Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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come armed. That is probably, also the reason why Guru Gobind Singh
in his letters (Hukamnamas) lays special stress that his Sikhs should
come armed to Anandpur. The ‘Rehitnamas’ also insist that the Khalsa
should remain always armed.
(c)
Aims and Objectives
There is another aspect which needs elucidation. What was the
motive force, and the urge, which led to the militarization of the Sikhs?
The Sikh ideology clearly involved the finding of solutions for
the multifarious socio-political problems posed by the times. It is,
therefore, important to understand that in the matter of identifying
motivation, the ideology of a movement would normally furnish the
closest clue for investigation and verification by historical facts. In
any case, there is no ground for ignoring this approach and instead
putting a premium on random speculation. A good deal of
misunderstanding about the Sikh history could be avoided if the
prejudice against the religious duty of fighting just political battles
and the use of force for a just cause are shed. The Gurus did not
‘dabble in politics’ casually or accidently as some historians have put
it; they regarded it as their duty to fight not only social injustice but
also political oppression. Guru Arjan could have chosen to remain
indifferent to political affairs. Similarly, Guru Hargobind could have
avoided the setting up of a parallel political authority. Further, why
did Guru Har Rai, if he was not working for a set objective, offer military
help to Dara Shikoh, knowing full well the consequences that followed a
similar step taken by Guru Arjan? Again, Guru Tegh Bahadur deliberately
did not follow Aurangzeb’s advice to disarm his followers. Instead, he
embraced martyrdom to save the oppressed Kashmiri Pandits, because
the resolve to resist religious persecution and combat political oppression
was a part of the Guru’s programme. Guru Gobind Singh leaves no doubt
about his mission of life: “I took birth in order to spread faith, save the
saints, and exterpate all tyrants.” 25 That his Sikhs also understood it to
be so, is shown by the contemporary Sainapat, who wrote that the
purpose of creating the Khalsa was ‘to destroy the evil-doer and