. INTRODUCTION . CHAPTER 1 . CHAPTER 2 . CHAPTER 3 . CHAPTER 4 . CHAPTER 5 . CHAPTER 6 . CHAPTER 7 . CONCLUSION . REFERENCES CHAPTER 3 Caste in the Sikh Panth McLeod is a master of manufacturing controversial issues and then extracts mileage from the issue. Case in point is the “caste” identification of Sikh Gurus and their marriages. The ten Gurus were all Khatris by caste. This is widely regarded as a great pity, even within Sikh society where the numerically preponderant Jats commonly bewail the fact that there was never a single Jat Guru. It is not, however the point and substance of the impertinent suggestion. The suggestion concerns the marriage practices observed by the Gurus. All, without exception, arranged the marriages of their children in strict accordance with traditional caste prescription. There is no instance of a Guru having contracted on behalf of his children marriages with boys or girls from lower castes (nor indeed from a higher rank, although in view of the elevated Khatri status this is less significant). All the Gurus, themselves Khatris, married Khatri wives and this, declare their critics, is the true measure of their sincerity. How can one respect a commandment when its promulgators ignore it?77 Instead of retracting the above scurrilous and absurd statements he offers the following explanation for the caste dilemmas on page 162 of Discovering the Sikhs: Autobiography of a Historian. There are two answers, which can be offered to this unpublished and unnecessarily embarrassing dilemma. The first is that the Gurus were not concerned with the institution of caste as such, merely with the belief that it possesses soteriological significance. Caste can remain, but not the doctrine that one’s access to salvation depends upon one’s caste ranking. The way of salvation is open to all regardless of caste. Stripped of its religious contents it can retain the status of a harmless social convention. This deprives caste of some of its meaning, but by no means all. Was this what the Gurus meant? Although their utterances (notably their stress upon there being no caste in the hereafter) might suggest this, their institutions (commensality in the langar, distribution of krah parshad in the gurdwara, and baptism from a common bowl) indicate that they intended their denunciation of caste to be carried significantly further. A reasonable conclusion appears to be that whereas they were vigorously opposed to the vertical distinction of caste they were content to accept it in terms of its horizontal linkage. This constitutes our second answer to the suggestion of inconsistency on the part of the Gurus. Who are these critics that McLeod mentions without citing them? Aren’t these critics none other than Christian missionaries who have prejudiced weaker minds? First of all: Only the first four Gurus, Nanak, Angad, Amar Das and Ram Das were born in Hindu Khatri families but latter six Gurus were the descendents of Guru Ram Das, so they were neither Hindus nor Khatris as claimed by McLeod. According to Sikh tradition, Brahman priests tried to kill Guru Nanak during the marriage ceremony when he rejected the Vedic marriage ceremony. Guru Angad and Guru Amar Das became Sikhs when they were already married and had grown up children. According to Sikh tradition, Guru Amar Das’s daughter Bibi Bhani expressed interest through her mother in marrying Bhai Jetha, who succeeded her father. Both Guru Arjan and Guru Teg Bahadur had one child, a son, respectively and both of them were killed by the Muslim rulers before the marriage of their sons. Guru Harkrishan died at the age of eight and all of Guru Gobind Singh’s sons died unmarried before him. So we are talking only about the children of the fourth and sixth Guru. So for McLeod to assert that “All the Gurus, themselves Khatris, married Khatri wives and all, without exception, arranging the marriages of their children in strict accordance with traditional caste prescription” is preposterous. The fact is that the Sikh Gurus not only didn’t believe in caste and the Caste System, but also rejected Hinduism in its entirety. To say that, “The ten Gurus were all Khatris by caste” is nothing less than reintroducing caste and imposing the label on them. McLeod says, “All, [Gurus] without exception, arranged the marriages of their children in strict accordance with traditional caste prescription.” Did Guru Gobind Singh do that? Did Guru Teg Bahadur do that? Did Guru Harkrishan do that? Did Guru Nanak do that? Which Sikh Guru followed the traditional caste prescription in marrying his child? Is McLeod familiar with Dharmashastras that detail the marriage ceremonies based on caste? Can anyone link these requirements of shastras to the Sikh Gurus? I think by now the reader can sense how wrong McLeod has been all along. And he still keeps churning out these stories to distort the Sikh message. My feeling is that McLeod has a poor knowledge of Hinduism including its caste system. Today even in the twenty-first century, we are seeing many more elements of the caste system than just the mere marriage stratum of the subcaste (jati) among those who adhere to the caste system practices. During the Sikh Guru’s historical times, the adherents practiced the caste system in full swing and to say (or imply) that some people (for example Sikh Gurus) would pluck out only “marriage” caste by-laws and not the rest of the caste package is nothing less than manipulation of history and evidence. Where is the evidence that Sikh Gurus’s in-laws practiced the caste system? Where is the evidence that Sikh Gurus married off their children to homes where the caste system was in practice? Has McLeod ever given a thought to the fact that like-minded people and their families can have nuptial arrangements irrespective of caste, even in the Gurus’ times? In the example of the Gurus and their family one needs to weigh-in that these marriages were in accord with people of like-mindedness, and not in tune with the caste system. If McLeod had his way, he might even cast doubt on Thomas Paine, a great leader of the American Revolutionary War, who was opposed to the Bible and talked about freedom of the black slaves. Just because Thomas Paine didn’t marry a black person doesn’t mean by any stretch of the imagination that he harbored negative views toward Blacks and went along with the racial norms of the society.     