# The Sant-Sipahi Tradition Flows From Guru Nanak Himself



## Gyani Jarnail Singh (Aug 2, 2011)

*Re: Charitropakhyan and I*

Here is another schoalrly paper presented at Guru nanak University but "REJECTED" for obvious reasons...

It shows that the SANT-SIPAHI tradition flows form Guru Head..Guru nanak ji Sahib Himself...and doesnt depend on dg or other outside sources not included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji the Complete Guru..

http://singhgurtej.blogspot.com/2011/07/sikh-war-code-its-spiritual-inspiration.html?spref=fb

The Sikh War Code, its Spiritual Inspiration and Impact on History 

[This  paper was presented to the Guru Nanak University for publication in  response to their invitation. It was not published because the  University did not accept that Guru Nanak had political concerns. This  was the primary objection. My view, strengthened by this episode, is  that certain people in our universities are succumbing to the diktat of  the permanent cultural majority to bring Sikhi within the ambit of  previously prevailing culture. In my opinion this cultural aggression  needs to be resisted]

It  was Guru Nanak who laid down the basic rules that must govern the  waging of war by his disciples. Besides pointing out the code of conduct  in conflicts, he also spoke about the mental equipment, spiritual  training and self discipline of a soldier. He is again the one who  defines what makes conflict legitimate, the extent to which it is to be  pursued by individual soldiers and armies and the purpose to be achieved  by waging war. He talks of brave knights and martyrs being honoured at  Akalpurakh’s Court (tithe jodh mahabal soor). Bhai Gurdas, one of his  earliest biographers, calls the Guru a ‘roaring lion’ and a ‘conquering  hero.’ He goes on to commemorate him in a ballad composed in the form of  a Vaar that is normally employed to eulogise knights and to immortalise  battles and victories. The ideal human of Guru Arjun’s concept is  ‘Akalpurakh’s champion.’ (haun gosain ka pehalwanra) The mental and  physical training required of a spiritually developed person is aimed at  imbibing the attributes of God which the Guru has revealed. The  incessant striving to acquire these virtues and making them a part of  individual character is defined as salvation. Thereafter, always  standing up for the implementation of the Divine Will, as revealed in  the Guru’s word, is all that remains to make salvation an eternal  reality. Of the greatest importance, perhaps, is also the method by  which salvation is to be achieved as well as the nature of evil that was  to be overcome in the process. It is possible to trace all this in the  utterances of Guru Nanak. Succeeding Gurus and other holy persons  (bhagta), whose word was accepted as part of the final Sikh scripture,  appear to be in accord with the Guru’s thought. Therefore it is  pertinent recall the conduct of Sikh armies and soldiers engaged in  actual warfare, with a view to knowing the extent to which the rules, so  meticulously codified, were followed.

2. In the opening verse of  Guru Granth, Guru Nanak lays down, amongst others, the three most  important attributes of the Creator that went a long way in motivating  his followers’ conduct during war. These are: ‘The Ultimate Reality is  1,’ S/He is fearless and has no enmity.’ The use of the numeral is  deliberate and is meant to convey absolute oneness. ‘It is not my one  God’ that the Guru believed in but the only One for all creation. The  effect of this belief translates into fearless combat in battlefield and  humane treatment of the defeated. Guru Nanak’s ideal devotee of the  Divne is one who is so ‘enthusiastic’ about playing the ‘game of love’  that he is prepared to stake his life in the venture (to ‘carry his head  on the palm of his hand.’) A person must think nothing of making the  ultimate sacrifice while walking on the spiritual path. (je tau prem  khelan ka chaou sir dhar tali gali mori aao). 

3. The Guru expects  his followers not to shirk battle for a worthy cause. The cause has been  defined clearly. It is the Creator’s Will that absolute justice should  pervade all human institutions, that everyone must enjoy the freedom of  worship and to preserve ones human dignity. This is the basis of the  Sikh political thought in Guru Granth. Akalpurakh disapproves of  oppression (har jio hankar naa bhaaviee) born of impulse of aggression.  In his Babarvani verses, Guru Nanak expounds the theory that it is  necessary for a spiritually oriented person to physically resist  evil-doers. He denounces the Lodhis who failed to protect the women of  Hind and its culture. The conclusion is that the devotees who strive for  spiritual progress must resist oppression to express their love for  Him. Physical resistance to evil is therefore necessary for a person  having spiritual aspirations. This is the ‘righteous cause’ that must be  pursued ‘to the point of courting martyrdom (mar se mansa sooria hak  hai je hoe marahe parvano).’ Defining the righteous cause more  explicitly, Guru Arjun told Adit Soini, ‘while engaged in battle,  contemplate on Akalpurakh, Who destroys evil-doers; fight an ethical  battle on behalf of the oppressed poor.’[1] The  same idea is contained in the verses of Kabir included in the  scripture. ‘Truly brave is one who fights for the deprived,’ says the  Bhagat. (soora so pehchanie jo lare deen ke het). While engaged in this  pious duty, the battlefield must never be abandoned. (purja purja kat  marai kbhun na chhade khet).

