Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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the movement. The Rajputs and other militants segments of the
population, including Jats of other regions, were no less martial than
the Jats of the central Punjab. Then, why the Sikh movement alone in
India took the revolutionary direction and the ideological line it did ?
The Jats are well known for their internecine and inter-clannish
quarells, 10 and have rarely shown, on their own, any proclivity for
idealistic or deeply religious pursuits. 11 What had inspired them to
combine to fight and suffer relentless persecution for a noble cause?
What made the Khatris accept the leadership of the Jat Masands, and
the Jats the leaderships of carpenters and Kalals? Prior to joining the
Sikh movement, the Jats of the central Punjab, like their brethren
elsewhere, had never fraternized with village menials and the outcaste
Chuhras. And they reverted, more or less, to the same position
when their revolutionary zeal was over. What made them fraternize
with the village menials and Rangretas in the Khalsa Dal?
2. Only one Interpretation
There is only one interpretation which explains satisfactorily all
the important features of the Sikh movement. It is the Sikh Guru who
initiated the movement, determined its ideology and goals, carefully
organized and nursed it for a long period of about two hundred years
(i.e. starting from the missionary tours of Guru Nana to the death of
the last Guru), prevented deviations from its ideological line, gave a
continuity to the movement, and finally set it on a course so that it
should, in their absence from the scene, follow their guidelines on its
own. All evidence leads to this conclusion. There is no other
interpretation which explains all the main features of the movement
in a better way.
It would be repetitive to go over all these points. We need refer
briefly only to a few of them.
3. Initiative
Max Weber writes: “Rebellions by lower castes undoubtedly occurred.
The question is : Why were there not more of them, and, more important,
why did the great, historically significant, religious revolutions against the
Hindu order stem from altogether different, relatively privileged strata and
retain their roots in these?” 12 A few stray instances of unorganized sporadic