Mr. T.S.Randhawa has written the above named book, which contains excellent introduction to the Sikhs and the Sikh Paintings. The paintings are of exceptional quality, which the reader will be able to envisage. I am proud to present some part of this memorable book with the kind permission of Mr. Randhawa, who has dedicated this work to Dr. M.S.Randhawa, the connoisseur of Art and Heritage of India, and also to celebrate the tercentenary of the Khalsa and the new millennium. The canvas of the book is more than what the title of the book suggests. It expands to cover the regions of greater Punjab during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's reign and other Sikh cis-sutlej states and Lords. It is an interesting medley of enchanting images, in diverse mediums and styles used in Punjab during the past three centuries.
Harjinder Kanwal
Introduction to "The Sikhs - Images of a Heritage" By T.S.Randhawa
Scholars and whatever little note taken of it has been in the context of portraiture have often derided Sikh painting. H. Goetz summed up what many Critics have said of it: "In its late form Kangra painting was taken over by the Sikhs, at that time upstarts - boisterous, realistic and puritan. There was no room for Rajput romanticism and mystic symbolism. Like the early Mughals they appreciated a realistic portrait, enjoyed a foul zenana jest or could use a few religious pictures where Hindu mythology had intruded into the Sikh cult. Later they began to appreciate the whole range of Kangra themes, like the Hindus living under their rule. But then the Sikh kingdom was already disintegrating and Indian painting everywhere declining fast."
In view of the role of Sikhs in history and circumstances these have been harsh views. Sikhism is a comparatively young religion and after Guru Gobind Singh the holy book, the Granth Sahib, became the primary object of worship, limiting the role of religious imagery, which in any case was not for worship but symbolic. Secondly, Sikhism is a very open religion and even the holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, is full of literature from other religions and languages. The subjects to be painted, therefore, were diluted by the Hindu pantheon, and many paintings and murals of the Sikhs feature Hindu themes, gods and goddesses. The painters at Sikh Courts even executed beautiful paintings on Gita Govinda and Bhagwat Puran subjects. Behind all this (in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth Centuries) was the background of Constant turmoil and war due to which they could hardly be expected to indulge in such luxuries in the same degree as done in the hills, and earlier in the stable Mughal order. During periods of strong rule and comparative peace, like that of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, artistic activities were encouraged and flourished. Finally, traditional miniature painting in Punjab also lost out in time due to the advent of British painters and engravers and, finally, to photography.
Sikh religion is unique to have teachings and examples on extremes of human conduct, that of piety and forbearance preached by Guru Nanak and the call to arms of Guru Gobind Singh The Sikn Gurus in between also occupy special positions for their contributions to the Sikh religion, their acts of resistance and martyrdom in the face of oppression from the Mughals and the process of moulding the Sikh identity. Initially when Guru Nanak founded the religion the identity of Sikhs was not too conspicuous as Sikhism welcomed people of all religions, castes and classes. Only over the years, under the later Gurus, Sikh identity crystallized, culminating with the forming of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in April 1699. In the painted images, therefore, the largest numbers are those of the founder Guru Nanak and of Guru Gobind Singh. Individual portraits of other Gurus are also there as well as those on specific themes like the compilation of the Guru Granth Sahib, the establishment of the Golden Temple, depiction of sacrifices and acts of martyrdom by the Gurus. Guru Nanak is invariably shown with his companions Bala and Mardana in lively scenes from the janamsakhi series, and sometimes even with Guru Gobind Singh, apart from other paintings depicting all the ten Gurus together. The paintings of the Sikh Gurus were never contemporary to their lives and were on the basis of historical facts and legends. Guru Gobind Singh was the ideal of the Sikh painters and has been lovingly depicted in the various series. He was a warrior saint and his entire family was martyred, including his four sons. He was also a man of letters and among other treatises wrote the Dasam Granth. These qualities and his turbulent life and struggle made him the most important icon for the painters. In the paintings Guru Gobind Singh is always shown as a gentle warrior, baptizing the Sikhs or with his 'beloved five', the panj pyare. His courage as well as literary skills come out very clearly in his famous Zafarnama to the evil emperor Aurangzeb.