4. We learn from literature other than  the scripture that the succeeding Gurus blessed professional soldiers  and encouraged them to develop the right kind of attitude towards  warlike engagements. Guru Angad, the second Nanak, for instance, laid  down an important rule of warfare when he told a military-man Mallu  Shahi, ‘do not initiate a quarrel with any one. If a battle is imposed  upon you, do not give thought to whether you are well or ill equipped,  enter the fray.’[2] While  wanton aggression is never justified, it is immoral to avoid war ‘at  any cost.’ But even when engaged in battle, the all-important discipline  to conform to is that there should be no violence at heart. Guru Arjun  advised Tiloka Suhar, who was a soldier in the Mughal army, ‘do not be  violent at heart but remain steadfast in your profession of a soldier'.[3]Guru  Hargobind, the Sixth Nanak, fighting a ‘to the finish duel’ with the  Mughal commander Painda Khan on the battlefield, would not strike first  or in anger. Mohsin Fani recalls an incident in which the Guru warded  off an attacker and while dealing him a fatal blow calmly observed,  ‘this is how the sword is wielded.’ He did not forget his primary duty  of a teacher even in those grim circumstances. The related injunction is  also derived from the famous letter Zafarnamah (in Persian), supposedly  written by the Tenth Guru to Aurangzeb. The oft quoted couplet is to  the effect, that ‘when all peaceful strivings is of no avail,  righteousness it is then to grasp the sword’. These sermons,  prescriptions and acts became the basis of the firm stipulation that  weapons were not to be taken up in anger or with aggressive intent and  only in the last resort. They are reflected in the Rehatnamas put  together by devoted Sikhs much later.[4] In  the Guru’s eyes nothing makes the cause more worthy than the taking up  of weapons only when every other possibility of getting justice is  exhausted.

5. This attitude to war also implies humane treatment of  prisoners of war, the injured, those who give up confrontation,  non-combatants and the slain. The Tenth Nanak, Gobind Singh specifically  forbade the massacre of fleeing enemy. This injunction is based on the  Sikh doctrine, that that there is no ‘other’ among humans, as all derive  origin from the same divine entity, the common Father/Mother of all.  (na ko bairi nahi begana sagal sang ham ko ban aiee: sab ko meet ham  apna keena ham sabhna ke sajan). It further says that evil is the result  of misconception and wrong orientation of the human mind. People are  intrinsically good, not bad. Once they abandon evil ways or cease to  support evil causes, they must not be molested. Qazi Nur Muhammad  records, `they never kill a retreating foe.’[5] Karl  Marx thinks that the Sikhs failed to consolidate their victory over the  British at Mudki on December 21, 1945 because they would not attack a  defeated foe.[6]

