The history of Gatka
Generally the term Gatka is used as a synonym for Indian martial arts, in particular it is a martial art of the Sikhs in Northern India. Actually Gatka means a stick that is used to exercise sword-fighting. In the 19th century Gatka was a slang expression that was used for stick-, sword- and bar-techniques. Many of the techniques which are practiced today are forms which underwent European influences and are variants of the original Indian martial art Shastar Vidyaa (shastar = weapon, vidyaa = science).
Shastar Vidyaa is part of the Vedic tradition that can trace its origins back to ten thousand years. Yoga, meditation and the medecine of Ayurveda share the same roots. Shastar Vidyaa is the entirety of the knowledge from hand-to-hand combat up to the fight on the battlefield. Together with Buddhism it spread all over Eastern Asia and thus formed the basis for the Chinese and Japanese martial-arts.
Unlike other Asian martial arts there is no founder who could be named. However there are a lot of masters, one of them was Krishna Maharaja. It is supposed that he developed the sixteen principles of the Vidyaa. The epic of the Mahabharat, that tells about a conflict in the Vedic period (about 600 b.C.) is full of links to Krishna Maharaja and his abilities on the battlefield. In the Mahabharat Shastar Vidyaa is mentioned for the first time. Other masters of Indian martial arts were Ram Chander and the Rajput-kings, who developed for centuries a culture concerning the knowledge about Shastar Vidyaa.
The knowledge about his martial art however was nearly completely dissolving and was reduced to tradition and dogma when the Muslims conquered India. But at this time a memorable incident took place. Fifty-two of the last princes of Rajastan were captured by the Muslim conquerors. In order to free them the Sikh Guru Hargobind coming from the Punjab region was asked for help. As he himself often was in conflict with the Muslims he began to establish an army that could finally free the Rajput-princes who taught him and his Sikh-army as a sign of gratitude their knowledge about Shastar Vidyaa.
The Gurus spent their life praying and in their knowledge about the importance of the harmony between humans and the earth. Some religions believed in the principle of non-violence to an extent that they even were not only not ready to fight for their own set of beliefs but they simply ignored the enemy and let themselves be killed. The Gurus however demonstrated that some form of defence indeed was necessary to keep the harmony on Earth. It is known that Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji (6th Guru) und Guru Gobind Singh Ji (10th Guru) were not the onla Gurus that were ready to fight actively for their religion. As a matter of fact also Guru Angad Dev Ji (2nd Guru), a passionate wrestler, taught his fellow citizens to keep their body fit during their whole life.
The tenth mental master of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh, led Shastar Vidyaa to its culmination point. Taking the mental tradition of his nine successful Sikh-Guru-predecessors he created the basis for the Sikh Dharma. Before that the Sikhs possessed only one holy book called Adi Granth. To this Guru Gobind Sikh put two more Granths, the Sarab Lo Granth and the Dhasam Granth, that described the Vidyaa martial art. The combination of mental powers and martial arts was especially personified by the elite fighters, the Nihangs. Due to the power of their Dharma the Nihands possibly successed in expelling the Muslims and the Moguls out of ÄIndia and to safeguard the northern frontier against intruders.
One Sikh-king who ruled the Punjab over a longer period was Ranjit Singh. Although he himself was more or less small and awkward, he engaged the possibly most successful Sikh-fighters and tauhgt them. His army was so powerful and his warriors so brave that they forced the British troops to stop their conquest. As long as Ranjit Singh was king the British renounced to further conquer the Punjab. They preferred to wait until the kingdom got innerly corrupt through richness and wealth. Treason, murder and conspiration with the British let the formerly glorious kingdom fall to ashes after the death of Ranjit. The British were never forced to do a single shot to conquer the Punjab.
But even as the Punjab was subdued successfully the Sikhs still formed a dangerous power. But again the British avoided the direct confrontation and fought by means of infiltration. Their plan was to change the Sikh Dharma into a part of Christianity and by doing this to get the Sikhs peaceful. The conquerors controlled the religious and political parties of the Sikhs. The two Granths written by Guru Gobind Singh which were part of a triade were banned from the temples.They were replaced by table-organs, so-called harmoniums, to give the Sikh devotionals a Christian touch. Weapons of all kind were prohibited, wrong-doing was punished with prison or the confiscation of land.
The Akali Nihang Singhs were the keepers of faith since the days of Guru Gobind Singh. They alone completed the knowledge about the tradition of the Vidyaa and the history of the Sikh-Dharma. When the Brits got aware of that they persecuted and murdered them. More than 1.500 of these great warriors were slaughtered in order to oppress the Sikh traditions. To keep the Dharma some of the most learned Sikhs were sent to the mountains and villages of the Punjab region to hide themselves. Their task was that they identify five pupils each who are worth to be taugh the knowledge of Dharma.
Nowadays Shastar Vidyaa is not forgotten but there are only a few teachers left and many of them are already too old to teach. Furthermore only few pupils are ready to accept the toil of learning Shastar Vidyaa. Remainders of this martial art are known in northern India as Gatka and in the south as Kalaripayatt. However these are only simplified ceremonial versions of Shastar Vidyaa, which are demonstrated during religious and sporting events.