The various trends and approaches applied to religious studies can result in different schools of thought as in the case of Sikh studies. Today the Sikh scholarship has been able to separate the grain from the chaff; however this has only been possible after the extensive efforts made by several scholars to analyze the foundations of different schools of Sikh studies.

The schools of Sikh studies can be divided into following categories:

Foreign Travellers and Statesmen (Learners)Thus far the first literary piece pertaining to the field of Sikh studies in a language other than Punjabi dates from Sept.251606. It is in the form of a letter by Father Jerome Xavier A Christian missionary. His letter contains information regarding the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Sahib. This is followed by another letter by John Surman and Edward Stephenson dated March 101716. This letter informs British authorities of the martyrdom of Banda Singh Bahadar and the massacre of Sikhs in Delhiin 1716. The only difference between the preceding letters is that the former was written by a religious missionary and the latter by a political agent. Their purposes remain unchanged.

The first proper although minor account concerning the Sikhs was written in May 1776 in “An account of the Sikhs” by Colonel A.L.H.Polier. The information contained in this article is neither completely accurate nor perfect; rather the intention of the Colonel of the British army had not been to distort the image of the Sikhs or to propagate misinformation against the Sikhs like the anti-Semitic school which functioned in Europe at the time. George Forster completed his work Observation on the Sikhs on June 9, 1785. In 1788 Major James Browne completed his “History of the Religion and Progress of Sikhs” the first detailed account of the Sikhs nation. John Griffith prepared the draft of his “Memorandum of Punjab and Kandhar” on February 71794. In 1798 George Forster published his journey from Bengal to England (2 volumes). It was followed by William Franklins “The Sikhs and Their Country” circa 1800. C.E.John Malcolm published his book Sketch of the Sikhs: A Singulat Nation Who Inhibit the Province of Punjab in 1812. Each of these cases was efforts on behalf of intelligence officers designed to inform British authorities and their public about the history religion and culture of a nation. Among these works the book by Major Brown is most relevant because of its details and factual information.

Besides these publications giving details about the Sikhs there were other minor works with references to the Sikhs including Alexander Burnes (Travels into Bokhara 1834) W.Moorecroft and G.Trebeck (Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab etc. 1837) H.H. Wilson (Travels in the Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and Punjab 1837)John C.Lowrie (Travels in Northern India 1842) Charles Masson (Narrative of Various Journeys in Baluchistan Afghanistan and Punjab 3 volumes 1842) William Barr (Journal of March from Delhi to Peshawar 1844) Baron Charles Hugel (Travels in Kashmir and Punjab 1845) and John Marin Honigberger (35 Years in the East 1852)

However the first formal anthology of the Sikhs bya foreigner was written by J.D. Cunningham (A History of the Sikhs from the Origin of the Nation to the Bates of Sutlej) in 1849. Though mainly concerned with the Anglo-Sikh wars 1845-49 it is well-informed. While most of these accounts are riddled with inaccuracies and misinformation the intention of the writers remains positive and inaccuracies can be attributed oversight.

Besides J.D Cunningham several other Englishmen wrote about the Sikhs the Anglo-Sikh Wars as well as (Maharaja) Ranjit Singh and his family such as Henry T.Prinsep (Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab and Political Life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) 1840; H.Steinbach (The Punjab: Being a Brief Account of the Sikhs) 1845; W.L.McGregor (The History of the Sikhs 2 volumes) 1846; T.H.Thornton (History of the Punjab and of the Rise and Progress and Present Condition of the Sect and the Nation of the Sikhs 2 volumes) 1846; H.M.Lawrence (Adventures of an officer in the service of Ranjit Singh 2 volumes) 1846; G.Carmichael Smythe (A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore) 1847; Herbert Edwards (A year on the Punjab Frontiers in 184849) 1851;John Sullivan (Are We Bound by Treaties?) 1853; Lepel H.Griffen (The Punjab Chiefs 1865; The Rajas of Punjab 1873; Ranjit Singh 1905); Herbert Edwards and H.Merivale (Life of Sir Henry Lawrence) 1872; Evans Bell (The Annexation of the Punjab and Maharaja Duleep Singh) 1882; Sir C.Gough and A.D.Innes (The Sikhs and the Sikh Wars) 1897; H.C.B.Cook (The Sikh Wars 1845-49) E.Dalhousie Login (Lady Logins Recollections) Lady Login (Sir John Login and Duleep Singh) 1890; and G.A.Henry (Through the Sikh Wars).