6.  An application of the rule relating to prisoners of war is documented  again and again. George Forester records that the Afghan Prisoners of  War were compelled to clean the mess they created at the shrine at  Amritsar. But, “the Sikhs – set bounds to impulse of revenge and though  the Afghan massacre and persecution must have been deeply imprinted on  their minds, they did not, -- destroy one prisoner in cold blood.”[7] Rattan  Singh Bhangu’s father Rai Singh participated in a battle against Jahan  Khan, the Afghan Governor of Sarhind, ‘in the middle of November 1763  CE.’ Rattan Singh has constructed the incidents that happened on the  battlefields on the information received from his father. He says, `the  Singhs did not attack the enemy soldiers who abandoned their weapons.  They sought no revenge for they were the personification of mercy.’[8] When,  after a duel with Guru Hagobind, Painda Khan, who was lying mortally  wounded, repented, the merciful Guru took his head upon his lap and  shielded the sun from his eyes saying, ‘Painda it is time to repeat the  ‘kalmia.’ Painda Khan was overwhelmed by the gesture. His last words  were, ‘now Guru, your sword has become my kalmia.’ In a battle against  the King of Kahlur in about 1711 CE, the Sikh commander in chief Banda  Singh Bahadur, issued a military order, ‘do not pursue a retreating  soldier.’ At the conclusion of the same battle, Sikh soldiers dug graves  and buried the thirteen hundred dead since now they were beyond enmity.[9] This  tradition dates at least from the time of Guru Gobind Singh who ordered  a decent burial for the dead enemy after the battle of Mukatsar. The  Sikh Commonwealth faced the greatest danger from Maulvi Sayyid Ahmed  Brailvi who, with the British support, led a Jehad against it (1831CE).  His head was cut off by a Sikh soldier who presented it to Kanwar Sher  Singh. He searched for the Sayyid’s body, retrieved it from the  battlefield, wrapped it in an expensive shawl and called a Maulvi to  perform the last rites according to the Islamic custom. All his dead  companions were honourably buried. Their leader received state honours.[10] 

7.  Guru Gobind Singh, encouraged medical treatment of the injured enemy,  even in the field of battle. He went to the extent of organising a  volunteer force headed by Bhai Kanheyia, in the closing years of the  17th century to pursue this injunction. A section of the Sikhs who  continue with Bhai Kanheya’s work of serving others, are organised today  as Sewapanthis.

8. In the above mentioned battle “Jahan Khan himself  took to flight. All his camp equipage, relatives and dependants fell  into the hands of the Sikhs. ‘But as the Sikhs of old would not lay  their hands on women,’ says Ali-ud-Din, ‘they sent them safely to  Jammu.’[11] The  wife of Jahan Khan was amongst the captured and it was on her wish that  safe journey to Jammu was arranged. A little later, Sarbuland Khan the  military commander of Rohtas was defeated and captured by Sardar Charhat  Singh. “He was – treated with respect—as a highly placed Afghan  official and as an uncle of Ahmed Shah. He was so pleased with the  kindness he received at the hands of the Sardar, that he offered to  serve under him as a governor if Charhat Singh were to proclaim himself a  king. [Charat Singh informed him] ‘kingship is already bestowed upon us  by the Guru.’ [The prisoner was] allowed to return to his country.”[12]

9.  Ideally from the Sikh point of view, warfare is a voluntary activity  born of intense personal conviction. It is in this context that the war  cry of ‘jo bole so nhal, sat siri akal,’ (‘every felicity is to him who  volunteers to join up on hearing the cry of battle being waged for the  cause of the Deathless’) becomes meaningful. Nothing illustrates this  point better than the history of celebrated martyrs like Bhai Tara Singh  Wan, Gurbaksh Singh Nihang and others. According to Rattan Singh  Bhangu, before the final battle in which death was assured, Tara Singh  told his companions that those who wanted to escape could do so. Several  went away. He also wrote to those who had promised to share with him  their last moments on earth of which, at least three came, joined him  and eventually died along with him the next day. Shah Muhammad,  recording the happenings relating to a crucial battle of the Anglo-Sikh  war, recalls the resolve of the Khalsa army to the effect, ‘now it is  the privilege of the Khalsa to lead a frontal attack. Let not the poor  (those who have joined the army for earning livelihood,) be pushed to  the front.’ (kalghidhar de khalse hun hon moohre, agge hor garib na  dhakkanai jee). In many other situations similar conduct of the Sikh  soldiers has been noted. In his last battle with the Indian army, Sant  Jarnail Singh Khalsa in his characteristically humorous way, told those  around him, ‘it appears that at dawn we must make the last sortie. Death  is assured. Those who desire to live are welcome to escape. Don’t say  afterwards that this saadh propelled us into the jaws of death (pher na  akhio es saadh ne sanoo marva ditta).’ Those who wanted to go were  allowed to depart amicably. The writer of these lines has met at least  four persons who had escaped after this pronouncement.

