Presidential Address: Social Structure, Religious Ideology and Political Articulation : The

Sikhs of the Punjab

Author(s): Indu Banga
Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , 1988, Vol. 49 (1988), pp. 323-330
Published by: Indian History Congress

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 Presidential Address

Social Structure, Religiou* ideology and

Political Articulation : The Sikhs of the Punjab

Indu Banga

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:

0.1 I am grateful to the Executive Committee of the Indian History Congress for
electing me to preside over its Modern Section. This, indeed, is a great honour for
one who for many years has delved in the grey area of transition between the
medieval and modern periods of Indian History. For the past few years, however,
I have extended my interest in socio-economic change to the colonial period in the
history of the Punjab. If I have chosen to speak on the Sikhs during the 19th and early
20th centuries, it is partly because of the limitation of time but largely because of
my greater familiarity with the subject. From the viewpoint of social change,
however, the Sikh experience in the Punjab was hardly different from the experience
of other communities. In fact, the pan-Indian character of unprecedented social
change lends greater importance to the subject

0.2 Much of the social change in the Punjab under colonial rule can be explained
in terms of the emergence of the middle classes, the formulation of new religious
ideologies, and political articulation based on the resultant communitarian consciousness
in a context of growing competition for numbers, positions, and wealth and power.
This change, obviously, had serious implications for the future. This paper is
divided into three sections: (i) on the stratification and ideological differentiation
in the Sikh social order during the early 19th century; (ii) on the decline of the former
ruling class under colonial rule and the emergence of a new middle class with a
reformulated religious ideology; and (iii) on the political articulation based on
communitarian consciousness.

1.1 In the last quarter of the 18th century, over two scores of the petty successor-
states which dotted the former Mughal provinces of Lahore and Multan were headed

* I am thankful to the Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla for providing institutional
facilities in the course of writing the present Address.

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324

by Sikh rulers, and another score by Rajput and Afghan chiefs. In the early 19th
century, Ranjit Singh subjugated or subverted the Sikh and non-Sikh principalities
between the Satlej and the Indus, conquered Kashmir and carried his arms into the
former Mughal province of Kabul, creating in the process a small empire with a
number of vassal chiefs under his political control. There were nearly 1.5 million
Sikhs in the dominions of Ranjit Singh, forming about 12 per cent of the total
population. Even in the region around Amritsar and Lahore, which was regarded as
the 'home' of the Sikhs, their proportion in the population was no more than one-
third. By far the bulk of the Sikhs lived in the countryside. More than 70 per cent
of them were in fact agriculturists, mostly Jats, among whom were large land-
holders, peasant-proprietors and tenants, and chaudharis and muqaddams who
acted as intermediaries between the cultivators and the state. The artisans and
craftsmen, and the Chuhras and Chamars altogether added another 20 per cent to
their numbers. The percentage of those who belonged to minor castes and clans
among the cultivators, traders, shop-keepers, artisans, craftsmen, and the menials
among the Sikhs was not much more than five. Nearly all castes of sikhs were
represented in towns and cities, notably Khatris and Aroras, but their proportion in
the urban population was rather small.

1.2 The importance of the Sikhs as a community was due mainly to their large
proportion in the ruling class, the rec ipients of state patronage, and the army. In the
1840s, nearly two-thirds of the rank and file of the army of Lahore was Sikh. More
than half of the state patronage went to individuals and institutions connected with
the Sikh faith: the Gurdwaras associated with the Sikh Gurus; the Granthis, Ragis,
Ardasias and Sewadars linked with them; the Bedi descendants of Guru Nanak and
the Sokhi descendants of Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru; the Akalis and Nihangs;
and the Udasis. By far the most important religious institution of the Sikhs in terms
of patronage and sanctity was the Golden Temple at Amritsar. The mantle of its
devout management had fallen on Ranjit Singh and his succassors, apparently as the
representatives of the entire Sikh community or the Panth. The Sikh courtiers,
governors, commanders and administrators, coming from different castes and clans,
constituted more than half of the composite ruling class, with the Jats forming the
largest single component. The social position ofthe Sikh nobility perse as well as
the composite character of the ruling class induced the Sikh jagirdars to feel greater
affinity with their fellow jagirdars rather than their fellow Sikhs. A certain degree
of secularization of politics brought in the sentiment of Punjabi identity, findig
expression in the secular Punjabi literature of the early 19th century.

