Khalsa Tract Society
Formation | 1893 |
---|---|
Founder | Kaur Singh Kaur Singh |
Purpose | Sikh religious organization |
The Khalsa Tract Society was an organization created by Bhai Vir Singh and Kaur Singh in 1893 to promote the aims and objects of the Singh Sabha Movement.[1][2]
History
[edit]In 1893, Vir Singh helped found the Khalsa Tract Society alongside Kaur Singh (who was the son of Sadhu Singh Dhupia).[note 1][1][2] The majority of the tracts published by the society were authored by Vir Singh.[1] The society published small, cheap volumes on religious and social subjects.[2] Alongside religious topics, with society also published works on other subjects, such as social evils that had sprung up within the wider Sikh community.[1] Keeping in-line with the ideals of the Khalsa Tract Society, Vir Singh would later found the Khalsa Samachar newspaper.[1]
In 1902, the Khalsa Tract Society claimed in its report that up till then, it had published 200 works and distributed half a million copies of these works.[2]
In a discussion between Master Tara Singh and Lala Lajpat Rai, the former suggested to the latter that if he is a true patiot (desh bhagat), then he should study Sikhism in-detail, specifically the Punjabi works published by the Khalsa Tract Society.[3] According to J. S. Grewal, the efforts of the Khalsa Tract Society helped modern Punjabi arise as a language of instruction.[3]
Notes
[edit]- ^ N. G. Barrier gives the year 1894 as the founding year of the organization.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Dhillon, Parneet Kaur; Dhanju, Jaspal Kaur (27 April 2023). "5: Revisiting The Khalsa Samachar (1899-1900) – Women's Issues and Concerns". In Malhotra, Anshu; Murphy, Anne (eds.). Bhai Vir Singh (1872–1957): Religious and Literary Modernities in Colonial and Post-Colonial Indian Punjab. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781000867008.
- ^ a b c d Barrier, N. G. (2004). "Sikh Journalism". In Singh, Harbans (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Sikhism. Vol. 4: S–Z (2nd ed.). Patiala Punjabi University. pp. 161–166. ISBN 817380530X.
- ^ a b Grewal, J. S. (March 2018). "3 - Early Life and Career of Master Tara Singh: (1885–1919)". Master Tara Singh in Indian History: Colonialism, Nationalism, and the Politics of Sikh Identity (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 62–85. ISBN 9780199089840.