| Mazhabi Sikh | |
|---|---|
| Religions | Sikhism |
| Languages | Punjabi |
| Populated states | Punjab,Rajasthan,Haryana |
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Mazhabi Sikh, also known asRangreta Sikhs, are a community fromNorthern India, especially Punjab region, who followSikhism. Mazhabi are part of wider category of Sikhs, who are of a Chuhra (Valmiki) caste background.[1] The wordMazhabi[a] is derived from theArabic termMazhab (meaning religion or sect), and can be translated asthe faithful. They live mainly inIndian Punjab,Rajasthan andHaryana. The Mazhabi Sikhs and other Dalit Sikhs are often marginalized today by dominant Sikh castes, such as the Jats.[2]
There are various terms to refer to this caste grouping based on religion, with them being known asChuhras by Hindus, asMusalli orKutana by Muslims, and asMazhabis orRangretas by Sikhs.[3] Other terms are Bhangi or Mehta.[1]
WhenGuru Tegh Bahadur, theninth Sikh guru, was executed by theMughals in Delhi, it is believed that a Mazhabi Sikh, namedBhai Jaita, recovered his dismembered body from aMuslim crowd and brought it back to his son,Guru Gobind Singh. In recognition of their act, he admitted theuntouchables into theKhalsa (the Sikh faith), giving them the nameMazhabi ("faithful").[4]
Mazhabis/Rangretas originate from Chuhra converts to Sikhism.[1][3] Chuhras were the sweeping and scavenger caste in historical times.[1][3] When they converted to Sikhism, they became known by new terms and often changed occupations.[3][5] The Chuhras of Punjab were concentrated mostly in the eastern part of thePunjab Plains, especially in theMajha region[3], with their numbers being few west of Lahore, with notable exceptions being Rawalpindi, Multan, and Peshawar.[1]
As per oral traditions, the Chuhras began converting to Sikhism more earnestly no later than during the period of the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh.[5] One early account is of the tenth guru honouring a Chuhra Sikh, though in other accounts it was two brothers, who brought the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur to Anandpur from Delhi after much hardship.[5] The conversion process of a Chuhra becoming a Sikh was simple, with them merely having "to assume the motto of Nanak Shah" (Nanak Shah ka mantra lana).[5] The conversion process for Chuhras joining the Sikh religion involved a secret mantra, a communal feast of members of the same caste, and a prayer conducted by the sponsor for the candidate.[5] Whilst some Chuhra Sikhs underwent thepahul baptismal ceremony to the Khalsa, there were varying degrees of adherence to established or ordained Sikh beliefs and practices, evolving over time, with some Chuhra Sikhs forgoing keepingkesh andparticipating in smoking, whilst others more strictly adhered to keeping kesh, wearing akara, having akanga, or keeping other articles of the Sikh faith.[5] Some Chuhras outside of Punjab, such as in Poona and Benaras were also influenced by Sikhism.[5] Aside from Hindu Chuhras and Sikh Chuhras, there were also Muslim Chuhras, with those whose ancestor(s) originally converting at an earlier historical period being known as Sekras or Sheikh Halalkhors, with those whose ancestor(s) converted at a latter time in history being known as Musalli, Kutana, or Dindar.[5] Historically, conversions to Islam was usually a community-wide event, with entire caste-groups converting together, rather than on an individual basis.[2]
Garja Singh, the companion of the 18th century martyrBota Singh who was martyred alongside him, was a Rangreta Sikh.[6][7]
_Sikh_men_from_Lahore%2c_ca.1862%25E2%2580%259372_(cropped).png)
During the colonial-era, the syncretic nature of the religious beliefs and practices of the Chuhras (mixing in aspects of Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism) and their tendency to worship saints, was noted.[5] Many Chuhras were originally followers of the cult of Lal Beg, known as the Lal Begi tradition.[5] The colonial-era writers had a negative attitude to religious traditions they deemed as "syncretic", seeing them as impurities of organized religions and therefore not legitimate, instead of realizing that all religious traditions are ultimately syncretic fundamentally.[5]Richard C. Temple stated the following on their religious customs:[5]
This religion may be best styled hagiolatry pure and simple, as it consists merely of a confused veneration for anything and everything its followers, or rather their teachers, may have found to be considered sacred by their neighbours, whatever be its origin. Thus we find in the Panjab that in the religion of the scavenger castes the tenets of the Hindus, the Musalmans and the Sikhs are thrown together in the most hopeless confusion.