10. ‘Totally  devoted ones boldly face battle but the uninitiated run away from  conflict,’ says the Guru Granth. (daage hoe so ran meh joojhai bin dage  bhag jaee). This sentiment is echoed in the Rehatnamas, is prominent in  the conduct of Sikh soldiers and has been mentioned by historians  throughout the ages.[13] That the Sikh soldier took his spiritual commitment seriously is also borne out by accounts of the Anglo—Sikh wars.[14]

11.  Steadfastness in battle became the hallmark of the Sikh soldier. Sikh  religious discipline prescribes that when he is fighting for Truth as he  knows it, there is not an inch of the field that he can yield. (purja  purja kat marai kabhoon na chhade khet). This was the tradition.  Gurbaksh Singh Nihang faced the whole army of Ahmed Shah Abdali with  just thirty companions. Of him and his companions, Bhangu says that they  all died while advancing towards the enemy. He says the same of the  forty martyrs of Muktsar who all fell while advancing in defence of the  Guru. After the battle, the Guru assigned them honour after counting the  steps that they had advanced from the central point of battle. Karl  Marx instinctively knew that in the Khalsa armies, the British people  were facing a different kind of a soldier. He thinks the British  commander-in-chief’s “asinine stupidity” was responsible for the defeat  of the British forces at Pherushahar. “Gough imagined he could do  anything to the Sikhs, in the same way as to the easily frightened  Hindus of the South, by charging them with bayonets.”[15] J.  D. Cunningham who was present on the battlefield during the Anglo-Sikh  wars observed about the British cavalry charge, “nor was it until the  mass had been three times ridden through that the Sikhs dispersed. The  charge was timely and bold; but the ground was more thickly strewn with  the bodies of victorious horsemen than of the beaten infantry. The true  Sikh was not easily cowed.”[16]

12.  The earliest time to which the existence of a fully developed Sikh war  code is traceable is the time of Guru Gobind Singh. Bhai Santokh Singh,  who did a considerable amount of research to write his popularly known  Suraj Prakash, is certain that there existed a written code of conduct  for the Sikhs participating in war. He refers to it as gurshastra. He  specifically refers to one of its provisions, namely, that women were  not to be molested under any circumstances. In this context, and as a  measure particularly relevant to wartime situation, members of the Order  of the Khalsa were forbidden to have intercourse with Muslim women as  Muslims were the main enemies they were fighting at that time and their  women were most likely to fall into the hands of the Khalsa. A  conversation on the question of the ban is reported to have taken place  between Guru Gobind Singh and a group of Sikhs. ‘All the Sikhs assembled  together to ask the ‘source of all values’. Their question was: ‘the  Turks routinely rape women of Hind. Sikhs would be doing well to avenge  this. Why does the Guru’s code (gurshastra) prohibit molestation of  women? Then, at that time, the True Guru spoke thus; I want the panth to  scale (new moral) heights. I will not condemn it to depths of  degradation.’ It appears that these precepts were duly formally codified  and strict adherence to them was stipulated as the Guru’s wish – the  strongest of all sanctions for a believing Sikh. Bhangu mentions that  Banda Bahadur, appointed commander-in-chief of the Sikh forces by the  Guru, used to repeat his general orders on the battlefield by the beat  of drums everyday. One order that was repeated daily was, ‘nobody is to  touch ornaments on the person of a woman. Similarly, no man is to be  divested of the clothes worn by him. More particularly, a person’s  turban was not to be removed.’[17] Of  course, it all started with Guru Nanak’s deep anguish and distress over  the rape of the women of Hind by the invading armies of the Mughal  Babur as depicted in the babarvani verses. (paap ki janj lai kabulon  dhaiya jori mange daan ve Lalo).

13. There is another reference,  which in spite of scepticism, suggests that a compendium of the Sikh war  code perhaps existed at the time of Ranjit Singh. “—The Darbar under  the guidance of Ranjit Singh framed certain regulations for the army.  What these regulations were we cannot surmise; they have not outlived  their authors, nor is it probable that they were ever recorded; but  judging from the discipline of the Khalsa we may be inclined to think  favourably of them.”[18]

14.  There are several independent observers who have noticed the strict  code of warfare followed by the Sikhs throughout the centuries. Qazi Nur  Muhammad notes of the Sikhs that ‘they do not rob a woman of her gold  and ornaments, may she be a queen or a slave-girl. Adultery also does  not exist among—.”[19]Griffin  noted in his Rajas of the Punjab, “There are few stories in Sikh  History of outrage to women and torture to men such as stain the pages  of South Indian History with cruelty and blood.”[20]

15.  Inspired by the Guru’s injunctions, the Sikh soldiers were always moved  by the plight of women and recorded incidents depict them as travelling  hundreds of miles, courting danger and fighting bloody battles to  rescue women in distress. Baghel Singh once rode to Lohari with his army  on such a mission. Lohari was within an arms length of Delhi where the  Mughal king still ruled. He rescued the woman, punished her tormentors  and had her rehabilitated with the consent of her clan. His entire army  donated cash to give her a parting present because she had by the act of  being rescued by them, become the ‘daughter of the entire panth.’

