Amritsar Singh Sabha

The Amritsar Singh Sabha, popularly known as Sanatan Singh Sabha, was founded in 1873, "It was essentially conservative and Sanatan ('eternal'). The Sanatan Sikh (a term and formulation coined by Harjot Oberoi[1]) were the traditional Sikhs who were conquered and eventually marginalised.[2]

They consider Khalsa as a sect of Sanatana Dharma.[3]

Origin

The Sanatan Sikhs refer to the Classical Sikhism as Sikhs to be a wider denomination of Sanatana Dharma by the individual who practices karma and Bhakti of the Almighty in any way for the achievement of Moksha, or spiritual liberation. A second Singh Sabha was shaped and named the Tat Khalsa (`True` Khalsa) as a political reaction [4] to the formation of the Sanatan Singh Sabha. The Governing British Administration based at Lahore in 1879 founded the Tat khalsa.[5] This Sabha was also called the Lahore Singh Sabha (Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha).

History

The British Raj utilized the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha Sikhs to apply their `divide and rule` policy,[6] which included a forced separation from its dharmic roots.[7] The leader of Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha was Bhai Gurmukh Singh,[8] [9] a professor and co-sponsor at the Oriental College of Lahore. Bhai Gurmukh Singh cooperated with [[Max Arthur Macauliffe], a divisional judge, to undertake the translation of Granth Sahib (finished in 1909). The western educated Sikh reformers,[10] went onto write Mahan Kosh (encyclopedia of Sikhism) and Ham Hindu Nahin (We are not Hindus), with a policy to dilute the Santana heritage and make Sikhism more in line with the wants of the British administration.[11] “The British established the current Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha which reflected the views and interests of an emerging Western educated vernacular elite, including men such as Gurmukh Singh, the co-sponsor of the Lahore Singh Sabha a professor at Oriental college”, [12] On the issue of Diet the directive of theThe British administered Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha to dilute issues such as cow protection,[13] and the value of vegetarian lifestyle within Sikhism had now been effectively erased. However historical Sikh figures such as Maharaja Ranjit Singh, banned Cow slaughter throughout his kingdom.[14] [15][16] “The British Raj, applies the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha Sikhs to apply their divide and rule policy which sought to negate the original Sanatan Sikhism in the name of “reform” whereas sanatan sikhism was inclusive, the British created Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha is not” [17]

Notes
  1. Grewal, J. S. (2010). "W.H. McLeod and Sikh Studies" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. 17 (1–2): 125, 142. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  2. "Sanatan Singh Sabha". University of Cumbria. 1998. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  3. "Sanatan Sikhi - SikhiWiki, free Sikh encyclopedia". www.sikhiwiki.org. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  4. As a strictly political response to the formation of the Sanatan Singh Sabha, a second Singh Sabha was formed and named the Tat Khalsa (True Khalsa) by The Governing British Administration based at Lahore in 1879. Faith & philosophy of Sikhism, Sardar Harjeet Singh, ISBN 9788178357218
  5. 'As a strictly political response to the formation of the Sanatan Singh Sabha, a second Singh Sabha was formed and named the current Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha (True Khalsa) by The Governing British Administration based at Lahore in 1879.Faith & philosophy of Sikhism, Sardar Harjeet Singh, ISBN 9788178357218, ISBN 9788178357218
  6. Faith & philosophy of Sikhism, Sardar Harjeet Singh, “A second Singh Sabha was shaped and named the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha as a political reaction to the formation of the Sanatan Singh Sabha. The Governing British Administration based at Lahore in 1879 founded the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha. This Sabha was also called the Lahore Singh Sabha, before partition The British Raj utilized the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabhi Sikhs to apply their `divide and rule` policy”, p.181, ISBN 9788178357218
  7. “However the primary other Akal Tat Singh Sabha, was founded in Lahore, and was more reformist and radical”, World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia, Page 359, 2007,ISBN 978076147313
  8. 'The British established Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha reflected the views and interests of an emerging Western educated vernacular elite, including men such as Gurmukh Singh, the co-sponsor of the Lahore Singh Sabha, a professor at oriental college.Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age, 2008, By Giorgio Shani, pg33, ISBN 020393721
  9. Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha movement, was British governments recruitment policy and imperial interests, all combined together, helped strengthen then self identity consciousness among the sikhs denying any relationship with its dharmic roots.” Perspectives on Sikh Gurdwaras Legislation By Surjit Singh Gandhi atlantic publishers, new delhi-110027, Mehra offset Press, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IPr-BX563M8C&pg=PA28&dq=sanatan+singh+sabha+british&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OMaST7XiNMKS0QWI3bn_AQ&ved=0CGMQuwUwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  10. “the singh sabha reformers saw themselves in the reflected face of their british colonial masters”, Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age, By Giorgio Shani, 2008, pg 32,ISBN 020393721
  11. “ Tat Khalsa singh sabha movement, was British governments recruitment policy and imperial interests, all combined together, helped strengthen then self identity consciousness among the sikhs denying any relationship with its dharmic roots.” Perspectives on Sikh Gurdwaras Legislation By Surjit Singh Gandhi Atlantic publishers, new delhi-110027, Mehra offset Press, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=IPr-BX563M8C&pg=PA28&dq=sanatan+singh+sabha+british&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OMaST7XiNMKS0QWI3bn_AQ&ved=0CGMQuwUwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
  12. Sikh Nationalism and Identity in a Global Age,2008, ISBN 020393721.
  13. ″In sum, then, the 'sikh cow' figure envisages a reconciliation of several strands of Sanatan and popular Sikh faith and practice that the Singh sabha movement had sought to suppress over the last century of religious reforms, Cultural History of Modern India, By Dilip M. Menon, ISBN 8187358254
  14. “Maharaja Ranjit Singh established the Lahore Darbar on Divali 1761; he demaned that Afghanistan return the doors of Somnath temple and willed the Kohinoor diamond to Jagannath Puri. When Britsh rule came, hundreds of sikhs died for cow protection”,Ethnic Tensions in Indian Society: Explanation, Prediction, Monitoring, By P. N. Rastogi, pg 145, ISBN:0333924410176
  15. “It was Maharaja Ranjit Singh who put two conditions for Shah Sujah, then deposed ruler of Afganistan before he would regain his throne. They were: ( 1 ) cow-killing will be forbidden throughout Afganistan ; and (2) the doors of the Somnath temple returned.” Minorities in India, protection and welfare by Rajendra Pandey, APH Pub. Corp., 1997, ISBN 8170248736.
  16. “As already said by Shri Mann, during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Emperor, the only crime which capital punishment was awarded was this cow slaughter”, Lok Sabha Secretariat, Govt. of India, http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1427325033&searchurl=tn%3DLok%2BSabha%2Bdebates
  17. The British Raj, applies the Tat Khalsa Singh SabhA Sikhs to apply their divide and rule policy which sought to negate the original sanatan Sikhism in the name of reform whereas sanatan sikhism was inclusive, the British created Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha is not. Faith & philosophy of Sikhism, Sardar Harjeet Singh, ISBN 9788178357218
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