Assamese Sikhs Depict Assam’s Historical Ties With Punjab: An Inspiring Story Of Assimilation

Barkala: They are Sikhs, albeit with a difference.

Like the Sikhs across the world, they have the ‘Panj Kakars’ (Five Ks) – Kesh (uncut hair) covered by a turban, Kanga (a wooden comb), Kara (a steel bracelet), Kachera (cotton undergarments) and the Kirpan (a small curved sword or knife), but what makes them different is the language. While Sikhs across the world converse fluently in Punjabi, they speak fluent Assamese and are not able to spell out even a word in Punjabi.

Welcome to the land of Sikhs of Barkala village in Assam. Located about 40 kms from Central Assam’s Nagaon township, Barkala village had been a home to over 200 Assamese Sikhs, a unique community who stood by the people of Assam during the worst of times and later assimilated themselves in the local culture and traditions.

The Assamese Sikhs in Barkala go to four Gurudwaras established by their forefathers in the village but say their ‘Gurbani’ in Assamese. They also go to the Namghars in the village without fail and take part in the Vaishnavite rituals which are followed in the Namghars (Namghars are the Vaishnavite prayer halls ubiquitous to villages in Assam).

“We are Sikhs but we are Assamese Sikhs. Our forefathers came to Assam more than two centuries back and settled here. We are not even connected to our ancestors in Punjab now. We don't know if there is anyone there. The people in our community in Barkala do not know Punjabi language, Assamese is our mother tongue,” said Dwip Singh, a resident of Barkala in Nagaon.

The story of migration of this community from Punjab to Assam is equally interesting. History has it that the ancestors of this community were all brave soldiers from Punjab who were sent to Assam by the then Maharaja of Punjab Ranjit Singh at the request of the then Ahom King Chandrakanta Singha. The Ahom King requested Ranjit Singh to send a contingent of brave soldiers to help Assam fight against the invading Burmese soldiers.

Sikhs in Assamese village, Barkala. (ETV Bharat)

According to history, Maharaja Ranjit Singh had sent a contingent of 500 brave Sikh soldiers to Assam in 1820 to help the Ahoms to fight against the invading Burmese soldiers. The contingent was led by Chaitnya Singh, a brave commander. The Sikh soldiers fought bravely against the Burmese and helped the Ahoms reclaim their lands. However, Commander Chaitnya Singh died at Hadira Chowki area during a fierce battle with the Burmese.

After the death of Chaitnya Singh, his wife Mataji and other rest of the soldiers did not return to Punjab and instead decided to settle down in Assam. From Hadira Chowki, they followed the Brahmaputra river upstream and settled at a place near the confluence of Kolong and Kopili rivers. The soldiers and their descendants later married local Assamese women and settled here adopting the local culture.

“We follow Sikhism but we have also been following Assamese culture. During the marriage in our village, first it is celebrated in Gurdwara following rituals of Sikhism and later the Assamese traditional ritual of marriage is followed. None in my family speaks Punjabi. It is more than two centuries now that our ancestors came from Punjab. However, we are Assamese and we have no connections in Punjab now,” said Pratap Singh, another proud Assamese Sikh of Barkala.

They said that the “Mataji Gurdwara’ at Chaparmukh still has the Kirpan used by Commander Chaitanya Singh and the cannon which was brought by the 500 brave soldiers to fight the invading Burmese in Assam.

“The first Gurdwara was established in Barkala in 1825. Now we have four Gurdwaras in Barkala. We also have Namghars in Barkala. The Sikh people in Barkala are Assamese Sikhs and the story of their existence is one with compassion and communal harmony,” said Harbhajan Singh, who is the Gyani of Gurdwara in Barkala.

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