1 .3 The secular Punjabi identity, among other things weakened the communitarian
consciousness among the Sikhs. In the early 18th century, two doctrines had taken
the place of the living Guru after the death of Guru Gobind Singh: the doctrine of
Guru-Panth and the doctrine of Guru-Granth. According to these doctrines,
Guniship was vested in the collective body of the Singhs of Guru Gobind Singh or
in the Granth. The former emphasised the idea of equality among the keshdhari
Singhs, and the latter included the non-keshdhari Sikhs, known as sahjdharis, in the
fold of the community. During the reign of Ranjit Singh, the doctrine of Guru-

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 325

Granth was brought to the fore to reconcile the ideal norm of equality with the
empirical inequalities. Between the keshdhari Akalis or Nihangs and the sahjdhari
Udhasis, there were several shades of religious belief and practice. But the general
sentiment against the use of tobacco in any form was rather strong, and so was the
genersal preference for keeping the hair unshorn. However, there was no organized
or institutional body to define or impose religious norms.

2. 1 With the annexation of the kingdom of Lahore to the British empire in 1 849,
the whole context changed radicaly for the Sikhs as for the rest of the Punjabis. The
immediate concern of the new rulers was with the army of the kingdom of Lahore,
the jagirdars and the dharmarth grantees. Much of Khalsa army had been
disbanded after the war of 1 845-46, and the rest was disbanded after the war of 1848-
49. The religious grantees, who had taken no part in the politics of the 1840s, were
treated with lenience, and allowed to retain a considerable portion of their grants.
The management of the Golden Temple was taken over by the new rulers as a part
of the legacy left to them by the rulers of Lahore. Before long, however, an
arrangement was evolved which brought some of the Sikh priestly and ruling class
families to the fore as the agents of British control, with new rights and vested
interests. Those members of the ruling class who were supposed to have will-fully
opposed the British in the second war suffered the most, a few of them not receiving
even a pension. In the majority of cases, however, a portion of the jag ir was allowed
for life and portion thereof in perpetuity. Leniency in their treatment was looked
upon as a sort of compensation for their loss of power and prestige, but these old
pillars of the state were expected gradually to decay and fall.

2.2 However, the members of the ruling class and their descendants survived
throughout the period of British rule as 'chiefs and families of note*. The loyal
support which they gave to the British during the uprising of 1857-58 proved to be
a turning point in their fortunes. They received titlesJagiVj and lands in reward for
their support to the new rulers. The highest posts open to Indians in the army and
civil administration were given to some of the former jagirdars or their sons, and
their names bagan to figure as Honorary Magistrates, Extra Assistant Commissioners,
Police Inspectors, and Subedars and Risaldars. Some of them joined the new
professions and started taking interest in social reform, like Dyal Singh Majithia, the
founder of The Tribune. As a class, they came to be looked upon as the 'natural
leaders' of the society.

2.3 Indeed, from the opening decadeof the 20th century till the 1940s, members
of the Sikh 'aristocracy' of the Punjab remained important in the realm of politics.
Some of them were nominated to the legislative council before they entered the
arena of electoral politics in 1920, joining the Unionist Party of Sir Fazl-i-Husain.
As the Khalsa National Board they won nearly half of the Sikh seats in the elections
of 1937 to get a ministerial berth for their leader, Sunder Singh Majithia, in the

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326

Unionist government. After Sunder Singh's death in 1941, Dasaundha Singh

became the leader of the party and a minister in the cabinet of Sir Sikandar Hayat
Khan. But he was not a member of the 'aristocracy*. In the year following,
Dasaundha Singh was replaced by Baldev Singh who was an Akali legislator. This
was a clear signal that the leadership of the Sikh aristocracy was coming to its end.
For the elections of 1946, there was no Khalsa National Board to contest the Sikh
seats. The aristocracy had finally yielded place to the leaders of a new class that had
emerged during the period of colonial rule, with new ideas and attitudes. With the
ascendancy of the new middle cl&>s, the sentiment of Punjabi regional identity, to
which the Unionist leaders like Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, Sir Khizr Hayat Khan
Tiwana, Sir Chhotu Ram and Sir Sunder Singh Majithia appealed from time to time
in the common interest of Punjabi landholders, was vanishing from the politics of
the Punjab.

