Nihang: Difference between revisions

Nihang is a Sikh sect.

"Nihang" is a Persian word meaning Crocodile.

The Nihangs were originally suicide squads of the Mughal army and wore blue uniforms. The Sikhs took the name and uniform from the Mughals. The order is said to have been founded by one of the elder sons of the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.

The Nihangs were also known as Akalis. The term "Akali" is said to be derived from the Sanskrit Akal Purusha - "the Timeless One", a term for God. Thus 'Akali' translates as "Servitor of the Timeless God".

The Nihangs differ essentially from all other Sikh orders in being a militant organisation, corresponding to the Nagas or Gosains among Hindus . The Nihangs wear chequered dresses of a particular shade of blue known as "electric-blue", bangles or bracelets of steel round their wrists (Kara), and quoits of steel (Khanda) in their lofty conical blue turbans, together with daggers, knives and swords of varying sizes (Kirpan), and an iron chain.

It is said that Banda Bahadur, the famous disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and Sikh warrior-general attempted innovations in this costume but was steadfastly opposed by the Nihangs.

The Nihangs played a major part in the history Sikhism. The first Shahids (martyrs)of the four dehras (hospices) were Nihangs. Among the men taking part in the siege of the fort of Multan in 1818 was an Akali jatha (band) headed by one Jassa Singh (called Mala (rosary) Singh because of his piety). He denied himself the use of bhang (hempweed or cannabis), the only intoxicating drug in use among the Akalis, carried the faussebraye by surprise and precipitated the fall of that fortress.

The career of the Akali, Phula Singh illustrates both their defects and their abilities. Phula Singh first came into notice as the leader who led the attack on Thomas Metcalfe's escort at Amritsar in 1809. He was then employed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, as a leader in the Indus valley, where he was guilty of atrocious cruelty towards the Muslim population, and in Kashmir. Finally, Phula Singh and his Akalis contributed to, or rather virtually won for Ranjit Singh, the great Sikh victory over the Yusafzai Pashtuns at Teri in 1823. In this battle, Phula Singh met with a heroic death, and his tomb at Nowshera is now an object of pilgrimage to Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs alike.

Under Phula Singh's leadership, and perhaps before his rise, the Akalis had become a terror to friends and foes alike, and the Sikh chiefs, from whom they often levied taxes (Raakhi), dreaded them by force. Ranjit Singh, after 1823, did much to reduce their power, and the order lost its importance.

The Akali headquarters was the Akal Bunga at Amritsar, where they assumed the lead in directing religious ceremonies and the convoking the Gurmat; indeed, they laid claim to exercise a general leadership of the whole Sikh community. Since Ranjit Singh's time Anandpur has been their real headquarters, but their influence has to a large extent passed away.

Today, Nihangs foregather in their hundreds at Anandpur, on the occasion of the festival of Hola Mohalla, one day after the Hindu festival of Holi and display their martial skills. This tradition has been in place since the time of Guru Gobind Singh.

In politics, the order is represented by the Shiromani Akali Dal, founded in the early years of the twentieth century. Members of the party, like their Nihang counterparts, also don brillant electric-blue turbans.

• "Tribes and Castes of Punjab and N.W. Frontier Province" by H.A. Rose (1892)
• Nihang
• Bhai Sahib Amrit Pal Singh 'Amrit' has presented well-researched articles on Nihangs on his website: http://www.amritworld.com/nihangs/index.html

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