Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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freedom and capturing political power for plebian objectives.
The Sikh ideology not only inspired the movement; it was the
mainstay of its revolutionary phase. It is this ideology which attracted
and held together, for a higher purpose, elements drawn from mutually
hostile castes. It is the inspiration of the Sikh ideology which
distinguishes those guerillas, who carried on a relentless warfare to
the point of being virtually exterminated a number of times, from
those Jat and other elements, who joined the movement when it seemed
to succeed and left the moment it had hard times. Bhangu makes a
clear distinction between such Jats and the Khalsa. Latif writes: .... it
is acknowledge on all hands that the conversion of bands of
undisciplined Jats (given to rapine and plunder or to agricultural
pursuits) into a body of conquerors and a political corporation, was
due entirely to the genius of Govind, whose history is closely
interwoven with that of the Sikhs as a nation. It was because of its
deep commitment to plebian political objectives that the movement
pursued the armed struggle to its bitter end until its aims were achieved.
This was why the movement, though hard pressed, rejected a number
of offers of compromised peace by Abadai; who could not comprehend
that in this case he was not pitted against feudal lords who could
either be crushed militarily or be brought to terms. Here, he was face
to face with an ideologically surcharged mass movement committed
to achieve its own plebian objectives; in which there was no room for
compromise with feudalism or autocracy and whose ranks were being
replenished from its inexhaustible mass base. And, as and when the
ideological hold weakened, the movement started disintegrating. Even
during the post-revolutionary period itself, it was the Akalis, who
represented the Sikh ideals, who provided some sort of a cementing
force among the warring Missal chiefs. The military successes of Ranjit
Singh elated the Sikh for a time and generated some sense of
nationality among them. But, when they suffered defeat at the hands
of the British, the Khalsa, who had waged relentless guerilla warfare
against the Mughals, found it difficult even to retain the consciousness
of their identity. It was because the Sikhs had cut themselves adrift
from their true ideological moorings, and what substituted these, the