Travels in Kashmir and the Panjab (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)

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This delightful account, first published in 1845, is a European aristocrat's accurate and perceptive description of braving the dangers and discomfort of travelling through the perilous regions of Kashmir and the Punjab.

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The Illustrated History of the Sikhs
Khushwant Singh
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195677471

Book Description

This pictorial edition of A History of the Sikhs has updated and edited the most comprehensive two-volume book on the community. Written in Khushwant Singh's trademark style to be accessible to a general audience, it is based on scholarly archival research of original documents in Persian, Gurmukhi and English. It examines the social, religious and political background which led to the formation of the Sikh faith in the fifteenth century. The transformation of the Sikhs from a pacifist sect to a militant group called the Khalsa led by Guru Gobind Singh is portrayed in detail, as is the relationship of the Sikhs with the Mughals and the Afghans, until the consolidation of Sikh power under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The continuing Sikh struggle for survival as a separate community marked by the demand for a distinct Sikh state has been chronicled, until the events leading up to and following Operation Blue Star when the Indian army entered the Golden Temple. The edition includes an epilogue that analyses events following the end of terrorism in Punjab and the achievement of the community's aspirations never more visible than in the elevation of a Sikh to the country's Prime Ministership.

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Woman's Fate
What the body remebers
A People Squeezed on the Hinges of History
Like opening a door on a whole new world
Entertaining story but...

What the Body Remembers: A Novel
Shauna Singh Baldwin
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385496044
Release Date: 1999-10-12

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Shauna Singh Baldwin's What the Body Remembers begins and ends with rebirth--an apt metaphor, perhaps, for the tragedy of Indian partition that forms the backdrop for her story. Though politics overshadows the lives of all the characters, the heart of this first novel is in the home where Sardarji, a middle-aged Sikh engineer, has brought his new wife, 16-year-old Roop. The only problem is, his current wife, Satya, is less than thrilled about sharing hearth and husband. Satya's inability to bear a child has led to Sardarji's recent marriage, and this fact, combined with jealousy has turned her heart "black and dense as a stone within her." Her rival is not only 25 years younger, but of considerably lower social rank, and her husband's obvious infatuation with Roop rankles considerably:

Can a young woman ever know his friends and laugh with them in that rueful way? How will a young woman know that he breathes deeply when he thinks too much, that he wipes his forehead in the cold heart of winter when the British settlement officer approaches to collect his yearly taxes? How can a young woman know how to manage his flour mill while he is hunting kakar with his English "superiors"? How will she know how to give orders that sound as if she is a mere mouth for his words? How will she know that his voice is angry with the servants only when he is tired or hungry? How can she understand that all his talk of logic and discipline in the English people's corridors and his writing in brown paper files about the great boons of irrigation engineering brought by the conquerors are belied by his donations to the freedom-fighting Akali party?

The rift between the two wives widens when Roop gives birth, first to a daughter and then to a son, and both children are sent to Satya for rearing. Eventually the younger wife demands the ouster of the elder from the household, and Satya is sent away. But her spirit is not exiled entirely, and years later, when Roop and Sardarji find themselves swept up in the bloody partition of India and Pakistan, it is memories of the elder woman's strength and wisdom that Roop draws on to survive. Baldwin develops her characters' personalities and interactions against the backdrop of changing Anglo-Indian relations; sometimes the political bleeds into the personal, as the novel juxtaposes India's struggle for independence with the smaller outrages and betrayals Satya and Roop suffer at their husband's hands--and each other's. What the Body Remembers is a powerful combination of historical and domestic drama, marking a promising debut for Shauna Singh Baldwin. --Sheila Bright

Book Description

"This is a story about estrangement and division... This narrative about fathers estranged from daughters, mothers from sons, husbands from wives, becomes a metaphor for the turmoil and flux we call history, without always speaking of that history directly... This is a novel whose many themes and characters have been orchestrated, for the most part, with great confidence and without sacrificing complexity. It is an impressive debut."
—Amit Chaudhuri, National Post (Canada)

"This is a captivating jewel of a novel by a seasoned and sophisticated writer... Beyond being a compelling tale of individuals, What the Body Remembers offers a gimlet-eyed view of a pluralistic society's disintegration into factionalism and anarchy. Though the events of 1947 India are a half-world and half-century away, in light of the religious and ethnic turmoil raging on earth, they still have much to teach us."
—Washington Post

Out of the brutal drama of Partition comes a rich, eloquent, and stunningly accomplished literary debut...

