Hardip Singh Syan
SOAS, UKIn the history of Sikhism it has been firmly established that the Khatri caste played a significant role in the development of the medieval Sikh community. Moreover, the Khatris in the Mughal period grew into a prominent commercial and scribal caste. However it has never been considered why Sikhism, in the context of the Khatri's medieval commercial expansion, attracted a large Khatri following. In this article I endeavour to explore the appeal of Sikhism to the medieval Khatri community by examining early Sikh thought on trade and commerce. In addition, I attempt to embed the influence of Sikhism within the development of the medieval Khatri merchant family. And consider how the growth of the Khatri merchant network resulted in the spread of Sikhism across Mughal north India.
This paper examines the public debate that happened among Delhi's Sikh community following the formation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh. The detail of this debate was expressed in the early eighteenth century Sikh text, Sri Gur Sobha. The Sri Gur Sobha explains how Delhi's Sikhs became divided into pro-Khalsa and anti-Khalsa factions, and how this conflict resulted in a campaign of persecution against Delhi's Khalsa Sikhs. In this paper I endeavour to analyse exactly why this dispute occurred and how it reflects wider political and socio-economic processes in early modern India and Sikh society. In addition, the paper will explore how the elite Khatri community consequently became an object of hatred in eighteenth century Khalsa Sikh literature.
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