Note that, “When Guru Tegh Bahadur was prevented from entering Hari Mandir by his Sodhi cousins, he was invited by the Himachal kings to establish Anandpur Sahib in the Punjab hills,” says a scholar from Punjab.

Therefore, Sikhs hold it against Hindu king of Bilaspur for joining hands with the Mughals to defeat the tenth Guru. Similarly, Sikhs hold it against Bundela ruler Chhatrasal, who took part in the siege and capture of bairagi turned military commander Banda Bahadur.

The point is, it was not a Hindu-Sikh issue, for rulers routinely switched sides in those days. Note that Ratan Rai, the son of Raja Ram Rai of Assam, visited Anandpur with his mother and ministers, and presented several gifts to Guru Govind Singhji, including an elephant called Prasadi (or Parsadi).

However, if the Sikh argument is accepted, then Hindus should also be upset with the Sikhs when Sikh princes supported the British during the 1857 Mutiny.

Fast Forward To 1860s

Having experienced the strength of Sikh opposition during the Anglo-Sikh wars and grateful for the assistance received from Sikh princes during the Mutiny of 1857, the British realised that Sikhs would be an effective buffer between Afghanistan and India.

Therefore, the British reduced the number of Bengali soldiers (many of whom were involved in the 1857 Mutiny) and replaced them with loyal Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims. It however, insisted that only Kesadhari Sikhs could join the army i.e. those who sported the five k's. The enlistment of Sikhs increased steeply. Since it was mainly Jat Sikhs who sported the five k's then, they were the biggest beneficiaries since soldiers were well paid, given agricultural land and pension.

In order to woo the Jats, “The area specificly chosen for the Sikhs was a tract known as nili bar, irrigated the Chenab canal. Colonisation officers scoured Sikh villages in the districts of Amrtisar, Ludhiana and Ferozpur to pick up the best farmers. The settlers were given heritable and inalienable rights of occupancy. The vast majority of Sikh colonists were Malwa Jats with a sprinkling on non-Jat agricultural tribes." (9)

With time farmers prospered. Since these lands were given predominantly to Sikhs it resulted in gains for them. “Thus there was a phenomenal rise in the Sikh population in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century.” (10)

The British also helped by reserving posts for Sikhs, especially for Kesadhari Khalsa, in the army and in civilian services.

Veena Talwar, author of Dowry Murder, the Imperial Origins of a Culture Crime wrote, “To prevent the kind of mutiny they had experienced from sepoys in 1857, the British organized religiously segregated regimental units from the alleged 'martial races', Sikhs, Pathans, Rajputs and Gurkhas. This severely restricted Hindus of other castes who wanted to join the army, particularly Khatris, who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forces. It is important to mention that Hindus, particularly Khatris, who were acknowledged as Kshatriyas but were arbitrarily limped together with the 'trading castes' in the British census reports (since large number of them were educated and engaged in trade), were seldom accepted into the British military service. The Khatris, who had also been landholders, acquired further acreage till the Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900 forbade them to do so as a 'non-agricultural' tribe. Many families got around this artificially imposed caste barrier by raising one or more son as a Sikh, chiefly by having them adopt the name Singh and grow hair/beard to match.

“The British enforced rigid occupational boundaries by creating ‘traditional agriculturists’, ‘martial races’ and ‘trading castes’. They could not trust the educated Khatri to be as obedient a soldier as the Jat, and certainly missed the rationale for the many male children being produced in these families.” (12)

Note that Ranjit Singh's commander-in-chief who led the victory of Attock in 1813, Dewan Mohkam Chand and all Sikh Gurus were Khatris.

This explains why the British wooed Jat Sikhs, gave them predominance in the army, the rivalry between them and the Khatris and why Hindus (mainly Khatris) made the first son a Sikh. At the time there were turbaned and non-turbaned followers of Gurus. But those who partook in amrit and came forward to protect society, crystalised into a separate class, and gradually came to dominate. The Tat Khalsa opposed Bandai Sikhs (ie followers of Banda Bahadur, successor of Govind Singhji). According to Sikh scholar W H Mcleod, “Tat Khalsa means 'Pure Khalsa'. Originally the name given to a section of the Panth (q.v.) which opposed the Sikh leader Banda in the early 18th century. Since the late 19h century, the name describes the radical group within the Singh Sabha (q.v.) which pressed to have its exclusivist interpretation of the Sikh faith accepted by the Panth (q.v.). Within the Singh Sabha it was opposed by the conservative Sanatan Sikhs (q.v.), who believed that Sikhs was merely one of the many varieties of Hindu tradition.” (13) More about Singh Sabhas later.

