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Conversation about this article
1: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), December 24, 2013, 10:19 AM.
This is remarkable Sikh history! If the Sikhs in the UK, US, Canada, Europe, etc. can't get this type of Sikh valour into the mainstream media whilst the Afghan War is still on then we are seriously ill equipped to call ourselves a 'nation' or panth!
2: Sunny Grewal (Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada), December 24, 2013, 2:19 PM.
Akali Phula Singh is one of my favorite historical persons. This man represented what it truly meant to be Khalsa. He made the cruel Afghans flee in terror when they would realize that Akali Phula Singh and his band of Nihangs had come to do battle. He was a distinguished religious figure and served as the jathedar of the Akal Takht. Most importantly, he showed that in the Khalsa no one man can rule over another. Akali Phula Singh kept Maharaja Ranjit Singh squarely in his place. Although they were friends, Akali Phula Singh never shied away from criticizing some of the controversial actions of Ranjit Singh and even taking him, the Emperor, to task over them.
3: Sarvjit (Millisa, Massachusetts, USA), December 24, 2013, 8:11 PM.
Another excellent article ... though I always thought that Nihangs were created by the elder Sahibzada, Ajit Singh Ji, and they fought valiantly in the battle of Chamkaur Sahib. But I could be wrong here.
4: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), December 25, 2013, 3:43 AM.
Akali Phula Singh was no ordinary feather-sporting Robin Hood in tights, but the very epitome of the Khalsa created by Guru Gobind Singh Ji to stand up and fight a legion. He did not recognize any temporal authority, not even of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, except when he appeared as a sewak of the panth to ensure the Nishan Sahib was kept flying high. Fakir Syed Waheeduddin, in his book "The Real Ranjit Singh", Fakir Azizuddin, the Emperor's most trusted (foreign) minister, reports an exchange between Ranjit Singh and Phula Singh. One day, while the Maharaja was passing under Phula Singh's balcony riding on an elephant, Phula Singh shouted down from above: "Oye kaaneya! (O one-eyed one!) Who gave you that 'jhota' (buffalo) to ride on?" Ranjit Singh looked up and replied with mock humility: "Your Honour, it is a gift from you!" Akali Phula Singh represented The Khalsa Sarkar (Governance) and the Maharaja was considered merely its humble sevadar-servant. Now consider the present day politicized jathedars and the erstwhile Real Jathedar of the Akal Takht, Singh Sahib Phula Singh, appointed to the great honour in 1807. Another story: the Maharaja had an eye for pretty women and fell passionately in love with the Muslim Mohran, a dancing girl of Amritsar, and married her. After this marriage, he was summoned to the Akal Takht by Akali Phula Singh, reprimanded and declared a 'tankhaa-i-yya' (apostate) and ordered 50 lashes. The Maharaja immediately bared his back to receive the lashes. At the sangat's intervention, he was pardoned as he had bowed down in front of the saadh sangat for forgiveness. But, not before he had expressed his full repentance in utter humility.
5: Mike Singh (United Kingdom), January 04, 2014, 1:12 PM.
There is a book coming out this year on Akali Phula Singh by scholars Gurinder Singh Mann and Kamalroop Singh.