NEW BOOK HIGHLIGHTS THE RICH SIKH MILITARY HISTORY OVER 200 YEARS

THE RISE OF THE SIKH SOLDIER

The Sikh Warrior through the ages, c1700-1900 (Helion and Company).

By Gurinder Singh Mann
General – Pages : 290 | Images : 15 colour & 32 b/w illustrations, 16 colour & 22 b/w photos, 10 maps ISBN-‏191507052X ISBN-‏978-1915070524

The book is unique in that it provides insights into the following:

1) The Sikh Misls were a powerful set of warriors who were able to challenge not the Afghans and Mughals with major success.

2) The Sikh Empire was a world power and had diplomatic links with the British and the French as well as governments within South Asia

3) Whilst the Empire recruited European Mercenaries, the Sikh also had many innovations which surpassed many people’s expectations.

4) The book shows Sikh positions on the Anglo-Sikh Wars maps included. These are rarely depicted.

5) Images include relics and artefacts from various Museums and private collections, some published for the first time.

6) Inclusion of female figures Sada Kaur and Sahib Kaur which highlight their bravery and astuteness in politics and warfare.

7) Unknown campaigns of the Sikhs in the colonial period in Africa, Europe, and as well as South Asia decades before World War 1 and World War 2.

The following key people are highlighted

Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Charat Singh Sukerchakia, Sada Kaur, Sahib Kaur, Hari Singh Nalwa, Akali Phula Singh, Lehna Singh Majithia, General Allard, General Ventura, General Avitabile, and many others.

The book is available from the leading UK Military publishers, Helion and Company: www.helion.co.uk and on several Amazon websites. USA customers can buy direct from Casemate USA.

About Gurinder Singh Mann
Gurinder Singh Mann is a leading Sikh historian and heritage consultant based in the UK who has for over twenty five years prominently promoted Sikh History and Heritage in the UK and throughout the world. He is the author of three books one published with Oxford University Press. Gurinder has researched and discovered many Sikh artefacts linking to Anglo Sikh history. He has appeared on radio and TV, including the BBC, (Celebrity Antiques Roadtrip, BBC World Service) ITV and other channels, giving his views on heritage and theological matters.

He curated the exhibition, Anglo Sikh Wars: Battles, Treaties and Relics (2017), to great acclaim, which took place at Newarke Houses Museum in Leicester. He is presently making historical objects come alive with the Anglo Sikh Virtual Museum, through his organisation, the Sikh Museum Initiative. This is together with project managing the installation of a Sikh Statue in the UK.

On the 16th of March 2022, Leicester was the location of a great evening exploring the history and heritage of the Sikh Empire. The packed-out event was a Q and A was with authors and historians: Peter Bance and Gurinder Singh Mann. Peter Bance has spent many years uncovering material related to the history of the Maharajah Duleep Singh family. Gurinder Singh Mann has worked on various aspects of Sikh history.

The evening was hosted by Sikh Museum Initiative’s Kartar Singh who gave an introduction on the importance of Maharajah’s Ranjit Singh’s Sikh Empire. This was followed by a few words by Deputy City Mayor of Leicester City Council -Councillor Piara Singh Clair M.B.E who explained how the Sikh Empire was shaped.

The Q and A considered various aspects of Sikh history. Gurinder gave the foundation of the Sikh Misl, whilst Peter explained the rise of the Sukerchakia Misl. Both authors explained how the Sikh Empire was shaped focussing not just on the military aspects but also on the renaissance in the arts. Another aspect that has been neglected and underrepresented within Sikh history is the role of Sikh women. Gurinder stated that during the Misl period the wives of leaders were great administrators as well as military leaders citing the names of Sahib Kaur and Sada Kaur. Whilst Peter explained that without the role of women like Sada Kaur the early conquest of Ranjit Singh may not have been possible.

The collapse of the Sikh Empire and the Anglo-Sikh Wars were also discussed. This all led to the annexation of Punjab by the East India Company. The deposing of Maharani Jindan Kaur was a key factor at this time. The conversion of Maharajah Duleep Singh was detailed by Peter. The life of Duleep Singh in Thetford was analysed. The burial of Duleep Singh is considered problematic and how this is viewed in modern times. Various views on this area were exchanged with the participants. The family of Duleep Singh was also discussed including Sophia Duleep Singh and Bamba Sutherland and their relationship with their ancestry. Gurinder cited the amazement of injured Sikh soldiers on seeing Princess Sophia Duleep tending to them in Brighton, whilst Peter explained how the different Ruling families of Punjab met with Bamba.