“Sometimes Jats resent that Khatris deprived them of the Guru gaddi. Baba Buddha, a Jat, was made to do tilak of gurus but was never assigned the supreme religious position,” says a scholar from Punjab. Jat differences with Bhapas (Khatri-Arora Sikhs) also arise because Jats see themselves as the original followers of Khalsa and Bhapas as later entrants.

There have been attempts to undermine the bravery of Khatris and play up the bravery of Sikhs (Jats). Besides Dewan Mohkam Chand, another brave Khatri in Ranjit Singh's team was Misr Dewan Chand. After capturing the forts of Multan and Shujabad in 1818, he was honoured with the title of Zafar Jang Bahadur (victorious in battle). They are hardly spoken about but another able warrior Hari Singh Nalwa is remembered. (The name Nalwa, or Nalua was given to Hari Singh when he tore off the head of a lion). Similarly Hindu courtiers of Ranjit Singh like Bhawani Das (finance minister), Dina Nath (financial adviser) and others have not won accolades in public.

An attempt is also made to show some well known North Indian warriors as Sikhs. A Google search for Banda Bahadur shows this Rajput or Bhardwaj Brahmin as a Sikh and is ironically now addressed as Banda Singh Bahadur. He was born Lachman Dev/Das and was a Bairagi sadhu when he met Guru Govind Singhji. Similarly Zorawar Singh, a brave Rajput, who served Raja Gulab Singh and made Ladakh and parts of Tibet part of Jammu and Kashmir, is considered by many as a Sikh.

To retain effective control over Punjab, the British accentuated the wedge between land-owning Jats and non-agriculturists. The Punjab Land Alienation Act of 1900 “enabled the government to retain its inflexible revenue policies and continue to blame peasant proprietors’ misfortunes on Hindu moneylenders. It was done to pacify the land owning classes and deflect a rebellion, and to aggravate and exploit any tension that existed between Hindus and Muslims to keep their political grip on Punjab. This piece of legislation created a favoured, ‘dominant’ agriculturalist class at the expense of other social groups. Here the ‘agriculturists’ were Muslim tribes and Sikh and Hindu Jat zamindars, and the ‘non-agriculturists’ were Hindu Brahmins, Khatris and Banias. The Act made tribe and caste the basis of land ownership.” (14)

The British played up differences between Hindus and Muslims and sought to make Muslim and Sikh Jats loyal subjects, thus safeguarding their own position in Punjab.

Some also credit the Arya Samaj, a reformist movement started by Swami Dayanand Saraswati in 1875, for increasing the Hindu-Sikh divide. The Arya Samajis felt that Sikhs were really Hindus and they should be won back to their original faith. Their contention was backed by the social customs of the time. Note that many Sikhs were initially followers of Swami Dayananda and members of Arya Samaj.

Conversions and remarks against Sikh Gurus by some Arya Samaj leaders did not endear them to the Sikhs. The Arya Samaj was actually more focused on reconverting Muslims. One of the leading lights of the Shuddhi Movement, Swami Shraddhananda, was murdered by Abdul Rashid in 1926.

Some even credit the formation of Singh Sabhas to Hindus, and the Arya Samaj in particular.

However, even before the Arya Samaj was founded the first Singh Sabha was founded in 1873. Author W H Mcleod wrote, “to restore the credibility of the Sikhs following Kuki disturbances and also to stem what seemed to be a clear signs of decay in the Panth. The readiness of many Sikhs to indiscriminately adopt Hindu lifestyles was one cause of increasing dismay. Christian missions also seemed to be a threat, and in 1873 the decision of four pupils of the Amritsar Mission School to accept Christian baptism prompted the foundation of the Singh Sabha in that city. Another branch was formed in Lahore in 1879 with strong emphasis on the recovery of distinctive Sikh values. Two distinctive trends soon emerged, with what have been termed as the Sanatan Sikhs prominent in Amritsar and the Tat Khalsa dominant in Lahore.”(15)

Khushwant Singh wrote:

As a follower of many Rishis and Gurus, for whom words of praise and criticism are equally showered, it baffles me why people take offence against every word of criticism. If a follower has innate faith in the Guru and their teachings, use the power of the intellect to respond to criticism instead of taking offense.

