A Study On The Social Transformation Of Indian Sikh Nationality (1500～1950)

Back in the 16th century, Sikhism bravely broke the Hinduism's tradition which oppressed the equality among different castes. After the integrity with the caste of Jats, with an open-minded behavior, it shaped the eternal military-oriented personality of the lowest castes who struggled with the oppressive feudal dynasties for social equality and religious freedom.The research on the social transformation of such a religious nationality can profoundly reflect the causes of its belief structure resulting from the complex issues of the Sikhs, and provide a certain reference to some extent for the minority's autonomy. The paper is roughly divided into five parts.The first part mainly expounds the formation process and characteristics of the Sikhs. Sikhism was originally a Religion of the merchants and usurers. But due to the participation of the lower castes---peasants and handicraftsmen, into Sikhism as well as the religious oppression from the Mughal court, the Sikhs transformed from a pacifist social group into a warlike religious nationality pursuing the aim of an alliance between church and state.The following section analyzes the formation, composition and characteristics of the belief structure of the Sikhs. Sikhism is an up-and-coming Religion which is relatively open to the believers. The quality gives Sikhism a powerful vitality. However, its growth process is full of conflicts with other entities and powers. During the three hundred years from the 16th to 19th century, the Indian society presented a chaotic picture---the authority of the empire was declining rapidly, the society was at a dangerous risk to be a colony, the people's unsatisfied mood was brewing, the unbalanced economic development and modernization was taking on a clear look. It is during this period that the Sikhs'religious nationalism was developing. Also this period saw the transformation of Sikh nationality from an independent religious entity into a social group seeking after the goal of founding a country.The third part explores some historical and realistic factors resulting in the hard way that the Sikh people followed. The modern Sikh nationalism is embodied in its party politics and independent religious rights. After the annexation of Punjab by the British, the country gradually went on a way of ending the colonial feudalism. It began a transformation period of the"trio"---the colonization of its society, the uneven development of its economy and the revolutionization of its people. Indian nationalists including the Sikhs advanced their own revitalization movement of religious culture, and hence increased the speed toward maturity of its modern party politics. In the course the reconstruction of the main-body of Sikh nationality, modern Sikhist nationalism was produced. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of its identity also made certain aspects such as their fragmentary identity and their minority status more apparent, which obstructed its own development. The transformation finally resulted in a special nationalist belief structure. The structure combined with other realistic factors like the enlistment, immigration and the Sikhs'scattered distribution. All of these jointly contribute to the lack of population basis and district concentration which is not beneficial to the construction of a modern country.In the fourth section, the author mainly expounds such historical process occurring during the years from the mid-1920s to 1950s as the increasingly complicated belief structure and difficult transformation of the Sikhs, the restricted minority status. All of these forced the Sikhs to involuntarily make some choices in the changeable and unpredictable social situations. They were not able to found a Khalistan country, but to choose a road to establish an autonomous state where they had the freedom to use their own language. At the time of partition of India, they were forced to choose to stay inside the Indian federation. After that, they finally proposed to be a Language-free autonomous state. While owning to the unstable and changeable policies toward the Sikhs of India, the complicated issues of the Sikhs were hence increased.In the last part, the author expands a conclusive discussion on the social transformation of the Sikh nationality. Based on this, he intends to emphasize the influences and status of the Sikhs. When the Religion and the social ethnic group were integrated into one religious nationality, its social transformation was then inevitably linked with a higher social price. Since the 16th century, in the long historical course of Indian social transformation, the Sikh's history was characterized by a series of unending and reoccurred miseries and revenges. This social price is inevitable and it is a must for a minority to go on a way of modernization. This price constantly strengthened the characteristics of the belief structure of the nationality. To a certain degree to say, this kind of ethnic composition and the characteristic of the Sikhs were the very historical origin of the complicated problems of the Sikh nationality.