The Role of Language in our Community and our “Maa Boli”

ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕਾਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ॥ ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕੀਫ਼ਤਹਿ ॥

We hope everyone is keeping well during this lockdown period. With less than a month to go before the start of the academic year, it is certainly an exciting time for us within the Sikh Society.

The ongoing pandemic is, of course, providing challenges in both our day-to-day lives and the many events that we have planned. We want to extend our warm wishes to everyone and their families during this time; and hope you all remain imbued in the spirit of Chardi Kala. Stay tuned for welfare emails filled with useful resources and updates. We’ve also published our termcard for Michaelmas, which you can find .

Our weekly Rehraas Sahib sessions are still ongoing – you can find the event page for tonight’s here. We have also decided to begin a Panjabi/Gurmukhi class. This will involve pairing students based on their proficiency for a casual and friendly way to improve both our written and spoken skills. More on this will come, but we are really excited to put it into motion when term starts.

On that subject, we felt that this bulletin would be best served in reflection of language, and how important it is to shaping our community, and our relationship with our Guru. Within Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaaj, we find contained several different langauges – from mainstream ones such as Sanskrit and Persian, to lesser known ones such as Braj Bhasha and Kauravi.

Our Gurus aimed to communicate their message of truth and oneness in a format that was accessible to all – with several compositions invoking different linguistic traditions. What underpins this is a poetic and musical tradition that demonstrates how the Gurus (and the Bhagats, whose writing is also revered) were masters of these several languages. Guru Nanak Dev Ji travelled estensively through the Middle East, South India and the Far East. Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote his Zafarnama in Persian, and discussed and debated scholarly texts of numerous traditions within his court. It is a testement to how the Gurus wished to communicate their message as far and as wide as possible, whilst also enagage with discourse at the time.

This trend of multi-linguialism continued through to Maharajah Ranjit Singh’s era, where the majority of papers in that court are written in Persian. This often poses difficulty to Sikh historians as that is not something many of us understand today. Persian, and particularly the Shahmukhi script, was often used by royal courts during that time. We often see it today in written forms of Urdu. Many of our elders who were born before partition often learnt both scripts – and this large part of our legacy has been lascertated by the border that seperates these two states.

Gurmukhi, the script we commonly refer to as Panjabi today, was created by Guru Angad Dev Ji. During this time the majority of people were illiterate, especially women and people from lower caste backgrounds. Sanskrit was reserved for Brahmins and Persian was reserved for Islamic elites. As a result, the average person had little access to religious texts and instead were dependant on those who had that privilege. In a radical act, Guru Ji created the Gurmukhi script so that nobody was kept from accessing literature, religion and education. Literally meaning ‘from the Guru’s mouth’, this continued as our Gurus implemented Manjis, Dharamsalas and Gurdwaras.

As Sikhi spread across the globe, we saw the adoption of local languages by communites in regions outside of the Panjab. The Afghan Sikh community, for example, speak Dari, Pashto and Hindko in addition to Panjabi. Kenyan Sikhs, affectionatly known as ‘kalasingha’, are proficient in Swahili. And in the Western world, Sikhs often communicate more in English than Panjabi.

And so this begs the question, what is the relationship between the Panjabi Language, and Sikhi today? It is undeniable that Sikhs have had a connection to the Panjab since 1469. The land of five rivers have nourished our community from the very beginning. Panjabi remains the dominant language throughout Sri Guru Granth Sahib; as well as our vast array of second-hand sources and religious discourse – and it is an important tool for us as Sikhs to be able to engage with it and grow in our faith.

This link became especially important in the post-Partition era. Whilst the two states occupying the Panjab pushed Urdu and Hindi as ways to create a national language, Sikhs held onto Panjabi as a means of resistance and holding onto a shared identity. This manifested politcally from the late 40s to the 60s, with the Punjabi Suba movement – the demand for a Panjabi-language state within India. Inspired by Dr Ambedkar’s advice, Sikh groups continue to push for this demand; organising politically with protests and poltical action. In 1955, Harmandir Sahib was attacked by Indian forces, and several activists were raided; resulting in nearly 200 deaths. This did not stop efforts, and instead emboldened Sikhs further to stand up for their rights and for greater Sikh Sovreignty; and Panjabi came to be understood as our “maa boli”, our mother tongue.

This is where Panjabi became solely associated with Sikhs. Despite previously being a regional language that was spoken by Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, there was a significant push from Hindu Nationalist groups for Hindus in the Panjab to speak solely Hindi. As a result, languages became more and more associated along religious boundaries. This ultimately led to the Panjab being split yet again, this time into three parts – forming the states of Haryana and Himchal Pardesh.

