Shastar Vidya

Footwork forms are referred to as Paiṅtarā or asanas, they are used to coordinate the entire body in unison with whatever weapons are being wielded.[6]

Some of the different footwork styles are as follows (each may incorporate different kinds of weapons):[6]

• mūl paiṅtarā - the most basic form that the others are based upon. It is a simple four-step pattern and an exercise of both balance and coordination of the body that is regularly practiced.[6]
• tiger paiṅtarā[6]
• monkey paiṅtarā[6]
• bull paiṅtarā[6]
• snake paiṅtarā[6]
• eagle paiṅtarā[6]

Working upon the footwork, there are various movements that "dictates the strategy of engagement".[6] The different kinds of movements or actions are termed pāitā.[6] Membranophone instruments like the nagara or dhol drums are used to aid the rhythms of the various movements so the practitioners can internalize them to muscle-memory.[6]

Some pāitā forms are as follows:[6]

• īta-ūta - forward-and-backward, side-to-side movements[6]

The various offensive (attacking) and defensive (blocking) maneuvers of Shastar Vidya are based upon the positioning of the limbs (such as feet and hands) but also weapons during the footwork movements.[6] All these fundamentals together are the repertoire of the practitioner and are termed as baṅdish.[6]

Some offensive and defensive maneuvers are as follows:[6]

• hujh - direct strike[6]
• rokhaṇā - blocking[6]
• lapeṭaṇā - twisting[6]
• phaiṅkaṇā - throwing[6]
• chhīni - snatching[6]
• bandesh - locking or holding[6]
• maroṛā - swinging[6]
• chuṅgī - leaping[6]

When the student has reached an advanced level, they are then taught about chambers (such as feints) and other misalignment methods.[6]

Various locations of the human body have traditionally been identified as striking points or maram within the martial art.[6] There are thirty-three striking points (marams) located on the human anatomy, of which, eight of them are considered to be major maram points.[6] There are nine different kinds of strikes and each strike has a counter (called a vār).[6]

The ultimate origin for the martial art is unknown and disputed but it originates from Hinduism.[2] A theory claims it ultimately traces its origin to Indo-European migrations into the Indian subcontinent whilst an opposing hypothesis is that it evolved indigenously in the Indian subcontinent prior to the arrival of the Indo-Aryans.[2] Nidar Singh, one of the sole remaining practitioners of the martial art, claims the battle art has existed in the subcontinent for thousands of years and been preserved by people from many different cultures and religions.[9]

Since the 17th century, the Sikh tribes of the Punjab adopted the martial art and became the chief custodians and masters of this fighting system.[10][5] Popular 18th century Sikh tradition based upon hagiographies and oral history claims that Guru Nanak had reached mastery of fourteen different subjects, one of which was martial in-nature.[6] Some of the subjects Guru Nanak is said to have mastered include swimming, medicine, yoga, horsemanship, and martial arts.[6] Guru Angad is remembered for promoting the art of wrestling among the Sikhs.[6] He established an akhara (Indic martial training centre and arena) in Khadur Sahib, named Gurdwara Mal Akhara.[6]

Furthermore, there is metaphorical martial imagery presented in the Guru Granth Sahib, an example is as follows:[6]

Guru Arjan had discussed his feats when engaged in wrestling bouts in the akhara of Guru Ram Das.[6] Guru Arjan also showcased his skills in horsemanship by pegging using a lance on horseback when his future in-laws impugned him.[6] Guru Arjan also kept valorous warriors in his entourage but was eventually executed by the Mughal Empire.[6]

Due to his father's execution by the state, Guru Hargobind enacted militarization reforms of the Sikh community to raise an army of devotees to protect the faith if needed.[6] Baba Buddha, who is believe to have learnt the martial art from Guru Nanak himself, taught Guru Hargobind and precursory Sikh gurus the martial art of shastar vidya, was now ordained to pass on the knowledge of the martial art to the new recruits of the first Sikh army, the Akal Sena.[6] Guru Hargobind adopted the martial art for his Sikh army as the standard battle technique, in-order to prepare his Sikh warriors for conflict against the Mughal Empire.[2][6] He combined the martial art with the religious concept of miri and piri, which taught the importance of spiritual but also temporal power and the value of balancing them.[2] Sikh warriors were thus taught to only engage in battle only for defensive means and only ever as a last-resort to resolution of a conflict.[2] Based on oral history passed down by the Nihang Sikhs, Guru Hargobind is believed to have developed a new form of the martial art and this new form was taught to Sikhs at the raṇjīt akhāṛā.[6] Guru Tegh Bahadur was a capable warrior in his own right and was named after the courageousness he displayed when wielding a sword.[6]

Guru Gobind Singh was a great patron of the martial art ever since he was a youth.[6] He mastered his martial abilities and understanding through listening to heroic ballads and the expositions of their contents.[6] He martially trained through engaging in hunts and practiced using a particular weapon which was a leopard-claw-shaped dagger, known as bāg nakkā.[6] Guru Gobind Singh envisioned the divine in the form of a sword.[6] According to the Sikhāṅ dī Bhagatmālā by Bhai Mani Singh, Guru Gobind Singh composed the Dasam Granth as a treatise to teach the Sikhs the art of warfare.[6] It further describes that the Guru Granth Sahib is for bhagatī (devotion), the Dasam Granth on the other hand is for shaktī (warfare), and that it contains contains yudh mai bāṇī (martial hymns) within it for this ordained purpose.[6] Furthermore, this overarching narrative of a need for warfare to defend Sikh sovereignty is further stated by Rattan Singh Bhangu in-response to inquiries by the British captain David Murray.[6]

