Education and Modernity in Colonial Punjab: Khalsa College, the Sikh Tradition and the Webs of Knowledge, 1880-1947 (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies)

This book explores the localisation of modernity in late colonial India. As a case study, it focuses on the hitherto untold colonial history of Khalsa College, Amritsar, a pioneering and highly influential educational institution founded in the British Indian province of Punjab in 1892 by the religious minority community of the Sikhs. Addressing topics such as politics, religion, rural development, militarism or physical education, the study shows how Sikh educationalists and activists made use of and ‘localised’ communal, imperial, national and transnational discourses and knowledge. Their modernist visions and schemes transcended both imperialist and mainstream nationalist frameworks and networks. In its quest to educate the modern Sikh – scientific, practical, disciplined and physically fit – the college navigated between very local and global claims, opportunities and contingencies, mirroring modernity’s ambivalent simultaneity of universalism and particularism. Note on Indic/Punjabi Terms, Transliteration, and City Names 6 Acknowledgements 7 Contents 10 Abbreviations 11 List of Figures 12 Chapter 1: Introduction: Gurus, Grades, and the Globe: Khalsa College, Education, and Colonial Modernity in South Asia 13 Introduction 13 Religion, Education, and Knowledge Transmission in Colonial South Asia 16 Circulating Knowledge and Educational Agendas 18 Colonial Modernity, Global Spaces, and the Case for Localised Histories 22 Outlook 27 Chapter 2: The Politics of Education: Socio-Religious Transformation, Politicised Sikhism and Limited Nationalism at Khalsa College, c. 1880–1947 43 Introduction 43 Khalsa College, the Government and Early Sikh Politics, 1892–1920 44 Socio-Religious Reform, the Singh Sabha Movement, and the Lahore/Amritsar Divide 44 The Khalsa College Establishment Committee and KCA’s Early Years, 1890–1904 47 Political Unrest and the Reorganisation of Khalsa College, 1905–1911 51 The Politicisation of the Sikh Community in the 1910s 54 Khalsa College Under Government Control, 1912–1920 58 Khalsa College, the Akālı̄s, and Limited Nationalism, 1920–1947 62 The Non-cooperation Movement and the ‘De-officialisation’ of KCA in 1920 62 Akālı̄ Attacks and the Governmental Withdrawal, 1920–1925 65 Institutional Growth and Continuing Criticism, 1926–1936 67 Punjab Politics, Princely States, and the ‘Majithia Reign’, 1936–1947 70 Campus Organisations, Education Networks, and Khalsa College’s Socio-Economic Composition 75 Conclusion 82 Chapter 3: Conceiving Modern Sikhism: Religious Instruction, Scientism, and Comparative Religion at Khalsa College 100 Introduction 100 Institutionalising ‘Modern Sikhism’ 101 The Religious Sub-committee and the Chair of Sikh Theology 101 The Textbook Problem and KCA Professors as Authors 104 ‘Who Is a Sikh’ and the Rahit 107 Learning and Practicing Sikhism on Campus 110 Khalsa College and ‘Sikhism’ as a ‘Rational’ and ‘Scientific’ World Religion 114 Sikhism and World Religion(s) 114 Scientism, Religion, and ‘Scientific’ Sikhism at Khalsa College 115 ‘Irrational Hinduism’, the Universality of Science, and Sikh History 121 Conferences and Global Outreach: Sikhism Among the World(’s) Religions 127 Conclusion 132 Chapter 4: Teaching Development: Scientific Agriculture and Rural Reconstruction at Khalsa College 149 Introduction 149 Village India, Punjab Administrative Paternalism, and Khalsa College as a Rural Reconstruction Enterprise, 1915–1924 150 Agriculture at Khalsa College, the Rural Sikh, and ‘Village India’ 150 Rural Paternalism in Punjab and G.A. Wathen 153 The Co-operative Society and Its Dairy 155 The Demonstration and Experimental Farm 159 Campus, Health, Extension: Uplifting the Khalsa College Colony 164 Summary: Wathen, Khalsa College, and Rural Reconstruction in the Punjab 167 Khalsa College and (Trans-)National Rural Development in Late British India and Beyond, 1924–1960 168 The Royal Agricultural Commission and Rural Development in India and Punjab 168 Perceptions of Rural Reconstruction: The Nation and Cultural Synthesis 171 Expansion of Agricultural Schemes at Khalsa College 175 Global Outreach: Khalsa College and the World of Development 180 Alumni and Legacy: Khalsa College and Its Students in the Punjab 187 Conclusion 190 Chapter 5: Disciplining the Martial Sikh: Physical Education, Youth Organisations, and Military at Khalsa College 209 Introduction 209 Between Play- and Battlefield: The Martial Sikh, the Manly Sportsman, and the Imperial Soldier 210 The Early Years: Military Visions, Manly Games, and the Games Ethic 210 For the King, Guru, and the Empire: KCA and World War I 213 The Interwar Period and the Decline of Sikh Recruitment 219 Re-framing the Martial Sikh: Discipline, Scientific Bodily Culture, and the Modern Sikh Soldier 221 Bodily Culture as a Substitute: Discipline and the Boy Scouts 221 Between Manly Games and Scientific Physical Education 227 For the King, Guru, and the Future: KCA and World War II 233 Conclusion 243 Chapter 6: Conclusion: Localised Modernity, Hybrid Knowledge, and Postcolonial (Dis-)Continuities 260 Khalsa College and the Postcolonial Order 260 Local Modernity, Universal Knowledge, and Global Sikhism 264 Glossary of Indic and Sikh/Punjabi Terms 276 Index 279 Modernity and Education in Colonial Punjab explores the localisation of modernity in late colonial India. As a case study, it focuses on the hitherto untold colonial history of Khalsa College, Amritsar, a pioneering and highly influential educational institution founded in the British Indian province of Punjab in 1892 by the religious minority community of the Sikhs. Addressing topics such as politics, religion, rural development, militarism or physical education, the study shows how Sikh educationalists and activists made use of and 'localised' communal, imperial, national and transnational discourses and knowledge. Their modernist visions and schemes transcended both imperialist and mainstream nationalist frameworks and networks. In its quest to educate the modern Sikh - scientific, practical, disciplined and physically fit - the college navigated between very local and global claims, opportunities and contingencies, mirroring modernity's ambivalent simultaneity of universalism and particularism Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: Gurus, Grades, and the Globe: Khalsa College, Education, and Colonial Modernity in South Asia (Michael Philipp Brunner)....Pages 1-30 The Politics of Education: Socio-Religious Transformation, Politicised Sikhism and Limited Nationalism at Khalsa College, c. 1880–1947 (Michael Philipp Brunner)....Pages 31-87 Conceiving Modern Sikhism: Religious Instruction, Scientism, and Comparative Religion at Khalsa College (Michael Philipp Brunner)....Pages 89-137 Teaching Development: Scientific Agriculture and Rural Reconstruction at Khalsa College (Michael Philipp Brunner)....Pages 139-198 Disciplining the Martial Sikh: Physical Education, Youth Organisations, and Military at Khalsa College (Michael Philipp Brunner)....Pages 199-249 Conclusion: Localised Modernity, Hybrid Knowledge, and Postcolonial (Dis-)Continuities (Michael Philipp Brunner)....Pages 251-266 Back Matter ....Pages 267-279