2.4 The emergence of the middle class during the period of colonial rule can be
understood in terms of the proliferation of government departments which required
literate or educated personnel, the spread of western education, and the diversification
of ocupations due to technological and administrative changes making for an
unprecedented social mobility. Before the end of the 19th century, the Punjabis had
come to hold a large number of positions at middle and lower rungs of the
administration, which alone were open to Indians. Indianization of civil services
opened the way to higher echelons during the early 20th century. The Punjabis were
successful in using these openings to their advantage, particularly after the Acts of
1919 and 1935. In any case, the number of.men in the various departments of the
government gradually increased to reach the figure of 100,000 towards the end of
British rule. In the armed forces too, the number and proportion of the Punjabis went
on increasing, including the commissioned ranks, thrown open to Indians during
and after the first world war.

2.5 Outside the government employment, there emereged the profession of law to
cater to an increasing number of litigants in an elaborate judical system working
with complex codes and procedures. By the 1940s, there were over 10,000 legal
practitioners in the Punjab. Equally important were the professions connected with
the press to which the Punjabis took with great gusto as proprietors, editors, writers,
printers and photographers. Their number in the 1930s exceeded 3,000. The
number of dailies, weeklies and monthlies, and of pamphlets and books in Urdu,
Punjabi, Hindi and English increased rapidly in the early 20th century. Then there
were persons in the teaching profession, not only in government institutions and the
Punjab University but also in a large number of denominational schools and
colleges. There were doctors, engineers, and para-medical and technical personnel,
but mostly in the service of the government and the municipalities.

2.6 Not necessarily connected with western education, there were considerable
number of people connected with commerce, agriculture and industry, whose
economic means placed them squarely among the middle classes. Among the
agriculturists there were the large and middle range landholders who produced cash

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 327

crops for the expanded market outside the Punjab. The largest gainers from the
commercialization of agriculture and the growth of trade in general were the men
who belonged to mercantile communities ar.d acted ás merchants, traders and
money-lenders, or even as agents ánd brokers. Their growing number and
prosperity was reflected in the growing number and size of urban centres, particularly
from the second decade of the 20th century. The Punjab Alienation of Land Act of
1900, which induced the 'agriculturist' commodity producers to take to money-
lending, obliged the mercantile communities to invest their wealth in industry as
well as commercial enterprises, including modem banking.

2.7 Turning specifically to the Sikhs we may notice, first, that many a descendant
of the former jagirdars had entered the middle Class as a government servant, a
professional person or a commodity produco' The largest number of commodity
producers, however, belonged to the middle range of land-holders, particularly in
the canal colonies and in the central districts of the province. The agriculturists
among the Sikhs joined the armed forces in large numbers to become 'the flower'
of the Indian army. The number of Sikh agriculturists in the police and civil
administration, in the professions of law, education, medicine, engineering and
even in industry was very considerable. In relative terms, however, the Khatri and
Arora Sikhs were much better represented in administration and professions; they
were dominant in the Sikh world of commerce as well. Through the medium of
education and literacy, many Tarkhan, Kala, Nai and Jhiwar Sikhs entered the army
and the civil administration, and joined the professions of law and teaching. This
was particularly true of those who had improved their social ppsition already during
the pre-colonial days. In a similar way, not only members of the former priestly
class but also some of the lowly Chuhras and Cham ars among the Sikhs entered the
middle class at its lower rungs.

2.8 What gave the largest degrçe of cohesion to the different segments of the Sikh
middle class and to its members coming from diverse social backgrounds was a
religous ideology evolved by the protagonist of the Singh Sabha Movement from
about 1880to 1920. The name given to this movement has been derived from the
name chosen for themselves by more than a hundred of voluntary associations
which were established all over the province, including some villages, for the
purpose of promoting socio-religious reform and education among the Sikhs, and to
look after their political interests. Unlike the leaders of the earlier movements,
known as the Nirankari and namdhari, the leaders of the Singh Sabha Movement
took into account the complexity of the historical situation created by the colonial
rule and its social and political ramifications. Their ideology was comprehensive
enough to cover the religious, social, cultural and temporal concerns of the rising
middle class.

