virk30

and what do you think will turn the situation around

i believe less taxes less govt, which means govt needs to stop spending and let the free market do its thing

and with whats going on we should of learned our lessons that banks private buisnesses and govt don't mix, this subprime mortgage mess would of bin avoided if politicans didn't get in bed with fannie mae and freddie mac which made these guys feel like they had the green light to give away this subprime bss

what would be the fight of the year for this year, coutour vs chuck liddel

what would be the fight of the year

any mma fans

Their american

secondly its just funny comedy, i find it pretty funny, to the guy who started this thread what the heck are you talking about girls running away

i think guys swearing and fighting in the gurdwara over tables and chairs and pulling eachother's hair for the news camera's to see is bad i think thats something to be mad about, or guys stealing from our gurdwaras or doing nothing to connect with rest of the community is bad, or the hypocrites running some of the gurdwaras should get bashed

The preface gives every biography's plot away. If it praises the person to the skies, you can be sure the book will be hugely subjective, it will blow out of all proportion the person's achievements and ignore the darker side. You can be sure, ten times out of ten, that such a book will be thoroughly unreadable.

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As I scanned the preface of Empire of the Sikhs, that sinking feeling set in rather quickly. Within minutes, it was very clear that for Patwant Singh and Jyoti M Rai, Maharaja Ranjit Singh is the ultimate hero. Singh has written a score of books on Sikhs and his adulation of the Maharaja is well known. The preface even compares him with Alexander, especially his magnanimity towards the enemies he defeated in the battlefield!

A thousand questions came to mind: Will the book deal with "uncomfortable" issues or sweep them under the carpet; will it talk about his love for the good life, his inability to build worthy successors, his political and military cunning?

By the time I had read the next 300-odd pages in three sittings spread over two days, my fears had dissipated. Well, almost all. Empire of the Sikhs tells the complete story of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. It does not shy away from the controversies that dogged Sher-i-Punjab right from his childhood.

The young Ranjit Singh, it is said, had killed his mother after he suspected her of an illicit liaison after his father had died — a story the authors refuse to believe. And this is how his mother-in-law came to have a hold on him. Of course, once her ambitions overtook her, the Maharaja cut her to size.

In his own lifetime, he married a score of women including some Muslim courtesans, the most famous of them was a doe-eyed Kashmiri girl called Moran. Some of them even sat on his funeral pyre to end their lives. This included the daughter of Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra, whose kingdom he had taken and added to his own in return for driving away the Gurkhas from his doors. It was also an open secret that some of his heirs were not sired by him. But he disowned none of them.

His appetite for potent drinks with crushed pearls was as legendary as his love for horses. While his guests could not take more than a swig or two, Maharaja Ranjit Singh would be in full control even after he had downed several. This cut his life short and he died at 59 in 1839, having ruled over 40 years.

None of this takes away from the man his greatness. At its prime, his kingdom extended over all of Punjab north of the Sutlej, Kashmir, Ladakh, the hill states as well as the wild tribal areas of the North West — an area even the British could not hold for long. Peshawar, for long the bastion of Pathan pride, was inside Maharaja Ranjit Singh's kingdom and so were the imposing forts of Derajat.

Much of his success was because of his army — the artillery, cavalry and infantry. At his time, it was said to be the best in Asia after the East India Company. It was commanded by resourceful leaders, native as well as mercenary foreigners. It had Gurkhas on its rolls as well as a special contingent of fanatic Sikhs called the Akalis. It was these Akalis who raided forts of enemies with good effect after the Sikh artillery's cannons made a breach in the walls.

One question that has bothered Indian historians is why Maharaja Ranjit Singh never went to war against the British, though he was aware of their designs. Singh and Rai say this was because he was acutely aware of his limitations. With aggressive Afghans on his northern boundary, Maharaja Ranjit Singh could have ill afforded to open a new flank in the south against the British. This way, the Maharaja was able to keep the British out of his designs. He was, by any measure, a very pragmatic ruler.

No story of Maharaja Ranjit Singh can be complete without a mention of the fate that befell his sons and grandsons. The unkindest cut of all fate had reserved for his last son, Dalip Singh, born just a year before the Maharaja's death in 1839. After the Sikh empire had fallen to British forces, the young Dalip Singh became a Christian, with some gentle persuasion from his captors, and was exiled to England.

Till he died in Paris in 1893, Dalip Singh was allowed to come to Punjab only twice and that too on brief visits — once to take his ailing mother and next to immerse her ashes in the sacred waters of the land. And when he tried to steal away, he was caught at Aden and sent to Paris. That was a sad end to the great house that Maharaja Ranjit Singh built.

