Axomiya Sikhs of Nagaon (India): issues of identity.

In the villages of Nagaon district of Assam(India), Axomiya Sikhs are residing for the past two centuries. They are the believers and practitioners of their religion though not averse to local customs and festivals. They are immersed in the language and culture of Assam and many have got name and fame in their respective fields including Assamese literature. They claim to be the descendants of Sikh soldiers from Punjab sent there by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to help the Ahom ruler in 1820. The present paper explores the question of their social, religious and linguistic identity. They were contented with themselves until they interacted with the Punjabi Sikhs in Assam, relatively recent settlers, who call them 'duplicate Sikhs'. They are now in a dilemma with regard to their Sikh identity. The data are collected from a sample of 365 respondents. This is the only empirical study after Medhi's work in 1989. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]