Hukamnama

A Hukamnama (Punjabi: ਹੁਕਮਨਾਮਾ, translit. Hukamanāmā), in modern-times, refers to a hymn from the Guru Granth Sahib which is given as an injunction, order, or edict to Sikhs. It also refers to edicts issued by the contemporary Takhts. In the historical sense, it was used to refer to an issued commandment, instruction, injunction, order, or edict given by one of the Gurus of Sikhism or their officiated followers and associates during their lives.^[1]^[2]

Nowadays, after the period of human gurus, the Hukumnama refers to a hymn from a randomly selected left-hand side page from the Guru Granth Sahib on a daily basis in the morning. This is seen as the order of God for that particular day. The Hukamnama is distributed and then read aloud in Gurdwaras throughout the world. The verse taken from this ceremony is referred to as Vak or Hukam.^[3]

Etymology

Hukamnama, is a compound of two words hukam, meaning command or order, and namah, meaning statement.

History

The tradition of issuing hukamnamas began in the period of the early seventeenth century, during the time of Guru Hargobind.^[4] The earliest surviving hukamana documents date to his guruship period.^[5] However, Gurinder Singh Mann suggests that the genre of hukamnama literature predates the period of the sixth Sikh guru, perhaps to the period of Guru Amar Das, based upon a manuscript kept at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.^{[note 1]}^[5] Hukamnamas issued by the Sikh gurus were addressed to specific families or congregations.^[5] They covered various subjects, such as the standards of Sikh ethical conduct (rehat), the characteristics of Sikh socio-religious organization, and requesting for materials, some examples being gold or horses, that the Sikh congregations in distant regions were asked to bring or send to the main headquarters of the Guru for the greater community's needs.^[5] The hukamnamas had a common format and structure.^[5] They began with an invocation to the divine, in the name of Akal Purakh or Waheguru.^[5] Next, the names of particular congregations, community leaders, family heads (with women being mentioned on some surviving examples), and the detailed instructions of the letter that is addressed to the aforementioned to fulfill.^[5] The congregations and families that these letters were addressed to held these documents in reverence and preserved them as religious tokens.^[5]

During the guruship period of Guru Gobind Singh, these hukamnamas were issued akin to royal decrees from Anandpur.^[5] The Guru would dictate what is to be written and a scribe would physically write it down in the form of the letter.^[5] Sometimes, the letters were decorated by illumination.^[5] Each letter was assigned a specific serial number before they were sent-off to be delivered to the addressee.^[5]

Collections and research

The Sikh gurus issued many edicts throughout their life, some of whom have been preserved and are documented in various writings by scholars.^[6]^[7]^{[page needed]}^[8]^[9] A collection of hukamnamas, whose gathering is attributed to Randhir Singh, have been studied. Serious academic research into the hukamnamas only began in the early 20th century.^[10] After the passing of Guru Gobind Singh, hukamnamas were also issued by his widow, Mata Sahib Kaur and by his disciple, Banda Singh Bahadur.

The Sikh Reference Library located at Amritsar held many authentic hukamnamas. These were lost after the events of Operation Blue Star in 1984.^[11]^[12]^[13] This collection was studied and published in two separate books by Ganda Singh and Shamsher Singh Ashok in the late 1960's.^[14]

Example

Taken from Advanced Studies in Sikhism page 33^[15] by Jasbir Singh and Harbans Singh, the following is an example Hukamnama by Guru Gobind Singh:

Sarbat sangat Kabul Guru rakhe ga

Tusa ute asaadee bahut khusi hai
Tusi Khande da Amrit Panja to lena
Kes rakhne...ih asadee mohur hai;
Kachh, Kirpan da visah nahee karna
Sarb Loh da kara hath rakhna
Dono vakat kesa dee palna karna
Sarbat sangat abhakhia da kutha
Khave naheen, Tamakoo na vartana
Bhadni tatha kanya-maran-vale so mel na rakhe
Meene, Massandei, Ramraiye ki sangat na baiso
Gurbani parhni...Waheguru, Waheguru japna
Guru kee rahat rakhnee
Sarbat sangat oopar meri khushi hai.

— Patshahi Dasvi
Jeth 26, Samat 1756

To the entire congregation at Kabul.

The Guru will protect the congregation,
I am pleased with you all.
You should take baptism by the double edged sword, from the Five Beloveds.
Keep your hair uncut for this is a seal of the Guru,
Accept the use of shorts and a sword.
Always wear Iron Kara on your wrist,
Keep your hair clean and comb it twice a day.
Do not eat Halal (Kosher) meat,
Do not use tobacco in any form,
Have no connection with those who kill their daughters and wives.
Or permit the cutting of their children's hair.
Do not associate with Meenas, Massands and Ram-raiyas (anti-Sikh cults)
Recite the Guru's hymns
Meditate on "The Name of our Wondrous Enlightener (God)",
Follow the Sikh code of discipline
I give the entire congregation my blessing

— Signature of 10th Guru, Jeth 26, 1756 Bikrami 23 May 1699 A.D

Gallery

Illuminated hukamnama issued by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 on the date of Samat 1756, Magh Pravaste 9
Issued edict (hukamnama) of Banda Singh Bahadur containing his official seal at top of page

Notes

^ See Hukamnama Mahala 3, MS 913 Airha, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, ff. 319-322.

