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Heart and Soul: The Last Sikh Warrior

The Last Sikh Warrior

30/06/2012 GMT

BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, The Last Sikh Warrior

Hardeep Singh Kohli meets The Last Sikh Warrior.

Samurai Bushido is one of the last exponents of the ancient Sikh Indian martial art of Shastar Vidiya. Hardeep Singh Kohli meets him.

It ranks alongside Chinese Kung Fu or the Samurai Bushido, yet the ancient Indian martial art of Shastar Vidiya is nearly forgotten. After centuries of practising its fearsome techniques, Sikh fighters in Punjab were shot on sight for simply carrying a sword. Now the last known master of the art, Nidar Singh Nihang, is searching for a successor to carry the tradition forward.

Ironically, he grew up in Britain, in the English Midlands town of Wolverhampton, but as a child, he was sent to live with relatives in Punjab, where a chance meeting with an elderly warrior man changed his life.

The man, who could trace his lineage back centuries to the Sikh Gurus introduced young Nidar to the secrets of Shastar Vidiya, or the knowledge of weapons. Hardeep Singh Kohli joins Nidar Singh Nihang as he searches for his own successor among young Sikhs in Britain.

(Photo shows Nidar Singh Nihang, the last Sikh warrior. Copyright: Rajbir Hundal 2011)

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