ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SIKH JAM&#298AT</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="SIKH,JAM*"> <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">&#65279SIKH JAM&#298'AT or JAM&#298'AT-I-SIKKH&#256&#7748, also called locally the L&#257haur&#299 Fauj or Lahore army, was the designation given the Sikh force in the employment of the Niz&#257ms or rulers of the former Indian state of Hyder&#257b&#257d. Jam&#299&#8217at is an Arabic word meaning an assemblage or congregation. The Sikh Jam&#299'at came into existence during the rule of the third Niz&#257m, Sikandar J&#257h (1803-29), who raised it on the advice of R&#257j&#257 Chand&#363 L&#257l, a Punjabi who rose to a position of great influence at the Niz&#257m's court. The Niz&#257m had in his service contingents of the Arabs and the Ruh&#299l&#257s, and Chand&#363 L&#257l, conversant with the martial qualitites of Sikh soldiers, recommended a similar force composed purely of Sikhs. The Niz&#257m sent an embassy to Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh with costly gifts (including a richly bejewelled canopy which the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 presented to the Golden Temple, Amritsar, where it was preserved until recently), to request him to send some Sikh soldiers to Hyder&#257b&#257d. The Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 readily agreed. In order not to arouse British suspicions these soldiers travelled to Hyder&#257b&#257d in small batches. The exact number and the time of the arrival of the Sikhs in Hyder&#257b&#257d is not known but old records refer to the existence of a Sikh force in 1810. Its strength has been estimated at 1,200. On arrival they were stationed in R&#257m B&#257<u>gh</u>-Kishan B&#257<u>gh</u> area, afterwards known as Shh&#257on&#299 Sujjg&#257&#7749 or the Sikh cantonment. Later they were divided into 12 <i>chh&#257o&#7751&#299s</i> or camps, each <i>chh&#257o&#7751&#299</i> functioning as an independent unit. Their main function was the collection of revenue from recalcitrant landlords and suppression of rebellions in the territory. They proved so efficient in the performance of their duties that they soon won the Niz&#257m's favour and had their emoluments doubled. They also acquired the privilege of purchasing and inheriting property in the state and of joining service in other government departments. During the time of the fourth Niz&#257m, N&#257sir ud-Daul&#257 (1829-57), another 1,000 Sikhs trickled into Hyder&#257b&#257d and joined the state army and police force.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sikh Jam&#299'at continued to exist till after India became independent in 1947. It was disbanded with effect from 1 May 1951 when each soldier of the force was given five years' salary as compensation and dismissed. A large number of the soldiers were however retaken into the police department. The Niz&#257m, who was re-designated as R&#257jpramukh of the state, also retained 100 Sikhs under Ris&#257ld&#257r Khem Si&#7749gh in his personal bodyguard, but the number was gradually reduced. In 1960, Ris&#257ld&#257r Khem Si&#7749gh was appointed <i>sarbar&#257h</i> or head of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Board Sachkha&#7751&#7693 Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib, N&#257nde&#7693, constituted in 1956, and this last remnant of the Sikh Jam&#299'at faded away.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The soldiers of the Jam&#299'at preserved their identity as Sikhs. Each <i>chh&#257o&#7751&#299</i> of the Sikh Jam&#299'at had its own <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>. Although most of them married local women and settled down permanently in the South, they brought up their children as Sikhs. Later they intermarried among themselves and among other families of immigrant Sikhs. They not only adopted the five K's, religious symbols of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, but also carried five weapons each, viz. two pistols, a sword, a dagger and a musket or, later, rifle. Moreover, they insisted on wearing their traditional dress comprising a <i>chol&#257</i> (long cloak), <i>kachhahir&#257</i> (drawers reaching down to cover the knees), and <i>chakkar</i> (sharp-edged quoits) over the turban. For over half a century they resisted the government's orders to put on regulation dress of the Western style. It was only in 1912, after the government had accepted their demand that the cost of the uniform be met from the public exchequer, that the Sikhs of the Jam&#299'at agreed to wear the prescribed dress. Even now the male descendants of the Jam&#299'at and other Sikhs settled in the former Hyder&#257b&#257d state and collectively known as Dakkha&#7751&#299 (from the Deccan) Sikhs are recognizable by their unshorn hair and <i>kachhahir&#257s</i> that cover their knees.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Bingley, Capt. A. H., <i>Sikhs--- A Handbook for Indian Army</i>. Calcutta, 1918<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Nirvair Si&#7749gh Arsh&#299<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>