Punjab after annexation
After 1849 Punjab was ruled directly by the British. Christian missions opened schools and printing presses, and new Hindu reform movements such as the Arya Samaj became active in the province. Many Sikh leaders felt that Sikh practice had drifted: customs from surrounding traditions had become common in some Sikh homes and shrines, and literacy in Gurmukhi and knowledge of Sikh history were uneven. Some Sikh leaders also feared that, without renewal, Sikhs might gradually lose their distinct identity.
Historic gurdwaras, meanwhile, were often in the hands of mahants — hereditary custodians whose families had cared for them since the eighteenth century. Some served faithfully, but others treated the shrines and their lands as private property, and practices entered them that many Sikhs believed were contrary to the Gurus' teaching. These conditions formed the background to a long movement of renewal. Control of these shrines and their considerable property would later become a central issue of Sikh public life.
The Singh Sabha movement
The first Singh Sabha was founded in Amritsar in 1873, and a more reform-minded Singh Sabha was established in Lahore in 1879. Soon many local Singh Sabhas and Khalsa Diwans had formed across Punjab and beyond. Their work focused on education, publishing, preaching and the promotion of Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script. Khalsa College, Amritsar, founded in 1892, and the Chief Khalsa Diwan, formed in 1902, became important institutions of the movement.
The Sabhas were not all of one mind. The Amritsar leadership was generally more accommodating of established customs, while the Lahore group — often called the Tat Khalsa — argued for a clearly distinct Sikh identity grounded in Gurbani and the Khalsa rehat. Over time the Tat Khalsa view became dominant, shaping Sikh ceremonies, including the Anand Karaj marriage rite, which received legal recognition through the Anand Marriage Act of 1909.
How historians read the reform
Historians agree that the Singh Sabha period greatly shaped modern Sikh identity, but they interpret it in different ways. Some emphasise renewal: reformers were returning to the Gurus' teachings and removing practices that had crept in during unsettled times. Others, notably Harjot Oberoi, argue that the period also involved drawing sharper boundaries between Sikhs and neighbouring traditions than had existed in everyday practice before. Their work drew attention to the variety of beliefs and practices among people who identified with the Gurus in that period.
These views have been debated, sometimes strongly, within and beyond the Sikh community. A fair reading recognises both the reformers' sincere grounding in Gurbani and the fact that religious life in nineteenth-century Punjab was varied. Either way, the Singh Sabha legacy — schools, colleges, literature, printed Gurbani and a confident Sikh self-understanding — remains visible across the Panth today. Readers who wish to understand the debate are encouraged to read the different historians for themselves.
The Gurdwara reform (Akali) movement
By around 1920 attention turned to the control of historic gurdwaras. Reformers formed jathas of volunteers to take over shrines from mahants who resisted change. In 1920 the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was formed to manage gurdwaras, and the Shiromani Akali Dal was organised to coordinate the volunteers, who became known as Akalis. The movement insisted on disciplined, non-violent protest. Many historic gurdwaras passed into Panthic management in these years, sometimes peacefully and sometimes after tense confrontations.
The most painful moment came at Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, in February 1921, when a reforming jatha was attacked on the orders of the mahant and many Sikhs were killed. The tragedy shocked Punjab and wider India. It was followed by further campaigns, or morchas: the dispute over the keys of the Harmandir Sahib treasury, the Guru ka Bagh morcha of 1922, in which volunteers accepted beatings without retaliating, and the Jaito morcha.
The Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925
The long campaign led the Punjab government to pass the Sikh Gurdwaras Act in 1925. The Act gave legal recognition to the SGPC as an elected Sikh body to manage many historic gurdwaras in Punjab, bringing to an end the control of mahants over those shrines. Many Akali volunteers had been imprisoned during the struggle, and a number had lost their lives. Some gurdwaras outside Punjab came under separate arrangements, and certain historic shrines are managed by other bodies to this day.
The gurdwara reform movement is remembered as one of the notable non-violent mass movements of the colonial period, and it drew public attention across India. It also gave the Sikhs representative institutions that remain central today. The SGPC later oversaw the preparation of the Sikh Rehat Maryada, and questions of gurdwara management, elections and authority continue to be part of Sikh public life. The movement also placed the Akal Takht once more at the centre of collective Sikh decision-making.
Timeline
- 1873
The first Singh Sabha is founded in Amritsar. Historical record
- 1879
The Lahore Singh Sabha is established, becoming the centre of the Tat Khalsa view. Historical record
- 1892
Khalsa College, Amritsar, is founded. Historical record
- 1902
The Chief Khalsa Diwan is formed to coordinate Sikh reform and education. Historical record
- 1909
The Anand Marriage Act gives legal recognition to the Anand Karaj. Historical record
- 1920
The SGPC and the Shiromani Akali Dal are formed. Historical record
- 1921
Many reforming Sikhs are killed at Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib. Historical record
- 1922
The Guru ka Bagh morcha draws wide attention to the non-violent Akali struggle. Historical record
- 1925
The Sikh Gurdwaras Act gives the SGPC legal responsibility for many historic gurdwaras. Historical record
Gurbani
ਗੁਰ ਦੁਆਰੈ ਹਰਿ ਕੀਰਤਨੁ ਸੁਣੀਐ ॥
Gur duaarai har keeratan suneeai.
Through the Guru's door, the Divine praises are heard.
ਗੁਰੂ ਦੇ ਦਰ ਰਾਹੀਂ ਰੱਬ ਦੀ ਸਿਫ਼ਤ-ਸਾਲਾਹ ਸੁਣੀ ਜਾਂਦੀ ਹੈ।
The reformers' aim was that the Guru's door should be a place where the Divine praises are heard — the purpose this line gives to the gurdwara.
Sources & further reading
- Harjot Oberoi, The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press
- J. S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India), Cambridge University Press
- Mohinder Singh, The Akali Movement
- Harbans Singh (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Punjabi University, Patiala