Debunking The Myth Of Marathas Rebuilding Darbar Sahib

The Sikh Renaissance

We are joined by savvy historian/historiographer Anmol Singh Rode (Ranneeti Punjab) in debunking the outrightly fallacious claim of right wing propagandists that the Marathas entered the Punjab in the mid-18th century to save Sikhi and rebuild the sacrosanct Sikh Darbar Sahib. Relying primarily on Maratha historians (Besam, Kulkarni, Sardesai, Gordon and Sarkar) as well as contemporary material we evince that the Marathas had:

(a) No interest in being in the Punjab and only arrived when lured by the substantial booty promised by the wily Adina Beg.

(b) Left token garrisons in the region to quieten an otherwise contumacious Adina who feared their return to Pune.

(c) Were summarily annihilated by a returning Ahmad Shah Durrani.

(d) Were viewed by Sikhs and non-Sikh Punjabis as foreign oppressors.

We also expose the genesis of the aforementioned myth; the times in which it was made and the historic facts which arm the Sikhs to battle it.