It is 1937 in a small village in Punjab, India, the beginning of the tense and tumultuous decade that will culminate in the violent and still controversial Partition between India and Pakistan. Roop is a young girl whose mother has died in childbirth and whose father is deep in debt. And so she is elated when she learns that she is to become the second wife of a wealthy Sikh landowner, Sardarji, whose first wife, Satya, has failed to bear him any children. Roop initially believes that Satya, still very much in residence, will treat her as a friend or even a sister, but it quickly becomes apparent that their relationship will be far more complicated than that.

Roop's story pulls the reader immediately into her world, making it seem startlingly intimate. As the novel builds, What the Body Remembers becomes Satya's story too, as she is forced to adopt ever more desperate measures to maintain her place in society and in her husband's heart. And it is also Sardarji's story, as the India he knows and understands begins to change beneath his feet. The escalating tensions in his own family reflect those of the religious and political dynamics that will lead to the cleaving of India—and trap the Sikhs in the middle of a horror wrought by the wresting of land. In a dramatic, terrifying conclusion the tragedy and strength of Roop, Satya, and Sardarji's lives reflect the greater world in which they must survive.

Deeply imbued with the languages, customs, and layered history of colonial India, What the Body Remembers tells the story of the Partition for the first time from the Sikh women's point of view, reclaiming a strikingly intimate and vivid sense of the large and colorful canvas of India and Pakistan. Beautifully written and profoundly shocking, Shauna Singh Baldwin's debut novel is at once poetic, political, feminist, and sensual—a true triumph of language and storytelling.

"In What the Body Remembers, with her sharp focus on women in such turmoil, Baldwin offers us a moveing and engaging look at 20th-century India's most troubled years."
—New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

Woman's Fate.......2007-06-09

This was a very interesting story linebut the book could have benefitted greatly from the addition of a glossary. The use of Indian terms was somewhat confusing and a glossary would have made it a much smoother read.

What the body remebers.......2007-03-22

A little too verbose. Difficult to get through the first 1/4 of book. However, well written, historically interesting.

A People Squeezed on the Hinges of History.......2007-02-21

I knew about the partition of India into Muslim and Hindu states after Independence, but half a world and half a century away from the events, I had no clue about what that actually meant to the people who were living in that part of the world. It's less a novel of plot than of experience, told from the perspective of those who suffer the most when a people is squeezed on the hinges of history. I could not put it down, and I have not had that experience for a long time. I urge anyone serious about stepping beyond the predicability of a novel of plot or relationships to read this book. I cannot understand why it has taken so long for it to catch on in the U.S.

Like opening a door on a whole new world.......2006-05-17

I loved this novel because it drew me into a world I knew very little about. It took a while for me to get passed the unexplained terms and aspects specific to this culture, especially since the author doesn't provide a glossary or any type of explanation. It is a testament to Baldwin's literary skill that those aren't necessary. The reader is forced to stretch to understand the cultures. But the reader's experience is much the richer for it. I find that I understand the cultures much better having experienced it without explanation. I came away with a real understanding of the different factions within the partition question. The horrible scenes of the trains mobilizing thousands of people back and forth across the country are devastating. The relationship between the two wives takes us behind the veil of secrecy that is so often drawn over the lives of women in polygamous relationships. The false sense of security and denial that pervaded the Indian middle class was heartbreaking as one after another myth is exploded on the road to 'freedom'. I know I will reread this novel because the richness of the story and the characterization will call me back to it again and again. I read it last year and it's sitting on my shelf waiting to be reread once again.

Entertaining story but..........2005-08-10

Overall, the book was an enjoyable read but it was not one of those novels where the characters and story draw you in to such an extent that you can't help stop thinking about them even after you are done. I found a few stylistic techniques annoying. For example, Baldwin would use a Hindi word or explanation and then right after the exact word would be translated in English. This repetition was distracting and too contrived. Also, the characters could have been developed more and lacked depth.

