Panjab: Whetstone Of India’s Democracy

For half a century (from the 1920s to the 1960s), like a colossus, Master Tara Singh straddled the region, the society, the community we call Panjab. His life had immense highs and lows and his role in the making of modern Panjab and the history of Sikh politics elicit diverse opinions. For a long time now there has been a need for a comprehensive book that portrays his life and times. Given this background, eminent scholar, historian, J S Grewal, under the aegis of Punjabi University, Patiala, has finally offered us a study of his life: Master Tara Singh in Indian History: Colonialism, Nationalism and the Politics of Sikh Identity. For a personality so much larger than life, for a book almost equally large in size, it isimpossible to do justice or even summarize in a short review. At best, I can offer a few impressions.The biography is four lakh words, 700 plus double column pages. It has a foreword, a preface, and introduction detailing the methodology, twenty-six almost equal sized chapters, one conclusion and ten appendices, forty photographs and three maps.