In court painting there appeared to be two distinct groups of paintings - those done in the Lahore court during (and just after) Maharaja Ranjit Singh's time and others painted in the remaining Sikh States. The subjects of Ranjit Singh, his family and courtiers dominated those of the Lahore court, while in the other Sikh States their rulers were the main subjects. The linking of painters with the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh occurred with his conquest of the hill states, where the art of miniature painting had reached its zenith under Maharaja Sansar Chand. In 1809 Sansar Chand was attacked by the Gurkhas and he asked for Maharaja Ranjit Singh's assistance, who liberated him from them but made him his tributary. It was fortunate that the Governor he appointed at Kangra was the genial Sardar Desa Singh Majithia who built up a good rapport with the local population and facilitated the crossing over of painters from the courts of the hill Rajas to that of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In any case, around that time, with the loss of independence of their hill Rajas the painters too would have been looking for greener pastures. Describing the Governor, Barnes writes, "Sirdar Lehna Singh enjoyed a good reputation in the hills; he was a mild and lenient Governor, his periodical visits were not made the pretense for oppressing and plundering the people; he maintained a friendly and generous intercourse with the deposed Hill Chiefs and contributed, by his conciliatory manners, to alleviate their fallen position. At the same time, he is held in favourable recollection by the peasantry. His assessments were moderate for a native system and, although he did not possess that force of character to keep his agents under proper control, yet he never oppressed himself, nor willingly countenanced oppression in others." "He was also," according to Griffin, "known as Hasmuddaula, the Sword of the State and was a man of considerable ability. He was a skillful mechanist and an original inventor. He much improved the Sikh ordnance. Among other things, he invented a clock, which showed the hour, the day of the month and the changes of the moon. He was fond of astronomy and mathematics, and was master of several languages. As an administrator, he was very popular. He never oppressed the poor, his assessments were moderate and his decisions essentially just. As a statesman, he may be said to have been almost the only honest man in Lahore."
The last famous lady in the line was Princess Bamba Daleep Singh, later Mrs. Bamba Sutherland (as often written - 'she married a certain Col. Sutherland'). Much prior to that, most of the wives of the Sikh gurus were exceptional personalities, but none were painted. Among them were Bebe Nanaki (Guru Nanak's elder Sister) and Mata Sulakhani (Guru Nanak's wife), Mata Khiwi (Guru Angad's wife) who started the tradition of the langar, free kitchen, Bibi Bhani who was Guru Amardas's daughter, wife of Guru Ramdas and the mother of Guru Arjan Dev, Mata Ganga - Guru Arjan Dev's wife, Mata Nanaki - wife of Guru Hargobind and Guru Tegh Bahadur's mother, Guru Har Rai's wife and Guru Harkrishan's mother Mata Kishan Kaur, Mata Gujri - Guru Tegh Bahadur's wife and Guru Gobind Singh's mother, and Guru Gobind Singh's wives Mata Sahib Devan and Mata Sundri.
A shortcoming of paintings of the period of the Lahore court was the relative lack of a variety of subjects. Most of the Lahore court paintings show the seated Maharaja Ranjit Singh with his real and accepted sons Kharak Singh, Sher Singh, the infant Daleep Singh; the favourite boy Hira Singh is also shown with Naunehal Singh; Dhian Singh is respectfully standing at the back and occasionally shown with his brothers Suchet Singh and Gulab Singh of Jammu. Ranjit Singh is sometimes surrounded by his non-Sikh courtiers like his Finance Minister Dina Nath the Brahmin, his Foreign Minister Aziz-ud-din and Jamadar Khushal Singh, who was actually a Brahmin. Also included in some paintings are Europeans who organized his army - the Italians Ventura and Avitabile who were infantry experts, Allard who was his cavalry organizer and another French man, General Court, who trained and equipped his artillery. Also included were his friends from Afghanistan and other European adventurers. (In fact, all these elements of his court are brilliantly portrayed in a later oil painting of August Theodore Schoefft, a Hungarian who visited his court). Coupled with this was the fact that Sikh paintings on subjects other than portraiture were restricted in any case. The miniature paintings, thus, on surface appear to be very limited in diversity but to appreciate them one has to understand the historical events and the intrigues of the court - and then a great drama unfolds, which finally ended when the British defeated Maharaja Ranjit Singh's successors and disbanded the court of Lahore in 1849. In fact, the British went to the extreme of auctioning the treasures of the court to recover their campaign costs, after dispatching the best objects to London - the Koh-i-noor, jewels and the golden throne.
