The Anglo Sikh Wars occurred in 1846-1847
/ 1848-1849. For over a half a century before these wars, the British
had been observing every aspect the Sikh kingdoms; their leaders,
religion, culture, etc. The British realised that if they were to
subdue the Sikhs, they had to eliminate the anti-British Akali Nihang
element within Sikhism. It was they, as the spiritual leaders of
Sikhism, who wielded great power over the people. Sir John Malcolm
noted:
'The Acalis have a great interest in maintaining both the
religion and government of the Sikhs, as established by Guru
Govind; as, on its continuance in that shape, their religious
and political influence must depend. Should Amritsar
cease to be a place of resort, or be no longer considered as
the religious capital of the state, in which all questions
that involve the general interests of the commonwealth are to
be decided, this formidable order would at once fall from that
power and consideration which they now posses, to a level with
other mendicants.'
('Sketch of the Sikhs, J. Malcolm, 1812, P.119-120)
Anglo Sikh Wars
The Sikhs and the British fought two great wars after which the
Punjab was
annexed and signalled the coming of the British Raj-nurtured Tat
Khalsa Singh
Sabhia movement that would eventually replace Sanatan Sikhi as the
main form of Sikhism
Before the Anglo Sikh wars, Akali Nihangs had been
a constant menace to visiting British personnel in the Punjab. A
fact testified to by the then British agent Clerk in his reports.
During the first Anglo Sikh war, they were the vanguard of the Khalsa
Army. At the end of this war they were betrayed and massacred in
Patiala by the seven Sikh kingdoms, which were under British protection.
Betrayal
The treacherous Hindu Dogra Generals were paid to turn
their backs against the Sikhs and take the side of the British Raj
These allies of the British were led by, the
King of Patiala, Karam Singh. After the first Anglo Sikh war, the
Akali Nihangs were mercilessly persecuted by the British. First,
they were slaughtered at Lahore, then, in the last week of Febuary
1846, they were attacked at Amritsar. Many an Akali Nihang shed
his blood before allowing the British to take the Akal Takht (the
fact that the British also attacked the Akal Takht has been over
looked by most Sikh historians).
Akali Nihang Singh Khalsa and the British Raj
An old illustration depicting the battle between the Sikh and British
Raj forces
The aim of the British was to obliterate the Akali
Nihangs and their influence once and for all. For a while, the Akali
Nihangs almost vanished from the Punjab. Lead by the eighth Jathedar
of the Budha Dal, Akali Nihang Baba Prehlada Singh, they escaped
to the jungles of central India. In Hazoor Sahib, Nander, he was
murdered by Mahant Ala Singh, a British collaborator. The few remaining
Akali Nihangs in Punjab, living in hiding, tried to stir the Sikh
populace to have another clash of arms with the British. In the
ensuing second Anglo Sikh war, the few remaining Akali Nihangs again
made their contribution in the Sikh vanguard.
After the annexation of the Punjab to the British
Empire in 1849, the current Budha Dal oral tradition holds that
the British, for the next two decades or so, employed a shoot
to kill policy on the Akali Nihangs of the Budha Dal.
Akali Nihang Singh Khalsa
A photograph taken during 1860-1870 by Captain W.W. Hooper for a
publication called the
'The Costumes of the People of India'. The Akali Nihang Singh in
the photograph is seen wearing a
'Gajgah' and in his youth would have witnessed the Anglo-Sikh wars
and may even have participated in
them as a warrior. During the time this photograph was taken, Akali
Nihangs were being hunted by the British Raj
Hence, with the establishment of British Raj in the
Punjab, the traditional Akali Nihang influence over the Sikhs ceased
to exist.
