Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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not bear his name. This show the contrast between the caste society
which required Shivaji to legitimatize his status as a king and the Sikh
society even in the post-revolutionary period when autocracy was trying
to strike roots against a plebian back-ground. Ranjit Singh was afraid
of the Khalsa traditions and the Akalis, and took care to keep them in
good humour. All this demeanour was, of course, partly tactical. But,
hypocrisy, as the saying goes, is the homage vice pays to virtue. Where
there is no virtue, this homage becomes superfluous. We do not find
such a parallel in the Rajput or Maratha history, because there was no
plebian tradition to be appeased. After Ranjit Singh, the levers of
power shifted into the hands of the five-men committees chosen by
the army units. It had its unfortunate aspects; but what we want to
point out is, how strong the democratic Sikh tradition was that it could
reassert itself even after it had received a set-back.