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The Darbar of the Sikh Gurus—The Court of God in the World of Men
There is much in popular culture that talks of the manner in which the Gurus comported themselves and encouraged their followers to be good, fearless and God-fearing. There is also much known about the teachings of the Gurus. However, teachings alone could not have held the followers as strongly as they did. There had to be something else too, more material, to link the Gurus and their teachings to the followers. This gap has been admirably covered in the present study by Louis Fenech. The court of the Gurus, especially the latter four, Fenech argues, was heavily influenced by the Persianised Islamic court of the Mughals. Their understanding of courtly comportment was second hand, based on popular beliefs of what the Mughal court was like. But on that understanding they created rituals and symbols and ceremonies to convey power and authority as would be understood in coeval times. Many latter day gurdwaras would also beat the kettledrum, a quintessential symbol of Mughal authority and also a reminder to the people that now the king was available to dispense justice to all. The now ubiquitous Nishan Sahib too came to be adopted from the Mughal practise of displaying the pennant to indicate that the region was under imperial protection. Fenech is quick to point out that the Gurus were not imitating the Mughals but merely adapting that behaviour which was according to the common understanding of those times necessary for legitimising power and authority. One might also add that the hold of the Mughals on popular mind was so strong that even a hundred years after the collapse of the Mughal Empire, the English in India too felt the need to use the shades of Mughal courtly culture to create an impression of power and pelf over Indians. Talking about a Sikh court, Fenech makes a clear distinction between the wider Sikh panth and the Sikh courtiers who surrounded the Gurus. His contention is that even while not all the Gurus held a formal court, there did exist people with formal roles in the presence of the Guru and there was a certain element of formality involved in being present during the receptions and gatherings that were presided by the Gurus. The most important of such was the ability to become a true Gurmukh. Herein lay the import of the Sikh court: all Sikhs were encouraged to emulate the behaviour patterns of the Sikhs who became part of the Gurus’ court. Noteworthy was the fact that the Gurus court was supposed to be a spiritual court, one where people could come face to face with the magnificence of the Divine. However, the nature of the Sikh panth and its activities showed considerable variations over time. During the time of Banda Bahadur, Fenech points out, the Sikh panth seemed to be highly splintered. Banda had demonstrated that Sikhs could be sovereign by striking coins in the name of the Guru and the panth. However, his legions of Jat Sikhs did not spare the Khatri and other non-Jat Sikhs from depredation. His activities, it is possible, suggests Fenech, pushed many non-Jat Sikhs into the hands of the Mughals. Some even converting to Islam. "Within the works of the Brahman Chibbar Sikhs we find the vilification of many contemporary mid-18th century Khalsa Sikhs, the notoriously corrupt maaiki or rapacious Sikhs," says Fenech. Such splintering seemed to continue till Maharaja Ranjit Singh put a stop to it for a little while and established a more or less united state that could face the might of the English. Much of the information that Fenech uses to reconstruct his story about the court of the Gurus comes from the poets from the Gurus’ darbar. But the culture of poetry rapidly petered out after the 10th Guru. But by that time the principles of the Guru’s darbar had been firmly established and could carry much weight till contemporary times.
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IN
writing this book, Louis Fenech has bravely gone against the injunction
that only Sikhs should do critical research on the Sikhs and their
religion. The world of scholarship can only be thankful for his defiance
since he has produced a useful book on a less-known aspect of Sikh
history, society and culture.