[CPProt.net] India: Rare books missing from Khalsa College Sikh History Research Department

[Ellie Bruggeman]

Rare books missing from Khalsa College Sikh History Research Department,
even as intellectuals turn a blind eye
A tale of plunder

Even as the smokescreen resulting from the fire at the Sikh Reference 
Library, Golden Temple Complex, refuses to clear up even after 21 years 
of Operation Bluestar, the community seems to have overlooked 
‘plundering’ of the equally important Sikh History Research Department 
(SHRD), Khalsa College, till 1984 by its ‘own people’.

While the Sikh community has been fighting a long battle to get back its 
“intellectual treasure” from the CBI, no effort has been made to find 
out the invaluable treasure, belonging to the SHRD, pillaged by its own 
caretakers till 1984, coincidently the year of the infamous army operation.

The rarest of the rare material was taken away covertly and was later 
shown “written off” in the records.

A view of miniature manuscript preserved in Sikh History Research 
Department.
The main objective of establishing the SHRD was to preserve the 
collection of historical material pertaining to the history of Punjab 
beginning from the year 1469 — the birth of Guru Nanak. A large sum of 
money was spent in acquiring the material from various places in India 
and abroad. Fired with missionary zeal, its founders had left no stone 
unturned to build this department, the only one of its kind where source 
material regarding the Sikh history has been preserved. The department 
was enriched by strenuous and sustained efforts of its stewards like Dr 
Ganda Singh and Dr Kirpal Singh.

A year before the establishment of this historical department, a meeting 
was convened on December 22, 1929, at Akal Takht and a society was 
formed. Sardar Karm Singh, a historian, was nominated its first 
secretary. Dr K.S. Bajwa, head of the department, says that though 
Sardar Karm Singh died on September 30, 1930, the proposal was not given 
up by Khalsa College which announced instituting of the department at a 
meeting held at Guru Ka Bagh (Golden Temple) to mark the Shardhanjli 
Samaroh of the great Sikh historian (Karm Singh) the same year.

Ranjit Singh Nanda, a retired Central Bureau of Intelligence inspector, 
has made a startling disclosure that the rare manuscripts, hukam-namas 
(edicts), books, and other materials of the Sikh Reference Library were 
taken in gunny bags and big trunks to an unknown place after Operation 
Bluestar. But no such disclosure has been made about the material stolen 
from SHRD. The material seems to have been taken in small handbags 
clandestinely over the years. No one suspected the caretakers and dared 
check their handbags. However, Dr Bajwa, saved many invaluable books 
from being written off when he took over in the year 1996.

The rare material taken away stealthily (shown written off) included 
Sikh memorandum to the Punjab’s Boundary Commission (original document), 
Janamsakhi Shree Guru Amardass, Urdu book Sher-e-Punjab, Sikhism and its 
relation to Hinduism, Sketch of the Sikhs, Hindu superiority, Congress 
and Labour Movement in India, Dissertation of proper names of Punjabis, 
Oriental records by R.W. Harries, report on the settlement in the 
district of Kangra by G.C. Barnes, History of Hindustan by Dow 
Alexander, History of the War in Afghanistan by N. Charles, British 
period Gazetteers of Delhi, Hisar, Jalandhar, Lahore and Ludhiana. 
Another invaluable book written off is Islamic Culture. Maps of old 
Punjab, Bahawalpur, report on the reserve land revenue, speeches and 
writings of Mr Jinnah, too, are missing.

Understanding the significance of the department, the new Principal, Dr 
Daljit Singh, immediately posted more staff members with a view to 
restore its old glory. He announced that the paucity of funds would not 
come in the way of strengthening the department. He said it was his 
moral duty to take all necessary steps to preserve the heritage 
material, collected with great efforts in the past.

The SHRD, established in 1930, has a collection of rare paintings of 
Sikh rule and British era, old newspapers, journals that are dexterously 
arranged in the museum. The department has rare coins and weapons of the 
17th and the 18th centuries (mathlock, dhaal, Katar, chakkar, bows and 
kirpans), says Dr Bajwa, who is also the curator of the museum.

