Nanakpanthi

Nanakpanthis[1] (Gurmukhi: ਨਾਨਕਪੰਥੀ; nānakapathī, meaning "follower of the way of life of Nanak"[2]), also known as Nanakshahis,[3] are terms that refer to followers of a Sikh sect who follow the teachings of and revere Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the foundational guru of a spiritual community natively known as Nanakpanth.[3][4]

Nanakpanth
ਨਾਨਕਪੰਥ
Photograph of a ‘Nanukshahe’, by J.L. Lyell, ca.1860's
Total population
Unknown
Founder
Guru Nanak
Regions with significant populations
 India •  Pakistan •  Afghanistan •    Nepal •  Bhutan •  Sri Lanka
Punjab • Sindh
Religions
Sikhism • Hinduism
Scriptures
Guru Granth Sahib • Janamsakhi
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History

The term finds its first attested mention in the Janamsakhi of the Miharvan tradition.[5] The term also finds a later mention in the famous Dabistan-i-Mazahib dating to the mid-17th century.[5]

Description

Nanakpanth is an open frontier that references strongly an early Sikh community. Nanakpanthi signifies any person, regardless of any religious affiliation, who follows Guru Nanak and believes in his teachings of universal brotherhood, truth, love, tolerance, compassion, and most importantly Oneness of one single formless Waheguru (the creator of the whole Universe).[6]

Distribution

Today some Sindhis and Punjabis consider themselves not simply as Hindus or Muslims, but more precisely as Nanakpanthis, both in Pakistan and in India.[7][8][9] They generally do not sport beards or wear a turban unlike Amritdhari Sikhs.[10] In the later 1911 Census Report, Shahpur District (Punjab) reported that 20,539 Hindus (being 34 percent of the total Hindu population) identified as Nanakpanthi along with 78,016 Sikhs (being 38 percent of the total Sikh population).[11] There is no data for the specific number of Nanakpanthis.

Worldwide there are estimated 25–30 million Sikhs who solely identify their religious affiliation as "Sikh".[12][13] However, there are in addition many millions of people across the world who also venerate the 10 Sikh Gurus and follow the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib.[upper-alpha 1][14] Amritsar is the holiest city in Sikhism and about 120 million people from across the world visit it each year for pilgrimage.[15]

Various number of ethnicities/sects in India follow the teachings of Guru Nanak and visit gurudwaras along with worshipping Hindu deities at mandirs. The Indian government considers them as Hindus in the official census.[16] A major segment of ethnic Punjabis who are Hindu by religion especially in Indian Punjab, Pakistan's Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Jammu and Uttarakhand etc. have continued heterogeneous religious practices in spiritual kinship with Sikhism. This not only includes veneration of the Sikh gurus in private practice but also visit to Sikh gurdwaras in addition to Hindu mandirs.[17]

Nanakpanthi, as a label referring to the selective and personal following of Guru Nanak alone whilst ignoring his successors, was heavily criticized by mainstream Sikh writers, such as by Bhai Gurdas.[5]

Punjabi Muslims

Haroon Khalid, a cultural anthropologist, noted that after Partition, a few Muslims regularly visited Guru Nanak's shrine in Kartapur Sahib and made offerings, continuing to do so despite the shrine's dilapidated condition and harboring of smugglers and drug addicts.[18] Descendants of Bhai Mardana, a Muslim companion of Guru Nanak, have been reported to follow a syncretic tradition of both Sikhism and Islam. Muslim rubabi, including the lineage of Mardana, performed kirtans in gurdwaras prior to the Partition.[19][20][8]

In Sindh

Sikhism became popularized in Sindh due to the missionary works of Udasi saints.[21] However, Nanakpanth and Udasipanth are different sects of Sikhism, with a major difference being that Udasis adopt a life-hood of celibacy whilst Nanakpanthis freely marry and bear children.[22] Another theory is that Sikhs from the Punjab settled in Sindh during the 16th century to escape persecution with them and their descendants gradually forming the basis of the Nanakpanth community.[23] Guru Nanak is said to have traveled through Sindh, reaching the Shikarpur area and having an impact on the spirituality of the locals of the region.[2] Even in the 1881 and 1891 Indian censuses, the Sindhi Hindu community could not decide to collectively identify as Hindu or Sikh.[24] Many Sindh Nanakpanthis migrated from their homeland to India during the 1947 partition and can now be found settled in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Rajasthan.[2]