— R. C. Temple,The Legends of the Panjab (1884), page 529
Hervey DeWitt Griswold noted that Chuhras serving Muslim landlords tended to adopt Muslim customs whilst those serving Sikh landlords adopted Sikh ones.[5] This concept was referred to asjaisā rājā vaisī prajā ("as the king, so the people") by some Chuhras in the Sitapur area.[5] The religious traditions of the Chuhras involved:[5]
Hindu Dalits were motivated to convert to Sikhism, Christianity, and Islam due to the perceieved absence of the caste-system in these religious traditions.[2] However, in-reality Dalits continued to face discrimination even after converting to these religions as the local manifestations of these religions in the subcontinent have been influenced by the Indian caste-system and also perpetrate casteism.[2] Although the Mazhabi Sikhs resembled the Jat Sikhs in their practices and mannerisms, they were still discriminated against and excluded by the latter.[2] Thus, the contradictive reality for the Mazhabi Sikhs was although the Sikh religion espouses egaliteranian tenets in its ideology, in practice many Sikhs continue to perpetrate casteism discrimination, which continued inequalities.[2]
During the colonial-period, a substantial amount of Mazhabi Sikhs inPunjab and the western part of theUnited Provinces converted to Christianity.[5] The process of conversion is noted as initially being instigated by the Chuhras themselves rather than by the missionaries, as it was the Chuhras who approached the missionaries first.[5] The missionaries were initially targetting the privileged castes for conversion but began to focus on converting the lower-castes due to the numbers of Chuhras entering the Christian religion in this period.[5] The conversion of Mazhabi Sikhs to Christianity started in western U.P. in 1859 and in Punjab from 1873 onwards.[5] It was primarily thePresbyterian Mission was successful at converting Mazhabis to Christianity, although other Christian denominations also saw converts into their fold.[5] Eventually, the majority of native Christians were those from the labour castes, with the term "sweeper" and "Christian" becoming synonymous for one another in Western U.P. by the year 1900 and in post-partition Pakistani Punjab after 1947.[5] By 1931, nearly a quarter of all the Chuhras in Punjab had become Christians, with them being especially prevalented in western Punjab, in areas that would later become Pakistani Punjab.[5] However, many of the Chuhras that became Christian did not discard all of their previous beliefs and practices, known aspahchān.[5] The Christian churches referred to the Chuhra masses converting to their religion as "Mass Movement Christians" or "village Christians" due to them being subaltern converts, and noted their laxity in following Christian tenets.[5] Due to this, Chuhra Christians became a sub-class of Christians who were usually not deemed as fit to partake in the communion.[5] Many other native Christians also opposed the Chuhras joining their church, such as in Amritsar.[5][2] Non-Dalit native Christians (often upper-caste Christians) termed the Dalit Christian converts as "neo-Christians" and casteism de facto continued amongst the Indian Christian community, with Dalit Christians continuing to marry amongst themselves, their separate Dalit identity continuing, and preserving their Dalit diction.[2] In some cases, the Dalit Christians were segregated within the churches, being allotted separate seats.[2]
Many Chuhra converts continued to practice their ancestral religious practices and folk religion, such as thecult of Lal Beg.[5] Thus, a sign that a Chuhra community who all became Christian truly adhered to their new faith was by them destroying their old shrine (known as athan) dedicated to Lal Beg as a test to validate that they truly had become Christians, although their Christian-ness was still doubted even if they had done so.[5] Conversion to Christianity was also marked by a discarding of the traditional occupations that characterized their caste and an aspiration for owning land and achieving educational-attainment.[5] Mazhabis who converted to Christianity altered their work activities to "perform only the least offensive parts of their traditional duties".[5] Due to Mazhabis and other Chuhras becoming Christians, there were less people carrying out the scavenger roles in many areas, which led to tensions, as this was an occupational rebellion by the newly converted.[5] As a result, some landlords (zamindars) attempted to limit any interactions between Chuhras and missionaries in their area or punish the Chuhras who had become Christians, such as by exiling them and appropriating their plots of land.[5] Other tactics used to prevent Chuhras converting to Christianity were intimidation tactics, beatings, and kidnapping of family-members.[5]
