Gurdino
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gurdino ("giving to the gurus"; also spelt as Gurudino) was a traditional practice of some Hindu families living in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan to raise a child, usually the eldest son, as a Sikh.[1][2][3] The son would be baptized as a Sikh.[1][2] The tradition had been followed for centuries.[1] Households that followed the tradition tended to follow both Hindu and Sikh practices.[2]
During Islamic-rule in Punjab, Hindus raising a child as a Sikh would have been similar to preparing their child to fight in a war, as Sikhs were conceptualized as being the "sword arm of Hinduism".[4][5] The present understanding of the historical prevalence of this practice amongst the Punjabi Hindus may be exaggerated and it was followed less in-reality.[6] In Punjab during the British colonial-period, the practice was generally done for economic motivations rather than religious ones, based upon aspirations for admissions into the military, as Sikhs were preferred for these roles.[6] According to W. H. McLeod, it was a practice of sehajdhari Sikh families, especially belonging to the trading-castes, who only raised their eldest son explicitly as a Sikh whilst giving the rest of their children the freedom to assume either a Sikh or Hindu identity.[7]
