Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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Khalsa nationalism, was too newly-born and short-lived to sustain
them.
7. Propulsive Force
There is an innate spark in human nature which yearns for freedom
and equality, and it works wonders when it is ignited and properly
organized. The Gurus ignited this spark. In Cunningham’s words :
‘The last apostle of the Sikhs did not live to see his own ends
accomplished, but he effectually roused the dormant energies of
vanquished people and filled them with a lofty although fitful longing
for social freedom and national ascendancy, the proper adjuncts of
that purity of worship which had been preached by Nanak. Gobind
saw that was yet vital, and relumed it with Promethean fire. 18
The Sikh movement derived its strength also because its aims
corresponded to the aspirations of the masses. The ideology of the
movement had greater appeal for the common peasants and the lower
castes who were increasingly drawn into it as the revolutionary struggle
progressed. As already pointed out, the success of the Sikh movement
depended upon the strength it derived from the masses. Abadli’s
greatest lieutenant, Najib-ud-daulah, ‘openly admitted himself beaten
at the hands of an entire nation at arms and in jubilant spirits and
nascent energy, “increasing like ants and locusts.” 19 This is how the
vanguard of Sikh guerilla revolutionaries succeeded in involving the
masses in their struggle. It was not a war carried on by mercenaries or
feudal levies. It became a people’s war. This fact alone should be enough
to highlight the plebian character of the movement.
It is, however, not to be lost sigh of that it is the religious faith
of the Khalsa in the Gurus that sustained the movement throughout
its struggle, especially during its critical periods. Tocqueville wrote :
‘It is not always be going from bad to worse that a society falls into a
revolution. It happens most often that a people, which has supported
without complain, as if they were not felt, the most oppressive laws,
violently throws them off as soon s their weight is lightened... Feudalism
at the height of it power had not inspired Frenchmen with so much
hatred as it did on the eve of its disappearing. 20 Elaborating this point
Rude writes: ‘Tocqueville’s comments are illuminating because they