Sau Sakhi: Difference between revisions

Sau Sakhi translates to 100 (Sau) stories (Sakhis).

The Sau Sakhi book professes to be a conversation between Bhai Sahib Singh and Bhai Gurbaksh Singh on the sayings and doings of the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. It is held in high estimation by the Kukas (Namdharis) - followers of Bhai Ram Singh of Bhaini, in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab - and is relied on them as the main authority for their heresy. Bhai Santokh Singh (author of Suraj Parkash) sometimes gives Bhai Gurbaksh Singhs communications to Bhai Sahib Singh as the basis of the history of the Gurus from the time of Guru Angad, but he makes no mention of the Sau Sakhi. There appears nothing to establish its authenticity.

Many different versions of the Sau Sakhis have been circulated throughout time, plaging the Sikh Community:

• Versions were circulated (with appropriate changes) during the mutiny of 1857, prophesising a joint Anglo-Sikh victory over the Mughals;
• The Namdharias circulated versions in the 1860s supporting the claim of Ram Singh to be a reincarnation of Guru Gobind Singh and the future ruler of Hindustan;
• The supporters of Maharaja Duleep Singh impressed upon him a version in the 1880s prophesying his return to the Punjab as Maharaja with the help of the Russians

New editions of the Sau Sakhi continue to appear to boost the claims of impostors.

These are mainly a collection of anecdotes taken from the lives of Sikh Gurus in particular Akali Nihang Guru Gobind Singh. Amongst these stories are dispersed a number of tales depicting future events such as establishment of Khalsa Raj.

These ‘prediction’ Sau Sakhis first appeared during the years of life and death struggle of the Akali Nihang Singh Khalsa in the 18th century. According to the martial tradition held within the Akali Nihang Baba Darbara Singh Akhara, these predictions were only a means of propaganda to keep the Akali Nihang Singh Khalsa morale alive in these desperate times when the Khalsa was facing extinction while facing a constant state of war. In time as Khalsa Raj lost out to the British, new prediction Sakhis surfaced forecasting the end of British Raj and establishment of Maharaj Duleep Singh’s Raj.

In same manner the Akali Nihangs and Nirmala Khalsa created new Sakhis in order to prop their anti-British Raj cause. The Namdharis also created their own tales to boost their cause and no doubt there surfaced a new series of prediction Sakhis. It has to be appreciated the British also propagated their own ‘Sau Sakhi’ predictions to counter Nihang and Namdhari anti-British propaganda. If all the predictions in Sau Sakhis are to be accepted literally (as some Namdharis suggest), then logic would imply that all predictions in the Sau Sakhis should have now come to pass. However, this is not the case. The significance of Sau Sakhi predictions can only be appreciated as a tool for propaganda, serving a particular purpose at a particular juncture in Sikh history - and not as literal truth. Therefore, one can conclude that the Sau Sakhis which speak of Ram Singh as an incarnation of Akali Nihang Guru Gobind Singh, have no credibility.

Ironically, the Sau Sakhis also contain tales that praise ‘Neela Baana’ (blue Nihang uniform) and recommend the consuming of meat by Sikhs, yet these are rejected by present-day Namdhari Sikhs. Even the Namdharis must concede that the credibility of the Sau Sakhis is not irrefutable as they claim

See also Sakhi and Sakhis

References

• Macauliffe, M.A (1909). The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus Sacred Writings and Authors. Low Price Publications. ISBN 8175361328.
• Singh, Khushwant (1963). A History of the Sikhs: 1469-1839 Vol.1 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195673085.