Ganda Singh

Dr. Ganda Singh being the editor of The Singh Sabha and other Socio-Religious Movements in the Punjab, the study delivers more than it seemingly promises. The value of this study lies in the fact that contrary to current poststructuralist claims that the Singh-Sabha Lahore was a colonial byproduct, multiple Sikh heavyweight scholars trace its historical origins to the initial Nirankari movement of Baba Dyal Singh Ji; the hitherto uncorrupted Namdhari movements of Baba Balak Singh Ji and Baba Ram Singh Ji as well as the militant uprisings of Bhai Maharaj Singh against British authoritarianism. It vindicates the Singh-Sabha Lahore of all the charges levelled against it. A valuable edition to any Sikh library.… (plus d'informations)

Vaunted historian of the Sikhs Dr. Ganda Singh provides a compelling and profound narrative of Banda Singh's life and times based on primary and near-primary sources.

It should be remembered that his main aim with this book is to refute the spurious allegations voiced by mythologists such as the drug-addict Kavi Santokh Singh; chronicler Ratan Singh Bhangu whose family played a prominent role in Banda Singh's betrayal; Nirmala fraudster/polemicist Ganesha Singh and Hindu fascists such as the Arya Samaj which commenced the practice of misappropriating him.

Alongside, the good Doctor considers a retinue of Persian; Punjabi and contemporary Mughal accounts while analyzing the affiliations and loyalties of their authors to underscore their biases and correct/incorrect information. We also have genealogical accounts gleaned from Banda Singh's direct descendants through his second son Ranjit Singh who dismantled the pseudo-Bandai Khalsa and prevented his elevation to Guruship ipso facto.

Overall Life of Banda Singh Bahadur is praiseworthy for its simple and lay terminology as well as its tackling of a complex subject in a nuanced format. Rather than unquestioningly support the sacred cow of oral tradition, Dr. Ganda Singh leaves no stone unturned in reevaluating Banda Singh as he was rather than what he's made out to be today.… (plus d'informations)

This is a meticulous compendium of multiple Sikh Hukamnamahs or edicts issued by the Sikh Gurus, their spouses and other historic Sikh leaders to the Sikh masses at large. Dr. Ganda Singh follows a well tread path; study the manuscript, provide a summary of its contents through a translation while commenting on style and other subtle nuances within.

However there are some failings. No historian is fully perfect and neither is Dr. Ganda Singh in regards to palaeography. Here's why. He primarily relies upon the historic tradition associated with the Hukamanamahs in question rather than verify it for himself. Is the historic tradition right or wrong? 98% of the time, the good Doctor's methodology helps him well. 2% of the time it lets him down. Probably the most blatant evidence of this failing is a Hukamanamah allegedly dispatched by the sixth Guru to the Sikhs of Kabul emphasizing they refrain from meat. Similar is the case with another edict dispatched by Baba Banda Singh requesting the recipient Sikhs to refrain from meat. Why?

Dr. Ganda Singh fails to analyze exactly why such advice was incorporated into these documents. He does not enter the writer's mind or the recipient's contemporary circumstances indicating a lack of fieldwork. Then there is the case of the dismissal of other Hukamanamahs particularly one verified by Gobind Singh Mansukhi with the Sikhs of Kabul. This was dispatched by the tenth Guru and mentions the 5 K's. The Doctor felt it to be a fabrication given its mention of 5 K's although of course the document divides the Kakkars into primary and secondary utilities.

Overall conclusion? Good compendium with its own faults.… (plus d'informations)