2.9 The leaders of the Singh Sabha Movement presented the Sikh tradition from
Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh as a single indivisible whole and tried to
imterpret it in the light of new needs and ideas. For the purpose of reform, they
treated the Adi Granth as the embodiment of the teachings of their Gurus. They

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328

invoked the authority of the Adi Granth not only for reform but also to re-inforce the
doctrine of Guru-Granth without any ambiguity: very explicitly the Adi Granth was
equated with the Guru as in the title of the printed text, Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib.
At the same time, the tradition of Guru Gobind Singh was given primacy by looking
upon the keshdari Singh as the culmination of the Sikh: the sahjdhari could now be
looked upon only as apotential Singh. The Singh identity was underlined in the very
name of the associations deliberately called 'Singh' and not 'Sikh' Sabha. The
doctrine of Guru-Panth was gradually revived to be interpreted as the will of the
collective body of the Singhs or the Panth.

2.10 The Singh ideology had many important socio-cultural and even political
implications. The number and proportion of the Sikhs began to increase in the
population of the province; the number and proportion of keshdhari Singhs began
to increase within the Sikh community. Besides establishing a large number of
Anglo-Sikh institutions, the Singh reformers showed a growing concern for Punjabi
language and literature in Gurmukhi script. Their concern for women and the lower
castes among the Sikhs was grounded on the idea of equality in the Sikh scriptures
and the institution of the Khalsa as a casteless order. The Panth, as the successor of
the Gurus, was expected to carry reform into the Gurdwaras and to be responsible
for their management. The Singh reformers showed a serious concern for numbers,
jobs and seats in councils and assemblies. Above all, they came to believe and
advocate that their distinct communitarian identity was the basis of their politics.

3.1 Response of the Sikhs to contemporary politics was considerable and varied.
As early as the second decade of colonial rule, the anti-British feeling of the
Namdharis, also called Kukas, found expression in the murder of cow-killing
butchers and a millenarian hope of British ouster from the country for therestoration
of Sikh power in the form of a monarchy". In less than a decade, however, an entirely
different outlook on political participation found expression in the Lahore Indian
Association. Altough not exclusively Sikh, the leading Punjabi in this Association,
was Dyal Singh Majithia who took interest in the Indian National Congress as well,
and his example was followed by a few other Sikhs. The number of Sikhs in the
agitation of 1907, launched partly against the enhancement of revenue and water
rates, was very considerable but the Singh ideology had little to do with this
agitation inspired primarily by the Swadeshi extremists from urban areas. On the
other hand, the Anand Marriage Act of 1909, giving legal approval to marriage by
Sikh rites, was almost exclusively an affair of the Singh reformers. In 19 14-15, the
militant Ghadarites were overwhelmingly Sikh, and many individuals had the
background of Singh reform; on the whole, however, their religious sentiment was
channellized into what may be called a nationlist-secular stream. From 1919
onwards the pace of political activity in the Punjab as in the rest of the country
became much faster, and the Sikhs were actively involved in what is known as the
jurdwara Rikabganj issue protesting against the demolition of its wall, the

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 329

Gurdwara Reform Movement, the Babbar Akali Movement, the Kiiti-Kisan (Worker-
Peasant) Movement followed by socialist and communist movements, the Naujawan
Bharat Sabha and the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, besides constitutional
politics, particularly of the last three decades of British rule.

3.2 Representing different ideological streams in politics, much of this political

activity can be characterized as patriotic, national and even secular. There was a
strong strand of concern for the country in the politics of the Punjabis, a concern
which is generally associated with the Indian National Congress. However, the
dominant note of Sikh politics during the 20th century, particularly after the first
world war, was provided by political articulation based on the Singh ideology with
its emphasis on the distinct cultural identity of the Sikhs as a community. Nevertheless,
the concern for the country was not missing from their politics It remained mostly
an unsaid but unquestioned assumption.

