Nihang Sikhs | The warrior tradition

They are difficult to miss. In electric-blue robes, with towering conical turbans rising above their heads and steel quoits, insignia and rosaries woven into them, Nihang Singhs move through a gathering with swords, spears and other traditional weapons hanging from their bodies. Their appearance is at once religious, martial and theatrical, but for the Nihangs, little of it is ornamental.

The community has returned to public attention after Shiromani Akali Dal president and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal was attacked with a kirpan at the Mata Sahib Devan Ji Gurdwara in Nanded, Maharashtra, on August 13. The accused, identified as 62-year-old Jaspal Singh, had been serving at the gurdwara for two years and was described as a Nihang. Badal suffered an injury to his hand and underwent surgery; the investigation into the attack is continuing.

Nihangs were a conspicuous presence during the farmers’ agitation at Delhi’s Singhu border in 2020-21 and more recently at the student protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in July 2026. Their presence, as much as their distinctive appearance, drew attention.

Their origin is associated with the creation of the Khalsa Panth by the 10th Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh, in 1699. Traditionally regarded as ‘Guru ki fauj’, or the Guru’s army, they represent the armed warrior tradition within Sikhism. The name Nihang is commonly associated with fearlessness and freedom from worldly attachment; another interpretation traces it to the Persian nahang, or crocodile, invoking the creature’s ferocity and toughness.

Historical roots

The tradition took shape in an age when Sikh communities faced repeated military persecution. Nihang warriors became mobile fighting groups, defending Sikh settlements and religious institutions against Mughal forces and, later, Afghan invaders. The martial tradition was subsequently woven into the military structures of the Sikh misls and the forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

With the end of that era of warfare, their battlefield role gradually receded. But the discipline associated with it survived. Training in weapons, horsemanship and physical endurance, along with distinctive dress and rituals, became ways of preserving the Khalsa’s military heritage. Today, Nihangs are not a standing army. Their role is largely that of custodians and practitioners of a religious and martial tradition.

There is no single Nihang organisation representing the entire community. Historically divided into two broad dals, Baba Budha Dal and Taruna Dal — associated broadly with older and younger bands, respectively — both have since split into several factions. Researchers estimate there are more than 30 Nihang factions, large and small, in Punjab, making it difficult to arrive at a precise count of Nihangs. Their mobile and decentralised nature means there is no central command or membership registry, and one group does not necessarily speak for another.

Mobility is part of the tradition. The chalda vaheer, or travelling bands, move with their horses and jathas, following an annual religious circuit that links major Sikh centres and festivals. Muktsar, Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Baba Bakala, Amritsar and Hazur Sahib in Nanded feature prominently in this cycle. The movement is not simply travel; it keeps alive a relationship with places associated with Sikh history and allows the Nihangs to gather, worship, train and demonstrate their skills, according to Sikh historian Dr. Balwant Singh Dhillon.

At Anandpur Sahib, the birthplace of the Khalsa, this martial identity is displayed most dramatically during Hola Mohalla. Nihangs gather in large numbers, riding horses and demonstrating Gatka, the Sikh martial art, mounted manoeuvres and mock battles with swords, spears and other traditional weapons. The spectacle keeps alive the sant-sipahi ideal — the Sikh as both saint and soldier.

The weapons are not merely accessories. They represent readiness and of the historical responsibility to protect the vulnerable and defend dharam. Chardi Kala, an elevated and resilient state of mind, is another central principle.

Historians however caution against equating the uniform with the institution.

A person wearing blue and carrying a weapon may look like a Nihang, but the traditional order demands considerably more: bani (wisdom) and bana (attire), spiritual practice and outward discipline, explained Varinder Walia, a former editor with a Punjabi daily and professor at Punjabi University in Patiala. Daily prayers and meditation, knowledge of Sikh scripture, observance of the Khalsa code, Shastar Vidya, the traditional study and practice of Sikh weaponry, horse-riding, physical endurance and seva form part of the ideal. A genuine Nihang, in this understanding, is expected to cultivate both the mind and the body. The training can begin with weapons but extends well beyond them.

Nihang life does not necessarily mean renouncing family or livelihood. Some live highly disciplined religious lives within their dals, while others marry, work and maintain families while observing their obligations to their jatha. Joining is tied to a particular group, its jathedar and its code; members are expected to absorb not only its practices but also its terminology, discipline and interpretation of the tradition.

Their institutions are sustained through a combination of offerings from devotees and control or management of religious and agricultural resources. Some groups maintain gurdwaras, camps (or deras) and educational institutions, while their semi-nomadic lifestyle allows them to spend parts of the year travelling between religious centres and cantonments.

Their tradition of movement and collective identity has also brought Nihangs into contemporary public life. Such appearances, historians suggest, need to be understood against the order’s decentralised structure: the presence or actions of one group or individual do not necessarily represent the Nihang community as a whole.

Nanded gives this story another layer. The city on the Godavari is home to Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, one of Sikhism’s five Takhts and the place where Guru Gobind Singh spent the final period of his life. It was here that he ended the line of human Gurus and invested the Guru Granth Sahib with eternal Guruship. The presence of a Nihang-managed gurdwara in the wider Hazur Sahib religious landscape is part of a much older institutional connection, even as the latest incident there has brought the community under renewed scrutiny.

The challenge in understanding the Nihangs today is to hold these two realities together. They are a living religious order, not a museum piece: their members pray, study scripture, serve food, care for horses and teach martial arts. At the same time, they carry a warrior vocabulary forged in an era when armed defence was central to Sikh survival. The battlefield may have changed, but the identity has endured.

Published – August 16, 2026 03:19 am IST