Cauldron, Sword and Victory: The Rise of the Sikhs

In Cauldron, Sword and Victory, author Sarbpreet Singh takes the reader on a journey through the fiery crucible in which the character of the Sikhs was forged. Seers and mystics, conquerors and kings rub shoulders in this heady tale of history and politics, embarking on never-ending quests for land, power and glory. Singh’s first volume on Sikh history told the story of the venerated Sikh Gurus. Starting with the rebellion of Banda Singh Bahadur, he now turns his attention to Nawab Kapur Singh and his cohort of doughty Sikh chiefs who became the masters of Punjab as the weakened Mughals of Delhi clashed with the powerful Ahmad Shah Abdali of Afghanistan. Bringing these swashbuckling characters to life in a manner most vivid and compelling, Singh transports us to the eighteenth-century Indian subcontinent as the Sikh chiefs engage with the British, the Marathas, the Jats and the Rohillas, sometimes as allies and sometimes as adversaries.

Based on a unique mix of eyewitness accounts, secondary sources as well as translations from Braj and Punjabi poetry, Singh’s narrative is both erudite and engaging—a true saga of resilience, faith and power.