The eighteenth century marks that transformative era in Sikh history when rebels became rulers. Riding on the wave of a political revolution, peasants and artisans in the Khalsa order refashioned themselves into administrators in the Punjab region. This was no mean feat as it meant displacing first the mighty Mughals and then the Afghans. Based on a wide range of contemporary sources, this volume takes a fresh look at the political processes and the accompanying changes in the religious, social, and cultural life of the Sikhs. The author examines the political resurgence of the Sikhs and their system of government. She takes a closer look at their conception of God and Guru, the emergence of Amritsar as the premier centre of the Sikh world, and the rites, ceremonies, and ethics of the Khalsa. Issues of caste and gender, and Sikh interest in literature, art, and architecture are also explored. A convergence of all these developments led to the crystallization of a distinctive Sikh identity by the end of the century. In a very real sense, the eighteenth century emerges in this book as a bridge between the earlier and later history of the Sikhs.

List of Figures
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Scope, Sources, and Debate about Dates
Part I Sikh Political Resurgence and Sikh Polity
1. ‘Rāj Karegā Khālsā’
2. The Khalsa Rāj (1765–99)
Part II Religious and Social Life
3. God, Guru, and Gurdwārā
4. Rites and Ceremonies
5. Ethical Concerns of the Khalsa
6. The Sikh Social Order: Composition, Caste, and Gender
Part III Cultural Articulation
7. The Old and New Literary Forms
8. Painting and Architecture
Conclusion: Convergence on Sikh Identity
Appendix: The Goddess in Eighteenth-Century Sikh Literature
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Index
About the Author

This book is based on a wide range of the eighteenth-century sources. It bridges the earlier and later periods of Sikh history. In addition to the political struggle of the Khalsa, their polity, religious developments, and literary and artistic expressions, this study examines the issues of caste, gender, ethics, rites and ceremonies, and concludes with a discussion of heightened consciousness of distinctive Sikh identity by the end of the period.