The Return of Guru Gobind Singh's Weapons

Two Akali-Nihang Sikhs who were among the crowds gathered at Palam Airport to receive the sacred weapons of Guru Gobind Singh returned by the Dalhousie family, Delhi, 1 January 1966. © Marilyn Silverstone/Magnum Photos.

In Delhi, the year 1966 began joyfully and exuberantly with celebration of a gesture of restitution by Lord Dalhousie’s greatgranddaughter.

After being acquired by Dalhousie from the recently annexed Lahore state’s treasury in 1849, the weapons of Guru Gobind Singh had passed to generation after generation of his family.

On 1 January 1966, a plane bearing the tenth Guru’s sacred relics landed at Palam Airport in Delhi to a spectacular welcome.

The scene was described by the art historian, Mildred Archer:

'All the morning great crowds of Sikhs had been converging – some in sleek American cars, some on pony carts, some precariously perched on bicycles, most on foot.

‘Many were in trucks, flying the yellow and blue Sikh flag, for the Sikh truck-drivers had declared the day a holiday and were offering free rides to all their community.

Mildred Archer, India, 1976. Courtesy of Michael Archer OBE.

'Inside the airport a large canopy, gay with red, blue, green and yellow patterns, had been erected on the grass.

‘The most important members of the Sikh community, together with the Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Governor of Punjab and leading Indian ministers and civil servants, were seated on chairs beneath it.

‘In front of them was an empty white dais around which the excited crowd pressed.

‘Lined up on the tarmac was a smart military band of Sikhs in red and white uniforms, as well as a guard of ninety Sikhs in deep blue turbans and loose white shirts and tight trousers.

‘Although most of the seated Sikhs wore European suits, many in the crowd wore white shirts over their ordinary clothes.

‘They were girded with the great swords of their ancestors and had round black shields on their backs.

‘Conspicuous in the front row was a Nihang or ‘Crocodile’, a member of the fanatical Sikh sect which is marked by its blue clothes, and high blue turban bearing the gold Sikh badge of quoit, scimitars, and double-edged sword.'

- Extract from Eleanor Nesbitt's 'Sikh: Two Centuries of Western Women’s Art and Writing', which you can buy here.