The road to empire : the political education of Khalsa Sikhs in the late 1600s / Satnam Singh.
| Author/creator | Singh, Satnam, 1987- author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2024] |
| Description | xxii, 321 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Introduction : power, political ideas, and literature -- Sikh tradition and Rajniti -- The Anandpur library : intellectual empowerment of Sikhs through literature of antiquity -- Oceans of knowledge : sources and compilations -- The institutional context of the Dasam Granth Sahib -- Teaching statesmanship through storytelling : fables and erotic stories -- Dharam and Niti : balancing between lofty ideals and pragmatism -- The Guru's political objectives -- Combining Rajniti and Rahit : the Khalsa Shall rule -- From translators to political thinkers -- The Sikh Raj of Anandpur (c. 1684-1704) -- The Khalsa's Raj around Mukhlispur (c. 1710-1716) -- Punjab under the rule of Khalsa Rajas (1765-1799) -- Conclusion : The political education of Khalsa Sikhs -- Appendix : literature in the Anandpur library. |
| Abstract | "In 16th-century Mughal India, warrior groups across the subcontinent rose in rebellion, causing great political disruptions to the existing order. During this period, the Sikh community transformed from a relatively insignificant religious minority to an elevated position of kingship and empire. Under the leadership of Guru Gobind Singh, Sikh elites and peasants began to align themselves with discourses of power and authority, and within a few decades Khalsa warriors conquered some of the wealthiest provinces of the Mughal and Afghan empires. In this book, Satnam Singh argues that the Sikhs' increasing self-assertion was not simply a reaction to Mughal persecution but also a result of an active program initiated by the Guru to pursue larger visions of scholarship, conquest, and political sovereignty. Using a vast trove of understudied court literature, Singh shows how Sikhs grappled with Indo-Islamic traditions to forge their own ideas of governance and kingship with the aim to establish an independent Sikh polity. The Road to Empire offers an impressive intellectual history of the early modern Sikh world"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version: Singh, Satnam, 1987- Road to empire Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2024] 9780520399389 |
| LCCN | 2024005204 |
| ISBN | 9780520399372 |
| ISBN | 0520399374 hardcover |
| ISBN | electronic book |
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