- Any discussion of Punjabi-Sikh YouTube comedians must begin with a short history of Sikhism. I am a practicing Sikh, and my research for my Asian Studies degree has focused primarily on Sikhism. While I do not consider myself an expert on Sikhism by any means, I am developing a fluency in the faith and its rich history.
Sikhism is a religion founded by Guru Nanak Dev Ji (left) (1469-1539)[1], in Punjab, a region in South Asia that overlaps with the northwest of India and southwest of Pakistan. According to legend, Guru Nanak once went to bath in a stream in Sultanpur and disappeared for three days, during which time he was summoned to the court of God. When he emerged, he declared, “There is neither Hindu nor Muslim” [2]. Guru Nanak’s religious thoughts emerged in a time during which Hinduism and Islam were the dominant religions, and he sought to create a distinct faith centered around realization of and devotion to the sacred Nām, or the name of the formless, all-powerful, timeless Divine[3]. Guru Nanak was heavily influenced by Bhakti (devotional) Hinduism, Sufi (mystical) Islam, and Santism, an order of low-caste Hindu poets who believed in a formless God, like the one that Guru Nanak came to preach. The most significant of the Sants was the poet Kabir, whose compositions appear in the Guru Granth Sahib, or Sikh holy book[4].
The next Sikh Guru to discuss is Guru Gobind Singh (right) (1666-1708, Guru 1676-1699)[5], Guru , the dasami padshah, or tenth great king. Guru Gobind Singh was proclaimed the tenth Guru of Sikhism after his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed at the command of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb while defending the rights of Kashmiri brahmins, or Hindu priests [6]. By Guru Gobind Singh’s time, Sikhism had become a mobilized community organized and militarized in self-preservation against the Mughal ruler and regional warrior states. Guru Gobind Singh’s most significant contributions to Sikhism were the founding of the Khalsa, or order of the pure and contemporary order of Sikhism, and appointment of the Adi Granth, or book of Sikh scriptures, as the Guru Granth Sahib, the 11th and eternal Guru of the Sikhs. Devout Khalsa Sikhs adorn the panj kakke (5 K’s) of Sikhism: “kes (uncut hair), kanga (comb), kara (steel bracelet), kirpan (dagger), and kachha (a short undergarment)” [7].
In contemporary Sikhism, the basic unit of the Sikhs is the sangat, or congregation. Sangats are organized in devotion to the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the centerpiece of each gurdwara (literally, “door to the teacher”), or Sikh temple. In my experience, Sikhism is conducted in Gurbani, or language of the Guru — the language in which the Guru Granth Sahib is written, and Punjabi, the native language of Punjab, the ancestral homeland of Sikhism and the vast majority of Sikhs. Gurdwaras serve as the nuclei of Sikh communities, providing a center for religious practice, free meals (langar), education in Punjabi and Sikh scripture (gurmat school), and political organization. Punjabi and Gurbani share a common script, and the dominant historical thread of Punjab is inextricably linked with Sikhism; for this reason, diasporic Sikhs generally consider being Punjabi and being Sikh synonymous.
Gurdwara Dasmesh Darbar in Brampton, Ontario.
My project on Punjabi YouTube celebrities is largely informed by this connection between Punjabi culture and Sikh culture. The three celebrities on whom I’m focusing identify strongly as Sikh in their videos (for a future discussion), and I’m curious to know how represent their backgrounds on-screen. Is their “brown” identity specifically Punjabi, and, by extension, specifically Sikh? In a later issue of ਸਿੰਘਜ਼ ਆਨ ਧੀ ਸਮਾਲ ਸਕਰੀਨ (Singhs on the Small Screen transliterated into Punjabi), I will talk about the rich Sikh iconography in JusReign’s, AKakaAMAZING’s, and Superwoman’s videos.
Works Cited:
[1] J.S. Bains. “Political Ideas of Guru Nanak”, The Indian Journal of Political Science, Vol. 23, No. 1/4, pp. 309-318. Indian Political Science Association. In JSTOR, <http://www.jstor.org/stable/41853975>. 1962. 309.
[2] W.H. McLeod, trans. and ed. Textual sources for the study of Sikhism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1990. 21
[3] K.S. Duggal. Sikh Gurus: Their Lives & Teachings. New Delhi: UBS Publishers’ Distributors Ltd. 1993. 39
[4] Catherine B. Asher and Cynthia Talbot. India before Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2006. 107.
[5] J.S. Grewal and S.S. Bal. Guru Gobind Singh: a biographical study. Chandigarh: Punjab University. 1967. 47.
[6]Louis E. Fenech. “Martyrdom and the Sikh Tradition”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 117, No. 4, pp. 623-642. American Oriental Society. In JSTOR <http://www.jstor.org/stable/606445>. 1997. 633.
[7] Purnima Dhavan. When Sparrows Became Hawks: the making of the Sikh warrior tradition, 1699-1799. New York: Oxford University Press. 2011. 6.
Photos:
[1] Portrait of Guru Nanak, from http://www.singhsahib.com/sikh-gallery/sikh-guru-sahib/guru-nanak-dev-ji_singhsahib_sikh-gallery-a.jpg.
[2] Portrait of Guru Gobind Singh, from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/GuruGobindSinghJi.jpg/220px-GuruGobindSinghJi.jpg.