Macrocosmic Thinking: Sikh History & Sikh Sects (Kinship, Blood Ties, & Blood Feuds)

This feud over leadership results in the Guru Granth Sahib being made the last Guru by Guru Gobind Singh. However, before that was established there were different verses written, different books written, and different sects and leaders who were trying to lead the Sikhs. Due to having Muslims and many tribal Hindus as enemies -it united Sikhs against common enemies. Without that common enemy and common cause, Sikhs would have stayed divided into different kinships and blood ties separate and distinct from one another. This is why the Khalsa was established, the 5 K's were put into place, and why the names "Singh" and "Kaur" were established by Guru Gobind Singh. As you will see below, history reveals that it was not enough to unite Sikhs under one banner. Which is why time and time again Sikhs are divided over who should rule.

Sikh Guru's with Multiple Marriages (involved in Polygamy):

5th Guru - Arjan Dev:

- Ram Deyi
- Ganga Devi

6th Guru - Hargobind:

- Maha

- Nanaki

- Damodri

7th Guru - Har Rai:
- Krishan Kaur
- Chand Kaur
- Ram Kaur
- Kalyani
- Anokhi Devi
- Laddli
- Prem Kaur
- Tokhi

10th Guru - Gobind Singh:

- Sahib Kaur

- Jeeto Rani

- Sundri Devi

Multiple wives and multiple children by the Gurus have led to multiple claims to become the leader of the Sikhs. This has caused Sikhs to fracture over their teachings and identity instead of being unified and having one collective voice. This has dis-empowered Sikh girls and Sikh women over time causing Sikh women to be treated as second-class citizens in their own culture and their own homes. Various Sikh sects have applied the "law of the land" (Islamic and Hindu culture) into Sikhism which has gone against what Guru Nanak envisioned for all women who were adherents of his.

“During the time of the Gurus and until the 18th century it wasn't considered wrong for males to have more than one wife. Even up to 1954 it was seen as quite normal for a husband to marry again if the first wife was unable to conceive or to produce a male heir.It was only after 1954 when the Indian government passed the Hindu Code Bill that the practice of polygamy was made illegal and we do not see multiple marriages of males in India”.

“Indians began believing in monogamy under British educational influence in later part of nineteenth century and when the Singh Sabha propagated it”.

ALL the time and energy that the 10 Gurus spent with their writings and teachings were squandered by the "culture of the land" and a mass following that did not understand the Guru's teachings but only wanted what the World offered them -public acceptance and material gains. This occurred after the death of Guru Gobind Singh and the Misls took over leadership of the Sikhs. It happened again during British Colonialism behind the S.G.P.C. when it re-created present day Sikh identity. This is why many women presently in Punjabi and Sikh culture are still forced into arranged marriages and are still viewed as second class citizens inside their own homes and inside their own culture.