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Khalsa
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Khalsa (Punjabi: , literally "Pure") is a Persian term which refers to the collective body of all baptized Sikhs. The Khalsa was originally established as a military order of "saint-soldiers" on March 30, 1699, by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. It was the name given by the Guru to all his disciples baptized in the Amrit Sanchar ceremony.
The symbolic meaning of Khalsa literally translates as "pure" from the Farsi word Khalis meaning pure.
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Khalsa (Punjabi: , literally "Pure") is a Persian term which refers to the collective body of all baptized Sikhs. The Khalsa was originally established as a military order of "saint-soldiers" on March 30, 1699, by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. It was the name given by the Guru to all his disciples baptized in the Amrit Sanchar ceremony.
The symbolic meaning of Khalsa literally translates as "pure" from the Farsi word Khalis meaning pure. Guru Gobind Singh describes in his book, the Sarbloh Granth the qualities of Khalsa:
The Khalsa is the reflection of my form,
The Khalsa is my body and soul,
The Khalsa is my very life....
....Our enemies are vanquished by the steadfastness of Khalsa,
Unlike countless others, we are adorned by the Khalsa.
Khalsa Sikhs can be identified with the given Five Ks and given names Singh and Kaur. This happens after being baptised to Sikhism. The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanchar in 1699 initiated that every Sikh must follow The Five Ks they are not merely symbols but commitment of faith which collectively form the external visible symbols to identify and clearly and outwardly advertise and display one's commitment.
A Sikh who has been initiated in Khalsa is known as a Khalsa Sikh or Amritdhari, as opposed to Sahajdhari the non-baptized Sikhs who believe in all the tenets of Sikhism and the teaching of the Sikh Gurus. Sahajdhari Sikhs do not don all the Five Ks.
Thus, the Khalsa (Arabic ?????) ("pure/devoted") word khalisa[h] is the recognition of every Sikh that follows the disciple and text from the Granth Sahib.
History
The word Khalsa is derived from Arabic word khalisa[h] ????? ("pure/devoted"). In Sikh tradition, the term first appears in a hukmanama (order) by Guru Har Gobind, the sixth Guru, which refers to a sangat as "Guru ka khalsa" ("Guru's Khalsa"). It also appears in a letter by Guru Tegh Bahadur (the ninth Guru), in the same sense.
Foundation
Although the early Mughal emperors had peaceful relations with the Sikh Gurus, the Sikhs started facing religious persecution during the reign of Jahangir. Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru, was arrested and executed by Jahangir in 1606.
In 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs was executed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. In 1699, his son and the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh decided to establish a military order to stage resistance against the Mughals. He sent hukmanamas (letters of authority) to his followers throughout the region, requesting them to congregate at Anandpur on 13 April 1699, the day of Baisakhi (the annual harvest festival).
Guru Gobind Singh addressed the congregation from the entryway of a tent pitched on a hill (now called Kesgarh Sahib). He drew his sword and asked for a volunteer who was willing to sacrifice his head. No one answered his first call, nor the second call, but on the third invitation, a person called Daya Ram (later known as Bhai Daya Singh) came forward and offered his head to the Guru. Guru Gobind Singh took the volunteer inside the tent, and emerged shortly, with blood dripping from his sword. He then demanded another head. One more volunteer came forward, and entered the tent with him. Guru again emerged with blood on his sword. This happened three more times. Then the five volunteers came out of the tent unharmed. These five, who were willing to sacrifice their lives for their Guru, were called Panj Piare ("the five beloved ones"). These five volunteers were the first Khalsa Sikhs: Daya Ram (Bhai Daya Singh), Dharam Das (Bhai Dharam Singh), Himmat Rai (Bhai Himmat Singh), Mohkam Chand (Bhai Mohkam Singh), and Sahib Chand (Bhai Sahib Singh).
Guru Gobind Singh Ji beheaded the five disciples, and then brought them back to life using divine powers. Guru Gobind Singh then took an iron bowl, and poured some water in it. Sahib Devan (later Mata Sahib Kaur) added some sugar crystals to the water in the bowl, and Guru stirred this mixture with a double-edged sword whilst reciting the Five Banis.
