ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>HUKAMN&#256M&#256</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="HUKAMNM"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279HUKAMN&#256M&#256, a compound of two Persian words <i>hukm</i>, meaning command or order, and <i>n&#257mah</i>, meaning letter, refers in the Sikh tradition to letters sent by the Gur&#363s to their Sikhs or <i>sa&#7749gats</i> in different parts of the country. Currently, the word applies to edicts issued from time to time from the five <i>ta<u>kh</u>ts</i> or seats of high religious authority for the Sikhs -- the Ak&#257l-Ta<u>kh</u>t at Amritsar, Ta<u>kh</u>t Sr&#299 Kesga&#7771h at Anandpur S&#257hib (Punjab), Ta<u>kh</u>t Harimandar S&#257hib at Pa&#7789n&#257 (Bih&#257r), Ta<u>kh</u>t Sachkha&#7751&#7693 Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib at N&#257nde&#7693 (M&#257h&#257r&#257sh&#7789r&#257) and Ta<u>kh</u>t Damdam&#257 S&#257hib at Talva&#7751&#7693&#299 S&#257bo (in Ba&#7789hi&#7751&#7693&#257 district of the Punjab). Letters addressed to Sikhs by historical personages such as B&#257b&#257 Gurditt&#257, the elder son of Gur&#363 Hargobind, M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299 and M&#257t&#257 S&#257hib Dev&#299, widows of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, and Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur are also included in this genre. Some of the letters of the later Gur&#363s to <i>sa&#7749gats</i> or prominent Sikhs have in recent years been traced and published in two collections, with most of the material common to both, the first entitled <i>Hukamn&#257me</i>, edited by Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh (Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, Punjabi University, 1967), and the second <i>N&#298s&#257&#7751 te Hukamn&#257me</i>, edited by Shamsher Si&#7749gh Ashok (Amritsar, Sikh Itih&#257s Research Board, Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, 1967) . A separate anthology of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur's <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i>, in Devan&#257gar&#299 transcription and with an English translation, was published by Punjabi University, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, in 1976. All <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> were originally written in Punjabi, in Gurmukh&#299 characters. Those of Gur&#363 Hargobind as also most of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur's are believed to have been written in their own hand. It appears, however, that in the time of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, the text was written by a scribe while the Gur&#363 put down on the top of the letter an authentication mark, an invocation or some direction. There is a near uniformity in the format of the <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i>. The earlier ones bore no date; from An 1691 onwards they were usually dated and also, at times, numbered. Later on, the practice of recording at the end of the text the number of lines in the body of the letters also came into vogue. The scribes began the text with the words, <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 J&#299 k&#299 &#257gi&#257 hai</i> (It is the order of the revered Gur&#363, or the revered Gur&#363 desires), preceded by the formula <i>Ik O&#7749k&#257r Gur&#363 Sati</i>, later <i>Ik O&#7749k&#257r Satigur&#363</i> (Remember One God, the True Gur&#363) . B&#257nd&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur (1670-1716), blessed by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh himself, introduced a seal in Persian script as authentication mark and recorded the initial formula to read as <i>Ik O&#7749k&#257r Fateh Darsanu</i> (God is One, Victory to (His) Presence), and the text began with <i>Sache S&#257hib d&#299 &#257gi&#257 hai</i> (by order of the True Master) . <i>Hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> of M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299 begin with the words <i>Sr&#299 M&#257t&#257 J&#299 d&#299 &#257gi&#257 hai</i>, and those of M&#257t&#257 S&#257hib Dev&#299 with <i>Sr&#299 Ak&#257l Purakh J&#299 k&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257lis&#257 Sr&#299 M&#257t&#257 S&#257hib Dev&#299 J&#299 d&#299 &#257gi&#257 hai</i> (M&#257t&#257 S&#257hib Dev&#299's order to the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 of the Timeless One) .</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Apart from their importance to the Sikhs as the sacred remembrances of the Gur&#363s, the <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> are invaluable historical documents. Names of persons and places to which they are addressed provide clues to the composition, socially, of early Sikhism and its spread, geographically. One of the earliest <i>huakamn&#257m&#257s</i> discovered is a missive addressed by Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644) to <i>sa&#7749gats</i> at Pa&#7789n&#257, &#256lamgañj, Sherpur, B&#299n&#257 and Monghyr, in Bih&#257r, and includes no fewer than 62 names of prominent Sikhs belonging to those communities. <i>Hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur (1621-75) and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh (1666-1708) are addressed to <i>sa&#7749gats</i> as far apart as &#7692h&#257k&#257, Chi&#7789&#7789&#257go&#7749g and Sylhet in the east and Pa&#7789an, present-day P&#257kpa&#7789&#7789an, in Pakistan in the west. In addition to blessings from the Gur&#363s and acknowledgement of the devotees' gifts, these letters contain instructions for the followers to cultivate love and prayer as well as indications with regard to the offerings they might bring. The demands ranged from cash contribution in the form of gold or <i>hu&#7751d&#299s</i> (bills of exchange) to pet birds, garments, weapons, cannons and war elephants. Sometimes these demands are written in abbreviated forms. The <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> which are dated help to fix the chronology of certain events. For instance, letters instructing Sikhs not to recognize <i>masands</i>, or tithe-collectors, but to bring their offerings directly to the Gur&#363 on the occasions of Bais&#257kh&#299 and D&#299v&#257l&#299 are all written during 1699 or later, confirming the abolition of the institution of <i>masands</i> Simultaneously with the creation of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 on 30 March 1699. The almost identical letters, both dated 1 K&#257rtik 1764 Bk/2 October 1707, while informing the <i>sa&#7749gats</i> at Dhaul and Kh&#257r&#257 of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's meeting with the Emperor (Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h), enjoined upon them to present themselves duly armed when the Gur&#363 arrived in Kahl&#363r (Anandpur). This was not to be, for the Gur&#363 passed away at N&#257nde&#7693, in the South, a year later, but the Gur&#363's intention of returning to the Punjab is clearly established. The <i>hukamn&#257m&#257s</i> are important linguistically as well and provide crucial clues for tracing the development of the Gurmukh&#299 script and Punjabi prose.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>N&#299s&#257n te Hukamn&#257me</i>. Amritsar, 1967<BR> <li class="C1"> Ganda Singh, ed., <i>Hukamn&#257me</i>. Patiala, 1967<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Singh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Ga&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>