Many Chuhras also became Muslims, with the proportion of Muslim Chuhras rising from 20% in 1891 to 31% by 1911 as per thecensuses.[5] However, Muslim organizations did not actively seek out Chuhra converts until theShuddhi controversy in the 1920s.[5] During this period, the Chuhras of Punjab also experienced hostility from theAhmadiyya movement, withMirza Ghulam Ahmad rejecting the notion that any Chuhras were amongst his followers.[5]
Mazhabis were recruited into the British Indian Army, with some regiments being dedicated to them.[3]
Between 30,000 and 40,000 Mazhabi Sikhs were reported to be congregated atGovindghar in an attempt to reach India during the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. This was one of many examples of the mass migrations that took place across the border in both directions as communities found themselves in the midst of violence driven by religious differences.[8]
Due to the discrimination faced by Mazhabi Sikhs in mainstream Sikh organizations and spaces, many of them have sought acceptance by joining varioussant mat movements ordera organizations, such theRadha Soamis orDera Sacha Sauda, and alsoSikh sects, such asNamdharis andNirankaris.[2] During thePunjab insurgency, there was a Mazhabi outfit referred to as the Rangreta Dal, founded by Buta Singh.[9] Today, the caste system amongst Sikhs operates differently from the rest of India.[10] While notions of purity/impurity regarding touch, contact, and sharing food are not prevalent amongst Sikhs, other aspects of the caste-system continues amongst the Sikhs, chiefly regarding hierarchies between sub-groups and communities based upon occupation and land-ownership continues.[10] Furthermore, gurdwara are often segregated based upon caste lineages, kin networks, and region due to the prevalence of endogamy amongst Sikh groups.[10] The Mazhabis/Rangretas and other Dalit Sikh groups, such as theValmikis,Ad-Dharmis, and Ramdasias/Ravidassias, are therefore stigmatized as they usually landless, disenfranchised, and excluded from many aspects of the Sikh community in the subcontinent and the diaspora, which is dominated chiefly by the Jats.[10] In recent-decades, many Mazhabi Sikhs in Indian Punjab haveconverted to Christianity due to the influence of independent pastors/churches.[11] Dalit Christians are not entitled to reservations in jobs and educational institutions.[2]
Within the present-day Mazhabi community, one group calls itself the Ranghreta and claims a higher status on the grounds that one of their ancestors wasBhai Jaita Ranghreta, who carried the head of Tegh Bahadur from Delhi toGuru Gobind Singh inAnandpur Sahib On seeing this act of bravery and self renunciation Guru Gobind Singh uttered "Ranghreta Guru ka beta", which means Ranghreta is son of Guru.[12][13]
The definition ofMazhabi today is somewhat blurred because of the influence of Valmikism. While Sikhism is in theory an egalitarian faith that takes no notice of caste, gender and other social demarcations, Fenech and Singh note that "there is often a level of hypocrisy between what is taught and what is actually put into practice." Mazhabis are discriminated against by Sikhs whose origins lie with higher-ranked castes and manyChuhras have turned to Valmikism but are still referred to as Mazhabi. While youngValmikis, who accept Valmiki as their guru, increasingly object to being labelled as Sikh, their elders are less concerned.[14][b] At least one of their organisations, the Valmiki-Mazhabi Sikh Morcha, conflates the terms.[16]
Mazhabis who converted from Sikhism to Christianity under the influence of Christian missionaries in the later years of theBritish Raj are sometimes referred to as Christian Mazhabi Sikhs.[17] Some also profess Hinduism but call themselves Mazhabi, as do a small number who follow the tenets ofBuddhism.[18]
There are two main groups of Dalit Sikhs, the Mazhabis/Rangretas (originate from Chuhras) and Ramdasias/Ravidassias (originate from Chamars).[3][2] These two groups are not seen as equals, with the Chamar-derived group seeing themselves as superior to the Chuhra-derived group in the caste-hierarchy.[3][2]
One of the four factions of theNihangs is the Rangreta Dal, which is associated with Mazhabi Sikhs.[19][20]
The Mazhabis were recruited to the army ofRanjit Singh but as separate companies attached to regularbattalions rather than as part of an integrated force. This situation was forced upon him because high-caste Sikhs refused any closer connection. They served aspioneers, operating mainly as a labour corps that worked on construction of roads, bridges and canals. They were not, however, mere labourers because it was expected that their infantry skills would enable them to defend themselves in the event of attack.[4]
