Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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Singh, the Guru cautioned him that, in order to become a Sikh, he
would have to surrender and stake everything for the mission.” 20 To
regard one’s body, soul and possessions as belonging to the Guru or
God, was the Sikh way of creating a commune. With the militarization
of the Sikh movement, this ideal was orientated towards dedication
of one’s all to the revolutionary cause. The Khalsa is God’s one
(Wahiguru ji ka Khalsa). Therefore, dedication of oneself to the
Khalsa was dedication to God. The Sikh’s dedication of body, soul
and possession, to be Khalsa has to be complete. Guru Gobind Singh
has himself made this point explicit. “All the wealth of my house with
soul and body is for them (Khalsa).” 21 ‘Khalsa is my own image; I
abide in the Khalsa is my body and life; Khalsa is the life of my life; I
belong to the Khalsa and the Khalsa belongs to me; the way the ocean
and drop are one.’ 22
Thousands of Sikhs lived upto this standard. Even at a very
late stage of the struggle, those who joined the Khalsa Dal (an
organisation of combatant volunteers) had, according to the demands
of the mission, to cut off virtually all their connections with their
families. Those who, without permission, visited their families even
for some urgent reason, had to pay the prescribed penalty. 23 When the
Khalsa Dal was reorganised into five divisions (Jathas), one of these
divisions was of Shaheeds, viz., those who had dedicated themselves
completely to the revolutionary cause and had vowed not to shirk
martyrdom when necessary. The Nihangs and Akalis were quite
sizeable in numbers. They played a notable part in Sikh history. Nihangs
or Akalis, like the Shaheeds, were those volunteers who had dedicated
their lives to the armed service of the Panth. May be, they were a
part, or an offshoot of the shaheeds. They cut off for life all the
worldly connections, spent their entire lives in the Jathas, remained
always armed to the teeth and were ever ready to lay down their lives
for the Panth. They were to the Sikhs what the Jannessears were to
the Turks, with the difference that the Nihangs or Akalis were honorary
volunteers and not organised or paid by the state. The Nihangs were
a dedicated and inspired lot, highly conscious of the Sikh mission and
its revolutionary ideals. Theirs was an armed commune and continues
to be so to this day. In other words, they institutionlized