Mazhabi Sikh: Difference between revisions

'''Mazhabi Sikh''' (also known as Mazbhabi, Mazbhi, Majhabhi or Majabhi) are members of an [[Untouchability|untouchable]] [[Caste system in India|caste]] who follow [[Sikhism]]. The word ''Mazhabi'' is derived from the [[Persian language|Persian]] term ''mazhab'' ([[Madhab|Mazhab]] means religion or sect), and can be translated as ''the faithful''. They live mainly in [[Punjab (India)|Indian Punjab]], [[Rajasthan]] and [[Haryana]].

The definition of Mazhabi today is somewhat blurred because of the influence of [[Balmiki sect|Valmikism]]. Mazhabis are best known for military service in the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]], [[British Indian Army]] and [[Independence of India|post-independence]] [[Indian Army]].

When [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]], the [[Sikh gurus|ninth Sikh guru]], was martyred by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughals]] in Delhi, three lower caste members recovered his dismembered body from a [[Muslim]] crowd and brought it back to his son, [[Guru Gobind Singh]]. In recognition of their act, he admitted the [[Untouchability|untouchables]] into the [[Khalsa]] (the Sikh faith), giving them the name ''Mazhabi'' ("faithful").<ref name="yong">{{cite book |last=Yong |first=Tan Tai |year=2005 |title=The Garrison State: The Military, Government and Society in Colonial Punjab, 1849–1947 |publisher=SAGE |page=73 |isbn=978-8-13210-347-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d5ZiMV7rqWUC&pg=PA1897}}</ref>

The Mazhabis, whom historian Stephen Cohen says "had strong caste traditions of violence and aggressiveness and were classed as a criminal caste by the British",{{efn|H. Brereton, the Superintendent of [[Thuggee]] Investigations, said in 1852 that most of the Thuggees in Punjab were Mazhabi.<ref>{{cite journal |title= Ex-Criminal Tribes of Punjab |first=Birinder Pal |last=Singh |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=43 |issue=51 |date=20–26 December 2008 |pages=58–65 |jstor=40278313 }}</ref>}} lost their military employment following the defeat of the Sikhs in the [[Anglo-Sikh Wars]]. Some eventually found employment as pioneers in the army of [[Gulab Singh]], the [[Maharaja]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Cohen |chapter=The Untouchable Soldier |title=Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Karsten |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-13566-150-2 |page=161 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh_fAQAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA161}}</ref> In 1857, the British turned to them for help during the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|Indian Rebellion]], apparently to counteract the rebellious [[sepoy]]s of the [[Bengal Army]].<ref name="yong" /><ref name="cohen162">{{cite book |first=Stephen |last=Cohen |chapter=The Untouchable Soldier |title=Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Karsten |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-13566-150-2 |page=162 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh_fAQAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA162}}</ref> The First Pioneer Sikh Regiment soon found itself helping to break the [[Siege of Delhi]], a second regiment was raised in 1858 and a third followed soon after.<ref name="cohen162" /> This military employment contributed to a gradual improvement in their social status and in 1911 their official classification in [[Gujranwala]] and [[Lyallpur]] was uplifted to that of "agricultural caste" by the British authorities.<ref name="yong" /> The British military classification system, which rated recruits according to their caste, continued to assert that Mazhabis were best suited as pioneers while, for example, [[Jat Sikh]]s should be infantry.<ref>{{cite book |title=Phoenix from the Ashes: The Indian Army in the Burma Campaign |first=Daniel |last=Marston |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-27598-003-0 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E-CPkbHvcZEC&pg=PA13}}</ref>

The outcome of the [[Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee]] (SGPC) elections in December 1954 favoured [[Punjabi Suba]], a Jat Sikh-dominated movement. Akali Dal, a religio-political party founded in 1920 and dominated by Jat Sikhs,<ref name="ram"/> won all 111 seats that it contested and Khalsa Dal&nbsp;– a new party created with government support&nbsp;– managing to win only three of the 132 in which it put forward a candidate. The campaign saw the Arya Samaj and [[Jan Sangh]], who were both opposed to Punjabi Suba and believed in Hindu supremacy, stressing a fear of Sikh domination. They encouraged Hindu Punjabis to lie by claiming [[Hindi]] to be their first language even when it was almost always in fact [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]. This attempt to cause a division along religious lines had the tacit support of the government and its impact echoed down the years.<ref name="martha_crenshaw_context"/> In 2005, 56 expelled employees of the SGPC abandoned Sikhism and alleged that they were being discriminated against because they were Mazhabis.<ref>{{cite news |title=56 Sacked S.G.P.C. Employees Give Up Sikh Religion |first=Vishal |last=Rambani |work=The Hindustan Times |date=17 April 2005 |url=http://www.sikhtimes.com/news_041705a.html |access-date=2009-03-12}}</ref>