The Number and Names of the Much-Loved Five

This chapter examines two facets of the Panj Piare narrative: the actual number and the names of the Panj Piare. The earliest evidence is very unclear in regard to these two well-known features of the Panj Piare story. Drawing upon eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Sikh texts of the gur-bilas and rahit-nama genres, among others, this chapter examines the reasons for why the Tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, may have stopped his selection at five volunteers and what this specific choice further tells us about the Tenth Guru and his understanding of the legacy of the Sikh Gurus that he had inherited.

The Five Beloved in Mid- to Late-Eighteenth-Century Gur-Bilās Literature

This chapter examines the Panj Piare narrative story in two separate texts, one from the middle of the eighteenth century, the Gur-bilas Patshahi Dasvin of Koer Singh, and the similarly titled text attributed to Sukkha Singh, which was finalized at the end of that century. In the process of doing so, it also weighs in on one of the more contentious issues regarding these texts: their dates.

The Five Adored in Early-Nineteenth-Century Sikh Literature

This chapter begins with a summary of the early- to mid-eighteenth-century historical context, which was marked by a decline in the power and authority of the Mughal court and the gradual rise of Sikh power in the Punjab. It then moves on to examine the formation of the Panj Piare construct in the context of the rise of various armed ascetic movements in the late eighteenth century, many of which competed for resources with the various Khalsa Sikhs of the period. It ends by examining the origin story of the Five Beloved in early-nineteenth-century Sikh texts such as Gur-panth Prakāś, Siṅgh Sāgar, and the Sūraj Prakāś.

The Treasured Five Move into the Later Nineteenth Century

This chapter examines the Panj Piare story in the works of Giani Gian Singh, specifically Panth Prakash (1880) and Tavarikh Guru Khalsa (1892–1921), and it situates this examination in the context of Gian Singh’s historical environment. This study of the Panj Piare narrative in these texts provides us with insight into the messages that Gian Singh was encoding throughout his prolific career, messages that were very much aligned with the trajectory that was plotted by the Sikh intellectual movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Singh Sabha and the Tat Khalsa.

Introduction

This chapter introduces readers to the Sikh institution of the Cherished Five and their role in Sikh ritual and tradition today. It also relays the normative versions of the origin story of the Cherished Five and introduces the meagre amount of scholarship that exists on this important organization. After this, the chapter provides a lengthy interlude on the traditional history of the late seventeenth-century Sikh community that re-examines the formation of the Khalsa, the martial order of which the Cherished Five is the most basic component. It does this in the light of both the latest scholarship in Sikh and South Asian history and in Mughal studies.

The Panj Piare and Place

This chapter examines the Panj Piare in the works of Indian nationalist and other writers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, such as Gokul Chand Narang and Indubhusan Banerjee, revolving loosely around the idea of place in the Cherished Five narratives. The chapter also argues about why the construct’s karmic alignment is devalued by Sikh writers of the Singh Sabha/Tat Khalsa, such as Kahn Singh Nabha and Thakur Singh. It also suggests future avenues down which Sikhs may tread in regard to making the Panj Piare a more inclusive institution, consonant with the egalitarian teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus.

The Previous Lives of the Precious Five

This chapter focuses specifically on the karmic component of the earliest narratives of the Cherished Five. In these narratives, all five Sikh volunteers are claimed to be incarnations of previous Hindu saints or semi-divinized beings. This alignment, however, falls out of fashion in the early nineteenth century, although it still continues in the rare text. Through an examination of the mid- to late-eighteenth-century context in which Sikhs found themselves, this chapter examines why this connection was initially made and suggests reasons for why it ultimately fizzled as British power was beginning to be felt within the Punjab.