A History of the Sikhs: Volume 1: 1469-1838

History has been manipulated

Excellent history of the Sikhs of Punjab, India, from origins until after the partition of India.

Khushwant Singh at his finest. Great book if you would like a quick primer on the Sikh history and evolution of Punjabi nationalism!! The writing has been intentionally kept quite simple and straightforward so that not everyone has to be a Rhodes Scholar in order to understand some of the nuances that are expressed in the text. All in all a great little book in order to acquaint yourself with a small yet immensely critical part of Indian History.

Ich hätte etwas mehr Qualität erwartet was den Umschlag/Cover sowie die Buchseiten angeht.

The first volume of Khushwant Singh’s history of the Sikhs begins in the dim and distant past, giving you a flavor of the region’s politics and insight into the early influences. Most people forget that, when the Afghans and Persians entered the sub-continent, they did so through the Punjab, which explains much of the impact of these regions on the language and culture of Punjabis. From there on, he moved to the era of the Sikh gurus. I did not know that the word ‘Sikh’ is a derivative of ‘shishya,’ which means ‘student.’ Khushwant Singh’s text gently takes the reader through the transformation of the Sikh gurus and Punjabi culture from being peaceable to almost warlike, at the end of Guru Gobind Singh’s life. I’ve read about Banda Singh before, but did not realize the impact he made on the Mughal Empire, and how his attacks struck what many believe to be a fatal blow to the Empire. Neither was I aware of the marauding attacks on the caravans of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali. Khushwant Singh clearly explained the concept of the ‘misl,’ something many other writers could not explain clearly. He then moved to a discussion on Sikh culture in the second half of the eighteenth century, and how Hindu influences sneaked into the culture, introducing discriminatory practices like casteism, which had been absent from Sikh culture. The concluding part of the book ends with the rise and death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the man who unified Punjab and the misls. After Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s death, the British slowly began to make inroads into Punjab, as the fight for succession left the region unstable. The text is clear, and the writing neutral. The book is accessible to anyone, and what makes it stand out is the unemotional yet precise tone. Khushwant Singh calls a spade a spade, without going into an emotional fit!