who is a sikh, singh - british role in making singh to mean belongingto a martial race

[Guest guest]

Namaskar Mitra,

 

1.According to volume 7 of the History & Culture of Indian People published by

the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan - "Disciples of Nanak called themselves Sikhs derived

from the Sanskrit word sishya, meaning a learner or a person who takes spiritual

lessons from a teacher. The public called them Nanak Panthis or Sikhs'. Panth

literally means path or way and it has been traditionally used to designate the

followers of a particular teacher or of a distinctive range of doctrine.

 

2. "Singh means devotee". However, today Singh has come to mean Lion & has come

to be associated with fighting classes throughout North India esp in undivided

Punjab. The change was brought about the British. One of the principal changes

after the mutiny was the discontinuance of recruitment of Bengali soldiers,

Sikhs & Punjabi Muslims were recruited in large numbers instead because they

supported the British during the mutiny of 1857. Quote from Dowry Murder by

Veena Talwar, "By the late 19th century, Punjabis made up 57 infantry units &

Bengal (included Bihar & Orissa) fewer than 15". For detailed data, read

Thoughts on Pakistan by Dr B R Ambedkar.

http://www.esamskriti.com/html/new_inside.asp?cat_name=greatmen&sid=11501&count1=6&cid=846

 

Quote from book Who is a Sikh by W H Mcleod, " Appreciative of the strength of

opposition encountered during the Anglo-Sikh wars & as a result of the

assistance which they received from the Sikh princes during the Mutiny, Sikhs

were easily accomodated within the British theory of the martial races of India

& Sikh enlistment increased steeply. For the British, martial Sikhs meant Khalsa

Sikhs, and all who were inducted into the Indian Army as Sikhswere required to

maintain the external insignia of the Khalsa". The British paid their soldiers

very well, allotted them agricultural land & pension.

 

Other castes like Khatris, Aroras & Ahulwalias did not want to loose out

aconomically. Further quote Veena Talwar, "To prevent the sort of mutiny they

experienced from sepoys in 1857, the Brits organised religiously segregrated

regimental units from the alleged martial races, Sikhs, Pathans, Rajputs etc.

This severly restricted Hindus of other castes particularly Khatris, who had

served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forces. Khatris were arbitarily lumped

together by the British as trading castes. Many families got around this

artificially imposed caste barrier by raising one or more son as Sikhs, chiefly

by having them adopy the name Singh and grow hair/beard to match".

 

3. Impact on Names - today anybody with a Turban has Singh has his middle name

or last name. Two people with the same surnames could be Hindu & Sikh. Let me

explain. My first boss was born Sukhwinder Chadha & has a turban today. Due to

the resurgence of Khalsa he writes his name in Inter office memos as Sukhwinder

Singh Chadha to show he is a Sikh but signs cheqes as Sukhwinder Chadha because

that is his legal name. On the other hand there is another Chadha without a

turban, school friend Vineet Chadha who is considered as a Hindu because he

sports no turban.

 

Non-Jat Punjabis with turban meaning Khatris etc invariably put Singh as their

middle or surname because they have to prove they are Sikhs eg a girl I was to

marry had a surname Batra while her father's surname was Singh. A Jat does not

need to prove he is a Sikh thus has Singh & Surname as part of his name eg

supercop K. P. S. Gill, note that Singh stands for Singh is never said.

 

Born of Hindu Sikh parents and a Khatri by caste I was proud to belong to a

martial race till I read these books. Not that this knowledge has made me feel

any inferior but just realized that life is a continous learning process

meaning one has to be a student lifelong.

 

comments welcome. cheers & om

sanjeev