In the field of education, too, there was competition between Singh Sabha and Arya Samaj. After the Samaj opened the DAV (Dayanand Anglo-Vedic College) in Lahore in 1886, “a hukumnama was issued from the Golden Temple asking Sikhs to a give a tenth of their income towards building of Khalsa College, Amritsar , whose foundation was laid in 1892.” (19)

The Arya Samaj was primarily concerned about the inroads made by Christianity and Islam into Hinduism. In fact it was to counter missionary activity that its founder, a Gujarati, went to Punjab. Its areas of focus were social service and spread of English education. (Read article Arya Samaj and the DAV Movement - Educational and Social Dimensions link end of essay.)

A scholar sums up the arguments of Pandit Sukh Lal and replies,

A move to say Sikhs were not Hindus also received an impetus in 1898 with Kahan Singh Nabha’s book Ham Hindu Nahin Hain, the passing of the Anand Marriage Act in 1909 which laid down a specific order for Sikhs and the British insistence that all recruits to the army from the community wore the five k's.

According to W H Mcleod, author of Historical Dictionary of Sikhism:

The Tat Khalsa emerged victorious when “in 1905 Hindu idols were removed from the Harimandir”. (24)

It is a well known fact that the plan to construct Durgiana Mandir, by the identity-conscious Sanatani Hindus, was primarily in response to the removal of sacred images from the Golden Temple. The idea to build the temple in Amritsar was that of Gur Shai Mal Kapoor. Its foundation stone was laid by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya in 1924 on Ganga Dashmi day. A visitor will see the striking similarity between the two temples.

In 1902, the first Sikh political organisation, the Chief Khalsa Diwan, was founded. It was a coordinating body for the Singh Sabhas. Although the Singh Sabha movement died out in the 1920's, it awakened the Sikhs. They questioned why the job of a granthi (scripture reader) was done by members of the Udasi order (not followers of Khalsa) even though it was the practice since the Mughal times. The Akalis took control of the gurudwaras after throwing out the mahants. The Udasis had been the keepers of gurudwaras when the community was in turmoil due to invasions. To be fair, there were allegations of misuse of funds and their leading immoral lives.

The truth lies somewhere in between, perhaps some Udasis were immoral. Importantly, they did not follow Khalsa, believed in idol worship and the followers of Tat Khalsa wanted control of the gurudwaras.

The Udasi sect is traced to the four sons of Brahma. Historically, it began with Baba Siri Chand (son of Guru Nanak Dev and Mata Sulakhani Devi). Udasis are known for their renunciatory outlook as against the mainstream Sikh belief in worldly activity. Udasi establishments do not fall under the control of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC).

Author and Kriya Yoga teacher Jyoti Subramanian adds, “It is now popularly believed that the Udasi sect was started by Yogi Siri Chand. The fact is that the Udasis were an old sect connected with the even more ancient Nath Samradaya. The dhuni or dhuna (traditional fire pit with a tong) is a hallmark of the Naths, followers of the Gorakhnath lineage. The practice of the Udasis are also yogic, involving pranayam, bandhas etc. I remember reading that Nanak himself sent his son to the Udasis to undergo training. Also, Nanak travels are referred as Udasis. Surprisingly, Siri Chand handed over his seat to Guruditta, son of Guru Hargobind Singhji who had laid his son at the feet of Yogi Siri Chand. Guruditta was a householder and not a renunciate.”

Dr Satish K. Kapoor wrote in The Tribune, Chandigarh:

Who are Nirmalas?

A famous Kathakar, Late Sant Singh Maskin, is called a Sanatani Sikh, but his interpretation is not always accepted by the Khalsa Sikhs. (A Kathakar is one who does katha, a sort of satsang based on Gurbani and the life of Sikh Gurus.)

