Nihang Sikhs: History, Dress and Traditions of the Akali Order

The Nihangs, also called Akalis or Akali Nihangs, are an order of Khalsa Sikhs who preserve the martial dress, discipline and customs associated with the eighteenth-century Sikh warrior bands. Recognisable by their deep blue robes, tall turbans and steel weapons, they trace their origin to Guru Gobind Singh and regard themselves as the Guru's own army (Gurū kī Fauj), keeping alive traditions that many other Sikhs know mainly from history.

Origins of the Nihangs§

Nihang tradition holds that the order began in the time of Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708). A widely told story relates that the Guru's youngest son, Fateh Singh, appeared before his father dressed in blue with a tall turban, and that the Guru declared this the dress of a new body of warriors. Other accounts associate the blue dress with the Guru's escape from Machhiwara after the battle of Chamkaur in 1704–1705, when he is said to have travelled in blue garments, or with Akali units formed among the earliest Khalsa. These traditions are recorded in later sources, and historians cannot date the order's beginnings precisely.

What is clear is that the Nihang ideal grew out of the turbulent eighteenth century. After the death of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716, Khalsa Sikhs fought in mobile bands against Mughal governors and Afghan invaders, often living in the jungles and hills. In the 1730s and 1740s these bands were organised under Nawab Kapur Singh into two bodies, the Buddha Dal, "army of the elders", and the Tarna Dal, "army of the young", which combined into the Dal Khalsa, the united Sikh army. The Nihang dals regard themselves as the direct continuation of this structure. Purnima Dhavan's study of the period shows how the warrior ideal of these bands shaped Khalsa identity, as discussed in The Khalsa and the Five Ks.

The name Akālī, "devotee of the Timeless One (Akāl)", was used for these warriors by the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It should not be confused with the Shiromani Akali Dal, the political party founded in 1920 during the gurdwara reform movement, which took the old name but is a separate institution.

Akali Phula Singh and the Sikh Empire§

The Nihangs reached the height of their influence in the early nineteenth century. Their most famous leader, Akali Phula Singh (1761–1823), was for many years the custodian of the Akal Takht at Amritsar, the seat of Sikh temporal authority. He was known for his austere piety and fearlessness, and Sikh tradition remembers that he once summoned Maharaja Ranjit Singh himself before the Akal Takht to answer for a breach of the Sikh code, and that the Maharaja accepted the punishment.

Nihang units fought as irregular shock troops in Ranjit Singh's campaigns, notably at Multan in 1818 and in the frontier wars against the Afghans. Akali Phula Singh was killed at the battle of Nowshera in 1823, and his memorial (samādhi) stands near the battlefield in present-day Pakistan. Contemporary European observers described the Akalis as fiercely independent and sometimes difficult for the Maharaja's own government to control. After the British annexation of the Punjab in 1849 their power declined, and their role in Sikh life became chiefly religious and ceremonial.

Dress, Weapons and the Sarbloh Tradition§

Nihang appearance is the most visible sign of the order. The characteristic colour is deep blue (nīlā), worn as a long robe (chola), often with a saffron or yellow sash. The turban is a tall dumālā, sometimes built up to a great height and adorned with steel emblems: the chakkar (quoit), small daggers, the khaṇḍā and miniature weapons. A full Nihang carries a range of traditional arms, which may include the sword, spear, dagger and quoit, in addition to the five articles of faith shared with all initiated Sikhs. Nihangs speak of weapons (shastar) with reverence, honouring them as manifestations of divine power in a manner that echoes the Shastar Nām Mālā of the Dasam Granth.

Many Nihangs follow a discipline of sarbloh, "all-iron": they cook and eat from iron vessels and give special honour to steel. In their encampments (chhāoṇīs) the Dasam Granth and the Sarbloh Granth, a long poem in praise of divine power that they attribute to Guru Gobind Singh, are installed and read alongside the Guru Granth Sahib. Most other Sikh scholars regard the Sarbloh Granth as a later composition, and its status is disputed.

