Waheguru ji ka khalsa
Waheguru ji ki fateh
The role of those earning their livelihood by living and working in pilgrimage places from the visits of pilgrims to holy places by selling fake tokens as coins, it appears, was not confined just to Brahaman Pandas but also to Sikh Mahants, Masands and roving Bhatras Sikhs and Sadhus as well. A new book on Sikh Coinage gives more detail. It shows pictures of ten such tokens. The picture at No. 3 shows exactly the token we have been discussing earlier. The tokens that my father brought from Haridwar 64 years ago was also exactly the same. May be this one was produced and distributed in larger quantity.
An important book on Temple Tokens of Indian discusses this Token phenomenon all India wide. (Irwin F Brotman, A Guide to Temple Tokens of India, Los Angeles: Sharmock Press, 1970, pp. 12-13)
A Sikh writer Surinder Singh produced an excellent book on Sikh Coinage that discuses the phenomenon of Tokens passed on as Coins.
Sikh Coinage, Surinder Singh, Manohar Publishers, 2004, p201.
“Sikh religious tokens appear to have emanated from Amritsar, where very large numbers of devotees come during the Baisakhi and Diwali festivals. The local mahants/masands and traders in ornaments get these tokens manufactured in bulk, then sell them to petty medicants and Sadhus who, in turn, sell them to the pilgrims; thus making a substantial profit from the various stages of the transaction. There is a tribe of bhatras, part soothsayers and part godmen, who move from place to place, especially religious places during festivals, passing on these tokens to the godfearing pilgrims with their blessings. Thus, a token worth only a few paise is passed on to pilgrim for a few rupees. To the receiver it may be an act of religious devotion but to the giver it is a means of earning livelihood. It is understood that tokens bearing the inscription ‘Hazur Sahib, were originally manufactured in privately owned factories in Amritsar and were sent to traders in Nander for sale to the pilgrims going to Hazur Sahib as though these tokens originated at Hazur Sahib and with the blessings of the Guru. Such tokens were also apparently issued by certain sects outside the Sikh mainstream, such as Udasis, the Nirmalas, and the Namdharis which were set up by those descendents of the Sikh Gurus, viz., Pirthi Chand, Dhir Mal, and Ram Rai, who had separated from the Sikh mainstream and who crated their own sects with rather limited followings. The Udasi deras and darbars were scattered all over the doabs(of Panjab) and received state patronage in the form of revenue-free grants and financial assistance from the Sikh rulers.10 The Yantra (A squre drawn with 3x3 boxes in which nubers are written) type token at no 5, is an issue of some Udasi sect. The brass tokens have gone out of circulation over the last fifty years, presumably due to the Singh Sabha reform movement. The silver tokens have a very limited circulation at present, and may be obtained from silversmiths but not from the Sikh religious places.
Humbly
Serjinder Singh
