ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>TANKH&#256H</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="TAN"> <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">&#65279TAN<u>KH</u>&#256H, from Persian <i>tan<u>kh</u>w&#257h</i>, generally meaning pay or salary, has an additional, ironical connotation in Sikh vocabulary. The word in this sense means expiatory penalty levied upon a Sikh from breach of <i>rahit</i>, i.e. the prescribed code of conduct or of a vow religiously made. This use of the term appears to have come into vogue during the first half of the eighteenth century. The earliest use of the term <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> and <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299</i> or <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i> appears in <i>Tan<u>kh</u>&#257hn&#257m&#257</i> attributed to Bh&#257&#299 N&#257nd L&#257l, <i>Rahitn&#257m&#257s</i> ascribed to Bh&#257&#299 Day&#257 Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299 Chaup&#257 Si&#7749gh (dates not specified) and <i>Gur Ratan M&#257l (Sau S&#257kh&#299)</i> compiled by S&#257hib Si&#7749gh in 1724 (or 1734). While Bh&#257&#299 Nand L&#257l's <i>Tankh&#257hn&#257m&#257</i> and Chaup&#257 Si&#7749gh's <i>Rahitn&#257m&#257</i> list faults of omission or commission which render a Sikh <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i>, i.e. liable to penalty, Bh&#257&#299 Day&#257 Si&#7749gh's <i>Rahitn&#257m&#257</i> also suggests amounts of fine for some of the misdemeanours and mistranslations. Chaup&#257 Si&#7749gh, on the authority of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, lays down a general rule with regard to the administration of <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i>: "If someone who has committed a <i>kurahit</i> (breach of the code) stands up with folded hands before all, i.e. the <i>sa&#7749gat</i>, pardon him : do not be adamant. Realize <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i>, but bear him no rancour or animosity."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Ordinarily it is only the <i>sa&#7749gat</i>, holy assembly of Sikhs or <i>Pañj Pi&#257re</i>, five Sikhs chosen or appointed by it, who have the authority to declare a person <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i> and impose <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i>. The <i>sa&#7749gat</i> or <i>Pañj Pi&#257re</i> will confront the offending member of the community with the charge and seek his explanation which, if found unsatisfactory, leads to his being declared a <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i>, who generally accepts with humility the <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> levied on him by way of penance for his error and who after undergoing the "punishment" returns to the fold ridding himself of all blemish. It is not uncommon for a Sikh who has violated the religious discipline on any count to confess to the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> or <i>Pañj Pi&#257re</i> and voluntarily attract <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> in expiation. Since the purpose of <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> is to reclaim the defaulter, it generally requires him to perform certain religious acts such as reciting for a given number of times specified scriptural texts in addition to the daily regimen of prayers, and humble service at a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> which may be in the form of dusting the shoes of the devotees or scrubbing used utensils in Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar or the community refectory. One may also have to make an offering of <i>ka&#7771&#257h pras&#257d</i> worth a declared sum or make a cash contribution towards the Gur&#363's <i>golak</i> or the common fund. In case of one or more of the four <i>bajar kurahits</i> or major lapses, i.e. cutting of hair, smoking, adultery and consumption of <i>ku&#7789&#7789h&#257</i> or <i>hal&#257l</i> (flesh of an animal slaughtered according to Muslim practice), occurring, a <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i> after due atonement must also be reinitiated.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When an act of an individual affects the community as a whole, the authority of Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t at Amritsar is invoked. The procedure is the same as followed by local <i>sa&#7749gats</i> in dealing with violation of the religious code. In cases, rare so far, where a person refuses to accept its verdict, the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t has the power to excommunicate him/her.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The first recorded instance of the award of religious punishment involved Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh himself. According to <i>Gur Ratan M&#257l</i>, the Gur&#363 once travelling through R&#257jp&#363t&#257n&#257 reached N&#257r&#257i&#7751&#257, also called D&#257d&#363dv&#257r&#257 after the Saint D&#257d&#363 who had lived there, where he saluted the sepulchre of the saint by lifting an arrow to his head. The Sikhs accompanying him took exception to this and wished to impose <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> for he had infringed his own edict : <i>gor ma&#7771h&#299 mat bh&#363l n&#257 m&#257ne</i> (worship not even by mistake graves or places of cremation). The Gur&#363 appreciated the Sikhs' vigilance and immediately offered to pay the fine. The Sikhs then debated the quantum of <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i>, adds another old source, <i>M&#257lv&#257 Des Ra&#7789an d&#299 S&#257kh&#299 Poth&#299</i>. They in the end asked him to pay Rs.125 which amount they spent on the purchase of a tent for Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1733, a Sikh, Bh&#257&#299 Subeg Si&#7749gh, who was an employee of the Mu<u>gh</u>al government at Lahore and who was deputed to negotiate peace with the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, was, on reaching the appointed venue, first declared <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i> for being in the service of the oppressors and allowed to commence parleys only after he had made good the <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i>. