Namdhari Guru Ram Singh (3 February 1816 – 1885) is known to the Namdhari sect of Sikhism as the twelfth guru (religious leader), whilst for mainstream Sikhs such as Damdami Taksal and Nihangs, he is regarded as a 'Saint' and not a Guru. He is credited as being the first Indian to use non-cooperation and boycott of British goods and services as a political tool. He was exiled to Rangoon, Burma (Myanmar) by the British colonial government of India on 18 January 1872. In 2016, the Government of India officially decided to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Satguru Ram Singh. The Punjab Government organizes state-level functions on his birth anniversary and has declares a holiday on this occasion. His portrait is displayed at the Indian Parliament and at the Railway Station, Ludhiana.
Namdhari Guru Ram Singh was born in a small-farming Tarkhan family to mother Sada Kaur and father Jassa Singh. He lived in the village of Raiyan, near Sri Bhaini Sahib, Ludhiana. He was nurtured by his mother in the traditions of Guru Nanak and was taught to read and write in Punjabi. Namdhari Guru Ram Singh spent 20 years of his life attending to the family business.
Service in the military of the Sikh Empire
Later, his father sent him to the army of the Sikh Empire at age 20. As the empire fell apart after the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, concerns over British power and Sikh decline led him to galvanize his followers (of mostly humble origin) to proclaim a new "Sant Khalsa" to restore Sikh prestige.
Namdhari Guru Ram Singh was a member of a unit of Prince Naunihal Singh's platoon, the Baghel Regiment. His regiment was sent to Peshawar to bring the royal coffers. On its way back, the unit rested at Hazro Fort, now in Pakistan. It is said that Namdhari Guru Ram Singh and some soldiers of his regiment went to meet Guru Balak Singh of the Namdharis. Guru Balak Singh was overjoyed to see Ram Singh and according to folklore told him: "I had been waiting for you." He told Guru Ram Singh that he was the next in line to him.
Guru Ram Singh became a disciple of Guru Balak Singh. Guru Balak Singh gave him "Patasha" (sugar bubbles), a coconut, five paise coins and took five rounds around him in reverence and bowed before him, making him his successor. Guru Balak Singh appointed Guru Ram Singh as his successor before his death.
The reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh brought the much needed law and order in the North-Western region of India. The region flourished along many dimensions. However, the luxury of empire also led to moral degeneration. The majority of Sikhs had taken to drinking, consumption of opium and poppy and other vices.
Guru Ram Singh was wary of the political, cultural, and spiritual decline of the Sikhs and worried about the growing influence of the British on the horizon and what it meant for the community. Therefore, Guru Ram Singh attempted to reform the Sikhs to meet these challenges.
Namdhari Guru Ram Singh administered Khande di Pahul (Amrit Sanchar) to 5 Sikhs: Kahn Singh Nihang of village Chak, Labh Singh Ragi of Amritsar, Atma Singh of Alo Muhar village, Bhai Naina Singh Wariyah, and Sudh Singh of village Durgapur. Afterwards, several people from the congregation took amrit. It is noted within the British Archives as well as Giani Gian Singh's Panth Parkash that within 10 years Satguru Ram Singh baptized a large number of people with amrit. Namdhari Sikhs were also referred to as Kukas, a name given by the public due to spiritually ecstatic behavior of the members of the sect at religious functions. Sardar Kapur Singh remarked, 'Undoubtedly, Baba Ram Singh preached the same path and principles which had been told to Indians by Guru Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh and the ten Gurus.'
Theologically, the origin of Namdhari movement is located in the Sikh tradition of Nam-simran (mediation on the name of God). All vices like drinking, consumption of intoxicants and meat were strongly abhorred. His predecessor, Guru Balak Singh, had merely stressed upon the importance of chanting God's name as the only righteous religious ritual. Guru Ram Singh however would introduce many new elements into the orthodoxy and orthopraxy of the sect.
Namdhari Guru Ram Singh made it a convention to read the Sikh scriptures, Sri Aadi Guru Granth Sahib (Guru Granth Sahib) and Sri Dasam Guru Granth Sahib (Dasam Granth) daily. He directed all the holy Scriptures to be taken out of almirahs (wardrobe, cabinet, or cupboard) and placed with respect in places of worship, and that they be read regularly. He had forbidden the worship of tombs and the dead.
Guru Ram Singh's religious ideals were influenced by his predecessor, however his socio-political, martial reforms and ideology was influenced by Bhai Maharaj Singh.
The sect under his direction has been described as more puritanical and fundamentalist in-comparison to other Sikh sects of the day. They visually stood-out compared to other Sikhs, as they wore only handwoven white robes, wore distinctively-styled turbans, carried wooden staves and wool rosaries, and they used unique greetings and passwords only familiar to fellow members of their sect. Their gurdwaras (places of worship) were very simple and this was by design rather than circumstance.
Furthermore, Namdhari Guru Ram Singh introduced a distinctive method of reciting and performing singing of gurbani in kirtan performances in-which members of the congregation would shriek near the end in ecstasy. This earned the sect the alternative name of kuka, from the kuk shrieks they would make.
Guru Ram Singh taught that the Namdhari sect was the "clean" one due to its devotion to God, and those who killed animals and consumed liquor were mleccha ("unclean").
In 1863, the colonial authorities perceived the visit of Guru Ram Singh in Amritsar as an attempt to declare himself as the reincarnation of Guru Gobind Singh, but a crackdown by the colonial police prevented him from doing so. He had planned to establish a new "Kuka Khalsa" after the declaration. After the police crackdown, Guru Ram Singh had been restricted to only his native village for an indefinite period of time by the colonial authorities.
A revolutionary step taken by Namdhari Guru Ram Singh was to administer amrit to women. The ill practices of child marriage, female infanticide, swapping of wives and sale of girls, prevalent in the then Punjab, were vehemently opposed by Namdhari Guru Ram Singh. British officials had noted that trafficking in women was a lucrative 'money making scheme' in Punjab during those times. Namdhari Guru Ram Singh drastically reduced the cost of marriage and introduced simplicity in the ceremony. He organized simple marriages through the Gurmat ritual of anand karaj for the first time in village Khote in 1863. The priestly class got worried on the introduction of this simple ritual and fearing loss of income, reported to the imperial British authorities. Thereafter, Namdhari Guru Ram Singh was placed under house arrest for some time.
One woman was appointed a Suba by Satguru Ram Singh. She had been influential in propagating the message of Sikhi among people. Recognising her contributions, the President of India Giani Zail Singh led initiative and name a doorway Gate No. 37 of the Indian Parliament as 'Hukmi Mai Marg'.