Articles

It might be the undisputed food capital of North India today, but once upon a time, Amritsar was a major textile trading centre too, as Jasvinder Kaur writes: Around 200 years ago, as Maharaja Ranjit Singh, aided by his legendary French generals, was consolidating his kingdom, the latter were introducing rich northern Indian textiles to Europe. At the heart of this trade was Amritsar, the undisputed food capital of North…

In his prolific writings, Dr IJ Singh has drawn attention to a very vital issue of Sikhism and re-structuring. The training, employment and wages of Granthis have been neglected for far too long. Any type of training, more so of Granthis or Katha Vachaks, requires a professional approach, to ensure consistency of quality. This quality is achieved by building a body of knowledge, careful training of people in that knowledge…

Established by Guru Ramdas, Amritsar owes its name to the sacred tank (amrit sar or the pool of nectar) at the centre of which was laid the foundation of the holiest of Sikh religious shrines by Miyan Mir, a Qadiri Sufi mystic of Lahore, in 1588. Sikh tradition acknowledges the role of Sufi mysticism in its tradition through the inclusion of Baba Farid’s mystical poetry (Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar, a Chishti Sufi…

S Harbhajan Singh Sapra, now in his 81st year, has written this piece for the next generation of youth, his desire being to present the vitality of Sikhism to those in modern times educational institutions, in India and around the world. Sikhism is the youngest and the most visible amongst the world’s religions, but is not a passive faith. It advocates active participation of mankind in the process of transformation…

Amritsar was born in Lahore. It was born inside the walled city, in a small house, in its narrow winding streets. It was the month of Assu, a month that corresponds with the months of September and October in the Gregorian calendar. It was a month when the monsoon rains, having unleashed their fury had finally taken mercy and receded. The demons of the summer had been defeated, while the…

Opening of the Kartarpur Corridor – the Kartarpur Langha –  has sent a frisson of excitement through Punjab with the Kartarpur Corridor agreement between India and Pakistan allowing visa-free access to Indians to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib situated 4 kilometres inside Pakistan. Punjabis had been asking for access to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib since 1947.  Kartarpur Sahib is where Guru Nanak settled for the last 18 years of…

The first time I visited Amritsar, I was bewildered, smitten and deeply saddened. This was in 2008, on a trip with my college friends from Kinnaird. We reached Amritsar from Delhi, after having visited other major towns of north India. My paternal grandfather, who raised me, was from the eastern Punjab district of Gurdaspur, Tehsil Batala. Since I was a little girl, he had pointed to the wall next to…

Imagine the joy of visiting the shrine of Baba Farid in Pakpattan, where your ancestors served Baba Farid more than 750 years ago, imagine the ecstatic feeling of stepping on the land of Guru Nanak Sahib where he was born and passed away, imagine visiting the Gurdwara in Lahore’s Chuna Mandi where Siri Guru Ram Das Sahib was born, imagine praying at the Gurdwara where Guru Arjan Sahib was martyred, getting…

The name of the lionhearted Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa (1791–1837) is one of the most revered and loved names in Sikh history. If  Sher-i-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a policy maker, then Nalwa Sardar was an adventurous commander-in-Chief of the Khalsa Army, who implemented those policies. Sardar Hari Singh’s bravery, courage, fearlessness and benevolence were unparalleled. He was known for his dauntless courage and unique chivalry. Some historians consider Sardar…

Early relations between the United States and India are yet to be fully assessed, particularly in their triangular connections with France in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles (1783). The result of this treaty was the exit from the British Empire of a new world power in North America. But in this same period, in Asia, almost every Indian state quickly passed under British hegemony between 1792 and 1818.…