Some of these writings do contain propaganda about the Sikhs in general and concerning the reigning families in particular. The scholars of the Sikh studies have now exposed most of inaccuracies and misinformation. In spite of the shortcomings these works remain very valuable sources of the history of the Sikhs.

Since 1849 several books by foreigners have been published. Best known among these works are: John J.H.Gordon (The Sikhs) 1904; S.S.Thorbum (The Punjab in Peace and War) 1904; F.Pincott (Sikhism in the Religious Systems of the World) 1908; M.A.Macauliff (The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors Vol.1-6) 1909; H.A.Rose (A Glossary of the Tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province) 1911-19; Dorothy Field (The Religionof the Sikhs) 1914; Denzil Ibbetson (Punjab Castes) 1916; A.H.Bingley (Sikhs A Handbook for Indian Army) 1918; R.E.Parry (The Sikhs of the Punjab) 1921 1935; C.H.Payne (A Short History of the Sikhs) 1930; G.B.Scott (Religion and Short History of the Sikhs) 1930; H.L.O.Garret (The Punjab A Hundred Years Ago) etc. Amongst these titles Macauliffs work is another critical work about Sikhs. Most of the remaining books are poorly informed containing oversights. It is strange that although books about the Sikhs were available during the times of these foreigner writers they continued to write such poorly researched books. As well these books are to be read cautiously as they are weak in primary sources. In fact these writers mostly travellers army generals political agents and missionaries throughout their memoirs and travelogues for example wanted to record their experiences and knowledge of the Sikhs and their homeland. They were “learners” or students yet pioneer writers of Sikhism.

Foreigners with a mission (Anti Sikhism)-The early foreign authors of the Sikhs were learners but after the passage of time some missionaries were assigned the job of winning converts from Sikhism. This could only be achieved using cunning propaganda about Sikhs their history philosophy and culture. The origins of anti-Sikhism school of writers can be traced to the seventh decade of the 19th century. The pioneer of this movement was the Christian missionary Earnest Trump who published translation of a part of the Adi Granth in 1877. This was not an academic work but rather blasphemy. This was followed by Major Henry Courts “History of the Sikhs” in 1888 translated into Punjabi by the notorious anti-Sikh missionary Shardha Ram Philauri (it was widely believed that the work was a joint venture by Court and Phillauri) The purpose of these two writings was to attack Sikh philosophy history prophets heroes culture and scripture. Though these writings could not attract Sikh converts to Christianity those who learned or wrote about Sikhs became biased towards the Sikhs. Such malice still taints much literature whose primary sources are foreign authors from anti-Sikhism school. Max Arthur Macauliff took the initiative to undo the assumptions made by the aforementioned writers.