References

^ Cole, W. Owen (1997). A popular dictionary of Sikhism. Piara Singh Sambhi. Lincolnwood, Ill.: NTC Pub. Group. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-203-98609-7. OCLC 648154652. Hukam nama - This Persian word means a letter containing a royal command. It is used in Sikhism to refer to instructions issued by the Sikh Gurus, the wives of Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Bahadur, and, later and in the present day, the jathedars of the five takhts. Whoever is actually responsible for issuing them, they are regarded as the commands of the Guru and are binding upon the whole Panth. The need for hukam namas arose as the Sikh community grew in size and became widespread in its geographical distribution. Matters which Guru Nanak might have dealt with verbally in the course of giving darshan now had to be committed to paper. Also, with the development of the Panth, they became more complex. In the nineteenth century one was issued condemning Maharaja Ranjit Singh for a moral lapse and requiring him to submit to a public flogging to demonstrate his repentance. After the destruction of the Akal Takht during Operation Blue Star in 1984, Baba Santa Singh Nihang, chief of the Buddha Dal with other Sikhs, was declared religiously and socially ostracized for disregarding a hukam nama forbidding them from undertaking the work. Hukam namas may take the form of exhortations and commendations, or prohibitions. They may relate to individuals or to the Panth as a whole.
^ Sri Dasam Granth Sahib : facts beyond doubt. Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Academy (1st ed.). Kuala Lumpur. 2021. p. 416. ISBN 978-1-5272-8277-3. OCLC 1301031871. After 1708 CE, the authority to issue Hukamnama during the turbulent times was bestowed upon Mata Sahib Kaur Ji, Mata Sundar Kaur Ji, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and some five (5) prominent Sikhs who were sent along Baba Ji by Guru Ji at Nanded. Along with that, the Takht (throne) of the Sikh faith had the authority to issue edicts on various issues.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
^ Ganeri, Anita (2003). The Guru Granth Sahib and Sikhism. Sacred Texts. London: Evans. p. 29. ISBN 0-237-52350-7. OCLC 56470212. Vak: The verse read out every day when the Guru Granth Sahib is opened at random. It is also called hukam.
^ Malhotra, Karamjit K. “Professor J.S. Grewal Prize: IN SEARCH OF EARLY SIKH ART.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 71, 2010, pp. 397–408. JSTOR, JSTOR 44147507. Accessed 12 Dec. 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Mann, Gurinder Singh (2008). "Sources for the Study of Guru Gobind Singh's Life and Times" (PDF). Journal of Punjab Studies. 15 (1–2): 230, 235–42, 268 – via Global Institute for Sikh Studies.
^ Singh, Ganda (1967). Hukamaname Guru sahiban, Mata sahiban, Bamda Simgha ate khalasa ji de. Patiala: Punjabi University. ISBN 81-7380-589-X. OCLC 1074149303.
^ Sagar 2002: "Hukamnamas of the Sikh Gurus, a significant source of the Sikh history, have not received much scholarly attention. Scholars like Ganda Singh, Shamsher Singh Ashok and Fauja Singh have edited the hukamnamas collected by Bhai Randhir Singh and have tried to analyse them historically. They have succeeded in underlining their importance but their studies are of preliminary nature. Hence, there is a much scope in the field."
^ Singh, Fauja (1996). Hukamanāme : Srī Gurū Teg̲h̲a Bahādara Sāhiba : Pañjābī, Hindī, Aṅgrezī. Fauja Singh. Paṭiālā: Publication Bureau, Punjabi University. ISBN 81-7380-207-6. OCLC 727987104.
^ Ashok, Shamsher Singh (1967). Nisan Te Hukamname. Amritsar: Sikh Itihas Research Board, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
^ Sagar 2002, Introduction: "An organised endeavour, in this connection, was made in late sixties. The Sikh History Research Board, Amritsar under the aiges of Dr. Ganda Singh deputed Bhai Randhir Singh, Research Scholar to collect the hukamnamas and other historical documents. He visited places connected with the history of Sikh Panth and collected either the hukamnamas' or procured their photographs. [...] The history of the scholarly interest in hukamnamas is not very old. It started in the second decade of the twentieth century by G.B. Singh, a dedicated scholar of Punjabi language and the Sikh religion. In 1915-16, he wrote two articles in 'Decca Review' giving translated versions of a few hukamnamas including the one of Guru Tegh Bahadur. He had come across these documents during his research visits to the Decca Sangat. His comments on the hukamnamas were critical and underlined the significance of the documents for the reconstruction of the Sikh activities in the eastern part of the country."
^ "The missing chapter of 1984: Book by book, Sikh Reference Library struggles to restore glory". Hindustan Times. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
^ Brar, Kamaldeep Singh (20 June 2019). "Explained: The mystery of missing articles of Sikh Reference Library". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 25 December 2020.
^ Kaur, Jaskaran; Crossette, Barbara (2006).|http://ensaaf-org.jklaw.net/publications/reports/20years/20years-2nd.pdf
^ Sagar 2002, p. 2"Ganda Singh edited his book on hukamnamas in the year 1969 under the title Hukamname. In the same year, the Sikh History Research Board, Amritsar brought out an edited work on hukamnamas under the title Nishan Te Hukamname edited by Shamsher Singh Ashok. Both the scholars utilised the same collection which was preserved with the Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar. These works contain facsimiles of hukamnamas and nishans of Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai, Guru Harkrishan, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh. Other letters contained in the works are by Baba Gurditta, Mata Gujari, Mata Sundari, Mata Sahib Devi and Banda Bahadur. Edicts issued by various religious authorities like Takhats and the Khalsa are also included."
^ Mann, Jasbir Singh; Harbans Singh Saraon (December 1988). "Advanced studies in Sikhism". Papers Contributed at Conference of Sikh Studies, Los Angeles. Sikh Community of North America through Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, India, 1989: 333. Retrieved 2 October 2011.

Bibliography

Sagar, Sabinderjit Singh (2002). Hukamnamas of Guru Tegh Bahadur : a historical study. Amritsar: Guru Nanak Dev University. ISBN 81-7770-047-2. OCLC 55679906.