Language, Customs and Daily Life of the Dals§

Nihangs have a distinctive vocabulary, known as Khālsā bole or Nihang bole, built on bravado and inversion. A single Nihang may call himself savā lākh, "one hundred and twenty-five thousand", recalling the Guru's saying that one Sikh would fight that many; a blind person may be called "watchful", and humble foods given grand names. Scholars see this jargon as a survival of the morale-building speech of the eighteenth-century bands.

Life in the dals combines worship with military and agricultural work. Nihangs rise early for prayer, recite the Nitnem and the Dasam Granth compositions, care for horses and practise gatkā, the Sikh martial art of stick and sword. Many dals travel through the year between historic gurdwaras, keeping the mobile pattern of their predecessors. Some Nihang groups traditionally eat jhatkā meat, killed with a single stroke, which they consider the only meat permissible for Khalsa Sikhs; other Sikhs abstain from meat altogether, and the question has long been discussed within the community.

Some Nihang bands have historically consumed a drink containing cannabis, known as shahīdī degh or sukhā, especially at festivals. The practice is defended by its adherents as an old martial custom and criticised by the Akal Takht, reformist Sikhs and many Nihangs themselves as contrary to the Sikh prohibition of intoxicants; its wider cultural context is discussed in Cannabis in Religion and Magic.

Hola Mohalla and the Nihang Year§

The great Nihang festival is Hola Mohalla, held at Anandpur Sahib on the day after the Hindu festival of Holi. Sikh tradition holds that Guru Gobind Singh instituted it around 1701 as a day of military exercises and mock battles in place of the colour-throwing of Holi. Today tens of thousands of Nihangs and other Sikhs gather for several days of worship, poetry, processions and displays of horsemanship, tent-pegging, gatka and weapon-handling, while community kitchens serve visitors. Nihangs also gather in large numbers at Vaisakhi, at Diwali in Amritsar and at Hazur Sahib in Nanded, where the tenth Guru died and where their traditions are especially strong.

Nihangs in Modern Sikhism§

The modern Nihang world is diverse. Several dals exist, each with its own leader (jathedār), headquarters and customs, and relations among them, and between them and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Akal Takht, have at times been strained. In the twentieth century reformers of the Singh Sabha and gurdwara reform movements sought a single standard of Sikh practice, codified in the Sikh Rahit Maryādā of 1950, and some Nihang customs, such as the reverence for the Sarbloh Granth or the use of cannabis, sit uneasily with that standard. Scholars such as Harjot Oberoi and Opinderjit Kaur Takhar have described the Nihangs as one of several groups that preserve older, more varied forms of Sikh practice.

To many Sikhs, especially in the Punjab and the diaspora, Nihangs embody the courage and sacrifice of the Khalsa's heroic age, and their dress and martial arts have inspired a revival of interest in gatka and traditional weaponry among young Sikhs worldwide. Others view some groups with caution, and individual incidents of violence involving people in Nihang dress have drawn public criticism, including from Nihang leaders. Like other Sikhs, Nihangs describe their identity as rooted in devotion to the Guru and service of the Panth.

Frequently asked questions§

Why do Nihangs wear blue?§

Nihang tradition links blue dress to Guru Gobind Singh, either through a story of his son Fateh Singh appearing in blue or through the Guru's own escape from Machhiwara in blue garments. The colour has become the emblem of the order's dedication to the Guru's army.

Are Nihangs a separate sect of Sikhism?§

No. Nihangs are initiated Khalsa Sikhs who follow the Guru Granth Sahib, but they maintain distinctive customs, dress and organisation inherited from the eighteenth-century warrior bands. Some of their practices differ from the standard Sikh code of conduct.

What is the Buddha Dal?§

The Buddha Dal, "army of the elders", is one of the two main Nihang bodies, traditionally organised in the 1730s under Nawab Kapur Singh. The other, the Tarna Dal, was originally the "army of the young". Both now comprise several groups.

Sources and further reading§

• When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 — Purnima Dhavan, 2011
• Sikhs of the Khalsa: A History of the Khalsa Rahit — W. H. McLeod, 2003
• Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups among Sikhs — Opinderjit Kaur Takhar, 2005
• The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition — Harjot Oberoi, 1994
• A History of the Sikhs — Khushwant Singh, 1963
• The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies — Pashaura Singh & Louis E. Fenech (eds.), 2014