16.  The most spectacular example of this chivalrous conduct at the mass  level is the rescue of thousands of Maratha women being carried captive  by Ahmed Shah Abdali after the Third Battle of Panipat in January 1761.  The earliest historians who recorded it include Ram Sukh Rao the  official historian of the ruling Ahluwalia family. It is mentioned by  James Brown in his History of the Origin and Progress of the Sikhs,  published in 1881.[21] After  their rescue, they were escorted to their homes in Maharashtra and  restored to their families in a soul stirring gesture depicting rare  moral grandeur of monumental magnitude.

17. In the recent (1971) war  against Pakistan for the liberation of Bangladesh, the Sikh soldiers  came across women kept as sex slaves by Yahya Khan’s army. They were  often found without clothes (a measure to deter escape?). It is recorded  that the Sikh soldiers of the invading victorious army, took off their  turbans in a befitting tribute to human dignity, to cover the naked  women. The tradition launched by the gurshastra has come down to the  present day. 

18. Sikh conventions appear also to have contained a  provision that other non-combatants besides women were to be considered  inviolable. “On December 10, 1710, (the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah  1707-12) issued a royal edict to all the faujdars (military commanders)  of Shahjahanabad (Delhi) and its neighbourhood to put to the sword the  worshippers of Nanak –the Sikhs- where ever found.” (Nanak-prastan ra  har ja kih ba-aband, ba-qatl rasanad)[22] The  Sikh reply to this order of general massacre of Sikhs is recorded by  the royal news-writer who informed the Emperor on April 28, 1711, “that  Banda Singh – -encamped at Kalanaur – had declared that he was in no way  opposed to the Muslims and that they had the fullest liberty to recite  their sermons and prayers – khutba-o-namaz. – -The result of this was,  the report continued, that as many as five thousand Muslims had joined  the Sikh army.”[23]

19.  Sikhs appear to have been instructed by the Guru to have a measure of  reverence for the places considered holy by any tradition. They  meticulously followed the instructions, although the Afghans and the  Mughals had often destroyed Sikh shrines during the period of their  political ascendancy. The holiest Sikh shrine at Amritsar was pulled  down twice and defiled many times more. Yet when the first great Sikh  upheaval under Banda Bahadur took place in around 1710 CE the Sikhs  destroyed no place of worship. The Sikh armies gathered at Fatehgarh  Sahib, the place where the younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh had been  bricked alive, for the final assault on Sirhind. They were within a few  hundred yards of the mausoleum of Shaikh Ahmed Sirhandi who had been the  implacable foe of the Sikhs. Ideology emanating with him was  responsible for the execution of two Gurus, the persecution of four and  the execution of the Guru’s sons.[24]Shaikh  Ahmed called himself the ‘prophet of the second millennium’ and  received homage as such. Many princes of Afghanistan lie buried at the  graveyard attached to his shrine. The Sikhs never thought of destroying  or even despoiling his grave or the graves of their sworn enemies whom  they knew to be despoilers of their land. Sirhind was destroyed totally  and the land on which it stood was ploughed in revenge for the execution  of little princes, the sons of Guru Gobind Singh, aged seven and nine  years. It was cosidered to have forfeited the right to exist. The  Shaikh’s mausoleum stands fully intact even today.

20. It is also  pretty clear that the destruction of common heritage of humankind, such  as libraries, is not sanctioned by the Sikh war code. In 1834, the Sikh  forces were poised to attack Peshawar. Ranjit Singh gave emphatic  written instructions to the invading General Hari Singh Nalwa that the  famous library of the Akhunzadas of Chamkani was to be meticulously  saved from harm.[25] The  position may be contrasted with that of the Romans the most civilised  of the ancient world, who burnt the priceless manuscripts at Alexandria,  or with that of the Medieval Muslims who destroyed the rich library at  Constantinople in 1453 and with that of the modern Indian state that  burnt the Sikh Reference Library at Amritsar in 1984.

