For four decades following partition, the Sikhs enjoyed growing prosperity, including greater educational opportunities. Tat Khalsa Sikhs had long emphasized female education at the primary and secondary levels; now stress was laid upon tertiary education for both sexes. Punjabi University in Patiala was opened in 1962 with strong Sikh support, followed by Guru Nanak University (now Guru Nanak Dev University) in Amritsar in 1969, founded to honour the quincentenary of the birth of Guru Nanak. (Another reason for the establishment of Guru Nanak University was that Punjabi University tended to favour the trading castes; Guru Nanak University, by contrast, favoured the Jats.)
The growth of the Punjab was interrupted in the mid-1980s by conflict between the central government and Sikh fundamentalists, who were demanding a separate Sikh nation-state. In an effort to reign in the principal Sikh political party, the Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party), the government unwisely enlisted the support of a young Sikh fundamentalist, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 1984 Bhindranwale and his armed followers occupied the Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. In response, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered a military assault on the complex, which proved much more difficult than had been anticipated and led to severe damage to some of the complex’s buildings (notably the Akal Takht, which subsequently was repaired). Later in the year, Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for the assault. This in turn prompted a pogrom against the Sikhs, particularly in the Delhi area, and led to guerrilla warfare against the central government in Punjab that lasted until 1992. At the start of the 21st century, the demands of the fundamentalists still had not been met, but at least the Punjab was quiet. Meanwhile, the appointment of Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, as prime minister in 2004 was the source of great pride in the Sikh community. The Sikh diaspora
Until well into the modern era, most migrant Sikhs were traders who settled in India outside the Punjab or in neighbouring lands to the west. In the late 19th century, the posting of Sikh soldiers in the British army to stations in Malaya and Hong Kong prompted Sikh emigration to those territories, which eventually became jumping-off points for further migration to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, especially for those seeking temporary employment as unskilled labourers. Others Sikhs discovered opportunities along the west coast of North America, the first emigrants evidently arriving in 1903. Semiskilled artisans were also transported from the Punjab to British East Africa to help in the building of railways. After World War II, Sikhs emigrated from both India and Pakistan, most going to the United Kingdom but many also headed for North America. Some of the Sikhs who had settled in eastern Africa were expelled by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972; most of them moved to the United Kingdom. In the early 21st century the Sikh population in that country was more than 300,000, and there are communities of 180,000 to 200,000 members each in the United States and Canada. Sikh practice The worship service
A Sikh gurdwara includes both the house of worship proper and its associated langar, or communal refectory. The Adi Granth must be present at the gurdwara, and all attending must enter with heads covered and feet bare. Sikhs show their reverence by bowing their foreheads to the floor before the sacred scripture. Worship consists largely of singing hymns from the scripture, and every service concludes with Ardas, a set prayer that is divided into three parts. The first part consists of a declaration of the virtues of all the Gurus, and the last part is a brief salutation to the divine name; neither part can be changed. The middle part of the Ardas is a list, in a generally agreed form, of the trials and the triumphs of the Khalsa, which are recited in clusters by a prayer leader. The congregation responds to each cluster with a fervent “Vahiguru,” which originally meant “Praise to the Guru” but is now accepted as the most common word for God. The conclusion of the service is followed by the distribution of karah prasad, a sacramental food that consists of equal parts of coarsely refined wheat flour, clarified butter, and raw sugar. The rejection of caste
The Adi Granth contains a forthright condemnation of caste, and consequently there is no toleration of caste in its presence (normally in a gurdwara). The Gurus denounced caste as holding no importance whatsoever for access to liberation. In the langar, therefore, everyone must sit in a straight line, neither ahead to lay claim to higher status nor behind to denote inferiority. Indeed, the distinctive Sikh langar originated as a protest against the caste system. Another signal of the Sikhs’ rejection of caste is the distribution of the karah prasad, which is prepared or donated by people of all castes.
In two areas of Sikh society, however, caste is still observed. Sikhs are normally expected to marry within their caste: Jat marries Jat, Khatri marries Khatri, and Dalit marries Dalit. In addition, Sikhs of some castes tend to establish gurdwaras intended for their caste only. Members of the Ramgarhia caste, for example, identify their gurdwaras in this way (particularly those established in the United Kingdom), as do members of the Dalit caste.
More than 60 percent of Sikhs belong to the Jat caste, which is a rural caste. The Khatri and Arora castes, both mercantile castes, form a very small minority, though they are influential within the Sikh community. Other castes represented among the Sikhs, in addition to the distinctive Sikh caste of Ramgarhias (artisans), are the Ahluwalias (formerly Kalals [brewers] who have raised their status considerably) and the two Dalit castes, known in Sikh terminology as the Mazhabis (the Chuhras) and the Ramdasias (the Chamars). Rites and festivals
Sikh Rahit Marayada, the manual that specifies the duties of Sikhs, names four rituals that qualify as rites of passage. The first is a birth and naming ceremony, held in a gurdwara when the mother is able to rise and bathe after giving birth. A hymn is selected at random from the Guru Granth Sahib, and a name beginning with the first letter of the hymn is chosen. Singh is added to the names of males and Kaur to females. A second rite is the anand karaj (“blissful union”), or marriage ceremony, which clearly distinguishes Sikhs from Hindus. The bride and groom are required to proceed four times around the Guru Granth Sahib to the singing of Guru Ram Das’s Suhi Chhant 2, which differs from the Hindu custom of circling a sacred fire. The third rite—regarded as the most important—is the amrit sanskar, the ceremony for initiation into the Khalsa. The fourth rite is the funeral ceremony. In all cases the distinction between Sikhs and Hindus is emphasized.
The initiation rite, as set down in Sikh Rahit Marayada, is conducted by six initiated Sikhs, five of whom conduct the actual rite while the sixth sits in attendance on the Guru Granth Sahib, which must be present on such occasions. The ritual involves pouring water into a large iron bowl and adding soluble sweets. This represents the amrit (“nectar”), which is stirred with a double-edged sword by one of the five Sikhs. After the recitation of certain works of the Gurus, which is followed by Ardas, the candidates for initiation drink five handfuls of amrit offered to them. Each time, the Sikh giving it to them cries, “Vahi Guruji ka Khalsa, Vahi Guruji ki fateh” (“Praise to the Guru’s Khalsa! Praise to the Guru’s victory!”). Amrit is sprinkled over the initiates’ hair and eyes five times, and they drink the remainder of the amrit from the same bowl. They repeat five times the Mul Mantra (the superscription at the beginning of the Guru Granth Sahib), after which the Rahit is expounded to them by one of the five Sikhs. They are required to wear the Five Ks and to avoid four particular sins: cutting one’s hair, eating halal meat, having sexual intercourse with anyone other than one’s spouse, and using tobacco. The Sikh who commits any of these cardinal sins must publicly confess and be reinitiated. Anyone who violates the Rahit and does not confess is branded a patit (apostate). If a candidate has not received a name from the Guru Granth Sahib, one is conferred. Finally, karah prasad is distributed, all taking it from the same dish.