McLeod, trained as a missionary, who spent several years as a missionary in Punjab may not have raised these questions had he asked, “Why were Jesus Christ, his apostles and Biblical Prophets were all Jews?” Why did the “Christian God” never send any prophet to Europe? Do European Christians bewail the fact that their Savior was a Jew, and not a European? It is intriguing that McLeod does not mention the names of Jats who bewail that no Guru was a Jat or critics who question the sincerity of the Gurus! Moreover, it is difficult to understand why a white man with a Christian background would make such outrageous statements. He is fully aware that even after two thousand years white Christians practice segregation/apartheid against non-white Christians not to speak of resisting interracial marriages. A genuine scholar would have thoroughly studied the impact of the caste system on Indian society, particularly inter-caste marriages in Hindu, Muslim, and Christian communities, especially the latter two, which are much older than Sikhism.78 Christianity was introduced in South India in the first century AD. Later on in the sixteenth century, European Christians who came to India as traders established their own colonies, culminating in the British rule over most of India for about three centuries, and this resulted in the spread of Christianity all over India. Although Muslim traders brought Islam to South India, it was the Muslim conquest from the North that began in the early eighth century, which established Muslim rule over a large territory of India for almost seven centuries. On the other hand, Sikhs ruled over the Punjab for less than a hundred years, long after the time of Gurus when Sikhism was subverted and transformed into a “warrior sect of Hinduism” due to historical circumstances. The caste ideology is deeply embedded in the psyche of Indian people irrespective of their religions. Muslims in India were regarded as Malechas (uncivilized, unclean) by Hindus. They were considered so much outside the pale of Hindu society that Hindus once converted to Islam could on no account be taken back in the parent fold even though converted forcibly. Yet Muslims hold on to Hindu customs and practices, which their faith does not permit. Indian Muslims have two familiar social divisions: Ashraf (or noble) that includes descendents of foreigners and converts from higher Hindu castes and Ajlaf, or common people. Intermarriage between Ashraf and Ajlaf is not approved, as it is seldom that a man of higher class will give his daughter to one of the lower. Though Muslims decry the caste system, they follow it very rigidly when it comes to marriage.79   There is no evidence that Christians who are converts from higher Hindu castes marry Christians who are converts from lower castes. The average Indian Christian is a staunch observer of the caste system. There are large numbers of Christians in South India who even boast of their being firmer and truer adherents of the caste system than their counterpart Hindus. In Tamilnadu, there were churches with separate outlets going on to a common channel of water to accommodate hostile castes.79 Another important point to bear in mind is that caste restrictions on marriages between exclusive groups are not the only restrictions. Individual and group prejudices against marriages based on considerations of various factors: health, beauty, talent, color, race, class, occupation, wealth, etc. exist in societies where there are no castes. In other words, in caste ridden Indian society, endogamy is superimposed on prejudices about marriages between mutually exclusive groups common to non-caste societies as well. This means that the problem of restrictions on marriages between exclusive groups or classes is not solved by simply undoing the caste endogamy. Second, the problem of removing prejudices regarding marriages, as in non-caste societies, is very complicated. In the case of Indian society, the caste-based endogamy is reinforced by race (color), occupation and wealth, which divide the higher castes from lower castes and the untouchables (Dalits) from the rest. So arranging inter-caste marriages would have been impossible during the period of the Sikh Gurus.80 During the time of Sikh Gurus, Hinduism was practiced in strict observance of caste rules and rituals. Transgressors were severely dealt with¾excommunicated from the community. Such people were the real outcasts as they were shunned by the entire Hindu society. Even bhagats like Kabir, Namdev and Ravidas were refused entry in temples, not to speak of ordinary untouchables. Even in the twentieth century “Mahatma” Gandhi and Hindu reformers were unable to secure the entry of untouchables into Hindu temples. “With