Pakistan: The Sikhs & Their Heritage

Amardeep Singh studied Electronics Engineering and Masters in Business Administration at the University of Chicago, USA. He lives in Singapore. Having worked in the Financial Services sector for 25 years, he has now dedicated himself to visual ethnographic research. He has authored two books, entitled, ‘Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan’ and ‘The Quest Continues: Lost Heritage, The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan’. He has also produced two documentaries 'PEERING SOUL' and 'PEERING WARRIOR', covering the remnants of the spiritual & martial legacy of the Sikhs in Pakistan. He is presently making a multi-episode documentary 'ALLEGORY, A Tapestry of Guru Nanak's Travels' on the travels of Guru Nanak across 9 countries.
BOOKS: http://lostheritagebook.com/
DOCUMENTARIES ON SIKH LEGACY IN PAKISTAN: Spiritual Sites https://youtu.be/Ko7P-6B8irg and Martial Sites https://youtu.be/phbMR9Gy0Fo
'ALLEGORY, A Tapestry of Guru Nanak's Travels', A MULTI-EPISODE DOCUMENTARY IN PRODUCTION: https://youtu.be/wW_gZSRY31s

Dr. Dalvir Singh Pannu is an award-winning dentist and founder of Pannu Dental Group which has multiple locations in Bay Area, California. He was inspired to research and write the book Sikh Heritage: Beyond the Borders by his long-standing passion for unearthing the narratives of Sikh historical and religious places displaced during the India–Pakistan partition of 1947. Today, these monuments stand out as the symbols of peaceful and harmonious past lives of people sharing a heritage whose affinities go beyond physical borders and territories.
Sikh Heritage dedicates one chapter each to the 84 sites that it documents, transporting readers to the past by narrating the detailed history of each marvel which the author and his team photographed throughout Pakistan. This book is the culmination of decade-long field work of finding and exploring the heritage sites, alongside analyzing multiple Janamsakhis (hagiography accounts). The author’s process of doing extensive analysis and cross-referencing with other sources enables readers to comprehend Sikh history, by posing inquiries, applying critical thinking, and investigating hundreds of sources. He includes a multitude of primary sources and Gurmukhi inscriptions, translated into English, to increase heritage-lovers’ understanding of these sites and to help preserve their beauty and histories through his writing.

Book: https://www.amazon.com/Sikh-Heritage-Beyond-Borders/dp/1733293701

Dr Nadhra Shahbaz Khan is Associate Professor of art history at the Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan. A specialist in the history of art and architecture of the Punjab from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century, her research covers the visual and material culture of this region during the Mughal, Sikh, and colonial periods. Her monograph Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Samādhi in Lahore: A Summation of Sikh Architectural and Decorative Practices was published as part of the University of Bonn’s SAAC series (Studies in Asian Art and Culture) in 2018. It is the first comprehensive study of this remarkable nineteenth century monument that never attracted scholarly attention as it was dismissed for being a confused mixture of earlier styles by the British ruling elite after Punjab’s annexation. Her latest article “Ayina-Kari in the Sheesh Mahal, Lahore Fort: Issues of Attribution, Appreciation and Interpretation,” in Artibus Asiae (2018: volume 78 no. 2), also highlights and refutes the colonial dismissive discourse built around Sikh heritage in the nineteenth century.

She has held research fellowships at SOAS, London (Charles Wallace 2010–2011), INHA Paris (2015), Princeton University (Fulbright 2014–2015), and Oxford University (Barakat Trust 2014–2015). Dr Khan has been working with the Aga Khan Cultural Service–Pakistan (AKCS–P), as Consultant Historian for their Lahore Fort project since 2016.

Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Khan-Samadhi-Maharaja-Ranjit-Sin/dp/3868932712

Dr. Pritpal Singh is a Physician Executive with Cigna where he serves as a Mentor to Health Management teams by providing Clinical insight, Educational support, and HealthCare solutions & strategies. Himself a product of Sikh camps and retreats, he facilitates workshops and projects which aim to fight both religious and political oppression through reflection, self-introspection, and activism. Pritpal is a board member of Sikh Research Institute and Coppell Education Foundation. He lives in Dallas, TX with his family.

SikhRI connects people with the teachings of Sikhi and strengthens the bonds of the Sikh community around the world by offering courses and seminars in a variety of mediums.