ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>THE HISTORY OF THE SIKHS</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 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">&#65279<i>THE HISTORY OF THE SIKHS</i> by W.L. M'Gregor, a surgeon in the British Indian army, was first published by James Madden, London, in 1846, in two volumes, and reprinted by the Languages Department, Punjab, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, in 1970. The first volume is sub-titled "containing the lives of the Gooroos; the history of the independent Sirdars, or Missuls and the life of the great founder of the Sikh monarchy, Maharajah Runjeet Si&#7749gh" and is devoted entirely to these themes. Obviously, it is based on the works of Ahmad Sh&#257h's <i>T&#257r&#299<u>kh</u>-i-Hind</i> and Prinsep's <i>Life of Runjeet Singh</i>. The second volume, sub-titled "containing an account of the war between the Sikhs and the British in 1845-46," deals with events after the death of Mahar&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh up to the end of the first Anglo-Sikh war.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The first volume comprises, besides Introduction, eighteen chapters, the first six of which are devoted to the Gur&#363s -- one to Gur&#363 N&#257nak, founder of the Sikh faith, second to the succeeding eight Gur&#363s and the next four to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, the tenth and last in the line of the Gur&#363s or prophet-teachers. The next two chapters deal with the career of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur and with developments leading to the establishment of Sikh <i>misls</i> or political chiefships. The three succeeding chapters, based almost entirely on <i>T&#257r&#299<u>kh</u>-i-Hind</i>, deal with six of the twelve Sikh <i>misls</i>, namely the Bha&#7749g&#299, the Faizull&#257pur&#299&#257, the R&#257mga&#7771h&#299&#257, the Kanhaiy&#257, the &#256hl&#363v&#257l&#299&#257 and the Sukkarchakk&#299&#257. The author left out the remaining <i>misls</i> because of their having accepted British suzerainty and thus, in his opinion, not falling within the purview of his study. The last seven chapters, a large part of which he based on Prinsep and Ahmad Sh&#257h, are devoted to the Sikh sovereign, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The second volume, comprising eighteen chapters, begins with the death of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and, alluding to courtly conspiracies which followed it and describing the Anglo-Sikh wars, concludes with Punjab's annexation by the British. The reign of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh forms a major theme of this volume. The author's treatment of the period is coloured by the prevalent British viewpoint.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The book suffers from many errors of fact as well as of interpretation. It has little appreciation for Sikhs as a people and, in imitation of earlier Persian chronicles, refers to them, especially Band&#257 Si&#7749gh, in unflattering terms. The author does not deny the title of greatness to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, but he fails to comprehend the essential nuances of Sikh religion and philosophy. He considers Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh as the last sovereign in the Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh lineage and states that the Sikh army during the reign of Duleep Si&#7749gh had become "so arrogant that no longer confining itself to the Punjab, it aimed at the conquest of Hindustan and imagined itself capable of overthrowing the British supremacy." M'Gregor's book is not plain history, yet it is valuable source material. The purposes, prejudices and attitudes of the author will however have to be taken into consideration while making use of it.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Fauja Singh, ed., <i>Historians and Historiography of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> <li class="C1"> Khurana, Gianeshwar. <i>British Historiography on the Sikh Power in Punjab</i>. Delhi, 1985<BR> <li class="C1"> Darshan Singh, <i>Western Perspective on the Sikh Religion</i>. Delhi, 1991<BR> <li class="C1"> Grewal, J.S., <i>Guru Nanak in Western Scholarship</i>. Delhi, 1992<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">J. S. Grew&#257l<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>