regard to the matter of the right to enter Hindu temples, the exterior castes were advised by Gandhi not to attempt to gain entry, as God resides in their breasts.”81 Even today, contrary to the laws of the land, Dalits are forbidden entry into the Hindu temples in rural areas. One can imagine the uphill task the Gurus faced in breaking the caste barriers among their followers. The caste system was the greatest obstacle in the way of developing an egalitarian Sikh society. The Gurus took a cautious but bold approach to tackling this problem. Guru Nanak started the institution of sangat (congregation) and pangat (eating together sitting in a row). Sangat was made up of people without regard to religion, caste and gender. Food prepared in the langar (public kitchen) by volunteers was served to the sangat sitting in a row without regard to religion and caste. Guru Nanak also advised his followers to address each other as bhai (brother) and mai (mother) and touch each other’s feet during greeting rituals. These were daring and effective attacks on the pillars on which the superstructure of the caste system rested. These practices were condemned by Brahmins and Khatris and became intolerable for them when the third Guru Amar Das made eating in the langar mandatory for those who wanted to meet him. They appealed to Emperor Akbar to stop this practice. Your Majesty is the protector of our customs and the redresser of our wrongs. Every man’s religion is dear to him. Guru Amar Das of Goindwal has abandoned the religion and social customs of Hindus and abolished the distinction of four castes. … He does not revere Hindu scriptures or deities or Yogis, Jatis and Brahmins. … He makes his followers sit in a line and eat food from his kitchen irrespective of caste, religion and gender.82 The Emperor found no merit in their complaint and dismissed it. This embittered the Brahmins and Khatris further and they intensified their campaign against the Gurus and harassment of Sikhs. They conspired with the upper caste (Rajput, Brahman and Khatri) government officials against Guru Arjan. It was Emperor Jehangir whose mother was a Rajput princess and maternal uncle, Raja Man Singh, the most prominent commander of the Mughal army, who ordered the execution of Guru Arjan.83 Thenceforth the Gurus were engaged in a battle on two fronts, against the forces of caste ideology and the Mughal rulers. It must be pointed out that up to the time of the fourth Guru, Ram Das, there was no Muslim opposition, either religious or political, to the Sikh movement. On the other hand, the proponents of caste ideology started their opposition during Guru Nanak’s time. They tried to subvert Guru Nanak’s teaching through apocryphal composition under the name of Nanak and creating sakhis (stories) about Guru Nanak that contradicted his teachings. They infiltrated the Sikh movement to cause schism and to undermine its institutions and practices. After the death of the sixth Guru, Hargobind, some masands (in-charge of a religious district) started separate langar for higher castes. That is why Guru Gobind Singh abolished the Masand system.84 When Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa order, Brahmins, Khatris and Rajputs derided the initiation ceremony, which required taking a sip of Amrit (holy water) from a common steel bowl. Sikhs from high caste background deserted the Sikh movement in large numbers. And the Rajput chiefs as protector of Hindu Dharma declared war on Guru Gobind Singh for his challenge to the age-old caste system.85 The hostility of the higher caste Hindus and the Mughal authorities to the Sikh movement and internal feuds within the movement posed a grave danger to the survival of the movement. Inter-caste marriages were an anathema to Hindu society, which was the main reservoir for new recruits to the Sikh movement. Inter-caste marriages would have resulted in excommunication of Sikhs from their “parent” communities. Even today one can see the consequences of violations of even sub-caste (goat) rules for marriages within the Jat community of Haryana. The caste panchayats (committee of village elders) excommunicate not only the couple but their families also. The abolition of the caste was not the only goal of the Sikh movement. “Suffering due to alienation from God, grinding poverty and tyranny of the ruler” were the major problems facing the masses.86 Religious and political oppression of the Muslim rulers became the major challenge to the movement.87 In fact, the pursuit of this objective became more urgent, especially when the Mughal rulers launched a frontal attack to covert the Hindus to Islam. The Sikh movement depended for almost all of its recruitment on the Hindu society. The Gurus were not idle dreamers interested only in the postulation and declaration of a utopian ideology. Their aim was to create an egalitarian plebian movement outside the caste structure for the sake of capturing political power for the masses. The Gurus never swerved for a moment from this objective, and even paid with their lives to achieve this objective. They weighed beforehand the feasibility of each and every step they took in the light of the likely consequences on the course of the movement as a whole. It could not afford to cut itself off completely from the base of its recruitment by insisting on inter-caste marriages. By doing so, none of the three social objectives of the movement would have been advanced and strengthened. Neither would it have succeeded in building a society outside the caste order, nor could it have