3.3 Before the end of the 19th centry Bhai Kahan Singh of Nabha wrote a booklet
called Ham Hindu Nahin (we are not Hindus) which is regarded as a classic
statement of distinct Sikh identity. What is generally not remembered is that the
author also wished the Sikhs to present the best example of Indian partiotism. His
concern for the community was matched by his concern for the country. Similarly,
Bhai Vir Singh, who is regarded as perhaps the best exponent of Singh ideology,
used the term quam for the Indian nation as well as for the Sikh Panth. This dual
concern found its most significant expression in the politics of the Central Sikh
League, founded by Sikh leaders closely connected with the Singh reform as well
as the Indian National Congress. The Central Sikh League placed before its
members the twin ideas of the freedom of Gurdwaras from the virtual control of the
British government, and the freedom of the country from British domination.
Enough has been written on the GurdwaraReform Movement to draw the conclusion
that it was apolitical movement which was essentialy anti-British, which was totally
non- violent, which was encouraged by the leaders of the Indian National Congress,
and which in their eyes was only a part of their political programme.

3.4 The Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925 resulted in the establishement of a Board,
elected by the Sikhs on the basis of universal adult suffrage, to look after the
management of over 200 Gurdwaras on behalf of the entire Sikh community. This
Board was named Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Cmmittee (SGPC) because this
was the name initially given by the leaders of the Central Sikh League to a
representative committee of Singhs for the control of the Gurdwaras. The Shiromani
Akali Dalm, which too was founded in 1920 as the vanguard of direct action in
taking over the Gurdwaras from their loyal-to-the-British custodians, was not
disbanded after the Act of 1925. It remained in existence to be transformed in due
course into a political party to replace its parent organization. In the elections of
1926, however, the Central Sikh League was the most important political party of
the Sikhs, winning 10 out of the total of 13 seats.

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330

3.5 By the elections of 1937 there was no Central Sikh League: it had been
dissolved a couple of years earlier. The leadership of the Sikh middle class got
divided, between the elections of 1926 and 1937, on the issue of constitutional
reform and particularly on the issue of what is popularly known as the Communal
Award, imposing the status of a statutory minority on the Sikhs and placing them at
a permanent disadvantage vis-a-vis other Punjabis, particularly the Muslims. Some
of the leaders of the Central Sikh League were in favour of maintaing its close links
with the Indian National Congress on all the b^sic issues, while others were in favour
of forging an independent policy in view of the neutral or lukewarm attitude of the
Congress leaders towards the award given by Ramsay Macdonald. It is interesting
to note, therefore, that the leadership of the Central Sikh League after its dissolution
joined tv/o different camps: the Akali and the Congress. None of them won a
majority of Sikh seats in the elections of 1937. This distiction, as already noted,
went to the Khalsa National Board. It must be added, however, that the Akali and
the Sikh Congress candidates together got one seat more than the Khalsa National
Board. Of the remaining four out of the Thirty-three seats, one went to a socialist
and three to independent candidates.

3.6 Between 1937 and 1946, the issue of Pakistan first and then the issue of the
partition of the Punjab, 'obliged the leaders of the Sikhs to take an unambiguous stand.
A larger and larger number of Sikhs saw Pakistan as posing a grave threat to their
cultural identity, economic interests and political aspirations. Opposition to
Pakistan was therefore articulated by the Sikhs literally from hundreds of platforms,
including Gurdwaras, Singh Sabhas, educational institutions, and political parties
representing different shades of opinion among the Sikhs, except the Communists.
The most vocal and consistent opposition came from the Shiromani Akali Dal which
was able to strengthen its support base to capture two-thirds of the Sikhs seats in the
elections of 1946. Out of a total of 33 Sikhs seats 21 went to Akalis, 10 to the
Congressi Sikhs and two to independent candidates. The Khalsa National Board
did not figure anywhere, the leadership of the aristocracy having been replaced by
the leadership of the middle-class.

3.7 The entry of the middle class into consitutional politics on a significant scale
was made possible by a' liberalized franchise which included some categories of
educated persons and women in addition to those with property qualifications. The
number of Sikh voters increased from about 175,000 in 1930 to over 600,000in
1946. In this process, the party which gave primacy to commuitarian concerns came
to have a clear edge over those who gave primacy to the concerns of the country. It
is doubtful, howevçr, that the second concern in each case was far behind.
Patriotism remained the common ground for the majority of the leaders of the Sikh
middle class: their division into different political parties was a matter more of
strategy than of any fundamental difference in their basic concerns, the country and
the community; or if you like, the community and the country.

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