Скачать или смотреть The Nirankari Movement in the Early 20th Century 1929–1947

With Baba Gurdit Singh’s passing in 1929, the Nirankari movement entered a period of internal consolidation and growing external pressures. Under British colonial rule, the Nirankaris expanded their reach beyond Panjab into diaspora communities in Burma, East Africa and Europe, offering spiritual guidance to migrant Sikh communities.

They upheld Guru Nanak’s message of divine oneness, rejecting rigid orthodoxy, but faced rising tensions with mainstream Sikh organisations, especially the Akali Dal, which viewed their divergence from Khalsa traditions with suspicion. Although the Nirankaris supported legal recognition of Sikh identity in British India, mainstream Sikh groups continued to question their doctrinal stance.

The movement, however, focused on strengthening its organisational structure and maintaining spiritual continuity amid the growing turbulence leading up to India’s independence and the partition of 1947. This period set the stage for the profound transformation and displacement that would follow.

Instrumental - Roopa Panesar & Dalbir S. Rattan