These actions allude to the nature expected of the inductees to the Khalsa: that they must have the will and the strength to fight oppression (symbolized by the sword), but must always remember that their actions are born from protection and not hatred (symbolized by the sweetness of the sugar).
Each of the Panj Piares were given five handfuls of the Amrit to drink, and had amrit sprinkled in their eyes five times. Each time, they repeated the phrase, "Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki Fateh" ("The Khalsa belongs to God, the victory belongs to God"). Then they received five sprinkles in their hair and sipped from the bowl of amrit.
Guru Gobind Singh gave them all the surname "Singh" (meaning "lion") over their original surnames (which indicated the caste that they originally belonged to) to symbolize the caste-less nature of the order, and indeed of the religion itself. Similarly, every subsequent male who takes the ceremony are also given the surname "Singh", and every female is given the name "Kaur" (meaning "princess," but originally it meant "prince" this was given by Guru Nanak Dev Ji so as to remove distinction between sexes, and bring about equality); the collective body of whom is called the Khalsa.
The Panj Piare were thus the first baptised Sikhs, and became the first members of the Khalsa brotherhood, who symbolically regard Guru Gobind Singh as their "father", and Mata Sahib Kaur as their "mother". Khalsa claims Anandpur, where they were created by Guru Gobind Singh, as their home, and celebrate Vaisakhi as their birthday.
Initial tensions with the non-Khalsa disciples
With the creation of Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh had abolished all existing social divisions as per teaching of Guru Nanak. In their new order the lowest of the low would stand with the highest, all would become one and drink from one vessel. All previous beliefs relating to family, occupation, customs and ceremonies were declared useless by the Guru and salvation could be achieved only by the ways of the Khalsa. This caused uncomfort to those who considered themselves to be superior races and they protested. Many departed from the ceremeony, but the Guru declared that the low castes should be raised and would dwell next to himself.
The newswriter of the Mughal government, Ghulam Mohyiuddin, reporting to the Emperor wrote:
Sri Gur Sobha (18th century) by Sainapati (Saina Singh) contains two sections (adhyays) on the controversies that arose, when Guru Gobind Singh's disciples in Delhi heard the news of his new order. Much of the controversy stated in Sri Gur Sobha revolves around bhaddar, the ritual shaving of head after death of a close relative, which was discouraged by Guru Gobind Singh. According to Sainapti, while creating the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh said that bhaddar is bharam (illusion), and not dharam.
Tensions developed between the Punjabi Khatri disciples of the Guru in Delhi, and members of the newly-formed Khalsa. A prominent Khatri disciple was expelled from the place of worship (dharmasala) for refusing to join the Khalsa. Another disciple was expelled for eating with him, starting a chain of further expulsions. The expelled disciples convened a community gathering, at which two wealthy Khatris demanded that the Khalsa produce a written order from the Guru that a new mandatory code of conduct had been promulgated. A Khatri family that refused to follow the bhaddar ritual was boycotted by the Khatri community. The Khatri council (panch) closed the bazaar (market) to pressurize the Khalsa. The Khalsa petitioned the state officials to intervene, who forced reopening of the shops. Later, peace was established between the two groups in a sangat (congregation). However, hostility between some Khatris and the Khalsa persisted in the later years.
Another rift between the Khalsa and some other Nanak Panthi groups seems to be the Khalsa's firm adherence to the doctrine that Guru Gobind Singh had ended the line of human Gurus, declaring the Adi Granth as the next Guru. Some eighteenth century Sikhs extended the line of Gurus to include Banda Bahadur, Mata Sundari, Mata Sahib Kaur, Mata Sundari's adopted son (Ajit Singh) and grandson (Hathi Singh).
Khalsa as a military force
One of the duties of a Khalsa was to practice arms and be ready to defend the weak. This was deemed necessary due to the rising religious persecution from zealous Islamic Mughal rulers. In this context the Khalsa rose as a group as saint-warriors to withstand the Mughals.