The Jaap Sahib composition is said to have been recited by the tenth guru whenever he was instructing in or observing a group of Sikhs practicing the art of shastar vidya after a morning liturgical service.[6] The recitiation of this hymn served as a meditational component to the martial training regimen.[6]

Within the Shastar Nām Mālā Purāṇ ('Ancient Rosary of the Names of Weapons') composition found on pages 717–808 of the Dasam Granth, each section is dedicated to a particular weapon of importance.[6] The sword (Bhagautī) is given the first 27 verses, the quoit (Chakkar) is given verses 28–74, the bow (Bān) is described in verses 75–252, the noose (Pansh) in verses 253–460, and lastly the gun (Tupak) is given the largest section of all, comprising verses 461–1318.[6] The Bhagautī Astotra (often classified as an apocryphal composition) also describes martial concepts.[6]

In early Sikh literature, there are further references to the science and art of warfare, such as in the rahitnāmā of Bhai Chaupa Singh, which stresses upon the importance of a Sikh learning and practicing shastar vidya.[6] Another prescription for Sikhs to study shastar vidya can be found in the rahitnāmā of Bhai Daya Singh.[6] The rahitnāmā of Bhai Nand Lal also discusses the essentialness of a Sikh becoming acquainted with weaponry.[6] The Prem Sumārag Granth further discusses the duty of Sikhs to provide assistance in any martial cause.[6] Even Sikh women had knowledge in the art of warfare and used it to defend themselves in worst-case scenarios.[6]

After Guru Gobind Singh died, the principle ustad (teacher) lineage of shastar vidya then passed onto Baba Binod Singh and then after him to Akali Phula Singh.[6]

During the Anglo-Sikh wars, the martial art proved a lethal threat to the British, when Sikh swordsmen with their curved blades cut down many British soldiers, who instead were wielding swords that were "too straight and blunt".[6] An account of British soldiers being killed by Sikh warriors with their swords is described during a cavalry charge of the Battle of Ramnagar.[6]

The battle form was taught and practiced by masters and their students openly up until the arrival of the colonial British administration in the Punjab, after-which its practice went underground.[2][6] In the aftermath of the Anglo-Sikh wars and annexation of the Sikh Empire, the art was banned by the new British administrators of India in the mid-19th century.[10][9] Sikhs practicing the martial art were viewed with suspicion by the British overlords.[6] Due to its banning, many Shastar Vidya masters were either killed or exiled and thus knowledge of the martial art declined.[2] Due to the disbarment act of the Punjab, many teachers (ustads) of Shastar Vidya were executed by the British authorities.[6]

It was gradually was replaced by gatka, a performative martial art, during the colonial era.[10] The British allowed and actively promoted gatka in-replacement of shastar vidya because gatka was "ceremonial" and "toned-down" in-comparison.[10] Whilst Sikh martial arts were adopted by the Sikh regiments in the British Indian Army, it was only done so as a ritualized "defence or display art".[10]

According to Kamalroop Singh, it is too simplistic and reductionist to blame the decline of traditional Sikh martial art solely on the British administrators.[11] Rather, he also cites the changing nature of warfare brought on by technological development, seen with the surmounting of traditional martial arts by the adoption of modern firearms.[11] The formerly practical martial arts became increasingly ritualized and ceremonial affairs.[11] However, they also affirm that the British administration did persecute ustads (masters) of traditional Sikh martial arts by imprisoning and even hanging them.[11]

In 1878, the Akal Takht sent out a hukamnama that stressed upon the importance of Sikhs learning and maintaining the martial art of shastar vidya.[6] Writing in 1891, Giani Gian Singh describes the decline of the martial art:[6]

Before 1857, many types of weapons and armour were found in every house. The people learnt and taught shastarvidiā and became complete soldiers in their own homes. Now nobody even speaks of its techniques and the sons of brave warriors are becoming merchants. To those of us who have employed shastarvidiā, it is becoming like a dream. In another fifty years or so people will say it was all but lies.

— Giani Gian Singh, Twarikh Guru Khalsa, pages 36–37

However, many ustads simply passed on knowledge of the martial art in-secret and away from spying eyes, some notable masters who continued teaching the martial art to ensure its survive and passing down includes:[6]

• Baba Gian Singh 'Rab' (also known as Gian Singh 'Sutandar'), trained many students in shastar vidya and a small pamphlet authored by him was posthumously published after his death.[6][12]
• Baba Gian Singh (of Bhindran), a promoter and teacher of jhaṭkā gatkā or jaṅg vidiyā (war arts).[6] He was the last surviving student of Baba Gian Singh 'Rab'.[6]
• Gurbax Singh (from the village of Langeri, Hoshiarpur district), also a student of Baba Gian Singh 'Rab'.[6]

Even though the martial art was heavily persecuted during the colonial period, a small group of ustads (masters) did manage to pass down knowledge of it to a select, small group of practitioners.[11] Many teachers of contemporary Shastar Vidya ultimately claim descent from the teacher-student (ustad-shagirad) lineage of Gian Singh 'Rab'.[6] One of Gian Singh's students was named Mohinder Singh, who himself was the teacher of the famous teacher Nidar Singh.[6] Many gurdwaras and Sikh organizations have begun to teach the martial art once again, where it is taught and practiced alongside gatka.[13] The revival of the martial art began in the United Kingdom amongst members of the local Sikh diaspora and spread out from there.[13] The Akali-Nihang sect of Sikhs claims to be the group that has preserved the martial art over the years as part of their traditions.[8] The digital age and Internet has led to increased awareness and discussion of the traditional martial art amongst the diasporic Sikh youth.[14][15]