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Although
shastar vidiya was widely practised across the subcontinent long before the
emergence of Sikhism in the mid-16th century, it was the Sikh tribes of the
Punjab that came to be the true masters of this particular fighting style.
Surrounded
by hostile Hindu and Muslim empires who were opposed to the emergence of a
new religion in their midst, the Sikhs quickly turned themselves into an
efficient and fearsome warrior race. The most formidable group among them
were the Akali Nihangs, a blue-turbaned sect of fighters who became the
crack troops and cultural guardians of the Sikh faith. As Britain's
modernised colonial armies expanded across the Indian subcontinent, some of
the stiffest opposition they faced came from the Sikhs who fought two bloody
but ultimately disastrous wars in the 1840s that led to the fall of the Sikh
empire and allowed Britain to expand its Indian territories as far as the
Khyber Pass.
Astonished
by the ferocity and bravery of the Akali Nihangs, the Punjab's new colonial
administrators swiftly banned the group and forbade Sikhs from wearing the
blue turbans that defined the Akalis.
Sikh
warriors were quickly given rifles and drafted into Britain's armies. The
practice of Shastar Vidiya went underground and was nearly forgotten. In its
place, the British allowed and encouraged "Gatka", a ceremonial and
toned-down version of Shastar Vidiya which is widely displayed during Sikh
festivals today. |
