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Posted

Both Nidar Singh Nihang and Parmjit SIngh were at Waterstones in Slough today at a book-signing event.

A good turnout of customers - one even purchasing four copies of the signed book! :shock:

Even got a cool carrier bag with an image of the Asht-Bhuja Dhuja.

Book can be bought from the publishers website:

www.kashihouse.com (though site not active yet),

or directly from the authors.

or from bookstores.

Off to read my copy....... :D

  • 2 weeks later...
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Posted

If you go to www.kashihouse.com , look at the photos of the book. At the top end of the books spine is a collage (- i think,) of the Asht-Bhuja Dhuja.

Apart from that you'll need to look at the book for a proper photo of it; don't know if other guys can put up a picture on this site.

Posted

No , its just the Publishers website.

Will be available from them 2nd Feb onwards or from book shops for £45GBP. I think its £35GBP direct from publishers.

Even if it was available online you wont get the same 'experience' as with a real hardback copy.

Posted

Alternatively , just pop down to your local gurdwara on a sunday a buy a book for a couple of bucks that states that "sikhs believe in one God, many paths, equality for all, is a scientific religion, all wear a turban and 5k's , blah , blah, blah"

As the saying goes - you get what you pay for.

The precedent has been set with their other books which were a success:

Siques, Tigers & Thieves

Warrior Saints.

If the Reccession is really biting you, you can read it in your local library.

deepsingh

"niddars book?"

aka "Nihang Nidar Singh's book?"

Its already been mentioned on the 'randhiri' thread.

Posted

Could you tell us what its about? im thinking about buying niddars book or the book on the Gurus Darbaar by louis fenech

The clue is in the title! The book is so vast and deep, with many characters and stories, emotions and politics that it is impossible to summarise. Even if you dont like reading, the book is worth the money for the rare pictures alone.

Have a look at the contents page on Amazon to see what is covered.

Posted

From the quick glances i have made: There is one section of a local Raja, couple of hundred years ago, who was also a sehejdhari sikh. Yet most people think that Sikhs only ruled in Panjab.

During the period of Guru Gobind Singh Jee, a king from Assam was also a shardaloo of Dassam Patishaa. It was he who gave Guru jee the Ranjit Nagara and an elephant from which the Pangaa with the Pahaarhi Rajas started.

The Paharhi Rajas were also willing to unite and become Sikhs of Dassam Patishaa but they said they wanted a different Amrit since they did not want to drink from the same Bata as the called low castes Sikhs did. Satguru Sache Patishah obviously refused.

A King in Sri Lanka had also become a Shardaloo of Guru Nanak Dev Jee.

  • 10 months later...
Posted (edited)

I've read about 1/3 of the book. It is fascinating!

The stark contrast in terms of quality, when compared to Indian publications is telling. As some of you might have figured from a previous post, I was reading an Indian publication on Maharaja Ranjit Singh recently. That book was mediocre in terms of writing style and proof reading (many spelling mistakes). The images were also of inferior quality. In contrast this book is seriously well written and presented, but we should expect as much with such a pricetag attached to it.

From what I have read so far, the story of how Hazoori Singhs defended the place in the face of overwhelmingly large numbers of hostlile Rohilla and Arab musalmaans is inspiring. I recall an account of Sikhs fighting in the Hyderabad in Sicques, Tigers or Thieves, this book has put all of that in perspective.

It also sheds a lot of light on Maharajah Ranjit Singh's diplomatic relations outside of the Panjab and the fates of Sikh communities outside of the Panjab homeland. I'm beginning to understand that we had a few colonies of Sikhs outside of Panjab, be they in Sindh, Kabul, Hyderabad etc. The lessons that we could learn from them are potentially invaluable for those of us who now form the diaspora elsewhere in the globe.

One day I hope to visit Hazoor Sahib for myself.

Edited by dalsingh101
Posted

The Hazuri Singhs have much in common with the Nihang Dals, in terms of maryada, bani, rvaaj etc.

