Yes they are Sikhs by Indu Kaur
Living in Assam for over 200 yrs, ignored by mainstream Sikhs
India is a vast country and there are certain groups and communities so small in size that their presence and existence goes almost unnoticed. The Assamese Sikh Community is one such group. They have lived in the northeastern state for more than two centuries, yet their existence has been ignored by every successive Government.
Although it is very difficult to locate the exact year in which the State of Assam came into contact with Sikhism, it has been held by B.P.L.Bedi in his work “Guru Baba Nanak” that Guru Nanak came to Assam in the first decade of the 16th century A.D. and visited the Kamakhya temple.
It is popularly believed that the first Sikh Sardar who came to Borkola to reside was Sardar Ram Singh. The Population of Assamese Sikhs in the State is at present about 5000.With his religion, being a proselytizing one, it was but natural that he had footed through the dense forest tracts of Assam and met various tribes in the course of his journey. The ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was the next to come to Assam sometime in 1670. Guru Tegh Bahadur reached Rangamati and then came to Dhubri where the first gurudwara was established as a memorial of the Guru’s maiden visit to the land.
The Sikhs however began to settle permanently only after the battle of Hadirachaki. The Ahom ruler, Chandra Kanta Singha, built up defenses at Hadirachaki with armies under the command of the Sikh general Chaaitanya Singh, the Ahom general Charu, the Muslim general Mirdaulla and the Assamese general Krishnaram. It is said that the Punjab ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh dispatched Chaitanya Singh to Assam in command of 500 soldiers to render military help to Chandra Kanta Singha. General Chaitanya, along with his army, fought gallantly against the Burmese in a pitched engagement at Hadirachaki, and laid down his life for the cause of Assam. Chaitanya, on the eve of the battle said to the Ahom King, “Moharaj, I shall lay down my life along with my army for upholding your cause.” This poignant saga has been clearly mentioned in the monumental novel ‘Monomati’ written by Rajani Kanta Bordoloi, a leading novelist of repute.
True to his words Chaitanya kept his promise. Assam remembers him with gratitude and honor even to this day. Following the loss of her dear husband in the thick of battle, Chaitanya’s widowed consort, accompanied by the remainder of the Sikh forces, proceeded upstream by the Brahmaputra and via Kajalimukh, passed through the Kapili river and the Titiamari Khuti, and encamped at Chaparmukh in the Nawgaon district. They carried with them a few copies of religious scriptures, two cannons and a number of swords (Kirpans). These articles have since been carefully preserved in the Gurudwara Mataji, Chaparmukh Singh Gaon, Nowgaon (Assam). Gurudwara Mataji is the second historical Gurudwara in Assam.
The Sikhs first settled at Chaparmukh and later on they moved to Barkola, Hatipara, Lanka (all in Nowgaon district of Assam). The largest numbers of Assamese Sikh families (about 150 families) now live at Borkola. It is popularly believed that the first Sikh Sardar who came to Borkola to reside was Sardar Ram Singh. The Population of Assamese Sikhs in the State is at present about 5000.
It would not be out of place to mention here that under the auspices of the Assamese Sikh Association, and able leadership of Dhyan Singh, President of the Association, the work of renovation of Gurudwara Mataji has been taken up with kind donations from gurpremi sadh sangat. The occasion of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s visit to Assam is celebrated every year at this historical Shrine.
The companions whom Chaitanya had left behind subsequently married Assamese women and fused with Assamese life and culture. The process of assimilation was so decisive; they embraced their land of occupation as their homeland. They played a significant role in their efforts to defend and serve the cause of the State at various levels from time to time.
Although the Assamese Sikhs have their own gurudwaras, they have been maintaining fraternal cohesion and amity with the people of other religious persuasions in their neighborhoods. Their participation in all Assamese festivals and institutions like Bihu (the most important and popular festivals in Assam, signaling the harvest and marking the advent of spring and autumn), the birth and death anniversaries of Shankar Dev and Madhav Dev, Rang Utsav, weddings and other festivals speak eloquently of their integrated life with the mainstream of the Assamese people.
Their turbans may not go well with their Mongoloid features and sparse beards, and may even fetch belittling remarks from other Sikhs, yet they remain a proud race. “Our forefathers came to Assam centuries ago to rescue the Assamese people from foreign invasion and that makes us feel proud. As far as our religion is concerned, we have been following it with utmost devotion,” says one of the Assamese Sikhs. Ask any of the families in Borkola and you are likely to hear this line over and over again: “when Giani Zail Singh visited Borkola in 1975, he was surprised at the way we are following the Guru Granth Sahib.”
