Tat Khalsa


The Tat Khalsa, also romanised as Tatt Khalsa, known as the Akal Purkhias during the 18th century, was a Sikh faction that arose from the schism following the passing of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, led by his widow Mata Sundari, opposed to the religious innovations of Banda Singh Bahadur and his followers. The roots of the Tat Khalsa lies in the official formalisation and sanctification of the Khalsa order by the tenth Guru in 1699.

History

Origin

Banda Singh Bahadur, in the flush of an initial string of victories against the Mughal governor of Sirhind, made changes to the Khalsa tradition that were opposed by the orthodox Khalsa as heretical. These included requiring his followers to be vegetarian, replacing the traditional Khalsa garment color of blue with red garments, replacing the traditional Khalsa salute of "Waheguru Ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji ki Fateh" with the salute "Fateh Darshan, Fateh Dharam" and most controversial to the Sikhs, allowing his followers to treat him as a guru, in direct contradiction to the precept of Guru Maneyo Granth laid out by Guru Gobind Singh before his passing. After the last defensive battle against the Mughal Army, many prominent Sikh veterans, including Binod Singh and his son Kahn Singh, along with much of the Khalsa, parted ways with Banda Singh; the Sikhs loyal to Guru Gobind Singh were referred to as the Tatt Khalsa ; those who accepted the changes were called Bandai Sikhs or Bandai Khalsa. The Tat Khalsa faction sided with the Mughals and fought against Banda Singh and Bandai Sikhs in battle. The schism persisted after Banda Singh's torture and execution at Delhi in 1716.
After the assassination of the Mughal emperor Farrukh Siyar in 1719, Sikh persecution lessened enough to allow for occasional general meetings at Amritsar, where the Bandai faction demanded 50% of the income from donations and offerings at the Darbar Sahib, which the Tatt Khalsa refused as baseless. Mata Sundari, in Delhi upon hearing of the rising tensions, dispatched Bhai Mani Singh with six other Sikhs to manage the Darbar Sahib, with the instruction that the entire income of the gurdwara go to Guru ka Langar. On Vaisakhi 1721, the Bandai faction fortified their camp in preparation for conflict, though both factions agreed to mediation offered by Mani Singh, agreeing to the determination of the site: Two slips of paper, each with one of the factions' salutes written on them, were dropped in the sarovar, or pool surrounding the gurdwara; the traditional Khalsa salute surfaced first, and many Bandais immediately bowed and came to the Khalsa side, though some objected to the validity of the mediation. A wrestling match in front of the Akal Takht between representatives of each faction was then agreed to, with Tatt Khalsa represented by Miri Singh, son of the Khalsa leader Kahn Singh, and Sangat Singh, the son of the Bandai leader Lahaura Singh. After Miri Singh's victory, and that of the Tatt Khalsa, the bulk of remaining Bandais joined the Khalsa side, and the few remaining holdouts were driven away, ending the schism. Later the Tat Khalsa attacked Dera Banda Singh and executed all Bandai's who were found with Mani Singh leading the force. Mani Singh sat himself on the gaddi of the dera.
After the eviction of the Bandais from Amritsar, the Tat Khalsa took control of it and established it as their centre. During the post-Banda Singh Bahadur period, most Sikhs lived as civilians in the Mughal Empire. However, a proportion of the Sikhs continued their rebellion against the Mughal authority in the form of guerilla warfare, with these rebel Sikhs being known as the Tat Khalsa. The Tat Khalsa also opposed sectarian Sikh groups that continued a lineage of personal guruship in the post-Guru Gobind Singh period, such as the Gulab Rahis and Gangushahis.

Singh Sabha

Later, the name would be used by the dominant Singh Sabha faction in Lahore founded in 1879 to rival the Amritsar Singh Sabha. The name was used to connote Sikhs with full readiness and commitment to action on behalf of the Sikh community, in contrast to ḍhillaṛ, or "indolent, passive, ineffectual" Sikhs.
The leader of the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabha was Gurmukh Singh, a professor at the Oriental College of Lahore. He contacted Kahn Singh Nabha, a notable scholar, who wrote Mahan Kosh and Ham Hindu Nahin. Bhai Gurmukh Singh and Kahn Singh Nabha later mentored Max Arthur Macauliffe, a divisional judge, to undertake the translation of Granth Sahib.

Khalistan movement

founded a Khalistani militant outfit named Tat Khalsa in the 1980s.

Literature

  • Oberoi, Harjot, The Construction of Religious Boundaries. Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition, New Delhi 1994.