Its amazing to do sangat with Hazuri Singhs, they certainly have a fearless aura and to this day are survivors, a small but well respected community/minority. They are just as cunning as they fearless to this day. And they couldn't give a rats a**e about neophyte Sikhi, they practice and defend their puratan khalsa traditions with no fear. Its no surprise that of all the famous visiters (yaatri) to Sachkhand, none have ever questioned the Puratan Khalsa practices that occur there to this day (not whilst they were in Nanded in any case).

The book is great, the 1st serious effort to record the History of the Khalsa Panth after the Ango-Sikh War years. The bibliography and research that has been carried out is truely a highly professional and devotional effort. I look forward to other forthcoming publications from same authors.

Posted

The Hazuri Singhs have much in common with the Nihang Dals, in terms of maryada, bani, rvaaj etc.

Maybe, but the book does record serious contention between the two, including murder.

The book is great, the 1st serious effort to record the History of the Khalsa Panth after the Ango-Sikh War years. The bibliography and research that has been carried out is truely a highly professional and devotional effort. I look forward to other forthcoming publications from same authors.

Vol 2 was earmarked for release in October this year, wonder what happened? I've met Paramjit before and all his books have been top class so far.

Niddar and Paramjit apologised for some of the contents of this book at Hazur Sahib. In the end of this clip (4.22 onwards) Niddar says:

We the authors, Niddar Singh Nihung and Paramjit Singh, of the book In the master's presence - The Sikhs of Hazur Sahib, volume 1 in presence of the jathedar singh sahib, baba xxx[?] ask for forgiveness for the many mistakes we have committed in writing the aforementioned volume. We apologise for the mistakes and misleading the Sikh congregation.

Signed

xxxxxxx

I think he gets carried away with the sanatanism at times, possibly?

Posted

Personally I wouldn't spend 40 odd quid bankrolling their sanatan agenda. No doubt the book might be a good read and might contain nuggets of information not contained elsewhere but the book is still agenda driven, hence the apology of Niddar.

As for no Sikhs questioning the goings on at Hazur Sahib, I would say that not many common Sikhs would have had the chance to do a yatra to Hazur Sahib until after 1947 and the ones that did would probably regard the maryada there as just another display peculiar to Nihangs. Sikhs visit Nihang Deras in Punjab and they do not question the goings on there so it would not be unusual for Sikhs to not question the maryada there. Although our friend would like to have us believe that it is because of some fear of the Nihangs. Had the Panth a mind to, it could easily take over the complex like they took back the ownership of other Gurdwaras.

Back to the book, there seems to some campaign to big up the book which when one looks at the amazon site seems to have reviews from the usual suspects.

Posted (edited)

Thanks for the great review, ingeniously given without the insight of having actually read the book.

"Had the Panth a mind to, it could easily take over the complex like they took back the ownership of other Gurdwaras."

Yes, and destroyed what little remains of the 'Sikh Tradition' and replaced it with their neophtye equivalents. Kirtan... gone. Academia/Philosophy... gone. Dasam Bani... gone. Yudh vidya.... gone. Many aspects of ithihaas... gone/changed.

Bravo reformists.

Hazur Sahib is a blessed place, anyone inc immeasurable Sants who have visited there attest to this, many having had Dasan Paatshaahs darshan, whilst the Puratan maryadai were unapologetically being practised.

I suspect, as seems to be the trend with Tony, he is again commenting on something he has had no exposure to.

Edited by shaheediyan
Posted

Can those Hazuri Singhs speak Panjabi or do they speak the local lingo in daily conversation?

Posted

Most of the local Singhs (non-Hazur Sahib sevadaar) I spoke used Hindi/Punjabi mix, Punjabi being on the lower side.

They can read Punjabi though and do all their paath in Gurmukhi.

Saying that some did in fact speak decent Punjabi, I suppose it depends on their circumstances and opportunities.

Posted

They can read Punjabi though and do all their paath in Gurmukhi.

Those Afghanoos are also really good at reading Gurmukhi and seem much more dedicated to the prayer side of Sikhi than many Panjabis (myself included). Funny thing is, when I went to Panjab, I met a good few completely illiterate young Sikh Panjabis. Our lot are funny sometimes....

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