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This book of articles deals with the British discovery of Sikhs, their literature and history. Further, it reminds us the Sikh political success after the occupation of Lahore by Ranjit Singh in 1799. True that the British enquiry was diplomatic and military during the 18th century. However, the Anglo-Sikh relations after the fall of Delhi and Hansi into the hands of Company in 1803 and more so the Anglo-Sikh Treaties of January 1806 and April 1809 widened the scope of the enquiry. With Malcolm`s work published in 1810, the Punjabi and Sikh writings especially the bani of the Gurus or its elaborations by the Bhai`s such as Gurdass and Mani Singh entered the field under investigation. Sikh History and Religion emerged as a common genre by the middle of the 19th century. J.D.Cunningham gave a firm basis to this genre, though H.H.Wilson had acted differently in 1848 because he was a Sanskritist.
The use of Bani, Sakhi and Rahit by the British, the Christian Missions, the early Sikh reformers like the Nirankaris and the Namdharis necessitated the further use of Sikh Scriptures, Hukamnama, and Ardasan carrying letters of Baba Ram Singh (1872-1885). In fact, by 1857 the idea of having the Sikh holy granths translated into English was – conceived by the and M.A.Macauliffe (1868-1909) for the political purposes. In fact, the Gadhar and the Babbar Akalis British. First attempt in this regard took twenty years i.e. 1857-1877. The attempt was official and made through Trumpp. These twenty years also saw the printing of the Adi Granth in the Damdama Bir twice i.e. in 1864 and 1868 in Lahore. A Janam-Sakhi (Bhai Bala version) was also printed.
The book reveals how and why the political patronage and use of Golden Temple, Amritsar, continued under the British despite the Sikh awakening and protest against it by the Namdhari Movement, and the Singh Sabha Lehar between 1863 and 1919. In addition to Golden Temple, Sikh Literature and History had drawn the colonial attention through Griffin between 1914 and 1923 gave a close relationship to the Militant Khalsa tradition and the anti-British Nationalism in Punjab. How Sikh militancy and communalism proved harmful to the cause of Freedom Movement in, and for, the Punjab is an important but different theme. This book is silent about the Great Divide of 1947 or the poetry of Iqbal during the 1920`s and 1930`s. Riots and the bitter commuanal strife was the sin to be told by the short-stories of Manto. The sin needs further exploring by the political thinkers and writers of South-Asia.
ISBN - 9788178440828
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Pages : 224
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