Sikhs all over the world have celebrated the tercentenary celebration of the birth of the Khalsa in a befitting manner. Around two weeks before the gala celebration (i.e. Baisakhi of 1999), the Sikh Panth experienced a major ideological clash splitting the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). The crisis did not seriously affect the festive mood of the Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur, but it did muddy the calm waters of the parikrama around the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. A few political analysts had predicted a shift in the balance of power between the SGPC and the SAD. Its impact, however, has far exceeded their expectations.

This significant change in Punjab’s political scenario has resulted in much confusion among a section of serious Sikh academicians and intellectuals. Many of them are still experiencing a siege mentality and trying to maintain a dignified distance from the different SAD contending groups for power. In this unfortunate academic climate, Patwant Singh’s masterly single-volume study of the history of the Sikhs has been published. The author is no newcomer in the field of Sikh studies. His contributions in the Toronto volume (1987) are generally acclaimed as a masterpiece in serious academic circles both in this country and abroad. A noted journalist and scholar of the Sikh community, his monumental contributions of the Golden Temple volume had evoked effusive praise from no less a person that Mulk Raj Anand. Patwant Singh’s new work is a model of lucidity and scholarship. The author has presented the 300-year history of the Sikh Panth in a very readable style - the volume is primarily meant for an international non-specialist readership. He has made no pretence of presenting any radical dogma denouncing traditional Sikh scholarship in the name of pseudo-secularism. But the author has not merely repeated what the Janamsakhis had earlier recorded about the first Sikh Guru nor has he followed the "hyper-critical" perspective of Hew McLeod. On the contrary, he has sought to evolve a reconstructed methodology underlining the distinctiveness of Sikhism.

In his eyes Guru Nanak was a "Man of courage, compassion and intellect" though he has no specifically suggested that the first Sikh Guru had consciously laid the foundation of a separate faith. He has however praised the last Sikh Master for giving the community a "visible and separate" mark of identity by creating the Khalsa. But he has not considered the consequences of the forging of this new identity, which has been and continues to be the subject of intense debate. The author however deserves gratitude for providing us with an intimate profile of a few gurvanis in English which we often miss in Sikh studies since the publication of the Unesco volume in 1960. Being a Sikh faithful, he does not offer an orthodox profile of the Sikh Panth, but the liberal tolerant face of it and declares: na koee bairee na beganna, sagal sang hamare ban aaee (For us there are no enemies and no strangers; all are our friends).

The author is at his best while reconstructing his bitter experiences of the independence days. It is extremely difficult even for a moderate Sikh to narrate those developments without any rancour and malice. The long chain of sordid political developments since Operation Blue Star, the November riots and the decade-long Punjab massacre till the mid-nineties has been documented with the knowledge of an insider. It is not that he is generally communicating the point of view of Pali, the hero of Gulzar’s masterpiece movie, Maachis, even so there is a poignant recounting of Sikh sufferings based on the oral testimony of those who had been the victims of the state oppression. Patwant Singh is not a supporter of the Khalistan movement. In the past he had denounced it on many occasions. At the same time he does not deny that Sikh distinctiveness has not been considered within the existing framework of the Indian Constitution.

There are a few minor blemishes in this excellent study. The author could have been more cautious about the maps presented at the beginning of the book. They furnish wrong information, which one could hardly expect from him. For example, in map 3 the North-West Frontier Province is shown as having been carved out of Punjab in 1849. The correct date is 1901. Again the distances between Patiala and Samana as well as Patiala and Sirhind have been differently depicted in the first two maps of the study.

There is a also a lack of uniformity in the spelling of a few words. Thus, on p. 90, sarovar and sarowar occur almost side by side. The in his depiction of the Khalsa’s success in the 18th century, he has referred to Irvine’s monograph on the Sikhs (p. 91). The British administration-historian has actually written no such volume. Then there is his venom against Brahmanism - which, perhaps, is unexceptionable. But long before him, Nihar Ranjan Ray had elaborated on the same issue in a more sophisticated way in his Sikh Gurus and the Sikh Society (1969). Perhaps a critical look at it would have sharpened his arguments in the "Prologue".

