Overview of Sikh history in Kashmir

Sikhs have a long and unbroken history in the valley of Kashmir, dating back to the time of Guru Nanak Sahib's travels to the region. On Their udasis (journeys of spiritual quest), Guru Sahib stayed in Kashmir before travelling on to Ladakh. They held discourses with local saints, and gained many local followers who stayed with Sikhi throughout the Guru period, and till the modern era. 

Guru Hargobind Sahib, the sixth Guru also had a significant connection with Kashmir. Many Gurdwaras dotted all around Kashmir are named "Chhevin Patshahi" in Their honour. Also in relation to Kashmir, the ninth Patshah, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, had a role that is without historical parallel. They objected to the religious persecution of the Pandit minority of Kashmir, then under the rule of the Mughal emperor of Delhi, and fearlessly stood as their advocate before the Mughal court. Guru Sahib offered shaheedi for taking this principled stand for the "freedom of conscience" of adherents of another faith, nearly three centuries before similar values were enshrined in the "Universal declaration of Human Rights". 

Something that is very easy to miss in the outside world is that the province of Kashmir itself (and the wider administrative region of Jammu and Kashmir), is a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-lingual region. Although the vast majority of people of the Kashmir valley tend to speak the Kashmiri language, there are many other languages and dialects native to Kashmir, such as Pahari, Shina, and Gojri. Most Sikhs of Kashmir speak various variants of the Pahari dialect (influenced by Kashmiri and neighbouring languages or dialects like Pothohari, Punjabi, and Hindko). There can be variations in vernacular dialect spoken by Sikhs even between different regions of Kashmir. It must be noted that although closely related and bound by a common faith, Sikhs of Jammu have a unique history and equally significant historical personalities of their own (for instance, the legendary Baba Banda Singh Bahadur hailed from Jammu). People of Jammu, including Sikhs, also speak Dogri, Punjabi, and many indigenous Pahari dialects like Poonchhi. Our upcoming sections will cover aspects of language and culture in detail. 

Sikhs of Kashmir, like other residents of the province, have had significant ups and downs through history. We hope to gather high quality research around this history from various aspects and share with the sangat and the wider world through this platform. We look forward to feedback and contributions from the community, researchers, authors, and scholars who have in-depth study via our Submissions Form. You can submit anything you think is valuable information about Sikhs of Jammu and Kashmir that should be shared widely, such as book reviews, original research, media reviews, photographs, profiles of Sikh personalities (both current and historic), Sikh history and cultures of various parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Our editorial teams will review and publish this material with full credits to the authors. Where you use material created by other authors, please include references and credits to original authors. You can also submit translations of existing content you find here. This platform will grow and expand with our collective contributions.

Tributes

Komal Library have tried to gather data on Sikh casulties of the Kashmir conflict. We humbly pay our tributes to these Sikhs and all innocents who lost their lives. 

As Sikhs, we believe in the principle of Sarbat da Bhala (Peace to all creation) - something that is recited as part of Sikh ardas (prayer) every day. As residents of Kashmir, in addition to the daily struggles of life in a conflict zone, Sikhs have often found themselves the targets of fatal violence. It is our duty to honour their memory and develop this database for our community. 

If you have any additional data about Sikhs killed, please email it with us at librarykomal@yahoo.com, or info.komallibrary@yahoo.com. We are looking for data like Name, Age, Occupation, Date of killing, Photograph, details of family or next of kin or any other details you might have. 

Our current data can be accessed on the Tributes pages:

• 1990 Onwards: Sikh casualties of the Kashmir conflict
• Tribal Invasion and Ghallughara of October 1947

Some Current Issues facing the Sikh Community of Kashmir

In an August 2019 interview with the BBC, Kashmiri Sikh scholar Komal JB Singh raises some pertinent points around current issues facing the community. A few highlights of her interview are:

• As Kashmiris, our issues are not different from those of other Kashmiris, regardless of religion. But, as a small and almost invisible minority, we do face a significant challenge in terms of lack of adequate political representation
   
• Blockades, lack of opportunities, and other challenges affect all of us - much suffering of all Kashmiris is common
   
• We must not divide our sorrows on religious grounds - Sikh, Muslim, or Pandit we are all humans, all Kashmiris
   

You can watch the full interview below
 

Articles on History and Culture