Many Sindhi Hindus in both India and Pakistan believe in Guru Nanak and visit gurudwaras regularly.[25][26] A Sindhi temple typically houses both the Guru Granth Sahib as well images of various Hindu deities.[27]

Places of worship

A Nanakpanthi temple is known as a Tikano or Tikana (a term also used for Sewapanthi temples).[28][29][22] They are highly prevalent in Sindh,[30][22] where religious syncretism between Hinduism and Sikhism can be observed and clear-cut religious boundaries become blurry and ill-defined.[31][32][33] At a tikana is usually a copy of the primary Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, alongside images of Indic deities.[32][22]

  • Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana with three devotees, from a series of Janamsakhi paintings
    Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana with three devotees, from a series of Janamsakhi paintings
  • ‘Nanakpanthi’, a Sikh who follows Guru Nanak, ca.1825.
    ‘Nanakpanthi’, a Sikh who follows Guru Nanak, ca.1825.
  • Sketch of a 'Nanakpanthi' by Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe (1795-1853)
    Sketch of a 'Nanakpanthi' by Sir Thomas Theophilus Metcalfe (1795-1853)
  • Nanakpanthi depiction of Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana
    Nanakpanthi depiction of Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana
  • Guru Nanak riding a fish, Nanakpanthi artwork possibly from Sindh
    Guru Nanak riding a fish, Nanakpanthi artwork possibly from Sindh

