The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition

524 Pages·1994·26.401 MB·English

by  Harjot Oberoi

THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RELIGIOUS BOUNDARIES

THE CONSTRUCTION OF
RELIGIOUS BOUNDARIES
Culture, Identity,
and Diversity
in the Sikh Tradition
HARJOT OBEROI
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
HagjorOseRo!holdsthe Chairin Sikh and Punjabi Studiesin the Department
ofAsian Studies, University ofBritish Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
THE UNIVERSITYOF CHICAGO PRESS, CHICAGO 60637
OXFORDUNIVERSITYPRESS, WALTONSTREET, OXFORD OX2 6DP
© OxfordUniversityPress 1994
All rights reserved. Published 1994
Printed intheUnitedStates
03 02 01 00 99 98 97 96 95 9412345
ISBN:0-226-61592-8 (cloth)
ISBN:0-226-61593-6 (paper)
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-PublicationData
Oberoi, Harjot.
The Constructionofreligiousboundaries: culture, identity, and
diversity in theSikh tradition / HarjotOberoi
p. cm,
Includesbibliographicalreferences and index.
1. Sikhism—History. 2. Sikhism—Social aspects. 3. Sikhism—
Relations
BL2017.6.024 1994
294,6’09—dc20
94-13624
CIP
This bookisprintedon acid-freepaper
To the memory ofmyfather
feel the need (andin this I see nothing individual,it is why I
writeit) toadheretothatnarrativewhichproposesratherthan
imposes;torediscover,withinsingletext,thecomplementarity
of narrative discourse and systematic discourse; so that my
‘history’ perhaps bears moreof a generic resemblance to Hero-
dotus’s (all questions ofgenre and valueaside) than to the ideal
ofmanycontemporaryhistorians. Certainfacts thatIreporthere a
lead to generalassertions; others (or other aspects of the same
facts) do not. Alongside the narratives I submitto analysis there
remain others, unsubmissive. Andif, at this very moment, Iam
‘drawing the moral’ of my history, it is with no thought of
yielding up and‘fixing’ up its meaning—a narrative is not
reducible to a maxim—but because I find it more honest to
formulate someofthe impressions itmakes uponme,since I too
am oneofits readers.
—Tzvetan Todorov, The Conquest ofAmerica
Contents
Mapsand Tables
Preface
Note on Orthography
Glossary
Introduction
On Method: Religion and Indian Historiography
Sikh Studies 30
Part I: DIVERSITY
Boundaries and Transgressions: The Khalsa
Normative Tradition 39
Early Sikh Tradition 47
Boundaries and Transgressions 62
Paradox: The Khalsa/SahajdhariDuality 71
Conclusion 89
Sanatan Tradition and its Transmission:
Gurus, Saints, Ascetics, and Scholars 92
Transmission 108
Conclusion 137
An Enchanted Universe: Sikh Participation in
Popular Religion 139
An Ethnography: Popular Saints, Goddesses
and Village Sacred Sites 147
viii The Construction ofReligious Boundaries
Evil Spirits, Witchcraft, Sorcery and Magical Healing 169
Astrology and Divination 177
Calendrical Festivals, Rituals and Fairs 182
Primitive Protest 190
Conclusion | 201
Part II: UNIFORMITY
4, Conserving Sanatan Sikh Tradition:
The Foundation of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha 207
The Foundation of the Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Amritsar 216
Conclusion 253
5. The Interpretive Process: The Expansion of
the Singh Sabhas 258
The Makingof the New Elite and Dialogic Narration 260
Reconstituting Elite Sub-Culture 279
The Sabhas Beyond Amritsar and Lahore 295
Conclusion 303
6. A NewSocial Imagination: The Makingof the
Tat Khalsa 305
Sikhizing the Sikhs 306
The Struggle Over the Appropriation of the
Body andRites de Passage 328
Symbolic Reformulation:
Turning Innovationsinto Traditions 345
The Social Locus of Imagination 351
Conclusion
376
PartIII: A NEW EPISTEME
7. Resistance and Counter-resistance:
The Triumphof Praxis 381
Sanatan Sikhism versus the Tat Khalsa 382
Resistance by the Non-Elite 397
Tat Khalsa Consciousness: From Institutions to
EverydayLife
401
Conclusion
416
Contents ix
418
Conclusions
Appendix: Singh SabhasEstablished
Between 1873 and 1900 427
Bibliography 431
Index 459
Mapsand Tables
Maps
1. General Mapof Punjab
41
2. MapofBritish Punjab
46
Tables
1.
Contents of the Dasam Granth 95
h- A Guru Lineage (The Sodhis of Anandpur) 110
w. Guru Lineages in the Nineteenth Century 117
P Genealogy of a Giani Family in Amritsar 133
U- Number of Gurmukhi Schools and Pupils in
these Schools
136
o Readings From the Japuji and their Potential 192
N. A Select List ofReligious ‘Sects’ Returned bythe
People of Punjab in 1891 and Included Under
the Category ‘Hindu’
212
A List of Voluntary Socio-religious and
Educational Associations in Punjab 1865-85 233
Number of GovernmentSchools and Students
Enrolled 1856-60
267
10. Cumulative Total of Books 1875-80
276
11. Ritual Fees Received in Cash by a Nai 358
12. Sikh Professionals in 1900
365
13. Tat Khalsa Cultural, Religious and Economic
Associations 1886-1908
411