Namdhari Guru Ram Singh (3 February 1816 – 1885) is the second guru (religious leader) of the Namdhari sect of Sikhism. He is credited as being the first British 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.
Biography
Early life
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.
Meeting with Guru Balak Singh
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.
Ram Singh learnt about Sikhism from Guru Balak Singh as his disciple.
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 shortly before his death.
Sant Khalsa (Saint Khalsa) 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.
Socio-religious reforms
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.