# Weren't the Sikhs ferocious warriors at one time? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 7, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werent-the-sikhs-ferocious-warriors-at-one-time/630771 "2012-08-07T18:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werent-the-sikhs-ferocious-warriors-at-one-time/630771/1 "2012-08-07T18:53:50Z")
I know the ones that were killed Sunday were American and didn’t have the same training. But, weren’t the Sikhs at one time one of the more feared Indian Warriors? I seem to recall they wore double swords. Real Bad asses. They even had their own martial arts, Sanatan Shastarvidiya. I have trouble keeping the Gurkha and Sikhs separate in my mind. Both are from India? The Gurkha still train and continue their warrior tradition. As shock troops how were the Gurkha and Sikhs deployed? Were they given different functions? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werent-the-sikhs-ferocious-warriors-at-one-time/630771/2 "2012-08-07T18:54:53Z")
The Sikh warriors were, indeed. Sikh dentists, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werent-the-sikhs-ferocious-warriors-at-one-time/630771/3 "2012-08-07T19:38:28Z")
Sikh are mostly in India (Punjab). Gurkha are mostly in Nepal. They are still heavily represented in the martial professions. I thought I just saw some stats, can’t find them again. Some were fighting during Operation Blue Star. After that, some killed Indira Gandhi, but maybe that’s iffy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werent-the-sikhs-ferocious-warriors-at-one-time/630771/4 "2012-08-07T19:56:41Z")
The Indians were the only people that managed to stop Alexander the Great. Depending on who you read, Indian king porus was defeated by Alexander or basically fought him to a standstill at the Battle of the Hydaspes River. What’s not in dispute is Alexander’s troops refused to fight any further into India. They didn’t want any part of India’s fighters. Afterward, Alexander was wounded several times attacking an Indian tribe called the Malli. > [@](#): > > The greatest of Alexander’s battles in India was against Porus, one of the most powerful Indian leaders, at the river Hydaspes in July 326 B.C.E. Alexander’s army crossed the heavily defended river in dramatic fashion during a violent thunderstorm to meet Porus’ forces. The Indians were defeated in a fierce battle, even though they fought with elephants, which the Macedonians had never before seen. Alexander captured Porus and, like the other local rulers he had defeated, allowed him to continue to govern his territory. Alexander even subdued an independent province and granted it to Porus as a gift. > [@](#): > > Alexander’s next goal was to reach the Ganges River, which was actually 250 miles away, because he thought that it flowed into the outer Ocean. His troops, however, had heard tales of the powerful Indian tribes that lived on the Ganges and remembered the difficulty of the battle with Porus, so they refused to go any farther east. > [@](#): > > One of the villages in which the army stopped belonged to the Malli, who were said to be one of the most warlike of the Indian tribes. Alexander was wounded several times in this attack, most seriously when an arrow pierced his breastplate and his ribcage. The Macedonian officers rescued him in a narrow escape from the village. > **[WSO: Williams Students Online](https://wso.williams.edu/~junterek/india.htm)** > > Webapp made by Williams Students Online. For Students, By Students. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/werent-the-sikhs-ferocious-warriors-at-one-time/630771/5 "2012-08-07T20:17:01Z")
Thanks for the interesting story, but Sikhs wouldn’t exist for another ~1800 years. And if you mean that because they’re Punjabi, it does seem that lots of the Sikhs’ martial reputation is due to religion.