The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India)

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Best Sikh History Book

The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India)
J. S. Grewal
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521637643

Book Description

This important new contribution to the New Cambridge History of India examines chronologically the entire span of Sikh history from prehistoric times to the present day. In an introductory chapter, Professor Grewal surveys the changing pattern of human settlements in the Punjab until the fifteenth century and the emergence of the Punjabi language as the basis of regional articulation. Subsequent chapters explore the life and beliefs of Guru Nanak--the founder of Sikhism; the extension and modification of his ideas by his successors; the increasing number and composition of their followers and the development of Sikh self identity. Professor Grewal also analyzes the emergence of Sikhism in relation to the changing historical situation of Turko-Afghan rule, the Mughal empire and its disintegration, British rule and independence.

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Best Sikh History Book.......2000-11-10

The task of writing any religious group's history is like walking on a mine field. Grewal has come out of this walk unscathed, nothing less than a miracle. Many historians have burnt their fingers doing what Grewal has done so well. This books starts with the evolution of Sikh philosophy and traces the Sikh history as it went through many twists and turns. The noticable difference is that author doesn't treat Sikhs in isolation from their surroundings. It puts the Sikhs and their history in full social context of those times. In fact, the book also offers the best history of Mughal period as it coincides with Sikh Gurus very well. It dwells upon the political, cultural and religious unfolding of this period. The internal conflict among various Sikh sects and communities is represented very well. The language is very crisp, concise and without any repetition or unwanted opinion pieces. Anyone trying to understand the modern political upheaval in the region must start with this book. It covers the period from well before Guru Nanak to 1980s. One can easily see why it took author 10 years to write it. A must for anyone having anything to do with Sikhs or Punjab. Worth every cent of its price.

A caution. The recent events brought out many "pop" books on Sikh history. Most, if not all, are just long op-ed articles, sprinkled with catchy photos, glossy papers and hot politcal buttons. Just a waste of your money.

Book Description

'the indispensable reference point for...an historical and sociological understanding of the Sikh tradition...these volumes are a tribute to [the] capacity for both a sympathetic and a balanced rendition of Sikh history.' --Times of India 'Singh has done a good job of turning dry history into informed reading.' -- Sunday Mail A History of the Sikhs First published in 1963, this remains the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the Sikhs. The new edition updated to the present recounts the return of the community to the mainstream of national life. Written in Khushwant Singh's trademark style to be accessible to a general, non-scholarly audience, the book is based on scholarly archival research. Volume 1: 1469-1839: This volume covers the social, religious and political background which led to the formation of the Sikh faith in the fifteenth century. Basing his account on original documents in Persian, Gurmukhi and English, the author trac es the growth of Sikhism and tells of the compilation of its sacred scriptures in the Granth Sahib. The transformation of the Sikhs from a pacifist sect to a militant group called the Khasla led by Guru Gobind Singh is portrayed in detail, as is the relationship of the Sikhs with the Mughals and the Afghans, until the consolidation of Sikh power under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

Fighting for Faith and Nation (Series in Contemporary Ethnography)

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Incredible Un-Biased book.
Very Biased, Full of factual errors.
Hope through understanding . . .
1984-India
no sikh in india cares about khalistan any longer

Fighting for Faith and Nation (Series in Contemporary Ethnography)
Cynthia Keppley Mahmood
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0812215923

Customer Reviews:

Incredible Un-Biased book........2004-02-16

After reading Operation Blue Star and other books relating to this general topic I finally came across one that was unbiased and took information from the actual 'militants'. This book will take you a while to read because of the way it was written, however I definetly recommend it to all those wishing to learn what is really going on in India.

I wish I could give this book to John Kerry and be read this you ignorant mofo. I'm referring to this Oklahoma speech during the democratic race on January 31st when he referred to Sikhs as terrorists in India.

This book was a very good and informing read.

Very Biased, Full of factual errors........2003-06-29

Sat Sri Akal,

to the first poster of the review, kindly read the following, taken from the very first page:

"Mahmood ... undertook this investigation as a study of the anthropology of violence and based her interviews solely on Sikhs living in North America, including some in prison. The narratives relate primarily to the relationship of the individual to Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, or the invasion of the holiest Sikh temple by the Indian government in 1984. The last portion of the book raises questions about membership in communities and violent attempts to force conformity."

