The book also touches upon the colonial discourse surrounding the “martial races” of India, analysing how the British viewed and utilised Sikh soldiers
Cover page of Peasants to Warriors
This book traces the transformation of Sikhs from a community of peaceful farmers to a force of fierce fighters, primarily due to religious persecution, cruelty and torture by the Mughals. Considering how much of Indias history has been hijacked and falsified since, it is an important book seeing as there arent as many as there should be on this very significant subject. Lt Gen. Rajinder Sujlana, a third-generation officer from the Indian Armys Sikh Regiment, is one of barely 10 Indian authors who have delved into Sikh history.
The turning point of Sikh peasantry resorting to war was in 1606, when the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, was murdered by Jahangir. Guru Arjun Devs son and successor, Guru Hargobind, responded by building a military to fight the Mughals and symbolised this move by wearing two swords representing Piri, the spiritual, and Miri, the temporal authority.
In 1675, Emperor Aurangzeb’s rule was marked by excessive cruelty towards Sikhs, and most notably, beheading the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur as well as the killing of his companions by brutal torture.
In 1699, the tenth and last Guru, Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa, meaning the pure, embodying the ideal of the sant-sipahi (saint-soldier), combining spiritual devotion with martial prowess. This means being brave and disciplined while also being humble and compassionate. The Khalsa were made distinct with the five Ks -- Kangha, the comb; Kara, the steel bangle; Kesh, uncut hair covered by a turban and beard; Kirpan, the short sword and Kuccha, the short trousers.
Born Lachman Dev in 1670, Banda Singh Bahadur became an ascetic and a devout Sikh after meeting Guru Gobind Singh, who gave him his name. He was made the commander who led the first major offensive war against the Mughal Empire, established Sikh rule in parts of Punjab.
Despite the subsequent capture and execution of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716, it gave rise to the Sikh Confederacy, a loose union of 12 sovereign Sikh states, or misls, that controlled the Punjab region in the 18th century and later the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
The book also touches upon the colonial discourse surrounding the “martial races” of India, analysing how the British viewed and utilised Sikh soldiers. The British perception of martial races was a flawed, pseudoscientific theory and a deliberate political plan to justify colonial recruitment policies and a part of their “divide and rule” formula used to govern India, its largest colony.
The reviewer, Col Anil Bhat, VSM (Retd), a strategic affairs analyst and former spokesperson, defence ministry and Indian Army
Peasants to Warriors
Lt Gen. Rajinder Singh Sujlana
Sabre & Quill
pp. 485; Rs 1,250
( Source : Asian Age )
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