The Sikh Renaissance

We are joined once again by the legendary Anmol Singh Rode, Ranneeti Punjab, for another exciting episode. This time we discuss the discipline of historiography, a field bordering on an art form in which academics and intellectuals study how and why history is formed in our minds. We delve deep into the fundamentals of historiography, its relation to Sikh academia and its implications for the futu...

In this brief episode we look at a marvellous incident from the Sri Gur Sobha of the poet Sainapati, a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Sainapati was an eyewitness to the Guru's destruction of a village called Alsoon in the vicinity of Anandpur Sahib after the 1691 battle of Nadaun. The Sikhs had triumphed and were returning home when the Guru passed near Alsoon. He immediately ordered it...

This idea for this episode originated after a heated debate between a team member and an evangelical zealot. The zealot in question ,Shahi 1987, adopted the position that death could not be divine and was not brought into existence by God. Such fictional mythologizing runs against the grain of reality that Sikhs accept as being Hukam , divine will. In this episode we distill the gist of what this...

In 1781 the fanatical Mughals attacked the Punjab for the last time. Bested by the maverick general Baghel Singh of the KaroraSinghiyaa Confederacy they were effectively routed and beat a hasty retreat never to return. But the KaroraSinghiyaa was an unique body of Khalsa men who swore to get even and in 1783 launched a massive campaign which resulted in Delhi, the subcontinental capital, being rai...

December, a month of remembrance for the Sikhs who pay tribute to the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh Ji's family and four sons while treading the path of Guru Nanak. However, do we still retain their militant spirit?

Bhai Bota Singh and Bhai Garja Singh are two of the most conspicuous Martyrs of 18th century Sikh history. In this episode we explore their lives and the relevance they hold for the Sikh world today.

Professor Audrey Truschke, the Hindu Right and Islamists-these three seemingly disparate entities are united in denying and disparaging the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur the ninth Sikh Guru. In this episode not only do we answer their allegation that no contemporary source exists to evince this martyrdom, but we also cite contemporary Persian sources written by those nearest to Aurangzeb substant...

A Punjabi episode on how disparate gender ideologies and second wave feminism harm the Sikh nuclear family unit.

Life is cruel, so is reality. But what if we make this Cruelty our mentor like Guru Nanak emphasizes?

The Sri Gur Panth Prakash is a 19th century Sikh chronicle delineating the historic ascendance of Khalsa sovereignty in 17th-18th century Punjab. In this episode we explore all the information available on the text; discuss its history and compilation as well as refuting H.S. Chopra's specious allegations (made in 1988) that the polemic Bhai Vir Singh altered it. 

Society overtly favors professional victimhood. The Khalsa opposes this. Listen to how this war plays out today.

We are joined by eminent guest Dr. Joginder Singh Ji Tej Khurana who is the foremost historian of the Afghan Sikhs. An ex-serving member of the Afghan Grand Assembly, medical specialist and unrivalled intellectual-Dr. Tej Khurana charts the past, present and potential future of Afghanistan and its Sikh populace. Since the seeding of Sikhi among the Afghans, Sikhs have confronted hostility and sang...

Sikhi is universal. Its moralistic aspect transcends borders, nations and territories. The Sikh faith was seeded beyond Punjab by its progenitor Guru Nanak. One of the fecund regions of the subcontinent which even today has a strong and growing Sikh population which Guru Nanak graced is this very same East India. The rich history of East Indian Sikhs has only now been revealed by eminent authority...

Misl Shahid was an 18th century Khalsa political Confederacy which was a precursor to the likes of the SGPC today. Its rise and fall encapsulates the internal strife which plagued the Misls after their heyday. By understanding the history of Shahid Misl we can unlock many enigmas of the Sikh past, particularly those of the modern Akali-Nihangs.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh-maybe the most Machiavellian ruler of them all. His meteoric rise to power belied a very cunning and Machiavellian persona which unfortunately the Sikh leaders of today lack. What can we learn from Ranjit Singh and how is it relevant to today? Listen to hear more.  

The Heart Of A Warrior is a leadership principle. Akin to the Warrior stepping onto the field of battle, preparing to make sacrifices, so too does the Leader step onto their field of battle. The Warrior steels his heart and stiffens his spine; resolute in the face of death. The Leader too must steel their heart and stiffen their spines; resolute in the face of the unknown. In this episode we discu...

We are joined by savvy historian/historiographer Anmol Singh Rode ( Ranneeti Punjab) in debunking the outrightly fallacious claim of right wing propagandists that the Marathas entered the Punjab in the mid-18th century to save Sikhi and rebuild the sacrosanct Sikh Darbar Sahib. Relying primarily on Maratha historians (Besam, Kulkarni, Sardesai, Gordon and Sarkar) as well as contemporary material w...

There has been much unnecessary academic controversy ignited over the 5 K's. McLeodian allegations have included denying their origination with the tenth Guru and accusing the Singh-Sabha Lahore of concocting them. On the other hand the modern Upgrade school ludicrously proposes that the priestly class invented the K's and all evidence related to them within the span of one century and that All Si...

Gurbani identifies fear as a contagion; an illness which rapidly proliferates and takes over its host society. What exactly is fear and how does one Master it? We argue that the vilification of fear is a matter of perception and just as the occasional exposure to pathogens strengthens our immune system similarly exposure to fear emboldens us to live life wholly by transforming it from a handicap i...

Decadence and decay-the two most relevant adjectives to describe the state of society today. But why is society atrophying and what can Sikhs learn from it? Will Sikh society, if ever restored, too perish similarly? Listen to find out. 

How should we approach the question of Sikh history? How should we comprehend our Ithiaasic Granths ? Through the framework of blind Sharda (faith)? Through the application of common sense? Or through careful sifting of fact from fiction and applying Gurbani as the ideological touchstone to understand each and every facet of our physical and written heritage? Covering vast historiographical topics...

Why is the SGGS subjected to atrocious intellectual and physical attacks? It is high time that each and every professed Sikh look within it and comprehend its words to understand that its stance on liberating Sikhs from bondage and making them true Khalsas is antithetical to political, religious and social agendas ergo its repeated targeting. 

The Ghadar Party was a majority Sikh based anti-imperialist militant nexus of globally based Sikhs aiming to forge a coalition of subcontinental provinces to overthrow the British in India and establish a subcontinent wide commonwealth. Its failure removed it from history by default with Marxists, Nationalists and Socialists misappropriating and revamping its history for their own insidious aims....

54 Laws of Khalsa Leadership-we do not intend this to be an exhaustive list. Rather, it is a nascent start detailing what we believe to be 54 of the Khalsa's fundamental leadership laws based on our reading of Sikh history and Sikhi in action. Join us as we kick off 2022 with an exploration of Leadership as a calling and as a principle. 

The age-old question of what is right and what is wrong, election or selection? The Ancient Athenians onwards, communities and societies have often favored selection over election with the crucial difference being that selections are done by a few for the many whereas elections are done by the many for a few. In this episode we get to the bare bones of both systems and make a case for selection gi...