This is essentially a reference book of quotations from Sri Guru Granth Sahib on many key question and philosophical subjects such as concept of God, Karma,Transmigration, Sin, Salvation, value of Prayers and Guruship, understandably, with a view to clearly comprehend the tricky meaning hidden behind these terms in the light of the Sikh Faith.The author has used the English translation from the eight volumes of Late S. Manmohan Singh’s work. The book is a beautifully bound volume (25cms. x 19cms. x 2cms.).It has an attractive front—cover design representing the cycle of births and rebirths. Another diagram provided inside the book seems to depict the main message of the book in the context of Sri Guru Granth Sahib, that is,

God helps man meet the Guru,

And

Guru helps man meet God.

Thus, the ten chapters contains serve as the link between Man, Guru and God. Every chapter starts with an introduction on the specific subject followed by a variety of quotations. The author builds up this introduction in a lucid style giving the description of all the relevant aspects of that particular theme which completely covers the messages from the quotations. The major contribution of the author is in his introduction to every chapter where he has endeavoured to delve into the meaning of that philosophical terms, which Gurbani tries to convey through various hymns. Last two chapters deal with the interaction of the Gurus with Hinduism and Islam. Here the author cites many quotations that stress the rejection of ritualism in both the religions.

In order to clearly understand the viewpoint of the author it will be of interest to refer to the introductory part. Dealing with the concept of Sin, the author writes (Chapter 5)

"It is rather difficult to find a clear-cut definition of sin in Guru Granth, though the Gurus prayed for the forgiveness of their sins and admitted that sin separates man from God. Haumai is the most commonly used word which can be translated as sin. Haumai is associated with ego or self-centeredness, the natural condition that is inherent in manmukh - the self-willed person who disobeys God, as contrasted with Gurmukh, one who hears and obeys the Guru’s word. It is Haumai which, through its wilful attachment to Maya(or Mohini) produces five evil passions called the demons, kam (lust), krodh (wrath), lobh (greed), moh (attachment to worldly things), and hankar (pride). These passions in turn result in violence, falsehood and doubt, producing evil deeds (karma) that bind manmukh (the self-willed person) to the unending cycle of transmigration of the soul, with its suffering and pain through repeated births and deaths."

This introduction on the concept of sin is followed by 39 quotations from Gurbani.

The author has devoted many pages on chapter 6. ‘Salvation’.Here he says - "Salvation according to the Granth is primarily salvation from the endless cycle of transmigration based on Karma. Salvation also means becoming one with God, the creator, called Param-jot (the supreme light). This merger of one’s jot (light) with the Param-jot (the supreme light) is made possible by the removal of ignorance, ego and I-am-ness through the utterance of Naam (the name of God), with the help of the society of saints and the instruction of a divine Guru.

The divine Guru by his grace enshrines the Naam(name) in the mind of a devotee, which is the manifestation of God. By so doing the Lord himself comes to stay in his mind. The place of the Lord’s abode in the body is called the Dasam-Dwar (the tenth gate). It is here that one begins to hear the celestial music of bliss or Shabad-Kirtan. The final realm of salvation is called Sach-Khand(the realm of truth), where the formless five realms as given by Guru Nanak are as follows: Dharam-Khand(the realm of moral law), Gian-Khand(the realm of knowledge), Saram-Khand(the realm of effort), Karam-Khand(the realm of grace) and Sach-Khand(the realm of truth).

Salvation is achieved through self-realisation by the process of meditation on Naam(name), which is a subjective or mystical experience, assisted by the Guru. This process destroys Haumai(egotism) and purges the mind of all its filth and I-am-ness, after which the Lord comes to stay in the mind.

The grace of the personal Guru, as well as the invisible God-Guru, is the prerequisite for achieving salvation, on the basis of service rendered to the Guru (Guru-Sewa). The grace of God is bestowed upon the most fortunate ones in accordance with God’s Hukam(order), Bhana(will) or Raza(will), which is not open to question.

In the chapter on Salvation the subject has been elaborately dealt with under different sub-headings, such as Salvation through suniyai, Salvation through mannai, Salvation through meditation, etc, supported with quotations.