After the death of Guru Gobind Singh, his disciple Banda Singh Bahadur led the Khalsa warriors in an uprising against the Mughals. Banda Singh Bahadur first established a Sikh kingdom when he defeated the Mughals at Sirhind. He and his comrades were eventually defeated and executed, but he became an icon among the Khalsa Sikhs. By the late 1730s, the Khalsa regrouped as a military force under Nawab Kapur Singh, who gathered local chieftains and created Dal Khalsa, a coalition army. The Dal Khalsa fought with the Mughals and the Afghans, eventually resulting in the establishment of a Sikh kingdom in the Punjab region.
After the fall of the Mughal empire and the later establishment of a Sikh nation in the Punjab region, the Khalsa became an instrumental force in the new risen political frames with the inception of a Sikh monarchy: the Khalsa was created a democratic body, and could oppose the Maharaja of Punjab. By the time of death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1839, the regular army of Punjab was assessed by Sir Lepel Griffin at 29000 men, with 192 artillery guns. The irregular levies were estimated at a similar number.
Modern status
The Khalsa order attracted the vast Jat peasantry of middle and eastern Punjab, and over the years, the Khalsa Sikhs became the orthodox majority in the Sikh community. The rise of Khalsa dominance in the Sikh community is sometimes associated with rise of Jat influence in the Sikh community, and the decline of the Khatri influence (all ten Sikh Gurus were Khatris). However, W. H. McLeod states that while the Khalsa may incorporate powerful Jat influences, it would be a "naive interpretation" to regard the Khalsa as an "institutionalized conquest of the (Sikh) Panth by its Jat constituency". Under the Khalsa dominance, the Sikh religion came to be identified with the Khalsa and the Jats, although not all of the Khalsa Sikhs are Jats, and not all Sikhs subscribed to the Khalsa code of conduct.
Today, the Khalsa brotherhood is respected by the entire Sikh community; however, not all Sikhs are Amritdharis. The issue of Khalsa code of conduct has led to several controversies. In the early 1950s, a serious split occurred in the Canadian Sikh community, when the Khalsa Diwan Society in Vancouver elected a clean-shaven Sikh to serve on its management committee. Although most of the early Sikh immigrants to Canada were non-Khalsa, and a majority of the members of the society were clean-shaven non-Khalsa Sikhs, a faction objected to the election of a non-Khalsa to the management committee. The factions in Vancouver and Victorial broke away from the Khalsa Diwan Society, and established their own gurdwara society called Akali Singh.
In the United Kingdom also, there have been tensions between the Khalsa Sikhs and the non-Khalsa Sikhs. Many Sikhs in Britain have insisted on their right of not confirming to the Khalsa norms, while maintaining that they are truly Sikh. On the other hand, some of the Khalsa Sikhs think of the non-Khalsa Sikhs as having abandoned the Sikh faith altogether.
Khalsa code of conduct
A Khalsa needs to follow rules and codes of conduct set by Guru Gobind Singh. The Reht Maryada (code of conduct) is based upon guidelines laid down by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.
Five Ks
The Five Ks (see Five Ks), or panj kakaar/kakke, are five items of faith that all Khalsa are required to wear at all times, at the command of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh who so ordered at the Baisakhi Amrit Sanskar in 1699. They are:-
They are for identification and representation of the ideals of Sikhism, such as honesty, equality, fidelity, meditating on God, and never bowing to tyranny, and for helping/protecting the weak, and self defence.
Distinction between Khalsa and Sahajdhari
All Khalsa Sikhs are Sahajdharis (non-baptized Sikhs) at some point in their life. In Sikhism, the children are not baptized at birth because the ceremony requires the individual to become a Khalsa Sikh by free will. The person aspiring to be a Khalsa must be able to speak, read and recite from the Sikh scriptures. All Khalsa Sikhs must follow a very strict code of conduct for the rest of their lives. As Khalsa all Guru Gobind Singh's codes of conducts and daily religious practices must be followed for life with no infraction (exceptions being allowed only if the person is so ill or unwell that daily prayers cannot be performed). Since the initiation into the Khalsa is a serious step, only a person mature enough to understand and accept the Khalsa way of life should undertake it. However, there are several cases of younger people being initiated into Khalsa.
See also
Footnotes
External links
- - Sikhism101.com
- at SikhiPedia
- at Sikhs.org
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