The Mazhabis, whom historian Stephen Cohen says "had strong caste traditions of violence and aggressiveness and were classed as a criminal caste by the British",[c] lost their military employment following the defeat of the Sikhs in theFirst andSecond Anglo-Sikh Wars. Some eventually found employment as pioneers in the army ofGulab Singh, theMaharaja ofJammu and Kashmir.[22] In 1857, the British turned to them for help during theIndian Rebellion, apparently to counteract the rebellioussepoys of theBengal Army.[4][23] The First Pioneer Sikh Regiment soon found itself helping to break theSiege of Delhi, a second regiment was raised in 1858 and a third followed soon after.[23] This military employment contributed to a gradual improvement in their social status and in 1911 their official classification inGujranwala andLyallpur was uplifted to that of "agricultural caste" by the British authorities.[4] The British military classification system, which rated recruits according to their caste, continued to assert that Mazhabis were best suited as pioneers while, for example,Jat Sikhs should be infantry.[24]
It was calculated in 1898 that there were 2,452 Mazhabis in the army, along with 28,146 Jat Sikhs and 9,000 other Sikhs.[25] DuringWorld War I the single-battalion regiments of the Mazhabi Sikh Pioneers – the23rd,32nd and34th Pioneer Regiments – were expanded to comprise three battalions each. These units served in Egypt, Europe,Mesopotamia andPalestine and performed well. The 1/34th Sikh Pioneers were awarded the title of "Royal".[26]
The Sikh Pioneer regiments, which were practically the only military employer of the Mazhabis, were disbanded in December 1932. The cause was mainly advances in road-building techniques and the need to economise. Most of their recruits were released from the army, the only means by which they had been able to advance themselves in society.[27] A Mazhabi Sikhplatoon did replaceRajputs as the Indian Platoon of theWelch Regiment in 1933.[28]
The Mazhabi Sikhs, together with theRamdasia, were recruited to theSikh Light Infantry regiment (SLI) after its formation in 1941.[29][d] Despite unwillingness among some policy makers, the British had to abandon their traditional distinction between martial and non-martial races during the Second World War. This was necessitated by the need for more recruits than could be supplied by those communities upon which they usually relied, such as the Jat Sikhs,Dogras andPunjabi Musalmans. In addition, indiscipline among Jat Sikhs caused by their concerns regarding a post-war division of India was another reason to prefer recruitment of new classes. While recruitment from the pre-war martial classes was still pre-eminent, that from newly recognised classes such as the Mazhabis and Ramdasias became significant. Mazhabis were even recruited into units such as the13th Frontier Force Rifles, which previously would not have contemplated them.[32]
When India became independent in 1947, the British Indian Army became the Indian Army. This, like its predecessor, relies on the martial race theory for much of its recruitment and thus there is a grossly disproportionate number of Sikhs within its ranks.[33] The Mazhabi Sikhs and Ramdasias continued their service with the SLI in the new army.[29] The SLI has served in almost all of the post-1947 conflicts involving India, including the wars with Pakistan in1947,1965 and1971, theAnnexation of Hyderabad of 1948 and theSino-Indian War in 1962. It has also served inSri Lanka, where the 1st, 7th, 13th and 14th Battalions have contributed towards peace-keeping.[34]
The Mazhabi Sikh soldiers have a reputation for their loyalty and reliability. DuringOperation Blue Star in 1984, when the Indian Army entered theGolden Temple, Jat Sikh soldiers broke out in mutiny against their officers in theSikh Regiment and Punjab regiments A total of 2,000 Sikh personnel took part in the mutinies. In the most sensational case 1,400 mainly Jat Sikhs deserted after killing their commanding officer and armed themselves. A significant number of those were also new recruits who were incited easily into mutiny and some were forced at gun point to take part in the mutinies.[35][need quotation to verify] Despite that, the Indian Army officers were correct when they expressed confidence to journalists that the Mazhabi Sikhs of the Sikh Light Infantry would not mutiny.[36]
In Punjab,Sikh militants had stepped up their attacks on law enforcement as well as civilians, including minority groups. The Punjab had now reached a state of emergency andDirector General of Police,Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, responded by raising Mazhabi Sikhs as "Special Police Officers". This tactic was designed both for community protection and to dull any incentive for Mazhabis to join with the militants, although in fact Mazhabis had often been victims of attacks by those people. Their loyalty was to the government and was never questioned.[37] Mostly unemployed people, they were provided with guns by the state and were literally given a licence to kill. Gill received heavy criticism[38] for the brutality and ruthlessness of his tactics but the Sikh militants were neutralised. A large number of these special police officers were said to have been used during the February 1992 elections. An open season was declared on Sikh terrorists and the police were able to use whatever means deemed necessary to achieve victory. Major Sikh militant leaders were targeted, and many did not survive.[39]