The success of these protests against Udasis produced two institutions that dominate Punjab today – the SGPC and the Akali Dal. SGPC was created to manage gurudwaras all over Punjab in 1925. “The more radical elements organised a semi-military corps of volunteers known as the Akali Dal (army of immortals)” (27) to fight for SGPC causes. It became a political party later.

By virtue of its control over gurudwara affairs and revenue, SGPC became an important body whose control was key to Sikh politics. The Akalis took it over and are yet to relinquish control. Since then Akalis, SGPC and state politics are intertwined.

By about 1920, SGPC was overtaken by the Akali Dal, a political party that gave expression to the revived sense of Sikh identity. The Akalis entered into a dispute with the British for the control of Sikh gurudwaras. In 1925, the Sikh Gurudwaras Act was passed signalling their complete victory. The Act’s definition of a Sikh leant strongly towards the exclusivist Khalsa view and is “one who believed in the ten gurus and the Granth Sahib and was not a patit (apostate). This last proviso was particularly odious to the Hindu members of the Legislative Council.” (28)

Hindus, Buddhists and Jains are repeatedly blamed for being idol worshippers. But as is noted there were idols in Darbar Sahib till 1905 and various other old and new rituals including the importance of the five Ks persist and exist in Sikhism.

For every idol and ritual, the meaninglessness or meaningfulness is always in the mind of the beholder/performer. All cultures and societies have idols, icons, devices, traditions, rites and rituals that may or may not be tagged with religion or not explicitly identified to spirituality.

Dr Satish K Kapoor wrote in, Hinduism the Faith Eternal:

With the birth of the Akali Dal, its leaders “saw it as their task to win rights and privileges for Sikhs which would safeguard their religion in independent India. This crisis of identity was also the sore from which Bhindranwale squeezed such hatred of Hinduism. ” (29)

The consequences of the above were many.

Importantly, it laid the foundation for the division of Punjabis into Hindus and Sikhs. Earlier there were no iron clad walls between the two, but now who is a Sikh got codified.

A Punjabi shares personal insights:

She adds that Gorakhnath is said to have also been defeated by Kabir, Allam Prabhu and others making Gorakhnath’s lifespan over 700 years.

In my own home I have seen how, throughout my childhood, a big picture of Guru Nanak was kept in our home temple along with a smaller one of Lakshmiji. Sometime in the 1980s Guru Nanak’s picture faded away from our memories. Post 2000, I tried to make amends by installing a picture of Guru Govind Singhji.

1. Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated gold for three temples of which two are called Hindu today. These temples are Hari Mandir, Amritsar, Kashi Vishwanath Mandir and Jawalamukhi in Himachal Pradesh.
2. The verses of 22 Brahmins occurs in the Granth Sahib: Surdas, Beni, Parmananda, Trilochana, Jayadeva, Ramananda and 17 bhattas (bards).
3. An ancient Shivalaya exists inside the Golden Temple complex.
4. The Siachen War Memorial has a plaque which quotes Guru Govind Singhji and reads, “Oh Lord Shiva, grant me this boon that, I never shy away from doing good deeds. I should never be frightened away from fighting for Justice, Dharma and Rightful Cause and I should be determined to emerge victorious from this battle. Every soldier to have a pure heart and mind and let not greed come near him. When the time comes for my soul to unite with yours I should die fighting in the battle field.”
5. The Sikh Crown Prince Krishna Singh from the royal family of Patiala (son of Maharaja Mangal Singh) would have become king if he had not taken sanyas. Instead his eldest step brother Maharaja Karam Singh became king. “After a life full of action and adventure, the prince took sannyas - the vows of a renunciate - in his fiftieth year. He entered the Udasi sect of sannyasin, assumed the monastic name of Vishnudas” and is now remembered as Tapaswiji. Born in 1770, he gave up his body in 1955. To know more read Tapaswiji, A Biography by T S Anantha Murthy. (30)

To summarise, from the 1860’s to 1930 the British created the Hindu-Sikh divide by stating that only those sporting five k's could join the army, and by supporting the Tat Khalsa Movement, passing the Land Alienation Act in 1900 and the Sikh Gurudwara Act in 1925. The latter’s definition of a Sikh leant strongly towards the exclusivist Khalsa view. British policies made it economically beneficial to be declared a Sikh. It was a well thought through strategy to divide the people of Punjab.

Read Part 1, Part 3, Part 4