Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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interpretation of the doctrine of Ahimsa created in the way of
revolutionary action. Above all, caste shackles had to be broken in
order to bring the masses together on one platform. The Sikh ideology
made the Brahmins and Khatris pay respect to the Jat Masand, and
the Jats to regard the village menials and outcastes as their brothers. In
the French Revolution, ‘fraternity’ could be added to ‘Liberty and
Equality’ at a later stage, and it could still carry on in its own way. The
Sikh Revolution had to reach its plebian goals through ‘fraternity’. It
has been shown that caste was characterized by a degree of mutual
repulsion and antagonism not be matched in class societies. The greater
the resistance, the greater is the effort needed to overcome it. This
mutual repulsion between castes could not be overcome by mere
slogans of ‘Liberty and Equality’. The mutually hostile caste
elements could be welded together for a plebian cause only through
a complete identification with the new cause and ideals. ‘Other
leaders, grocers, carpenters, oil men, men of all trades, besides
yeomen from the countrywide, rallied bands and fought fiercely, so
well had Govind and Pahal (baptism) amalgamated discordant
elements for a time.’ 15a
De Tocqueville states in his well-known treatise L’ Ancian Regime
that, ‘The French in 1789 made the greatest effort in which any people
has ever committed itself, to cut, so to speak their destiny in two, and
to separate by an abyss that which had hitherto been from that which
they wished henceforth to be. 16 ’ The abyss that separated the spirit of
freedom, equality and independence attained by the Sikh Revolution
(Chap. XI) from what the situation was in the previous society was far
wider than what Tocqueville talks about. Forster attests to it that ‘the
Khalsa Siques, even of the lowest order, possess a haughtiness of
deportment.’ 17 Haughtiness is not approved by the Sikh ideology, but
an exaggerted sense of self-respect is understandable among the ranks
who had for centuries never known of it, for it is not easy to maintain
an even balance when there is a sudden rise from a lower status to a
higher one. In one case, it shows the wide distance the Sikh society
had moved away from the area of caste servility. Except in the case