Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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eliminate suffering. The near-contemporary Koer Singh also recorded
that the Guru was born to destroy the Mughals. Even the later Sikh
writings unanimously speak of this being an objective of the mission.
Sainapat twice makes a very significant remark that, while founding
the Khalsa, the Guru at last revealed what had till then been kept a
secret. This indicates that the creation of the Khalsa was pre-planned
objective of the mission. All these signposts that charter the course
of the Sikh movement, extending over a long period, drive one to the
conclusion that the Gurus were working with the set aim of combating
social and political injustice and remoulding the social structure.
(d)
The role of Jats
Before discussing the role of Jat, we should like to make one
point clear. Leaving aside its interactions with the external factors, the
Sikh movement in its internal development was essentially the product
of Sikh ideology. But mass movements, especially those which set
before them the objective of capturing political power, cannot afford
to admit only ideologically conscious members. Such persons are
always in a minority. So long as the Gurus were alive, there was no
question of views and interests contrary to the Sikh doctrine coming
to the surface, because the world of the Gurus was final. After them,
there was an interplay of action and reaction between the ideologically
conscious and less conscious elements within the Sikh movement.
Like all such movements, the Sikh movement may also be roughly
divided into two phases, the period of ideological ascendancy and
that of its decline. In the first phase, the Khalsa period, Sikh ideology
remained supreme in determining the character and the direction of
the movement. In second phase, the period of Missals and Ranjit Singh,
the hold of ideology on individuals and the movement, as always
happens, relaxed. With the passage of time, regression in the
ideological level is not peculiar to the Sikh movement. Revolutions
have always been haunted by reaction. What we seek to emphasize
is that it would be wrong to judge the history of the Khalsa phase
of the Sikh movement in the light of later developments. That
would be putting the cart before the horse. During the period of