Her research was done by asking MILITANTS (some even in Jail!), and by personal testimonies of Sikhs in North America. and almost all are blindly against the GOI for its attack at the Hari Mandir (Golden Temple) in Amritsar. This same 'freedom' movement resulted in the deaths of many innocent people, and the creation of an almost terrorist state, where there were daily bombings on buses and shootings of civlians.

How unbiased is this book when THIS is what it is based on?

The attack at GT was terrible, but lets look at the facts and base them on reality, rather than personal testimonies by people who will, naturally, have their own strong opinions on the subject.

Thank you

Hope through understanding . . ........2003-01-23

My recent interest in Sikhism led me to Mahmood's book, which has given me a much better understanding of the tragedy at the Golden Temple in 1984 (including circumstances leading up to, and following, the violence there).

More importantly, it has reinforced my belief that uncovering the truth of the very human circumstances that lead to such violence can help us build bridges of understanding and hope for preventing such tragedies in the future. It is too easy to simply brand one's enemy as a terrorist, religious fanatic, or political extremist--but we must exert a bit more effort to see past such overly-simplistic labels--to see that our enemies are complex humans like ourselves, with many of the same hopes, values, concerns, fears, strengths and weaknesses.

Jesus called upon us to love our enemies, and this book, in my opinion, begins to uncover some of the difficulties and revelations one might encounter in such a pursuit. As with most worthwhile pursuits in life, such attempts at uncovering the truth beneath both sides of an issue can be a complex, difficult, even dangerous paths to tread, but ones that we must traverse if we truly seek peaceful resolution of conflicts between people, countries, religions and cultures now and in the future.

Mahmood treads this difficult path to uncover the human side of the Sikh militants, and in my opinion, succeeds admirably. To be fair, I'd like to read more accounts of the events at Amritsar, to gain a more complete perspective of the thoughts and feelings of all those involved. Because the Indian government apparently made great efforts to conceal the truth behind the events of 1984, it seems finding more books that do as well as Mahmood's at shedding light on the violence may be difficult. Hopefully I'll find more gems like this one. Highly recommended.

1984-India.......2001-06-03

When Cynthia Keppley Mahmood narrated some of her experiences with the Sikh Militant during the fieldwork to one of her students, he remarked, "These people are magnificent." After reading the book, many readers may feel the same way while others may disagree depending on which side of the fence they stand - victim of terrorism or victim of injustice that leads to terrorism.

Although Mahmood makes it very clear in no uncertain terms about her disagreement in regards to the route the Sikh militants have taken up to seek justice, she still manages to bring together a very unbiased and objective account. This book sheds light on the history and politics behind what led to the disaster of 1984 in India. And then the aftermath is recounted by the eye witnesses and victims now settled in the US.

Inder Malhotra, one of the most distinguished journalists of that time, compared Sant J.S. Bhindrawale to Khoemini and Frankenstien but this first hand accounts of people who grew up with, lived with, and fought with Bhindrewale show a different picture. After reading this book, it is up to the reader to decide which account to believe.

Finally, a version that tells the story on behalf of the militants, their justifications, and their ideology. The first hand accounts of people who were directly involved and affected during the Blue Star operation are extremely moving and shows the image in different light than what one has seen before. The bravery of Sikh men, women and even children is amazing. The illustrations, some provided by the international documentation of human rights violation in India, are tremendously moving.

This is a read that will take a while due to its poignant nature, but worth the time to understand the depth and dimensions of this problem

no sikh in india cares about khalistan any longer.......2001-03-25

Support for a separate sikh nation is no longer there among sikhs in India. Infact, even during the height of terrorism a very small percentage of sikhs supported the cause. Currently the only sikhs who support this cause are sikhs outside of India who are far removed from realities in India. This book fails to capture that. It also fails to capture the Pakistani hand behind all this which Benazir Bhutto admitted to in one of the interviews. Infact, lots of millitants were Pakistanis posing as Punjabi Sikhs. Also, it needs to be updated now that the struggle is no longer their in Punjab.