All in all, it was a great evening where people came from across the country to hear the views of the authors. Several rare letters and photos from the Peter Bance collection were on view. The Sikh Museum Initiative “ Anglo Sikh Virtual Museum” was showcased by Taranjit Singh (Taran3d) on the digital touchscreens and Virtual Reality headsets. Copies of the books by the authors were available to the participants. This included The British and the Sikhs and Sovereign, Squire and Rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh and the Heirs of a Lost Kingdom.

Visit the Sikh Museum Initiative website

The Sikh Museum Initiative/Taran 3d have been working with the Royal Armouries for two years to recreate the Akali Turban in their collection. The other objects which have been 3d modelled include a shield and helmet turban. The Akali Turban represents the third object from the collections. This adds to over 20 objects already created in 3d.

The Sikh Museum Initiative team with Taran 3d undertook the photography and then the photogrammetry of the objects before they were recreated into 3d models.

Gurinder Singh Mann and Taran Singh (Taran3d) undertaking the research on the objects at the Royal Armouries.

The Akali Turban

These are the signature Turbans of the Akali Nihangs the vanguard warriors of the Sikhs since the inception of the Khalsa or fraternity of the pure. The Khalsa was initiated by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru in 1699. Although the Akali army was formulated under the direction of Guru Hargobind, the sixth Guru and Baba Buddha a pious Sikh.

The Akali Turban or Dastar Bunga was most probably kept at Lahore in the Toshkhana or Treasury of the Sikh Empire. In the aftermath of the annexation of the Punjab many objects were taken by the East India Company, and then sent to the Tower of London. The Turban was then sent to the Royal Armouries in Leeds. It has been in the collections since 1853.

Watch the video of Natasha Bennett (Curator) at the Royal Armouries and Gurinder Singh Mann, (Director), Sikh Museum Initiative discuss the Akali Turban.

The Gajgah or “elephant Grappler” is the totem around which the Turban is surrounded with quoits (Chakrams), and small swords or kirpans. A wire chord or Tora holds the Turban together. The loose piece of cloth known as the Farla was given to high ranking Akalis.

The 3d model allows visitors to see the Dastar from different angles and see it close up. This forms part of the Anglo Sikh Virtual Museum project which has been used by schools, and educational institutions across the world.

The 3d model

Visit www.anglosikhmuseum.com/akali-turban/

In recent developments, Monsanto and Bayer have merged into a powerful cartel which controls not only what we eat but also politicians, scientists and journalists.

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Monsanto’s talk of ‘technology’ tries to hide its real objectives of control over seed where genetic engineering is a means to control seed,

“Monsanto is an agricultural company.

We apply innovation and technology to help farmers around the world produce more while conserving more.”

“Producing more, Conserving more, Improving farmers lives.”

These are the promises Monsanto India’s website makes, alongside pictures of smiling, prosperous farmers from the state of Maharashtra. This is a desperate attempt by Monsanto and its PR machinery to delink the epidemic of farmers’ suicides in India from the company’s growing control over cotton seed supply — 95 per cent of India’s cotton seed is now controlled by Monsanto.

Control over seed is the first link in the food chain because seed is the source of life. When a corporation controls seed, it controls life, especially the life of farmers.

Monsanto’s concentrated control over the seed sector in India as well as across the world is very worrying. This is what connects farmers’ suicides in India to Monsanto vs Percy Schmeiser in Canada, to Monsanto vs Bowman in the US, and to farmers in Brazil suing Monsanto for $2.2 billion for unfair collection of royalty.

Through patents on seed, Monsanto has become the “Life Lord” of our planet, collecting rents for life’s renewal from farmers, the original breeders.

Patents on seed are illegitimate because putting a toxic gene into a plant cell is not “creating” or “inventing” a plant. These are seeds of deception — the deception that Monsanto is the creator of seeds and life; the deception that while Monsanto sues farmers and traps them in debt, it pretends to be working for farmers’ welfare, and the deception that GMOs feed the world. GMOs are failing to control pests and weeds, and have instead led to the emergence of superpests and superweeds.

