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The Military history of the Sikhs includes a series of fights fought by the Sikhs during the past 500 years. These conflicts were fought in several different countries such as India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and many others.
The history of Sikhism dates back to 15 April 1469, when the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak was born.[1][2][3][4][5][6]. Once when he was 28 years old, he was meditating in a river when he went missing for 3 days. When he returned, he said "there is no hindu, there is no muslim".[7] Thus, he went to long journeys, which are known as Udasis to spread the message of god. He was succeeded by 9 other gurus.
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Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh guru was tortured to death by the Mughals due to not converting into Islam.[8] Before his death, he had advised his son Guru Hargobind to train as a warrior when he was just a youth.[9] He had trained other Sikhs and made an army called the Akal Sena to fight the Mughals. However, a scholar named Trilochan Singh challenges the claim about Guru Hargobind starting the military history of Sikhism. He claims that the roots of the history came before the guruship of the 5th guru, a few years before Guru Hargobinds timeline.[10]
The Sikhs fought under the command of several different prominent Sikhs such as Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, etc. They fought several battles in the eighteenth century until Maharaja Ranjit Singh united the misls to make the Sikh Empire.[11] He had many generals in his army, the most famous and certainly the greatest one being Hari Singh Nalwa who was Commander-in-chief of the empire dating from 1825 to 1837.[12]
After the rise of the British Raj over the subcontinent, Sikhs started being recruited in the British army in large numbers.[13][14] They fought in several battles, the most famous one being the Battle of Saragarhi.[15] The Sikhs even fought in the world wars, being a major contributer to the entire Indian British army and were known as the black lions.[13] The Sikh Regiment of modern day India is the most celebrated regiment in India, having fought major battles again its rival Pakistan. Only Sikhs are able to be a part of this regiment.[16][17][18]
Akal Sena[edit]
The Akal Sena (God's Army) was founded by Guru Hargobind.[19][20] It origionally only consisted of 700-800 horses, 300-500 cavalrymen, 60 musketeers and 60 artillery men.[21][22][23] The Akal Sena started in 1606 and ended in 1699.
Guru Hargobind[edit]
There were four major battles fought during Guru Hargobind's time aswell as some minor engagements.[9]
Battle of Rohilla[edit]
The cause of the battle was the creation of Hargobindpur which was known as Rohilla in those days. Another reason was the Sikhs beheading a relative of Chandu Shah due to his abusive words towards the guru. A force of 4,000-15,000 Mughals attacked the Sikhs and were repulsed, killing 14,000 of the horde.[24][25][26]
Battle of Amritsar[edit]
This battle was 2 day conflict at the holy city of Amritsar. When the Sikhs got intel the day before about the attack, everybody evacuated a small mud fort called Lohgarh except for a garrison numbering 25 men. They repulsed the Mughals in many attacks, killing hundreds. However due to the numerical superiority of the Mughals, the garrison was killed but the Mughals could not advance further until the next day.[27][28] On the second day, the Mughals were defeated with their commander Mukhlis Khan killed and the entire army cut to pieces just by 700 men.[29][30]
- ^ Almasy, Steve. 2018 [2012]. "Who are Sikhs and what do they believe?" CNN International. US: Turner Broadcasting System.
- ^ Nesbitt, Eleanor M. (2005). Sikhism: a very short introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 21–23. ISBN 978-0-19-280601-7.
- ^ Singh, Nirbhai (1990). Philosophy of Sikhi: Reality and Its Manifestations. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. pp. 1–3.
- ^ Takhar, Opinderjit Kaur (2016). Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs. Abingdon-on-Thames, England: Taylor & Francis. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-351-90010-2.
- ^ "Religions: Sikhism". BBC. 2014.
- ^ Cole, William Owen; Sambhi, Piara Singh (1993). Sikhism and Christianity: A Comparative Study. "Themes in Comparative Religion" series. Wallingford, England: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 117. ISBN 978-0-333-54107-4.
- ^ Shackle, Christopher; Mandair, Arvind-Pal Singh (2005). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. United Kingdom: Routledge. xiii–xiv. ISBN 0-415-26604-1.
- ^ Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 29
- ^ a b Mitra, Swati (2006). Good Earth Punjab Travel Guide (2nd ed.). Eicher Goodearth Limited. p. 26. ISBN 9789380262178.
- ^ Singh, Trilochan (1967). Guru Tegh Bahadur, Prophet and Martyr: A Biography. Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. pp. 24–25.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 892.
- ^ Roy, K.; Roy, L. D. H. K. (2011). War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740–1849. Taylor & Francis. p. 147. ISBN 978-1136790874. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ a b Abel, Ernest. "Sikhs of the war".
- ^ Vicky Singh. "Sikh Soldiers In World Wars". Archived from the original on December 4, 2002. Retrieved September 23, 2011.
- ^ "The Sunday Tribune - Books". Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ Wilkinson, Steven I. (2015). Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy Since Independence. Harvard University Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-674-72880-6.
Some regiments, such as the Sikh Regiment and Sikh Light Infantry, are "single class," and therefore recruit combat troops only from members of a specified class, such as Jat Sikhs and Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs.
- ^ Kundu, Apurba (1994). "The Indian Armed Forces' Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers' Opinions of Operation Blue Star". Pacific Affairs. 67 (1): 48. doi:10.2307/2760119. JSTOR 2760119.
Moreover, with the exception of Gurkhas (recruited in Nepal), Sikhs remain the only community to have infantry regiments drawn exclusively from their own numbers: the Sikh Regiment (manned, though not officered, by high-caste Jat Sikhs) and the Sikh Light Infantry (manned entirely by Mazhabi, or Scheduled Caste, "untouchable" Sikhs.
- ^ Barua, Pradeep P. (1998). "Ethnic Conflict in the Military of Developing Nations: A Comparative Analysis of India and Nigeria". In Karsten, Peter (ed.). Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces. Taylor & Francis. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-81-532975-6.
For example, all the Sikh units in the Indian Army do not come from the same mother regiment. There are two regiments, the Sikh Infantry Regiment (composed of high caste Jat Sikhs) and the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment (composed of lower caste Mazbhi Sikhs).
- ^ Whiting, J. R. S. (1991). Religions for today. J. R. S.. Whiting (3rd ed.). Thornes. p. 67. ISBN 0-7487-0586-4. OCLC 24669427.
- ^ Savinder Kaur Gill; Sonam Wangmo (2019). Two Gurus One Message: The Buddha and Guru Nanak: Legacy of Liberation, Egalitarianism and Social Justice. Teachings of Buddha and the Sikh Gurus. Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. p. 19.
- ^ Singh 2004, p. 64.
- ^ Anand, Balwant Singh (1979). Guru Tegh Bahadur, a Biography. Sterling Publishers. p. 16.
- ^ Prithi Pal Singh (2006). The history of Sikh gurus. New Delhi: Lotus Press. p. 81. ISBN 81-8382-075-1. OCLC 297207913.
- ^ Singh, Fauja (1975). Guru Tegh Bahadur: Martyr and teacher. Publication Bureau Punjabi university, PATIALA. p. 10.
- ^ Gurbilas Patashahi 6 Chapter 14
- ^ Jacques 2007, p. 860.
- ^ Sikh religion. Internet Archive. Phoenix, Ariz. : Sikh Missionary Center. 1990. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-9625383-2-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Gurbilas Patashahi 6 Chapter 10
- ^ Jacques 2007, p. 47.
- ^ Macauliffe, Max Arthur (1909). The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors, Vol 4. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Wikisource