According to Ethnologue, Panjabi is the 12th most spoken language in the world (both Eastern and Western dialects). And there is a vast literary tradition that underpins it. Sheikh Farid’s Sufi devotional poetry dates back to the 12th century and continued through to Bulleh Shah. Guru Gobind Singh Ji composed rousing ballads in the form of ‘vaars’, we have numerous janamsakhis that tell the stories of our Gurus and history in verse, the Panjabi Qissa movement brought sweeping romantic epics, such as the works of Waris Shah; and the 20th century brought about writers such as Vir Singh, Puran Singh, Amrita Pritam and Nanak Singh. All of these works are connected through their use of poetry and verse to tell engaging and beautiful forms of literature. It is important not to neglect the strong musical tradition that emerges from this too – from Shabad Kirtan and Dhadi Vaars to Panjabi folk music, Ghazals and Qawallis. Centuries of storytelling and religious devotion are contained within oral and lyrical traditions.

In reflection, therefore, here are a handful of texts we find to be useful in understanding the role of language in relation to Sikhi.

Panjabi in the Homeland and Diaspora

A September 2020 article about a recent move by the Indian Government to remove Panjabi as one of the recognised languages in Indian-occupied Kashmir; and the resistance of Sikh groups to this movement [Punjab News Express]

A lecture given (in Panjabi) by Dr Sevak Singh of Punjab Agricultural University discussing the importance of language in Panjabi communities [Sikh Siyasat]

A 2008 article exploring the challenges faced by native Panjabi speakers from the colonial period to the present day [Academy of the Punjab in North America]

A 2008 paper analysing the ‘Punjabiyat’ movement, and the social conditions that led to it. [accessible through Raven]

A 2016 article discussing the influence of Dalit social reformer Dr Ambedkar in pushing demands for a Panjabi-speaking state to promote greater Sikh sovereignty in the 60s. [Tribune India]

A 2020 psychology paper exploring the role of Panjabi in the way the Sikh school students in East London connected with their ethnic and cultural identity [accessible via Raven]

A similar 2020 paper looking at the way in which language and history shape the identity of young Sikhs who attend classes at a US Gurdwara. [accessible through Raven]

A 2019 TEDx talk exploring the hegemonic dominance of English and its proliferation globally

The Various Languages within Gurbani and Spoken by Sikhs in the Past

An ongoing project by the Sikh Research Institute aiming to Sri Guru Granth Sahib in its entirety, and also explain the meanings and context of the Bani (currently they have a translation of Asa Vaar)

A short video by Bhai Jagraj Singh (Basics of Sikhi) discussing the importance of learning Gurmukhi and the limits of reading Gurbani in English [YouTube]

A podcast from the Sikh Research Institute exploring the use of Persian within Gurbani, and how it reflected the social and political context of the time

A 90-minute lecture by the Sikh Research Institute, exploring ‘Sikhi through Poetry’ and the ways in which poetry is used as both a devotional and storytelling device [YouTube]

A 2014 report exploring the various languages contained within the Guru Granth Sahib, Sri Dasam Granth Sahib, within the Sikh Empire and Panjabi literature until the present day. [accessible through Raven]

Another article from the Sikh Research Institute exploring the creation of Gurmukhi by Guru Angad Dev Ji, and how it was designed to bring accessibility of religious texts to people of all backgrounds

A 2010 PhD thesis exploring the construction of gender identities within Sikh religious and historical texts [Discover Sikhism]

Panjabi Literature and Literary traditions

A UK Punjabi Heritage Association talk with Jvala Singh, discussing his new book, ’54 Punjabi Proverbs’ [YouTube]

The Social Space of Language’ by Farina Mir. In Chapter 5, Mir explores how the several editions of the text Heer Ranjha demonstrate the influence of different religious groups on Panjabi literature.

As Sikhs this is a reminder to continue to learn and engage with the world around us, and centre our understanding of the world through the lens of Sikhi. Our Gurus were scholars and intellectuals, as well as poets, musicians, social revolutionaries, and warriors. Whether our ties to Panjabi are particularly strong or not, it is vital that we work to engage with the legacy that has been left before us.

We hope this could serve as a small introduction to the conversations that surround language, and our relationship as Sikhs with the Panjabi langauge. This list is by no means exhausative and, as always, we would love to hear your opinions and personal connection.

We wish each and every one of you the very best.

Bhul Chuk Maaf, please forgive any mistake we may have made
Your Sikh Society Committee
ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕਾਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ॥ ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂਜੀਕੀਫ਼ਤਹਿ ॥

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