Most of them live in separate clusters in villages. As the 19th century drew to a close, untouchables such as the Mazhabis were still denied equal access to thegurdwara (places of worship) by their fellow Sikhs and during the early years of the 20th century members of theArya Samaj in order to capitalise on them so they tried an attempts to convert those groups to Hinduism.[40] In spite of Sikhism's egalitarian tenets, it is believed[by whom?] that theSingh Sabha movement also viewed them as being inferior,[41] despite initially being established in 1873 in part with the aim of eradicating untouchability.[42]
The British Raj system of land allocation in the Punjab also worked against the Mazhabis. As land in the new canal colonies was made available for cultivation, the Raj allocated it to people on the basis of the scale of existing landholdings, which meant that dominant landholding communities such as the Jats received most of the 4,000,000 acres (1,600,000 ha) that became available between 1885 and 1940 while outcastes were excluded entirely.[43][e]
During the numerous discussions, conferences and proposals that preceded Indian independence, the Mazhabis sought to obtain an autonomous region withinpartitioned Punjab which they proposed to be called "Mazbhistan". This was one of many instances reflecting the lack of coherence among adherents of Sikhism at that time.[44]
Many Jat Sikhs continue to look down upon the Mazhabis,[45] who are also considered to be of lower status by the other Dalit communities, being theRamdasia/Ravidasia.[42][f] The internal division between Jat Sikh and Mazhabi still broadly follows the economic distinction between farmer and landless labourer.[46] It is land-ownership rather than varna's stress on occupational status that defines discrimination within the Sikh communities of the Punjab, and Ronki Ram notes that the nature of untouchability itself in Punjab differs from the rest of India because it is "related more to prejudice than pollution". Many Mazhabi are still exploited in low-status jobs, they are often forced to live in less desirable areas of villages, cannot use the gurdwaras frequented by higher-caste Sikhs and must use special cremation grounds.[42][g] According to Joyce Pettigrew, Mazhabis have adopted Jat Sikh clan names in an attempt to seek higher social statues by affiliating themselves with Jats.[47]
The outcome of theShiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) elections in December 1954 favouredPunjabi Suba, a Jat Sikh-dominated movement. Akali Dal, a religio-political party founded in 1920 and dominated by Jat Sikhs,[42] won all 111 seats that it contested and Khalsa Dal – a new party created with government support – managing to win only three of the 132 in which it put forward a candidate. The campaign saw the Arya Samaj andJan Sangh, who were both opposed to Punjabi Suba and believed in Hindu upper caste domination, stressing a fear of Sikh domination. They encouraged Hindu Punjabis to lie by claimingHindi to be their first language even when it was almost always in factPunjabi. This attempt to cause a division along religious lines had the tacit support of the government and its impact echoed down the years.[48] In 2005, 56 expelled employees of the SGPC abandoned Sikhism and alleged that they were being discriminated against because they were Mazhabis.[49]
According to a report published inThe Tribune on 16 March 1966, a spokesperson for the Federation of Mazhabi Sikhs stated that "the Sikh Scheduled Castes had been reduced to a position of mere serfs by the Sikh landlords who would literally crush the Mazhabi Sikhs if Punjabi Suba was formed." The federation offered support for Arya Samaj and Jan Sangh in opposition to the Punjabi Suba.[48]
Although Sikh leaders recognise the contribution of the Mazhabis and Ravidasias to the community and have tried to include them in their organisations, not least because of the size of their population, both groups still feel alienated because of discrimination by higher-caste Sikhs, especially the Jats. It is because of this that they have turned to political parties such as theBahujan Samaj Party rather than maintaining past associations with Sikh politics through theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and SGPC.[50]
Perhaps the most notable politician to come from the Mazhabi community isButa Singh, formerMinister of Home Affairs and chairman of theNational Commission for Scheduled Castes of the central government.
