When Sparrows Became Hawks
The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699-1799
Price: 895.00 INR
ISBN:
9780199454693
Publication date:
14/07/2014
Hardback
272 pages
238x160mm
Price: 895.00 INR
ISBN:
9780199454693
Publication date:
14/07/2014
Hardback
272 pages
Purnima Dhavan
- Places the ideology of the Khalsa within broader political and cultural processes in North India
- Argues that Khalsa martial culture was shaped by Jat peasants during the course of the eighteenth century, rather than by the last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh
Rights: OUP USA (INDIAN TERRITORY)
Purnima Dhavan
Description
Challenging the commonly accepted belief that the distinctive rituals, ceremonies, and cultural practices associated with the Khalsa were formed during the lifetime of the Tenth and last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, Purnima Dhavan reveals how such markers of Khalsa identity evolved slowly over the course of the eighteenth century. By focusing on the long-overlooked experiences of peasant communities, she traces the multiple perspectives and debates that eventually coalesced to create a composite Khalsa culture by 1799.
When Sparrows Became Hawks incorporates and analyzes Sikh normative religious literature created during this period by reading it in the larger context of sources such as news reports, court histories, and other primary sources that show how actual practices were shaped in response to religious reforms. Recovering the agency of the peasants who dominated this community, Dhavan demonstrates how a dynamic process of debates, collaboration, and conflict among Sikh peasants, scholars, and chiefs transformed Sikh practices and shaped a new martial community.
About the author
Purnima Dhavan, Assistant Professor of History, University of Washington
Purnima Dhavan
Table of contents
1. Introduction: The Origins of the Khalsa
2. Early Narratives of the Last Guru and the Creation of the Khalsa
3. (Re)making the Khalsa, 1708-48
4. The Making of a Sikh Sardar: Two Jassa Singhs and the Place of Sikhs in the Eighteenth-Century Military Labor Market
5. Rereading Alha Singh: Rebel, Raja, and Sikh Sardar
6. From Peasant Soldier to Elite Warrior: Raiding, Honor Feuds, and the Transformation of Khalsa Identity
7. Devotion and Its Discontents: The Affective Communities of Gurbilas Texts
8. Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Purnima Dhavan
Review
"Built on a close reading of Punjabi and Farsi sources, Purnima Dhavan's narrative of eighteenth-century Sikh history begins with Guru Gobind Singh and the inauguration of the Khalsa and goes on to examine three important but relatively little studied Sikh leaders of the period. This timely and readable book will be immensely helpful to anyone interested in this fascinating period of Sikh history." - -Gurinder Singh Mann, Professor of Sikh Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Purnima Dhavan
Description
Challenging the commonly accepted belief that the distinctive rituals, ceremonies, and cultural practices associated with the Khalsa were formed during the lifetime of the Tenth and last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, Purnima Dhavan reveals how such markers of Khalsa identity evolved slowly over the course of the eighteenth century. By focusing on the long-overlooked experiences of peasant communities, she traces the multiple perspectives and debates that eventually coalesced to create a composite Khalsa culture by 1799.
When Sparrows Became Hawks incorporates and analyzes Sikh normative religious literature created during this period by reading it in the larger context of sources such as news reports, court histories, and other primary sources that show how actual practices were shaped in response to religious reforms. Recovering the agency of the peasants who dominated this community, Dhavan demonstrates how a dynamic process of debates, collaboration, and conflict among Sikh peasants, scholars, and chiefs transformed Sikh practices and shaped a new martial community.
About the author
Purnima Dhavan, Assistant Professor of History, University of Washington
Table of contents
1. Introduction: The Origins of the Khalsa
2. Early Narratives of the Last Guru and the Creation of the Khalsa
3. (Re)making the Khalsa, 1708-48
4. The Making of a Sikh Sardar: Two Jassa Singhs and the Place of Sikhs in the Eighteenth-Century Military Labor Market
5. Rereading Alha Singh: Rebel, Raja, and Sikh Sardar
6. From Peasant Soldier to Elite Warrior: Raiding, Honor Feuds, and the Transformation of Khalsa Identity
7. Devotion and Its Discontents: The Affective Communities of Gurbilas Texts
8. Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

