A text from 1781: 'The Seeks and their College at Patna' by Charles Wilkins

Sources of Sikh History 1

This essay is the beginning of a new series (Sources of Sikh History) in which I will be sharing, chiefly, some primary sources of Sikh history, and discussing them.

The text I will be sharing today is a report of a visit to a Gurudwara in Patna, possibly Takht Sri Harmandir Sahib ji, Patna Sahib. It is difficult to tell for certain. The visitor was Charles Wilkins, a young officer of the East India Company, who was, as J.S. Grewal notes, one of the bright young men of Warren Hastings, the then Governor-General of the EIC. Hastings was among the first Englishmen to have a keen interest in Indian history and philosophy. Under his governorship, the EIC undertook many translation projects, some amateur archaeology and the publication of journals, of Indological research. Wilkins himself had learnt Sanskrit, written a grammar of the language and translated the Bhagavadgita into English. He was on the way to Benares, travelling up the Ganga, when he heard of a ‘Sikh college’ in Patna, a place of congregation for ‘that sect of people who are distinguished from the worshippers of Brahma and the followers of Mahommed by the appellation of Seek’. He decided to pay these curious people a visit.

This account of his visit was written in 1781, and published in a journal called Asiatick Researches in 1788. The 1780’s were an era in which the East India Company was extending its control into the Ganga Doab, large portions of which were controlled by the Nawab of Awadh, with the upper reaches controlled by Rohillah Afghans. The central Indian massif was controlled by the Maratha Holkar. North of Holkar’s dominions was the small Mughal controlled island of Delhi, beyond which from the Yamuna to the Jhelum were territories of the Sikh misls. In the 1780s, Sikh misls campaigned down the Ganga Doab, raiding the territories of the Rohillahs and the frontiers of Awadh numerous times, almost coming into open conflict with the EIC. But that is a story for another time.

Now, Charles Wilkins’ essay.

The description in the above seems to be of a not very small Gurudwara, which is well decorated and adorned. Wilkins’ reference to portraits of Musulman Princes is his mistaking of portraits of the Gurus, done in Mughal artistic styles which were quite common in the 18th century. These portraits would possibly be in the Kiratpur style, and not the Pahari style of the 19th century.

Wilkins describes Kirtan followed by Ardas in the first section, and the partaking of langar and kada-parshad in the next.

After the prayers, Wilkins spent some time conversing with the Sangat on the basic precepts of the Sikh faith. The Sikhs tell him briefly about Guru Nanak’s life, and how he was revered by Hindus and Muslims. He is told of the Sikh scripture, the Adi Granth, and read a verse from another ‘book’ which is revered, which strikes Wilkins as being very close to Hindvi in language with many words from Sanskrit. (This, naturally, is the Dasve Padishah ka Granth.) Regarding the basic ethos of Sikh philosophy, Wilkins is told that Sikhs believe in one omnipotent, omnipresent and all pervading ‘god’ who fills all space and pervades all matter, the only one to be worshiped and invoked. The Sikhs also enthusiastically tell him about basic ethics of Sikhi, stressing on universal tolerance, general hospitality and philanthropy.

And, just as he is about to leave, they ask him, since he is so interested, does he want to convert!

This is a very valuable text, made more so by Wilkins’ general intelligence and ability to grasp his interlocutors’ meaning. It would be a while till another European would show a similar understanding.

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