In the 20th century the anti-Sikhism school was led by W.H. McLeod (formerly a New Zealand) now at the University of Toronto Ontario His activities began in the Christian Missionary College Patiala Punjab. His works include Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (1968); The Evolution of Sikh Community (1975); Early Sikh Tradition (1980); Who Is a Sikh (1989). These are malicious propaganda against the Sikhs. He was defended by his students and the other proponents of the anti-Sikhism school such as J.S.Grewal Harjot S.Oberoi of the University of British Columbia Vancouver B.C. and Pashaura Singh formerly a Granthi of Gurdwara in Calgary Alberta as well as anti-Sikh political writers and missionaries attempting to complete rigorous “academic” works (World Sikh News Oct.9&161992; Indo Canadian Times Nov.26, 1992; Charhdi Kala Oct.221992) In each of his works McLeod reveals efforts to slander Sikh philosophy and history which were unprecedented in his most recent publications where he condemned the Sikh political movement In his book McLeod surpassed the morally bankrupt and ethically devoid Indian administrations since Nehru the first Prime minister of the world’s largest alleged democratic regime and their sycophants like Khuswant Singh (World Sikh News Nov.71992; Indo-Canadian Times Nov.16, 1992) Rahul Bedi (The Sunday Telegraph Oct4, 1992) Rajinder Sinh Nirala Jagjit Singh Anand (The Edmonton Journal Nov.81992); is condemning rather than analyzing the Sikhs political struggle for identity and sovereignty. McLeod wrote extensively against the present Sikh movement presumably fed by the Indian regimes and its foreign missions and also due to the lack of his understanding and knowledge of the doctrine of Guru Gobind Singh discrediting the Sikh leadership for initiating the struggle to regain their lost sovereignty. He asks the Sikhs to remain a part of India in a tone more aggressive than that of the Indian authorities Indian agents wandering in foreign countries other opponents of the Sikh religion and those Sikhs who even do not possess the slightest knowledge of their faith culture and heritage but would like to use the podiums of their Gurdwara’s for expressing their views to the holy congregations Thus McLeods intentions and objectives to distort the Sikh religious philosophy history and Sikh studies have been exposed.

After 1984 a British Broadcasting Corporations reporter and coauthor of a book entitled Amritsar. The last Battle of Indira Gandhi Mark Tully in order to justify the assault on the Darbar Sahib Complex and the killings of more than 50000 innocent Sikh infants children youths men and women received a handsome payment from the Government of India (Prime Minister India Ref No. RAW/Def/Pub/8379 Dr 15.11989; Sub; National integration grants sanction for 1990; Section-England Canada and United States Dilgeer HS and Sekhon AS. 1992 The Sikhs” Struggle for Sovereignty: An Historical Perspective Ed. A.T.Kerr); following which he was awarded the “Padma Shri” in April 1992 an award never before given to a foreigner.

Devotee Sikh Writers (Devotees)This school of Sikh studies can be divided into two parts (i) the first part we can include Bhat Gurdas (Varan) and Bhai Mani Singh (Gian Ratnavali). These two writers presented a firsthand account of the Sikh history. Both of them having lived during the period of Gurus. Their account is beyond any factual flaws; (ii) the second class of devotees is comprised of those Sikh writers who out of their devotion as well as due to incomplete information presented history as best possible. We can include the following writers in this class: Sainapat (Gur Sobha) Sohan Kavi (Gur Bilas Patsahi Chhevin) Kesar Singh Chhibar (Bansawali nama Dasan Patsahian Da) Sarup Das Bhalla (Mahima Parkash) Koer Singh (Gur Bilas Patsahi Dasvin) Sukha Singh (Gur Bilas Patsahi Dasvin) Sewa Das (Parchian) Ratan Singh Bhangu (Prachin Panth Parkash) Santokh Singh (Gur Partap Suraj Parkash) and Giani Gian Singh (Panth Parkash Twarikh Guru Khalsa). Most of these books are an amalgam of true history as well as polished accounts of history. Further most of these authors have a limited approach due to their poor exposure and/or their purposes for presenting the material The only exception is Rattan Singh Bhangoos Panth Prakash which excels. His account is closest to factual and only a few subtle inaccuracies can be found in his book. On the whole this book is the best single compilation of Sikh history written prior to the 20th century. The historian Karam Singh paid greatest tribute to Rattan Singh Bhangoo. Bhangoo in his introduction stated that he had written the book to counter the non-Sikh conspiracy undermining Sikh history and philosophy.

Writers with vested interests (Propagandists)Just as Jews Muslims and other religious groups have experienced conspiracies against their traditions history philosophy and heroes so has the Sikh nation. It started right during the times of Gurus. The Udas is Minas Ram Raiyas Dhir Malias and the Handal is for example were the conspirators of the Gurus and patronized by the Moghul authorities distorting the Sikh history and philosophy in part to please the authorities and also to attract the followers of the Gurus to their own camp. Some writers with ulterior motives use these sources (collaborate the conspiracy of these sections which still operate under the command of successors of the above mentioned group writers. Among the Punjab this group.

 

Article extracted from this publication >> December 18, 1992