The Hub Of Sikhism
Brigadier Jagjit Singh Ahuja (Retd) Consultant HRD
HYDERABAD - THE HUB OF SIKHISM (SIKHI, SIKH ROAD , SIKH VILLAGE , SIKH CHOWNI)
There may be only one place on our planet which can boast a conglomeration of these four elements of Sikhism and their holy places , the Gurudwaras . This place is Hyderabad and its twin city of Secunderabad, the capital of Telangana State. Many people may not be aware of these facts. There has been a long history of Sikhs coming to South India in general and to Hyderabad in particular. The historical records in print show that Sikhism struck roots in this part of the world with the arrival of around 300 Sikhs from Punjab at Nanded in 1708 alongwith Guru Gobind Singh ji. Nanded , now in Maharashtra State was then part of princely state of Nizam of Hyderabad. Then around 1830, Maharaja Ranjit Singh sent 150 men for the construction of Gurdwara Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib Abchalnagar at Nanded in the memory of Guru Gobind Singh who breathed list last in Nanded on 7th October 1708. While some of these Sikhs went back to their native place on completion of the Gurudwara ,
many of them stayed back and settled in and around Hyderabad.Those who settled in Hyderabad married local women, raised Sikh families, and built Gurudwaras wherever they were living in sufficient numbers. Their descendents started performing marriages within the budding Sikh community, mostly concentrated in towns such as Hyderabad/Secunderabad, Nanded, Aurangabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. The total population of Sikhs as per 1911 census rose to 4,637. They came to be known as Dakkhani (Southern) Sikhs , preserving their religious and cultural identity, observing the sanctity of five Ks as the true Sikhs of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Several Sikhs found employment in the irregular forces of the Nizam. The real influx of Sikhs here started especially in Hyderabad /Secunderabad , when they were uprooted from Pakistan after independence to find new abode for settlement . They were mostly traders. They started calling their uprooted relatives looking for a place with congenial environment for their... NOVEMBER 2020 - 001
