The Story Of The Sikhs

In this episode, Ranjit Singh is crowned king of the Punjab; the venerable Sardar Sahib Singh Bedi presides over the coronation and daubs the young king’s forehead with saffron. As the young king tries to consolidate power, tumultuous events roil the subcontinent. To the West the grandsons of Ahmad Shah Abdali are locked in internecine warfare as they fight for the Afghan throne. Closer to home, t...

As the young Ranjit Singh settles in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, which he has just captured, he has to contend with rival Muslim and SIkh chiefs, who resent his successes. Even as he deals with the immediate threats he takes note of significant events all over the subcontinent that present challenges and opportunities. There is great turmoil in Afghanistan as the king, Shah Zaman squares of...

The beleaguered citizens of Lahore, suffering under the misrule of the Bhangi triumvirate of Chait Singh, Mohr Singh and Sahib Singh, send a petition to the young Shukerchakia chief, Ranjit Singh. With the help of his visionary mother-in-law, Mata Sada Kaur, the leader of the Kanhaiya Misl, Ranjit Singh takes the capital of the Punjab.

Shah Zaman, the grandson of Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had been the scourge of the Punjab for decades crosses the Indus again. As the Sikhs prepare to abandon their cities in the face of the Afghan juggernaut, Sardarni Sada Kaur persuades them to dig their heels in and resist. The young Ranjit Singh, the grandson of the legendary Sikh warrior Sardar Charat Singh Shukerchakia, challenges the Afghan Kin...

The Afghan King Shah Zaman, the grandson of Ahmed Shah Abdali invades the Punjab providing an opportunity for the young Ranjit Singh to start building his reputation.

Ghulam Qadir Rohilla returns to Delhi and blinds the Emperor Shah Alam, replacing him with his puppet. George Thomas becomes the commander of one of the four battalions of Sardhana, the kingdom of Begum Samru and also becomes her paramour. Ghulam Qadir is defeated and killed by the Marathas, who restore Shah Alam to the throne. Maha Singh lays siege to the fort of Sodhra, which is under the contro...

Maha Singh Shukerchakia takes his six year old son Ranjit Singh with him on a successful expedition to Jammu, which yields great wealth, but disaster strikes and the child is stricken with smallpox. The boy recovers but the attack leaves him blind in one eye and scars his face permanently. As Ranjit Singh’s mother goes to Jwalamukhi to pray at the temple there for her son’s recovery, she gets an u...

A squabble over plunder realized from an attack on the kingdom of Jammu creates a rupture between Maha Singh Shukerchakia and his mentor Jai Singh, the Kanhaiya patriarch. After Jai Singh insults his protégé and threatens him, Maha Singh conspires with Raja Sansar Chand and Jassa Singh Ramgarhia against the Kanhaiyas. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Baghel Singh and other Sikh chiefs launch raids across th...

The story opens in the year 1774, when the mighty Mughal Empire, which had ruled the Indian subcontinent has crumbled, leaving the Punjab in chaos. Ahmad Shah Abdali the ruler of Afghanistan and the scourge of the Sikhs, who had wrested the Punjab from the Mughals has also passed away recently. The Sikhs, who are organized into twelve bands, known as The Misls, have stepped into the power vacuum a...

With the passing of Ahmad Shah Abdali and the utter collapse of the Mughal Empire, the Sikhs see unbounded opportunities to consolidate their power. New threats appear on the horizon as the Marathas rise again and the British East India Company turns its eyes towards Delhi.

Ahmad Shah Abdali returns to the Punjab, this time determined to destroy the Sikhs. Thousands are killed in the Wadda Ghallughara or the great holocaust, but the Sikhs, unbowed, stand up to him and end up the de-facto rulers of their homeland, the Punjab.

Ahmed Shah Abdali invades Hindustan again and decimates the tottering Mughal Empire. The Afghans occupy Lahore and desecrate the Golden Temple. Baba Deep Singh falls while battling the Afghans in Amritsar. The Marathas enter Punjab and try to reassert Mughal control over the province. Ahmad Shah Abdali returns and breaks the back of Maratha power in a great battle fought at Panipat.

Mir Mannu,  who takes command of Lahore, views the Sikhs as a threat. Ahmed Shah Abdali, returns to avenge his defeat. The Sikhs start growing in power as the Punjab stays turbulent

Bhai Taru Singh is tortured and put to death by Zakriya Khan. Thousands of Sikhs are slain by his deputy Lakhpat Rai. A new king, who will cast a long shadow on the homeland of the Sikhs, rises in the west.

A new threat approaches from the West, which threatens the Mughal Empire and creates an opportunity for the Sikhs. 

The respite for the Sikhs is very brief. Once again Nawab Zakriya Khan unleashes a reign of terror and new heroes rise in the face of terrible oppression. 

Nawab Zakriya Khan of Lahore decides to extend an olive branch to the Sikhs. An emissary is sent with a title and land and the Sikhs get their own Nawab.

Banda Singh Bahadur’s rebellion is over  and Lahore is the hands of an oppressive ruler intent on destroying the Sikhs. It is a time when men who can ride, lead and wield a sword might make a reputation for themselves.

The might of the Mughal Empire descends on the Sikhs and a fierce battle is fought at Lohgarh. Banda Bahadur manages to escape but is besieged by powerful Mughal commanders at Gurdas Nangal, where he fights his last battle. 

Guru Gobind Singh’s chosen deputy, the former sorcerer Banda Singh Bahadur has managed to amass an army, He is ready to bring Nawab Wazir Khan, who mercilessly murdered the Guru’s younger sons to justice.

Guru Gobind Singh, traveling South, meets a powerful sorcerer on the banks of the Godavari. The sorcerer, transformed by the encounter, becomes a beloved disciple of the Guru's and is given a mission.

NIGHT OF THE RESTLESS SPIRITS is a collection of heart-rending short stories that attempt to capture the 1984 massacre in all its complexity and contradictions. Sarbpreet Singh’s stories take the reader on a journey fraught with love and tinged with tragedy, frayed relationships, the breaking down of humanity and resilience in the face of absolute despair, blurring the lines between the personal a...

A musical feast of shabads in various forms of Raga Malhar

Recitation and English translation of the Jaap Shib (continued)

Why Black Lives Matter to Sikhs