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According to volume 7 of the History & Culture of Indian People published by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan - "Disciples of Nanak called themselves Sikhs derived from the Sanskrit word sishya, meaning a learner or a person who takes spiritual lessons from a teacher. The public called them Nanak Panthis or Sikhs. Panth literally means path or way and it has been traditionally used to designate the followers of a particular teacher or of a distinctive range of doctrine".
"Singh means devotee". However, today Singh has come to mean Lion & has come to be associated with fighting classes throughout North India esp. in undivided Punjab (modern day Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh). The change was brought about the British. One of the principal changes that the British made after the 1857 mutiny was a reduction in the number of Bengali soldiers because it is they who were involved in the mutiny. They were replaced by Sikhs & Punjabi Muslims who had supported the British during the mutiny.
Veena Talwar wrote in Dowry Murder, "By the late 19th century, Punjabis made up 57 infantry units & Bengal (included Bihar & Orissa) fewer than 15".
W H Mcleod wrote in his book, Who is a Sikh, "Appreciative of the strength of opposition encountered during the Anglo-Sikh wars & as a result of the assistance which they received from the Sikh princes during the Mutiny, Sikhs were easily accommodated within the British theory of the martial races of India & Sikh enlistment increased steeply. For the British, martial Sikhs meant Khalsa Sikhs, and all who were inducted into the Indian Army as Sikhs were required to maintain the external insignia of the Khalsa". The British paid their soldiers very well, allotted them agricultural land & pension. Other castes like Khatris, Aroras & Ahulwalias did not want to loose out economically so they made the first son a Sikh meaning they had to grow hair etc.
Further Veena Talwar wrote, "To prevent the sort of mutiny they experienced from sepoys in 1857, the British organized religiously segregated regimental units from the alleged martial races, Sikhs, Pathans, Rajputs etc. This severely restricted Hindus of other castes particularly Khatris, who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forces. Khatris were arbitrarily lumped together by the British as trading castes. Many families got around this artificially imposed caste barrier by raising one or more son as Sikhs, chiefly by having them adopt the name Singh and grow hair/beard to match".
Because of reasons listed in the preceding paras other castes like Khatris made one more sons a follower of Khalsa. Today sons of such Sikhs are considered to be followers of Sikhism while sons of the brothers who did not become Sikhs called Monas are considered to be followers of Hinduism.
Thanks
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According to volume 7 of the History & Culture of Indian People published by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan - "Disciples of Nanak called themselves Sikhs derived from the Sanskrit word sishya, meaning a learner or a person who takes spiritual lessons from a teacher. The public called them Nanak Panthis or Sikhs. Panth literally means path or way and it has been traditionally used to designate the followers of a particular teacher or of a distinctive range of doctrine".
"Singh means devotee". However, today Singh has come to mean Lion & has come to be associated with fighting classes throughout North India esp. in undivided Punjab (modern day Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pradesh). The change was brought about the British. One of the principal changes that the British made after the 1857 mutiny was a reduction in the number of Bengali soldiers because it is they who were involved in the mutiny. They were replaced by Sikhs & Punjabi Muslims who had supported the British during the mutiny.
Veena Talwar wrote in Dowry Murder, "By the late 19th century, Punjabis made up 57 infantry units & Bengal (included Bihar & Orissa) fewer than 15".
W H Mcleod wrote in his book, Who is a Sikh, "Appreciative of the strength of opposition encountered during the Anglo-Sikh wars & as a result of the assistance which they received from the Sikh princes during the Mutiny, Sikhs were easily accommodated within the British theory of the martial races of India & Sikh enlistment increased steeply. For the British, martial Sikhs meant Khalsa Sikhs, and all who were inducted into the Indian Army as Sikhs were required to maintain the external insignia of the Khalsa". The British paid their soldiers very well, allotted them agricultural land & pension. Other castes like Khatris, Aroras & Ahulwalias did not want to loose out economically so they made the first son a Sikh meaning they had to grow hair etc.
Further Veena Talwar wrote, "To prevent the sort of mutiny they experienced from sepoys in 1857, the British organized religiously segregated regimental units from the alleged martial races, Sikhs, Pathans, Rajputs etc. This severely restricted Hindus of other castes particularly Khatris, who had served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forces. Khatris were arbitrarily lumped together by the British as trading castes. Many families got around this artificially imposed caste barrier by raising one or more son as Sikhs, chiefly by having them adopt the name Singh and grow hair/beard to match".
Because of reasons listed in the preceding paras other castes like Khatris made one more sons a follower of Khalsa. Today sons of such Sikhs are considered to be followers of Sikhism while sons of the brothers who did not become Sikhs called Monas are considered to be followers of Hinduism.
Thanks
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monas could be sikh too couldnt they?
grrrrrr
