Shastar Vidya

Shastar Vidya
ਸ਼ਸਤਰ-ਵਿੱਦਿਆ
Also known as	Sanatan Shastar Vidiya
Focus	Swordsmanship
Country of origin	India
Famous practitioners	Nidar Singh Nihang (real name Surjit Singh)

Shastar Vidya (Punjabi: ਸ਼ਸਤਰ-ਵਿੱਦਿਆ, romanized: shastarvidiā, meaning "science of weapons" or "art of weapons"^[1]^[2]), also known as Sanatan Shastar Vidya (Punjabi: ਸਨਾਤਨ ਸ਼ਸਤਰ ਵਿੱਦਿਆ), is a Sikh martial art form dating back to the 17th century.^{[note 1]}^[1]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] Whilst its origins are obscure, the Sikhs became the chief custodians of the martial-art in the Mughal-period. Due to the changing nature of warfare brought-on by technological advances and also because of the oncoming of the British, the martial-art faced a decline in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has since been revived in the present-day and some teachers are practicing it and taking on students. The martial art incorporates various kinds of weapons and techniques. Sikh spirituality is infused into many concepts of the art.

^ ^a ^b Goldberg, Elliott (2016). The Path of Modern Yoga: The History of an Embodied Spiritual Practice. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781620555682. But his real interest lay in studying shastar vidya ("the art of weapons"–a 17th-century Sikh martial art) from the master Rajratna Rajpriya Professor Manikrao.
^ Sagoo, Harjit Singh (June 2012). "Sikh Warrior Ways". Black Belt. 50 (6): 60–61. ISSN 0277-3066 – via ebscohost.
^ Hegarty, Stephanie (2011-10-30). "The only living master of a dying martial art". Retrieved 2019-04-11.
^ Myrvold, Kristina (2011). Sikhs in Europe: Migration, Identities, and Representations. Routledge. p. 241. ISBN 9781317055068.
^ Mukherjee, Priyanka; Taan, Griesham (26 October 2021). "Sanatan Shastar Vidya: The Ancient Indian Battlefield Art". BBC Reel.
^ Singh, Kamalroop (2014). "38. Sikh Martial Art (Gatkā)". In Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford University Press. pp. 459–470. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199699308.013.022.

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[:3-1] Goldberg, Elliott (2016). The Path of Modern Yoga: The History of an Embodied Spiritual Practice. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781620555682. But his real interest lay in studying shastar vidya ("the art of weapons"–a 17th-century Sikh martial art) from the master Rajratna Rajpriya Professor Manikrao.

[:4-2] Sagoo, Harjit Singh (June 2012). "Sikh Warrior Ways". Black Belt. 50 (6): 60–61. ISSN 0277-3066 – via ebscohost.

[4] Hegarty, Stephanie (2011-10-30). "The only living master of a dying martial art". Retrieved 2019-04-11.

[5] Myrvold, Kristina (2011). Sikhs in Europe: Migration, Identities, and Representations. Routledge. p. 241. ISBN 9781317055068.

[:2-6] Mukherjee, Priyanka; Taan, Griesham (26 October 2021). "Sanatan Shastar Vidya: The Ancient Indian Battlefield Art". BBC Reel.

[:7-7] Singh, Kamalroop (2014). "38. Sikh Martial Art (Gatkā)". In Singh, Pashaura; Fenech, Louis E. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford Handbooks Online. Oxford University Press. pp. 459–470. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199699308.013.022.

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