And these Sikhs don’t feel nostalgic about being away from Punjab, its culture and its people. “We are Assamese who are following the Sikh religion. We have adopted this place as our own, as we have been living here for generations.” Even the lady of the house looks like just any other Assamese married women — adorned with sindoor and clad in mekhla – chaddar, the traditional Assamese dress — till your eyes rest on the tiny Kirpan tucked under the chaddar.
“We have never felt that we are not a part of the Assamese society and at the same time we have been faithful to our religion,” says S. K. Singh, president of the Assam Sikh Association. “But it hurts us when we are called “duplicate Sikhs” or “second class Sikhs” by our counterparts in Punjab,” he adds.
In fact, in some respects, we are more staunch than the Punjabi Sikhs,” says Jaswant Kaur. “We may not speak the language but we follow our religious book very seriously. Most of us are Amritdharis, as it is our custom to partake of Amrit before we get married,” she adds.
Sri Himadri Banerjee who holds the Guru Nanak Chair in Indian History at Jadavpur University’s Department of History has been closely monitoring this minority Community fears that if proper care and support is not given by the Government this historical Community may even go extinct.
When I first reached one of these Assamese Sikh villages, I was surprised to discover that these men had maintained their Sikh identity over the centuries despite the tremendous distance from the Punjab and the prevalent non-Sikh culture around them. I found many who are confident of their Sikh identity. It is, therefore, unfortunate that Assamese Sikhs who have maintained their identity should still be referred to as kacha [incomplete] Sikhs by a section of Punjabi Sikhs of the region.
Considering all circumstances, problems, constraints and challenges the Assamese Sikh Community has been facing for ages, they are in the danger of becoming extinct. I have taken this task on myself to bring the facts into the limelight so that Government, people and organizations come forward to help and rescue this microscopic minority community.
For donation, seva or other information, please contact: Indu Kaur, C/O S. Shamsher Singh ADC Bordoloi Nagar, Near Arunachal Circuit House, Tinsukia-786125 Assam, Ph: 91-374-2303048/2301717/, indusing@yahoo.co .in
(Indu Kaur is a young Sikh woman whose parents were originally from Punjab and worked in an oil firm in Assam. She grew up knowing both the places pretty well. After completeing post graduation at PAU, Ludhiana, she married an Assamese Civil Services officer. The book she mentioned, Sikh Gurus, has been already translated in Assamese. This article is being published under special arrangement between the Amritsar Times and the author.)
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Living in Assam for over 200 yrs, ignored by mainstream Sikhs
India is a vast country and there are certain groups and communities so small in size that their presence and existence goes almost unnoticed. The Assamese Sikh Community is one such group. They have lived in the northeastern state for more than two centuries, yet their existence has been ignored by every successive Government.
Although it is very difficult to locate the exact year in which the State of Assam came into contact with Sikhism, it has been held by B.P.L.Bedi in his work “Guru Baba Nanak” that Guru Nanak came to Assam in the first decade of the 16th century A.D. and visited the Kamakhya temple.
It is popularly believed that the first Sikh Sardar who came to Borkola to reside was Sardar Ram Singh. The Population of Assamese Sikhs in the State is at present about 5000.With his religion, being a proselytizing one, it was but natural that he had footed through the dense forest tracts of Assam and met various tribes in the course of his journey. The ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was the next to come to Assam sometime in 1670. Guru Tegh Bahadur reached Rangamati and then came to Dhubri where the first gurudwara was established as a memorial of the Guru’s maiden visit to the land.
The Sikhs however began to settle permanently only after the battle of Hadirachaki. The Ahom ruler, Chandra Kanta Singha, built up defenses at Hadirachaki with armies under the command of the Sikh general Chaaitanya Singh, the Ahom general Charu, the Muslim general Mirdaulla and the Assamese general Krishnaram. It is said that the Punjab ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh dispatched Chaitanya Singh to Assam in command of 500 soldiers to render military help to Chandra Kanta Singha. General Chaitanya, along with his army, fought gallantly against the Burmese in a pitched engagement at Hadirachaki, and laid down his life for the cause of Assam. Chaitanya, on the eve of the battle said to the Ahom King, “Moharaj, I shall lay down my life along with my army for upholding your cause.” This poignant saga has been clearly mentioned in the monumental novel ‘Monomati’ written by Rajani Kanta Bordoloi, a leading novelist of repute.
True to his words Chaitanya kept his promise. Assam remembers him with gratitude and honor even to this day. Following the loss of her dear husband in the thick of battle, Chaitanya’s widowed consort, accompanied by the remainder of the Sikh forces, proceeded upstream by the Brahmaputra and via Kajalimukh, passed through the Kapili river and the Titiamari Khuti, and encamped at Chaparmukh in the Nawgaon district. They carried with them a few copies of religious scriptures, two cannons and a number of swords (Kirpans). These articles have since been carefully preserved in the Gurudwara Mataji, Chaparmukh Singh Gaon, Nowgaon (Assam). Gurudwara Mataji is the second historical Gurudwara in Assam.
