Accommodation and Resistance: Missionary Encounters with the Satnamis of Narnaul

Abstract

The present article draws attention towards the fluid identities of sectarian communities during the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries with special reference to the Satnamis of Narnaul. It raises the issue whether sectarian fluidity helped missionaries to make inroads. The Missionaries mistook the plural outlook of the Satnamis, particularly their ‘openness’ towards the new faith as fertile ground for conversion. However, the study suggests that ‘fluidity’ co-existed with ‘rigid’ core. ‘Openness’ does not reflect ‘predisposition’ for conversion. Instead it was more of ‘inquisitiveness’ coalescing with the innate desire to learn—how other communities perceived the ‘Almighty’ and the complexities of the ‘Universe’. However, yearnings for social status, economic gains and a keen desire to grab the opportunity to get access to education, which so far was a Brahmin preserve, were equally important. Curiously, both the Christian Missionary Society, London and the American Presbyterians met with negligible successes. The article addresses why and how an extremely ‘naïve’ group remained cohesive against the highly organized missionary endeavours in spite of initial positive vibes. The Satnami voices are extremely limited. My data is largely derived from Missionary chronicles and field trips.