Chapter four, which deals with Karma and Transmigration, is no less relevant to the topic of Salvation. Here the author provide ample texts to support his arguments.

The book will doubtless benefit those who are earnestly engaged in the study of Gurbani as also those enthusiastic aspirants of Spirituality in their spiritual exploration.

A thoughtful Foreword by Dr. W. Owen Cole commends the meticulous effort of the author and stresses that it would be difficult for anyone to improve on Hakim Singh’s work. We confirm Dr. Cole’s critical appreciation because we have enjoyed the flavour of the spiritual domain. Dr. Cole, however, points to a significant omission (vide the third paragraph of his ‘Foreword’) when he points out that the author has not included any of the hymns of Kabir, or the Muslim Sufi Mystics in his analysis. The publisher also (on the jacket) points to this omission. He says, the selection (of quotations) is limited to the Gurus, so the contribution to the Granth of saints like Kabir, Farid and Nam Dev are sadly not included. Perhaps in future a detailed study could be conducted incorporating their verses too.

Why do men fight? More specifically, why did the sepoys and sowars fight for the British? The British officers of colonial India as well as their historians for instance. Stephen Cohen’s The Indian Army - harp on the leadership qualities of the sahibs. But what about the view of the Indian soldiers?

Unfortunately, not a single memoir of an Indian soldier exists prior to 1913, except the autobiography of subedar Sitaram. But Sitaram’s laudatory account of the British has thrown open questions of authenticity. In fact, recent researches have proved that the work has authored by a British colonel. This paucity of documents on the Indian side can be attributed to the British policy of recruiting illiterate peasants and to the general Indian apathy towards documentation.

The only form of document available is the huge corpus of letters written by Indian armed personnel deployed in France between September 1914 and November 1918. The voluminous correspondence was produced by the wounded soldiers in British military hospitals. To meet the demands of war security, these letters were screened by the censor department at Boulogne where the British staff also translated them from the vernaculars into English. In Indian voices of the Great War, David Omissi has selected 657 such letters.

Before the publication of this collection historians DeWitt C. Ellinwood and Susan Vankosi had looked at the some of the letters from the original collection in the India Office library. However, both their works focus on the letters written by the Sikh soldiers. Omissi deserves thanks for including members of other communities like the Rajputs and the Jats.

However, like Ellinwood and Vankosi, Omissi discusses the lens through which the Indian soldiers viewed the West. He makes the point that these letters evince the contradiction between the traditional peasant c8ulture of India and the modernization of France. But pervading all the sepoys’ letters is the preoccupation with the meaning of war. Overwhelmed by the blood and gore around them and trying to survive in the trenches of Flanders, the sepoys had little time to spare for the agrarian situation back home or for the modernization of the Western world. Only those convalescing far away from the frontlines had the time and the frame of mind to admire French society.

If the soldiers’ principal concern was the question posed at the beginning, then why does Omissi keep dodging it? Probably he was propelled by the desire to interrogate this work within the broader context of Indian historiography which tends to look down upon matters military.

But all the elements of combat motivation of the Indian soldiers could not be explained through Keegan’s generalized model based on European communities. Certain Indian communities fought for the izzat of their families and castes and were not subdued by prolonged attritional warfare in the western front. In these letters the soldiers do not provide merely optimistic accounts, but also give vent to their innermost thoughts, including their desire to return to India.

These letters reveal the attitudes of various Indian communities to warfare. For the Sikhs, the inspiration was provided by religion, while or the Rajputs, it was tradition. This decisively disproves the opinion held by scholars from Nirad C. Chaudhuri to Omissi himself that the martial race ideology was an imperial invention. At the same time, theories of a linear growth of national consciousness post 1900, woven by nationalist-Marxist scholars like Bipan Chandra, fail to find firm ground since none of the letters are concerned with the question of nationality. The soldiers was more concerned with "tribes" and "clans". Omissi’s achievement lies in bringing the letters within the ambit of wider scholarship. This might or might not help in writing an Indian military "history from below", but Clio can no longer neglect Mars in the Indian context.