Empire of the Sikhs is a well-researched and well-told take on a great leader of men.

why did the sikhs stay so loyal in the late 1800's and early 1900's, why did we accept being slaves under the british, even after the massacore in 1919 we joined their army

Hi guys,

I was just laid off from a decent job, this is the 2nd time in 2 years. I am wondering waht you have done in this situation. Is there any gurbani or paath for sense of direction in life.

read the book rich dad poor dad, awsome book it will explain alot about jobs

Some are proud of Porus who although lost to Alexander in war was ready to accept execution rather than be a slave. But other than that, its just a Punjabi thing, Punjabi cultural pride. Nothing to do with religion whatsoever. Also remember, when it comes to getting thrashed by Muslims, there are many others who got thrashed just like Hindus for centuries. No one stood upto the Muslim invaders until Khalsa was established by Dasmesh Pita. Sadly today some of them are proud of their "sub-community" and not of being Sikh/Khalsa.

this thread feels like an attack to punjabi hindus which i don't understand

All you who are judging all the 3h0 sikhs are hypocrits, first of all its against sikhi to judge a whole group of ppl, so you guys are no different then the guy smoking pot, secondly the guy smoking pot isn't 3h0 sikhs cause im from vancouver and have seen many white sikhs and most of them arn't 3ho, as well ive met 3h0 sikhs and non of them seemed hippy to me, i believe 3h0 sikhs inspire others towards sikhism and to be better sikhs

Funny thing is all you guys who are judging all the gora sikhs based on race or group are hypocrites and just as stupid as the guy smoking weed in that video

and you guys judging in here are to big of cowards to say anything to all the singh's who swear and fight in gurdwaras over tables and chairs or are taking money from the gurdwaras

ok, us 'punjabi' sikhs know that not all white sikhs are like those in the video. and i'm sure someone who knows who those people are will try and help them out in their lives. what annoys me though is when 'white' sikhs on sikh.net or whatever start saying white sikhs are more devout/pious/better than 'brown' sikhs. they then start saying things about forgetting 84 or that sikhs should ignore attacks on the community as it has happened often in our history.

i go to sikhnet all the time, never have a i heard any of these accusations, could you give me a link to these claims or are you making them up

Once the British East India company's armed forces had annexed the punjab, it was virtually impossible for the soldiers in the Khalsa army to survive and feed their families so they were compelled to join up and serve in order to feed their families and themselves. So that is one of the reasons why many joined up as it was a choice to serve the british...get paid to put food on table or go without with no job and starv to death.

thank you for that answer, thats what i always have thought, and have read as well and also this is another reason for the fall of the empire cause no money for the soldiers, i wish the sikhs had leadership after the sikh anglo war and in the 1800's and 1900's to rebel against the british rather then work for them when they had enslaved us

im talking about sikhs joining british army right after the second anglo sikh war, before 1857, why did so many sikhs join the british army right after 1849 right after the second sikh anglo war?? and why did we stay so loyal up till 1947

Read above replies.. some of the replies answered this question of yours in details...

not really, the above answers say they joined to get revenge on the soldiers who attacked the sikhs in the 2 ango wars, but alot of those british soldeirs stayed loyal not all of them joined the mutiny, plus im asking why sikhs joined the british army before 1857 before the other hindu and muslim's soldiers rebelled against the british.

shastr one of the smartest things ive read on these forums

jai tegang awsome point

Goli Da Vair Sad could you explain in more detail why ppl laugh at

sikhs outside of what 3ho does

who were some sikh freedom fighters against the british other then bhagat singh udham singh and kartar singh

im talking about sikhs joining british army right after the second anglo sikh war, before 1857, why did so many sikhs join the british army right after 1849 right after the second sikh anglo war?? and why did we stay so loyal up till 1947

why did the british have such an easy time recruiting sikh soldiers right after fighting a war with us, was it the money that drove sikhs to join the british army

sad how without leadership we became slaves to the british easily

without leadership its sad how we collapsed and were enslaved by the british

the collapse of the empire was a bunch of things, greed for power, infighting, no leadership, cause of the in fighting the kingdom begun to collapse and soldeirs were not getting their wages to feed their family's.

Alot of ppl believe maharaja ranjit singh's decendents are still alive, don't forget he had many wives and its believed he had many children in different parts of his empire, some of his decendents may be living in the nwfp and rest of present day pakistan and present day india

was maharaja ranjit singht he strongest leader sikhs ahd

considering he was the only one able to conquere the pathans something the british couldn't do

don't got the soldier side down, but i knwo if anyone insults my religion or try's to attack it in any way i will attack them back even harder

rather then drugs and gangs

Vote Palin

if you want to learn about sarah palin, and you live in canada, listen and watch the cbc and some of the debates, you will get to see and listen to sarah palins resume and barack obama's resume

Vote Palin

she does have more experience and accomplishments then barack obama, and became a threat to the media cause the media needs obama to win to get ratings, hence why obama was able to beat hilary clinton and bill clinton thanks to the media, and how obama is beating john mccain and sarah palin thanks to the media.