The Sikhs first settled at Chaparmukh and later on they moved to Barkola, Hatipara, Lanka (all in Nowgaon district of Assam). The largest numbers of Assamese Sikh families (about 150 families) now live at Borkola. It is popularly believed that the first Sikh Sardar who came to Borkola to reside was Sardar Ram Singh. The Population of Assamese Sikhs in the State is at present about 5000.
It would not be out of place to mention here that under the auspices of the Assamese Sikh Association, and able leadership of Dhyan Singh, President of the Association, the work of renovation of Gurudwara Mataji has been taken up with kind donations from gurpremi sadh sangat. The occasion of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s visit to Assam is celebrated every year at this historical Shrine.
The companions whom Chaitanya had left behind subsequently married Assamese women and fused with Assamese life and culture. The process of assimilation was so decisive; they embraced their land of occupation as their homeland. They played a significant role in their efforts to defend and serve the cause of the State at various levels from time to time.
Although the Assamese Sikhs have their own gurudwaras, they have been maintaining fraternal cohesion and amity with the people of other religious persuasions in their neighborhoods. Their participation in all Assamese festivals and institutions like Bihu (the most important and popular festivals in Assam, signaling the harvest and marking the advent of spring and autumn), the birth and death anniversaries of Shankar Dev and Madhav Dev, Rang Utsav, weddings and other festivals speak eloquently of their integrated life with the mainstream of the Assamese people.
Their turbans may not go well with their Mongoloid features and sparse beards, and may even fetch belittling remarks from other Sikhs, yet they remain a proud race. “Our forefathers came to Assam centuries ago to rescue the Assamese people from foreign invasion and that makes us feel proud. As far as our religion is concerned, we have been following it with utmost devotion,” says one of the Assamese Sikhs. Ask any of the families in Borkola and you are likely to hear this line over and over again: “when Giani Zail Singh visited Borkola in 1975, he was surprised at the way we are following the Guru Granth Sahib.”
And these Sikhs don’t feel nostalgic about being away from Punjab, its culture and its people. “We are Assamese who are following the Sikh religion. We have adopted this place as our own, as we have been living here for generations.” Even the lady of the house looks like just any other Assamese married women — adorned with sindoor and clad in mekhla – chaddar, the traditional Assamese dress — till your eyes rest on the tiny Kirpan tucked under the chaddar.
“We have never felt that we are not a part of the Assamese society and at the same time we have been faithful to our religion,” says S. K. Singh, president of the Assam Sikh Association. “But it hurts us when we are called “duplicate Sikhs” or “second class Sikhs” by our counterparts in Punjab,” he adds.
In fact, in some respects, we are more staunch than the Punjabi Sikhs,” says Jaswant Kaur. “We may not speak the language but we follow our religious book very seriously. Most of us are Amritdharis, as it is our custom to partake of Amrit before we get married,” she adds.
Sri Himadri Banerjee who holds the Guru Nanak Chair in Indian History at Jadavpur University’s Department of History has been closely monitoring this minority Community fears that if proper care and support is not given by the Government this historical Community may even go extinct.
When I first reached one of these Assamese Sikh villages, I was surprised to discover that these men had maintained their Sikh identity over the centuries despite the tremendous distance from the Punjab and the prevalent non-Sikh culture around them. I found many who are confident of their Sikh identity. It is, therefore, unfortunate that Assamese Sikhs who have maintained their identity should still be referred to as kacha [incomplete] Sikhs by a section of Punjabi Sikhs of the region.
Considering all circumstances, problems, constraints and challenges the Assamese Sikh Community has been facing for ages, they are in the danger of becoming extinct. I have taken this task on myself to bring the facts into the limelight so that Government, people and organizations come forward to help and rescue this microscopic minority community.
For donation, seva or other information, please contact: Indu Kaur, C/O S. Shamsher Singh ADC Bordoloi Nagar, Near Arunachal Circuit House, Tinsukia-786125 Assam, Ph: 91-374-2303048/2301717/, indusing@yahoo.co .in
(Indu Kaur is a young Sikh woman whose parents were originally from Punjab and worked in an oil firm in Assam. She grew up knowing both the places pretty well. After completeing post graduation at PAU, Ludhiana, she married an Assamese Civil Services officer. The book she mentioned, Sikh Gurus, has been already translated in Assamese. This article is being published under special arrangement between the Amritsar Times and the author.)
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