*Conclusion
*Much  has been written about the exploits of Sikh warriors. Historical  accounts of battles and wars are abundant but there is woefully little  research by way of discovering the war code which Sikhs followed. There  are similarities in the conduct of Sikh soldiers throughout the  centuries of warfare, that tell us that there existed a body of  injunctions having the effect of law on the minds of soldiers who took  their faith seriously. It is possible to say that it had spiritual  discipline for its basis and was eventually derived from the Guru  Granth. From Qazi Nur Muhammad to the press reporters chronicling the  war for Bangladesh, a similarity of conduct on certain basic issues is  noticed. It is challenging to trace the origin of instructions which are  universally respected and have commanded spontaneous adherence in all  ages.
The ultimate sanction behind exemplary conduct, expected of a  soldier, was spiritual. A Sikh soldier was consciously playing the role  of Akalpurakh in human affairs. For that he had to be imbued with the  qualities which the gurbani reveals to be His attributes. A Sikh’s  salvation depended upon implementing the Divine Will in the world. Its  operative part dealt with removing human suffering by seeking to  establish justice and by banishing oppression from human affairs. This  is the meaning of the assertion that ‘he is to be considered a brave  knight who fights for the downtrodden’ (deen). (Guru Granth, 1356). The  very opening verse of the Guru Granth states that the Ultimate Reality  is ‘fearless’ and is ‘without enmity.’ While a soldier expected himself  to be attuned to these concepts in daily life, he knew that in adversity  and in war, the only measure of his conduct was living up to them. That  was especially important for his spiritual self esteem. It constituted  salvation itself. Until the coming into existence of the Sikh states,  the Sikh armies were totally voluntary forces. Even after that a  significant part of the army remained voluntary and unpaid. That had  something to do with the war code voluntarily observed as a part of the  strict spiritual discipline. 

Most of original Sikh literature and  history books written by the Sikhs has been destroyed. It was the first  target of all their proselytising enemies. The process was started by  Lakhpat Rai a satrap of Shah Nawaz, the Mughal Governor of Lahore in mid  eighteenth century. He is reputed to have filled up wells with books on  Sikh theology and history. The latest example of such wanton  destruction was in 1984 when the invading Indian armies set fire to the  Sikh Reference Library and burnt up thousands of invaluable manuscripts,  some dating back to the early seventeenth century. It is noteworthy  that the library in the Darbar Sahib complex was burnt deliberately  after the conflict with the militant defenders had come to a close with  the death of all of them on June 6, 1984.

Any study of the Sikh War  Code will be incomplete without an in depth study of the Guru’s concept  of ‘open diplomacy.’ Of Helvetians, Julius Caesar observed, “The  tradition in which they had been schooled by their forebears was to  fight like men and not to rely on cunning or stratagem.”[26] The  same appears to have been true of the Sikhs and squares with the  concept of ‘open diplomacy’ strictly enjoined upon the Khalsa by the  Guru. The British were perceived to be morally degraded deceiving  strategists. Several accounts of the Anglo-Sikh wars depict that the  ordinary Sikh soldier was full of contempt for their unethical  behaviour. Earlier Ranjit Singh had told reverend Wolff, a German  missionary, who said he had brought civilising tidings to the Punjab,  ‘why don’t you go and preach in Calcutta? The Governor General and his  cohorts are the only uncivilised people in India.’

Engaging in  warfare is not the only activity the Khalsa is created for. The war  without is to take place as a last resort measure. It is the war within  that is to occupy a person most of his life. It is as unrelenting as the  physical warfare. The five vices, desire, anger, greed, attachment and  arrogance are to be completely subdued. It is a total war – to the very  finish. Human birth is a rare opportunity. (manas janam dulambh hai hoe  na baram bar). It cannot be wasted (is pauri te jo nar chookai aai jai  dukh paida). Just, like the battle without, there is a code of conduct  for the battle within. There is also the discipline which is basically  symbolised by the five symbols of faith bestowed upon the Khalsa by the  compassionate Guru. With such equipment, the Khalsa must contend within  and renew themselves like the bird of paradise with the help of the  Guru’s transforming touch. (pasu prethon dev kare poorai satgut ki  vadiai). It is this that the Rehatnamas advocate while prescribing ‘he  alone is Khalsa who mounts a charger (in this case the human body) and  is ever engaged in warfare.’ (Khalsa sou jo charhe turang, Khalsa sou jo  kare nit jang). At that plane, the only other worthwhile activity  recommended to a seeker is sewa or selfless service to humankind in its  myriad forms. 