In 2014, both the SAD and theIndian National Congress (INC) voiced their opposition to Christian Mazhabi people being reconverted to the Sikh faith in a ceremony organised by theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).Parkash Singh Badal, thenChief Minister of Punjab and an SAD elder, said that such conversions are "unfortunate and against the basic tenets of Sikhism as Sikh gurus sacrificed their lives resisting conversion", whileAmarinder Singh of the INC considered the move by theHindutva-centric RSS to be "forced conversion". The RSS said that it was not sponsoring conversion to Hinduism but rather to Sikhism and that the SGPC had been lax in stemming the tide of poor Sikh families switching to Christianity.[17] It was claimed by an RSS colleague, Ram Gopal, that 2,470 people had already been converted in the year prior to the controversy being commented upon and that the SGPC had initially supported the idea.[51] There were also protests by Christians, who claimed that the conversions were an attempt by the RSS to drive a wedge between their religion and Sikhism where previously there had been a harmonious relationship.[52]
TheGovernment of India recognises Mazhabi Sikh as aScheduled Caste as part of their officialaffirmative action program.[18]
As of 2011[update], there were 2,633,921 Mazhabis in the Indian state of Punjab, of whom 2,562,761 declared themselves to be Sikh, 71,000 as Hindu and 160 as Buddhists. The total Scheduled Caste population of the state was 8,860,179.[18] At that time, there were 158,698 Mazhabis in Rajasthan consisting of 11,582 Hindus, 147,108 Sikhs and 8 Buddhists.[53] 141,681 lived in Haryana (11,485 Hindu, 130,162 Sikh and 34 Buddhists),[54] 460 resided in Himachal Pradesh,[55] 3,166 in Chandigarh,[56] 2,829 in Delhi NCT,[57] 6,038 in Uttarakhand,[58] and 14,192 in Uttar Pradesh.[59]
| Districts | 2011 India census | |
|---|---|---|
| Mazhabi Sikh/Valmiki Caste Population | % | |
| Amritsar | 568,997 | 22.84% |
| Barnala | 78,820 | 13.22% |
| Bathinda | 247,798 | 17.84% |
| Faridkot | 164,201 | 26.57% |
| Fatehgarh Sahib | 45,635 | 7.61% |
| Firozpur | 294,164 | 30.47% |
| Gurdaspur | 151,838 | 6.6% |
| Hoshiarpur | 57,236 | 3.62% |
| Jalandhar | 241,614 | 11.07% |
| Kapurthala | 140,723 | 17.21% |
| Ludhiana | 223,230 | 6.4% |
| Mansa | 123,782 | 16.1% |
| Moga | 251,956 | 25.39% |
| Sri Muktsar Sahib | 233,837 | 25.9% |
| Patiala | 142,995 | 7.56% |
| Rupnagar | 29,813 | 4.36% |
| Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar | 57,399 | 5.82% |
| Sangrur | 126,473 | 10.51% |
| Nawanshahr | 16,696 | 2.72% |
| Tarn Taran | 315,574 | 28.17% |
Even Buta Singh, then Union home minister and a major player in the Punjab imbroglio ever since Indira Gandhi's assassination, had an underground outfit of his own called 'Rangreta Dal',rangreta in Sikh folklore referring to the Mazhabi Sikhs, a Sikh scheduled caste to which Buta himself belonged.
There are four factions among the Nihangs: Budha Dal, Taruna Dal, Ranghreta Dal, and Bidhi Chand Taruna Dal. The last two are less prominent. Not much is talked about the Ranghreta Dal, and it consists of Nihangs exclusively belonging to the Mazhabi caste, whereas the Nihangs identified with Bidhi Chand, a devout follower of the sixth Guru of the Sikhs, are confined to village Sur Singh in Punjab's Tarn Taran district to which he belonged.
Unfortunately Sikhism did not succeed in eliminating caste prejudices. Most Jat Sikhs look down upon the inferior castes and the former untouchable ranks, known as Mazhabi Sikhs. Still the egalitarian message of Sikhism is undeniable.
