(Our recent review of Sun Bin’s 'The Lost Art Of War' incited a question from a non-Sikh reader, Contarini, who inquired whether we could elaborate further on how Sun Bin’s strategies are relevant to the current situation of the Sikhs. Resultantly, we are writing this piece specifically to address that inquiry).
Introduction:
Robert Greene, in his The 33 Strategies Of War, summarizes that strategy is the only sword and shield anyone ever requires. However, this fact eludes a majority of humanity often allowing a few enlightened individuals to capture control over and manipulate the masses. As a result, human history is not a clear-cut case of good versus evil but also a spectacular phenomenon of strategy versus strategy. Sikh history conforms to this theme and can be divided into two correlative segments: the ancient in which the Sikh forefathers were masters of strategy and the current: where Sikhs are the victims of strategy. Our yardstick for analyzing both eras is Sun Bin’s The Lost Art Of War.
The War Strategy:
The war strategy comprises a keen comprehension of why war is waged alongside when to actually engage an enemy in battle. Sun Bin is emphatic:
‘Those who win 6 out of 10 wars go by the stars; those who win 7 out of 10 wars go by the sun; those win 8 out of 10 wars go by the moon; those who win 10 out of 10 wars have skilled commanders and good strategy that ruins them because they are fools.’
-Sun Bin, The Lost Art Of War.
And,
‘The purpose of war is never to engage in heroics for celebration but to alter the fortunes of dying nations. To provide respite and crush those people who would do your people harm.’
-Ibid.
From the Gurus onwards, Sikh leaders were keen purveyors of literature and were well-versed in both statecraft and warcraft knowing fully well that to engage in war aimlessly and needlessly was to causelessly weaken themselves. Resultantly, they often weakened the foe through other means before engaging it to obliterate it. One discerns this in the stratagems of the Sikh leader Bhai Mani Singh (c.1644-c.1738). Upon the betrayal and execution of Sikh generalissimo Banda Singh, the Sikhs were fractured into several factions hiding in the wild hinterlands of the Punjab. However, the Sikh spirit rapidly recovered and Khalsa warriors commenced haranguing Hindu-Muslim forces.
Confronting both a suspicious imperial scrutiny at Delhi due to his corruption on one hand and Sikh guerillas on the other, Muslim governor Zakariya Khan offered the Sikhs a detente to lower their guard and finish them at his leisure. Simultaneously, he dispatched news of these proceedings to Delhi to conceal the shortfall in the tributes he was dispatching to the emperor. Sikh captains under the command of veteran general Darbara Singh (c.1644-c.1734) obstinately refused to accept the precondition of the detente that they elect a military governor to represent the Sikhs. There was, however, a dissenting voice on their council: Bhai Mani Singh.
Arising, the Bhai advised the general to reconsider his stance. It was irresponsible to prolong war without an end goal in sight. The Sikhs warred for sovereignty but had no efficient structure to realize it. The selection of a governor, he surmised, would not only provide a rallying points for Sikhs but also ensure the germination of a revitalized leadership structure in the post-Banda Singh era. Without a leader and leadership, the Sikhs could continue fighting and winning but it would deplete their resources and strength irrespective of their victories. War, he concluded, had to be conducted with a purpose in mind worth achieving. Otherwise, it was counterproductive.
The council solemnly considered his words and bestowed leadership upon the young Kapur Singh who would later establish both the embryonic Dal Khalsa (the Sikh military theocracy) and its constituent Misls (federations) that would ensure Sikh supremacy for over half a century before being supplanted by monarchy. Bhai Mani Singh was a master intellectual who was well-versed in the ways of human psychology and war knowing that conflict was incited for a reason otherwise it renders the masses aimless and desolate. Such groups are then prone to betray their very own cause. Preempting this, he argued for a cessation of hostilities to allow the Sikhs to regain their footing.
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Bhai Mani Singh’s foresight would have earned Sun Bin’s approval considering that it prevented the Sikhs from overreaching themselves. He was conversant with the fact that events and issues have three forms: the external form that we discern, the inner working form that strengthens the impact of the event/issue, and the potential future form. Victory in warfare is the external form. It is celebrated for the results it accrues. The inner working form of this though is the human cost that went into the triumph and the depletion of significant resources in its pursuit. The potential future events transpire as an outcome of both these forms uniting and decide the worth of victory. Was it prudent or pyrrhic?
King Pyrrhus (r.297-272 BC) was a sworn enemy of nascent Rome. But Roman soldiers inflicted astounding casualties on his armies as they retreated after being routed. This loss often tallied with what Pyrrhus inflicted on the Romans and increased over time. While externally his victories were celebrated, the internal workings of the king’s victories were costly until ultimately the future result was a decrease in his military security. Pyrrhus won to lose ergo the term Pyrrhic victory or a victory so costly that the victor is the actual loser in terms of consequences. History is littered with such events and this was what Bhai Mani Singh’s counsel and foresight prevented the Sikhs from being trapped into.
ਮੰਦਾ ਮੂਲਿ ਨ ਕੀਚਈ ਦੇ ਲੰਮੀ ਨਦਰਿ ਨਿਹਾਲੀਐ ॥
ਜਿਉ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਨਾਲਿ ਨ ਹਾਰੀਐ ਤੇਵੇਹਾ ਪਾਸਾ ਢਾਲੀਐ ॥
ਕਿਛੁ ਲਾਹੇ ਉਪਰਿ ਘਾਲੀਐ ॥੨੧॥
“Avoid acts accruing unbearable consequences. Do not disgrace yourself thus. Develop foresight for your future. Play such a game, in this gamble of life, that you do not lose against your Master (divine creator). Do only that which accrues you benefit and not disadvantage.”
-Guru Granth, 474.
Reversal:
Since the British era, the Sikhs have been fed a heady concoction of their own unrestrained valor that continues to this day under the Indian authorities. The catastrophic tragedy here is that this is no celebration of their faith’s militarism but rather its manipulation to render them into cannon-fodder. And it has worked. Sikh youth rush to join the military services believing it to be their sole duty in life to due fighting unable to realize that death in duty is a cost and not the aim. This disallows them from broadening their intellectual horizons and realizing their vocation. A nefarious emphasis on their forefathers wars and victories has rendered them into numb killing machines unable to acknowledge why their forefathers engaged in warfare in the first place.
Conclusion:
A critical rereading of Sikh history is a prerequisite for Sikh youth. Death is an acceptable cost but not the price. The war strategy is used against the Sikhs today by various governments. Ironically, it was once used by their forefathers in a very different and effective way. The pursuit of war should not entail the annihilation of one’s very own self even in victory. Sun Bin foresaw this, Bhai Mani Singh foresaw this. Tragically, the Sikhs are yet to discern such aspects of their history. The day they do, they can arise from their self-imposed mediocrity.