successfully challenged the religious and political domination or captured political power for the masses.88 The vast majority (95%) of today’s Sikhs are descendants of lower caste Hindus. Most of the Sikh leaders after Guru Gobind Singh were Jats, Labanas/Vanjaras, Mazhbis, Klalas, Carpenters, and Sansis. In recent times, Sikhs with Mazhbi and Carpenter backgrounds have been appointed as Jathedar of Akal Takhat¾the seat of highest spiritual authority. On the other hand, in the 2,000-year history of Christianity, in India, no one of untouchable background was ever appointed a Bishop not to speak of a Cardinal. Similarly, no Muslim of untouchable background was ever appointed as an Imam of a prestigious mosque like Jama Masjid. The issue of inter-caste marriages in the past and present contemporary Sikh community should be looked at in light of the above discussion, not the scurrilous propaganda of McLeod. By saying “ten Gurus were all Khatris by caste,” McLeod is implying that caste was the determining factor in the selection of Gurus. The evidence suggests otherwise. The sole criteria for the selection of a successor to the house of Nanak was the total commitment to Guru Nanak’s teachings and the objectives of his movement and the ability to carry them forward under the most difficult circumstances, even at the cost of many lives including their own. The path of spirituality laid down by Guru Nanak is an arduous one. Spirituality means seeing God in all and respecting all as equal. In other words, love for God and God’s creation is the essence of spiritual life. It is this “love” that demands the highest sacrifice. If you want to play the game of love (with God) then follow my path and be prepared to make a supreme sacrifice. Once you step on this path, do not hesitate to offer your head. AGGS, M, 1, p. 1412. This proclamation is central to the Sikh Movement¾the selection of a successor to the house of Nanak, the foundation of Miri Piri (temporal and spiritual sovereignty) and the noble Khalsa order. Only a moral person (gurmukh) can be a mir pir or Khalsa. Nanak established his spiritual kingdom on the firm foundation of Truth. Nanak bowed before his disciple Lehna and installed him on the spiritual throne. Due to the greatness of Nanak, Lehna’s fame spread far and wide. They were one and the same in spirit, only different bodily. AGGS, Balwand and Satta, p. 966.   It was declared with the beat of a drum that with the seal of approval of Guru Nanak, Guru Angad ascended the true throne with the same spiritual and temporal authority. Varan Bhai Gurdas, p. 19. J.S. Grewal has explained this process very lucidly. Before his death at Kartarpur in 1539, Guru Nanak chose his successor from amongst his followers, setting aside the claims of his sons. Nomination of a successor from amongst one’s own disciples was not a new thing; it was known to many an ascetical order of the times. But the nomination of Lehna by Guru Nanak was regarded as unique because Guru Nanak himself installed Lehna in his office. His name too was changed from Lehna to Angad, making him “a limb” of the founder. This nomination was important not merely because it enabled Guru Nanak to ensure the continuation of his work, but also because it served as the basis of the idea that the positions of the Guru and the disciple were interchangeable. Closely linked with this was the idea that there was no difference between the founder and the successor, they represented one and the same light.89 Bhai Gurdas says that after the fourth Guru, Ram Das, Guruship remained in his family because the burden of Guruship became unbearable due to the hostile attitude of the Mughal rulers, proponents of the caste system and schismatic sects. Attempts were made to kill Guru Arjan’s only child, Hargobind by Pirthi Chand, older brother of Guru Arjan. He collaborated with detractors of the Sikh movement and sought help from government officials to usurp Guruship, resulting in the death of Guru Arjan at the hands of government authorities.90 Guru Hargobind had armed conflicts with Mughal officials and Khatris.91 Guru Teg Bahadur sacrificed his life in opposition to the tyranny of the Mughal rulers.92 Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed his father, mother and four sons.93 Then Guruship was conferred on Arjan, whose son openly declared spiritual and political sovereignty (Miri Piri). He said now Guruship will stay within his family (Sodhi), as others may not be able to bear the burden of Guruship. Varan Bhai Gurdas, p. 19. The first three Gurus did not confer Guruship on their sons or relatives or people who have served the longest period. After Guru Ram Das, when Guruship remained in his family, there was no change in the criteria of selection. He chose his youngest son Arjan to be his successor; Guru Hagobind did not choose either of his sons but his grandson Har Rai, younger son of his deceased eldest son, Gurdita. Guru Har Rai rejected his older son Ram Rai because he showed a willingness to compromise truth to win favor from Emperor Aurangjeb, who granted him a large estate. Instead, he appointed his younger son Harkrishan, who was only eight years old. The young Guru who died from smallpox shortly thereafter appointed his grandfather’s youngest brother, Teg Bahadur (youngest son of Guru Hargobind Sahib). Guru Teg Bahadur opposed the forcible conversion of Kashmiri Brahmins by Aurangjeb and made a unique and unparalleled sacrifice in the annals of human history in defense of religious tolerance, freedom of worship, and freedom of conscience.