The Nation's Tortured Body: Violence, Representation, and the Formation of a Sikh "Diaspora"

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Original topic, needs some more work

The Nation's Tortured Body: Violence, Representation, and the Formation of a Sikh "Diaspora"
Brian Keith Axel , and Brian Keith Axel
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0822326159

Book Description

In The Nation’s Tortured Body Brian Keith Axel explores the formation of the Sikh diaspora and, in so doing, offers a powerful inquiry into conditions of peoplehood, colonialism, and postcoloniality. Demonstrating a new direction for historical anthropology, he focuses on the position of violence between 1849 and 1998 in the emergence of a transnational fight for Khalistan (an independent Sikh state). Axel argues that, rather than the homeland creating the diaspora, it has been the diaspora, or histories of displacement, that have created particular kinds of places—homelands.
Based on ethnographic and archival research conducted by Axel at several sites in India, England, and the United States, the text delineates a theoretical trajectory for thinking about the proliferation of diaspora studies and area studies in America and England. After discussing this trajectory in relation to the colonial and postcolonial movement of Sikhs, Axel analyzes the production and circulation of images of Sikhs around the world, beginning with visual representations of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Sikh ruler of Punjab, who died in 1893. He argues that imagery of particular male Sikh bodies has situated—at different times and in different ways—points of mediation between various populations of Sikhs around the world. Most crucially, he describes the torture of Sikhs by Indian police between 1983 and the present and discusses the images of tortured Sikh bodies that have been circulating on the Internet since 1996. Finally, he returns to questions of the homeland, reflecting on what the issues discussed in The Nation's Tortured Body might mean for the ongoing fight for Khalistan.
Specialists in anthropology, history, cultural studies, diaspora studies, and Sikh studies will find much of interest in this important work.

Customer Reviews:

Original topic, needs some more work.......2006-06-01

In this brilliantly conceived study the author tried to parse through Sikh history, memory and identity especially in relation to space and homeland. The view is towards examining the Sikh diaspora and its connection and use of pictures and imagined identitites to create the need for 'Khalistan' and the representation of Sikhs, from the last Sikh rulers to the tortured bodies fo Sikhs who were victims of the Indian police during the troubles in Punjab leading up to Operation Blue Star and desecration of the Golden Temple.

This is a very interesting and original book and that is why it deserves not only to be read but to be praised. However it lacks many things that although not pertinent to the subject could have been finally brought out here. THere does not exist one book in all the world in English that deals witht he millions of refugees caused by Pakistani ethnic cleansing in 1948, not one book on their fate and what that means to the Sikh nation, which was torn in half and had all its people cleansed and depopulated from Pakistan.

This is an understudied phenomenon, and becuase the Sikhs are not considered 'white' by the western-european world they get no attention the way the Palestinians do. However this book could have delved deeper into this important issue.

Seth J. Frantzman

Giani Kirpal Singh's Eye-Witness Account of Operation Blue Star: Mighty Murderous Army Attack on the Golden Temple Complex

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Giani Kirpal Singh's Eye-Witness Account of Operation Blue Star: Mighty Murderous Army Attack on the Golden Temple Complex
Kirapala Singha
Manufacturer: B. Chattar Singh Jiwan Singh
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

South Asia | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 8176013188

Book Description

The saga of the mighty murderous army assault on the Golden Temple Complex, persecution, martyrdom, resistance and moral victory of the Sikhs over the evil forces has been faithfully recorded with a sense of history by Singh Sahib Giani Kirpal Singh, Jathedar Sri Akal Takhat Sahib in this book.

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Punjab
K.P.S. Gill
Manufacturer: Har Anand Publications,India
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 8124105693

An Indian attachment: An Englishwoman's unforgettable two-year encounter with Indian village life among the Sikhs

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This is a really good book

An Indian attachment: An Englishwoman's unforgettable two-year encounter with Indian village life among the Sikhs
Sarah Lloyd
Manufacturer: Quill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0688057187

Customer Reviews:

This is a really good book.......2003-09-14

I read it about 12 years ago so I'm kind of rusty about it but I recall it was a super book. The true story of an amazing gutsy British lady who gets involved with a Sikh Nihang (temple guard) in India and their subsequent adventures. This book is a real sleeper for those of us who enjoy cross-cultural and travel writing. Highly recommended. I wonder what the author is doing now?

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