Making of the Modern Sikh Identity: The Rise of the Singh Sabha Movement in Colonial Punjab

The colonial apparatus of the British Raj, unleashed a whirl of social pressures which changed the way we interpret religious identity in the Indian subcontinent. This gave rise to sociopolitical reform movements like the Aarya Samaj, the Ahmadhiyas and a vast array of different Singh Sabhas. This documentary narrates the eventual triumph of the Lahore Singh Sabha ( the Tat Khalsa). It examines the different levers which accelerated its rapid rise, such as the taking of the censuses within Punjab, Christian Missionary activity, Hindu reform movements and British Empire Army enlistment.

Our first episode narrates one of the most consequential and often misunderstood periods of Indian history and anthropology, and examines the origins of many of the cultural and social moors which we now take for granted.

The Khalsanama aims to uncover and explain Sikh history in a narrative which you may have never heard before, from the emergence of the Khalsa in 1699, to the present day.

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00:00 How different was pre-colonial Sikhi
05:06 Impact of Christian Missionaries
07:18 Religious reform movements
11:34 Changes to identity within the colonial apparatus
13:25 The triumph of the Tat-Khalsa
20:23 Conclusion


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#anthropology
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