Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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hazardous for their own existence. The Khalsa fought the bitterest
guerilla warfare in Indian history, even though they had no central
organisation, nor a single leader. Small bands of the Khalsa, and even
individuals single-handedly, carried out the prolonged struggle at their
own initiative, because they were fired by a mission and had been
taught to regard each one of them as equal to a lakh and a quarter of
the enemy.
There is not much to choose between different peoples. It is the
ideals and the value patterns that they own and strive for, which makes
all the difference.
3. The Maratha Nationalism
The only militant movement against the Muslim rulers, which
arose out of the fold of the caste society and in which its different
component caste elements were inspired, for a time atleast, by a
commonly shared sentiment of nationality, was the Maratha movement
under Shivaji. Ranade has listed the factors which helped towards the
development of Maharashtrian identity. But, before the advent of
Shivaji on the scene, the feeling of Maratha distinctiveness was in a
nebulous state without a direction of its own. Maratha contingents
under their own commanders were employed in serving the interests
of the Southern Pathan principalities instead of striking a course in
the interests of the Marathas. Sentiment for Hindu nationalism or
religion among them also appears to have been not very strong.
Otherwise, it is difficult to understand why did Shivaji’s father associate
himself with the Karnataka expedition, ‘in which the Hindu religion
was ruthlessly put down, lands devastated, shrines desecrated, idols
broken, women’s honour violated and all the accumulated wealth of
centuries drained away.’ 28 During this dark period of Hindu history,
Maharashtra provided the sinews of war to the Muslim conquerors for
the enslavement of the rest of India instead of fighting valiantly ‘for
the ashes of her fathers and the temples of her gods’. 29 It is to the
credit of Shivaji that he inspired the Maharashtrians with the aspirations
of their own destiny, welded different Maharashtrian caste elements
into a formidable force and created a great kingdom. It was an
exceptional development within the caste society, because the cast is
the anti-thesis of nationalism. No doubt, there were special