There are many manuscripts in Persian, Gurmukhi and Hindi, which can 
only be found in Khalsa College’s 75-year-old library. Out of more than 
6000 books, more than 500 are century-old. The repository also includes 
exclusive photographs of women jumping into wells to save their honour 
during Partition riots, the portraits of Nankana Sahib tragedy, pictures 
of Raagmala in bright and beautiful colours, old Birs of Guru Granth Sahib.

Shocked to see fresh paint on small cannon belonging to the period of 
the Sikh rule, Dr Daljit Singh said that efforts would be made to 
restore the original design of the weapons. He says microfilming of the 
brittle papers of many manuscripts may be done on priority basis.

Presently, there are 590 manuscripts in the repository in various 
languages. This includes manuscripts in Punjabi (287), Urdu (42), 
Sanskrit (9), Persian (207), English (45), newspaper files and 
magazines, photographs, paintings, weapons, coins and books published by 
the department.

In the mid-15th century, things began to change with the advent of the 
printing press. In 1452, Gutenberg (Germany) conceived the idea of 
movable type. However, the early publications of the standard printing 
presses could be rare feast for the eyes of a researcher. A casual 
visitor may be surprised to find rare printed books in the department. 
The Physician Guide, published in 1682, and many rare publications of 
the medieval period have been preserved in their original form here.

Quotable quotes
The department has evoked positive sentiments from visitors and 
scholars. Here’s a sample of their quotes:

Mr A. Gnanam, Chairman, NAAC, Bangalore:
“A wonderful collection of intellectual contents of the past. Culture is 
intertwined with intellectualism in each of the collections.”

Mr Raghubir Singh Bains, author Encyclopedia of Sikhism:
“Beautiful and valuable collection of heritage. It would be better if 
the artifacts and our heritage were preserved digitally. Wish the 
management would utilise the latest technique.”

Mr Pal Singh Purewal, Edmonton, Canada:
“It was a wonderful experience to visit and see the rare manuscripts, 
paintings and photographs. The invaluable and impressive collection 
maintained in excellent way will be extremely useful research material 
for the present and future generations of scholars.”

Mr Ingit Kumar Mukherjee, Director General, National Council of Science 
Management, Kolkata:
“An impressive collection of Sikh history. Many of the paintings helped 
us in conceptualising the Maharaja Ranjit Singh panorama being run in 
Ram Bagh.”

Researchers’ Mecca
The department, which is celebrating its platinum jubilee, is hardly 
visited by the local intellectuals though it is considered as the Mecca 
for the researchers of Sikh studies the world over. Incredibly, only 577 
researchers (on an average seven in a year), many of them foreigners, 
have visited the department till today. It is learnt that many teachers 
of the college have failed to make use of the rich material. While as 
many as 274 researchers were benefited from the department till 1996, it 
witnessed more visitors (303) in the past one decade when Mr Bajwa 
became the head of the department.

During the academic session 1997-98, more than 30 scholars visited the 
SHRD for research purpose. Many of them belonged to various countries of 
the world. For instance, Louis E Fenech (USA), Colin Mitihell (Canada), 
J.M. Lafont (France), Igor D. Serebryancov (USSR), H.S. Dilgear 
(Norway), Avtar Singh and Rajinder Singh (UK) visited the department.

A rare manuscript of Mahabharata
The Sikh Gurus’ keen interest in the comparative study of the holy books 
of other religions may come as a surprise to many of us. But the rare 
manuscript of Mahabharata in Punjabi, a versified translation from 
Sanskrit, believed to have been scribed by one Gopal Singh at the 
instance of Guru Gobind Singh, has been preserved in Khalsa College’s 
Department of Sikh History in a locked glass case. Keshav Lal authored 
the manuscript.

http://www.sikhsangat.org/publish/article_155.shtml