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh (1780-1839) was once summoned to the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t and, held guilty of moral and religious misdemeanour, was awarded <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> including physical punishment which he readily accepted. The latter punishment was, however, waived by Ak&#257l&#299 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh, then <i>Jathed&#257r</i>, of the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t. More recent instances are those of the imposition of <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> on B&#257b&#257 Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh Bed&#299, one of the direct descendants of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, for supporting Mahant Narai&#7751 D&#257s, the head priest of the Nank&#257&#7751&#257 shrine, who had started a campaign against the reformist Sikhs culminating in an open massacre of them on 20 February 1921; proclamation of Jathed&#257r Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Bhuchchar as <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257</i> and his expulsion from the membership of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee for his defiance of and disrespect towards the Pañj Pi&#257re who inaugurated <i>k&#257r-sev&#257</i> or cleansing by voluntary service of the holy tank at Amritsar in June 1923; and the excommunication on 6 August 1928 of B&#257b&#257 Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh of the Pañch <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Bhasau&#7771, and his wife for garbling the scriptural texts and altering the form of <i>gurmantra</i> as well as of <i>ard&#257s</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In November 1961, five Sikhs, eminent in the religious hierarchy, were named as Pañj Pi&#257re to investigate and decide upon an allegation that Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, the senior most political leader of the Sikhs, had broken his solemnly made religious vow during an agitation against the government. T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh was pronounced guilty of having gone back on his plighted word and of having blemished thereby the Sikh tradition of religious steadfastness and sacrifice in that he had abandoned his fast begun after <i>ard&#257s</i> or prayer at Sr&#299 Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t without achieving the stipulated goal. He was laid under expiation to have an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> or unbroken reading of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib performed at the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, daily to recite for one month an extra <i>p&#257&#7789h</i> of the <i>Japu</i>, offer <i>ka&#7771&#257h pras&#257d</i> of the value of Rs.125 and to clean the shoes of the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> and dishes in the Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar for five days. The Pañj Pi&#257re exonerated Sant Fateh Si&#7749gh, another political leader, of a similar charge saying that he had given up his fast, which preceded Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh's, under the command of Pañj Pi&#257re and the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> in general, though he too was held guilty, along with eight members of the working Committee of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal, for acquiescing in Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh breaking his fast. Fateh Si&#7749gh was to recite for one month an additional <i>p&#257&#7789h</i> of the <i>Japu</i> and wash dishes in Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar for five days. Other members of the Working Committee were to broom the Golden Temple precincts. and clean dishes in Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar for two days.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1984, Gi&#257n&#299 Zail Si&#7749gh, then President of India, B&#363&#7789&#257 Si&#7749gh, a Central minister, and Sant&#257 Si&#7749gh, leader of the Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal of Niha&#7749gs, were declared <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h&#299&#257s</i> by the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, the first for allowing the army to march into the premises of Golden Temple in June 1984, and the other two for subsequently holding an unauthorized Sarbatt <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 meeting and taking up, on behalf of the government but against the wishes of the Sikh community, the reconstruction of the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t building. Gi&#257n&#299 Zail Si&#7749gh, however, convinced the Pañj Pi&#257re of his innocence and was pardoned. The other two failed to submit their cases and were consequently excommunicated from the Panth. The institution of <i>tan<u>kh</u>&#257h</i> has thus served over generations to ensure religious integrity and discipline among Sikhs, at individual as well as at panthic level.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Sikh Rahit Mary&#257d&#257</i>. Amritsar, n.d<BR> <li class="C1"> Attar Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>M&#257lv&#257 Des Ra&#7789an d&#299 S&#257kh&#299 Poth&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1950<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Piar&#257 Si&#7749gh,ed., <i>Rahitn&#257me</i>. Patiala, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Randh&#299r Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, ed., <i>Prem Sum&#257rag Granth arth&#257t <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 J&#299van J&#257ch</i>. Amritsar, 1965<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. New Delhi, 1994<BR> <li class="C1"> Nripinder Si&#7749gh, <i>The Sikh Moral Tradition</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Balb&#299r Si&#7749gh Nand&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>