See also

References
  1. According to Karnail Singh Panjoli of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
  1. Rose, H. A. (Horace Arthur); Ibbetson, Denzil; Maclagan, Edward (1911). A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province : based on the census report for the Punjab, 1883 vol 3. Wellcome Library. Lahore : Printed by the superintendent, Government printing, Punjab. pp. 152.
  2. Singh, Bhupinder (October 2020). "Nanakpanthis". Abstracts of Sikh Studies. Institute of Sikh Studies. XXII (4).
  3. Singh, Bhupender (2022). Baba Nanak Shah Fakir. Blue Rose Publishers. p. 131. ISBN 9789357046602.
  4. Wagret, Paul (1983). India, Nepal. Nagel's encyclopedia-guide. Nagel Publishers. p. 103. ISBN 9782826307297. The most spiritual group, and the one which appears most faithful to the teaching of Guru Nanak, is the Nanakpanthi or Nanakshahi, associated with the "Golden Temple" at Amritsar, which is a place of pilgrimage for all Sikhs.
  5. Mann, Gurinder Singh. Guru Nanak's Life and Legacy: An Appraisal. University of California, Santa Barbara. p. 23. A final detail revolves around the reference to the early Sikh community as the "Nanak Panth." Although scholars such as McLeod and many others of his generation use this label freely and without question, it must be underscored that this term does not appear in the writings of Guru Nanak, or those of his successors and their followers. It first shows up in the Janam Sakhi attributed to Miharban (d. 1640), a first cousin of the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind (b. 1595?, Guru 1606–1644), and even more important for us, the leader of a major Sikh sectarian group of the time (Minhas/Chhota Mel). The Dabistan-i-Mazahib, a mid-seventeenth-century Farsi text, is the first non-Sikh document to use the name the Nanak Panthi along with the Gursikh to refer to the community. Furthermore, it is important to point out that a name such as the Nanak Panth, which evokes the idea of "personal" following of a leader, is criticized in the writings of Bhai Gurdas and is categorically denounced in the poetry created during the period of Guru Gobind Singh (1675-1708). In other words, the name assigned to the early Sikh community in current scholarship is not a self-designation, but a sectarian/external label the nature of which is criticized in the mainstream Sikh literature.
  6. "Guru Nanak Dev: Gurupurab: Guru Nanak Dev's 5 teachings that will change the way you look at life - the Economic Times".
  7. Struggling to revive Gurmukhi, Amar Guriro, Express Tribune, OCTOBER 18, 2016
  8. Sharma, Sanjay (2011-10-24). "2-year-old twentieth generation Muslim devotee of Guru Nanak". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  9. "Explained: Who are Nanak Naam Lewa, and why Kartarpur Corridor can't be limited to Sikhs". 10 November 2019.
  10. ETPB could disbar non-Sikh pilgrims from visiting gurdwaras in Pakistan, Times of India, Apr 27, 2018
  11. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Vol. 1
  12. "Who are Sikhs and what do they believe?". 5 August 2012.
  13. "Sikhs in Wolverhampton celebrate 550 years of Guru Nanak". BBC News. 12 November 2019.
  14. Goyal, Divya (3 November 2019). "Explained: Who are Nanak Naam Lewa, and why Kartarpur Corridor can't be limited to Sikhs". The Indian Express.
  15. "Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar - Pilgrimage - GCSE Religious Studies Revision". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  16. "Explained: Who are Nanak Naam Lewa, and why Kartarpur Corridor can't be limited to Sikhs". 3 November 2019.
  17. Raj, Dhooleka Sarhadi (2003). Where Are You From? Middle-Class Migrants in the Modern World. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780520233836.
  18. Khalid, Haroon (10 November 2017). "How Nanak's Muslim followers in Pakistan never abandoned Kartarpur Sahib, his final resting place". scroll.in.
  19. Khalid, Haroon. "Lost in Partition, the Sikh-Muslim connection comes alive in the tale of Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-05-14.
  20. Khalid, Haroon (2018-04-13). "Lost in Partition, the Sikh-Muslim connection comes alive in the tale of Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  21. Takhar, Opinderjit Kaur; Jakobsh, Doris R. (2023). Global Sikhs: Histories, Practices and Identities. Routledge Critical Sikh Studies. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000847352. Unlike Sufi shrines, the Sindhi mandir has escaped academic attention in the tracing of pre-partition syncretic traditions partially because of the geographical boundaries of Sikh and Panjab studies. The history of Sikhism in Sindh and the appeal of particular forms of Sikhism among Sindhi mandir can provide a glimpse into the co-existence of Sikh and Hindu practices in the Sindhi mandir. It was Richard F. Burton who, in his book Sindh & the Races that Inhabit the Valley of the Indus (1851), "describes the curious mix of Hindu and Sikh practices among Sindhi Hindus". He observes that "they show a general tendency towards the faith of Nanak Shah, and that many castes have so intermingled the religion of the Sikhs with their original Hinduism, that we can scarcely discern the line of demarcation (1851)." The historical reason for the prevalence of these syncretic practices in Sindh was due to the Sindhis being introduced to Sikhism by the Udasi panth popularized by Guru Nanak's son Sri Chand whose followers are known as Nanakpanthi Sikhs in Sindh. Nanakpanth refers to Sikhs who follow the teachings of Guru Nanak without observing the five Ks prescribed for Khalsa Sikhs and do not find Hinduism as conflictual with Sikhism. Unlike Nanakpanthis who follow the rituals of Hinduism, performed idol worship and are Hindus except that they kept Guru Granth Sahib in their places of worship, new categories of sikhs in Sindh who describe themselves as Gursikhs claim to bow their heads only in front of the Guru Granth Sahib.
  22. Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali (26 May 2013). "The Sikhs of Sindh". Originally published on The Friday Times, republished on SikhChic.
  23. Jatt, Zahida. (2018). Devotion Transcending Regional Boundaries: An Exploration of the Origin, Adaption and Development of Udasipanth in Sindh. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322343647_Devotion_Transcending_Regional_Boundaries_An_Exploration_of_the_Origin_Adaption_and_Development_of_Udasipanth_in_Sindh
  24. Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River - Alice Albinia ISBN 978-1-84854-786-5
  25. "Nanakpanthi Saints of Sindh". 13 April 2018.
  26. "'Nanakpanthis' in Sindh face hate campaign". The Times of India. 17 September 2017.
  27. Falzon, M. A. (2022-07-25). Selling Anything Anywhere: Sindhis and Global Trade. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-578-8.
  28. Singh, R. N. (2003). Historical Development of Sikhism: Religion to Politics. Encyclopaedia of Sikh Heritage. Commonwealth. pp. 81–82. ISBN 9788171697038.
  29. Falzon, Mark-Anthony (2004). Cosmopolitan Connections: The Sindhi Diaspora, 1860-2000. International Comparative Social Studies. Vol. 9. Leiden: Brill. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-90-04-14008-0.
  30. Ramey, Steven W. (2008). Hindu, Sufi, or Sikh: Contested Practices and Identifications of Sindhi Hindus in India and Beyond (1st ed.). Springer. pp. 180–81. ISBN 9780230616226.
  31. Malhi, Gobind (1998). Sadhu Hiranand: The Man and His Mission. National Biography. National Book Trust, India. p. 5.
  32. Falzon, M. A. (2022). "Glossary". Selling Anything Anywhere: Sindhis and Global Trade. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 9789354925788. tikana: a mandir which usually includes both the Sikh Guru Granth Sahib and images of Hindu deities.
  33. Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali (25 May 2018). "Muslim saints and their Hindu devotees". Originally published on The Friday Times, republished on Academia.edu.
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