Product Code Database
Sarbat Khalsa (lit. meaning all the Khalsa; Punjabi language: ਸਰਬੱਤ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ (Gurmukhi) pronunciation: ), (1997). 9780700710485, NTC Pub. Group. ISBN 9780700710485 was a biannual Mass meeting (on the same lines as a Parliament in a Direct democracy) of the Sikhs held at Amritsar in Punjab during the 18th century. It literally translates to the "entire Sikh Nation" but as a political institution it refers to the meetings of the Dal Khalsa and the legislature of the Sikh Confederacy.
The next notable Sarbat Khalsa, which was held soon after the martyrdom of Bhai Tara Singh Wan in 1726, passed a Gurmata (the decisions of the Sarbat Khalsa), laying down a threefold plan of action: to plunder government treasures in transit between local and regional offices and the central treasury; to raid government armouries for weapons and government stables for horses and carriages; and to eliminate government informers and lackeys. This Sarbat Khalsa was arranged by the Jathedar of the Akal Takht at the time, Baba Darbara Singh.
Another Sarbat Khalsa assembled in 1733 to deliberate upon and accept the government's offer of a Nawabship and jagir to the Panth. Under a gurmata of the Sarbat Khalsa on 14 October (Divali day) 1745, the active fighting force of the Sikhs was reorganized into 25 jathas (bands) of about 100 each.
A further reorganization into 11 Misl (divisions) forming the Dal Khalsa was made by the Sarbat Khalsa on Baisakhi, 29 March 1748. Thus, Sarbat Khalsa became the central body of what J.D. Cunningham, in his book, A history of the Sikhs, terms a "theocratic confederate feudalism" established by the misls. On 29 April 1986, a Sarbat Khalsa at the Golden Temple declared the rebuilding of Akal Takht.
After the death of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716 the Khalsa was in disarray. After 1716, the Mughal Empire government began a campaign of genocide against Sikhs led by Abdus Samad Khan and later his son Zakariya Khan that was carried out by in the form of a standing army dedicated to eliminating Sikhs, daily public executions, and monetary rewards for the heads of killed Sikhs. The Dal Khalsa "retaliated by killing government functionaries and plundering Mughal posts, arsenals, and treasuries". In 1733, because of the failure of the Mughal government to subdue the Sikhs they were offered a jagir in 1733. Nawab Kapur Singh was appointed head of the Dal Khalsa and he reorganized the Sikhs into the Taruna Dal and Budda Dal. The Taruna Dal formed the basis of the Sikh Misls.
Ranjit Singh abolished the Sarbat Khalsa in 1805. Prior to its abolition, its last convening was also held in 1805 to discuss the pursuance of the Maratha leader Yashwantrao Holkar by the British military in the Punjab.
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