The entry of Monsanto in the Indian seed sector was made possible with a 1988 Seed Policy imposed by the World Bank, requiring the Government of India to deregulate the seed sector.

Five things changed with Monsanto’s entry:

First, Indian companies were locked into joint-ventures and licensing arrangements, and concentration over the seed sector increased.

Second, seed which had been the farmers’ common resource became the “intellectual property” of Monsanto, for which it started collecting royalties, thus raising the costs of seed.

Third, open pollinated cotton seeds were displaced by hybrids, including GMO hybrids. A renewable resource became a non-renewable, patented commodity.

Fourth, cotton which had earlier been grown as a mixture with food crops now had to be grown as a monoculture, with higher vulnerability to pests, disease, drought and crop failure.

Fifth, Monsanto started to subvert India’s regulatory processes and, in fact, started to use public resources to push its non-renewable hybrids and GMOs through so-called public-private partnerships (PPP).

In 1995, Monsanto introduced its Bt technology in India through a joint-venture with the Indian company Mahyco. In 1997-98, Monsanto started open field trials of its GMO Bt cotton illegally and announced that it would be selling the seeds commercially the following year. India has rules for regulating GMOs since 1989, under the Environment Protection Act. It is mandatory to get approval from the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee under the ministry of environment for GMO trials. The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology sued Monsanto in the Supreme Court of India and Monsanto could not start the commercial sales of its Bt cotton seeds until 2002.

And, after the damning report of India’s parliamentary committee on Bt crops in August 2012, the panel of technical experts appointed by the Supreme Court recommended a 10-year moratorium on field trials of all GM food and termination of all ongoing trials of transgenic crops.

But it had changed Indian agriculture already.

Monsanto’s seed monopolies, the destruction of alternatives, the collection of superprofits in the form of royalties, and the increasing vulnerability of monocultures has created a context for debt, suicides and agrarian distress which is driving the farmers’ suicide epidemic in India. This systemic control has been intensified with Bt cotton. That is why most suicides are in the cotton belt.

An internal advisory by the agricultural ministry of India in January 2012 had this to say to the cotton-growing states in India — “Cotton farmers are in a deep crisis since shifting to Bt cotton. The spate of farmer suicides in 2011-12 has been particularly severe among Bt cotton farmers.”

The highest acreage of Bt cotton is in Maharashtra and this is also where the highest farmer suicides are. Suicides increased after Bt cotton was introduced — Monsanto’s royalty extraction, and the high costs of seed and chemicals have created a debt trap. According to Government of India data, nearly 75 per cent rural debt is due to purchase inputs. As Monsanto’s profits grow, farmers’ debt grows. It is in this systemic sense that Monsanto’s seeds are seeds of suicide.

The ultimate seeds of suicide is Monsanto’s patented technology to create sterile seeds. (Called “Terminator technology” by the media, sterile seed technology is a type of Gene Use Restriction Technology, GRUT, in which seed produced by a crop will not grow — crops will not produce viable offspring seeds or will produce viable seeds with specific genes switched off.) The Convention on Biological Diversity has banned its use, otherwise Monsanto would be collecting even higher profits from seed.

Monsanto’s talk of “technology” tries to hide its real objectives of ownership and control over seed where genetic engineering is just a means to control seed and the food system through patents and intellectual property rights.

A Monsanto representative admitted that they were “the patient’s diagnostician, and physician all in one” in writing the patents on life-forms, from micro-organisms to plants, in the TRIPS’ agreement of WTO. Stopping farmers from saving seeds and exercising their seed sovereignty was the main objective. Monsanto is now extending its patents to conventionally bred seed, as in the case of broccoli and capsicum, or the low gluten wheat it had pirated from India which we challenged as a biopiracy case in the European Patent office.

That is why we have started Fibres of Freedom in the heart of Monsanto’s Bt cotton/suicide belt in Vidharba. We have created community seed banks with indigenous seeds and helped farmers go organic. No GMO seeds, no debt, no suicides.

Vandana Shiva is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, and anti-globalization author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. Shiva is one of the leaders and board members of the International Forum on Globalization, and a figure of the anti-globalization movement. She is the founder of Navdanya http://www.navdanya.org/ shiva