*Notes
*[1] Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagatmala, (circa 1730 CE) Khalsa Samachar, Amritsar, 1955, 136.
[2] Bhagatmala, 67
[3] Bhagatmala, 84.
[4] See for instance, Randhir Singh, Prem Sumarg Granth, (circa 1730 CE) New Book Company, Jalandhar, 1965, 90.
[5] Karam  Singh Historian di Itihasik Khoj, Hira Singh Darad (ed.), Shiromani  Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Amritsar, 1964, 97-99, 455-508.
[6] See, Notes on Indian History, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow, Undated, 144.
[7] A Journey from Bengal to England, (First Published 1808) Reprint, Languages Department Punjab, 1970, 321
[8] See Prachin Panth Parkash, Sikh Itihas Research Board, Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Sri Amritsar, 1984, 501.
[9] Bhangu, 164.
[10] Shamsher Singh Ashok, Veer Nayak Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, Punjabi University, Patiala, 1984, p.76.
[11] Ganda  Singh, (quoting Ibrat Namah, 274-275 in) Ahmed Shah Durrani, Asia  Publishing House, Bombay, 1959.290. and Hari Ram Gupta, 198.
[12] Ganda  Singh, 295.In the same work, Ganda Singh also quotes Abdali as writing  to Amir Naseer Khan his Bloach ally to goad him into holy war against  the Sikhs, “how can you think of going to Mecca while this depraved sect  is wreaking havoc? Jihad on these idolators -- is more meritorious than  Hajj. --- come so that we may destroy this faithless sect and enslave  their women and children --- fatwa of the Ulema has already been issued  –.” Ahmed Shah Durrani, p. 296.
[13] Rehatnama  Bhai Nandlal, for instance, has the instructions: 1) A Sikh, “should  never run away from the battlefield and steadfastly stick to his  Dharma.” 2) He should never forsake the discipline and should always  face the enemy in the battlefield and should never turn his back.”  Surinder Singh Kohli, Sikh Ethics, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt.  Ltd., New Delhi, 1975, 71 and 72.
[14] “—Yet,  although assailed on either side by squadrons of horse and battalions  of foot, no Sikh offered to submit, and no disciple of Gobind asked for  quarter. They everywhere showed a front to their victors, and stalked  slowly and sullenly away, while many rushed singly forth to meet assured  death by contending with a multitude. The victors looked with stolid  wonderment upon the indomitable courage of the vanquished, --.” Joseph  Davy Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, (1849), S. Chand &  Co.,Delhi, 1966, 284-285.
[15] Notes on Indian History, 144.
[16] History of The Sikhs, 277, 276.
[17] Bhangu, 166.
[18] See  Dewan Amarnath, Memoirs of the Reign of Ranjit Singh, reproduced in  Rare Documents on Sikhs and their rule in the Punjab, (Ed. H. S.  Bhatia), Deep & Deep Publications, New Delhi, 1981, p.151.
[19] Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs, vol. II, (4th edition), Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, 1992, 266.
[20] Quoted by Gupta, 271.
[21] See,  Ganda Singh, Ahmed Shah Durrani- Father of Modern Afghanistan, Asia  Publishing House, Bombay, 1959, p. 264; see also, Hari Ram Gupta,  History of the Sikhs Vol.II, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd,  1992, 168.
[22] Ganda Singh (Ed.), The Punjab Past and Present October 1984, Punjabi University, Patiala, 6.
[23] Ganda  Singh, “Sirhind in the eighteenth century”, in Sirhind Through the  Ages, Fauja Singh (ed.), Punjabi University, Patiala, September 1972,  104-105.
[24] Kapur  Singh, Sachi Sakhi, Navyug Publishers, Delhi, 1979, 30-37. See also S.  M. Ikram and S. A. Rashid’s History of Muslim Civilisation in India  & Pakistan, quoted in Fauja Singh’s, Sirhind Through the Ages, 60.  “The rhetoric and appeal of Shaikh Ahmed’s letters kindled religious  fervour and resulted in a religious revival – which completely altered  the history of the sub-continent”.
[25] Prem Singh Hoti, Khalsa Raj de Usraiyee, (3rd ed.) Lahore Book Shop, Lahore, 1942, 36.
[26] Gallic Wars And Other Writings, Random House Inc., New York, 1957, 8.


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