THE ROLE OF THE KHALSA INSTITUTE IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF SIKHS IN THE INDIAN STATE OF PUNJAB: HISTORY AND MODERNITY

The article is devoted to the study of the role and place of the Khalsa Institute in the identification of Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab. The novelty is the analysis of methods and approaches to the study of the role of the Khalsa Institute in the formation of the ethnic and religious identity of the Sikh community, the modern role of Sikhs in socio-political life in the Indian state of Punjab. The purpose of the study is to study the history of the formation and development of the Khalsa Institute as the main institution in Sikhism, to identify how the Khalsa Institute was able to survive political repression in the Mughal Empire, political instability in Northern India, to become the dominant force in the Sikh community and create the empire of Ranjit Singh, covering Punjab, Kashmir, Multan, and after the conquest by the British East India Company, to modernize and, with the independence of India, not to dissolve into the Hindu environment and play an important role in the socio-political life in the Indian state of Punjab. The purpose of the article is to study the role of the Khalsa Institute in the identification of Sikhs in the Indian state of Punjab. The article uses methods of historical analysis and qualitative methods of expert survey and in-depth interview analysis to identify the important place of the Khalsa Institute in the Sikh community. The results presented in the article allowed the authors to conclude how the Khalsa Institute was able to transform from a small military order into a dominant force in the Sikh community.