Kashi House

Nidar Singh Nihang, a British-born Sikh, is the sole-surviving master of India’s lost art of war known as shastar vidya (”science of weapons”). This traditional system of armed and unarmed combat traces its roots back thousands of years. Indian warriors through the ages have strived to master its vast repertoire of devastating battlefield techniques, and to hone their minds with its paradoxical philosophy. Driven underground during the days of the British Raj, this secretive martial art has teetered on the brink of extinction ever since.

Through twenty-five years of intense study and demanding physical training, Nidar Singh he has managed to preserve an art that was on the brink of extinction only a few decades ago. He is the ninth gurdev (teacher) of the Baba Darbara Singh Shastar Vidya Akhara, founded in the 17th century to teach Sikh warriors the battlefield arts.

He has conducted extensive field research in India, focusing on the history, philosophy and way of life of the four traditional Sikh orders: the Akali-Nihangs, Udasis, Nirmalas and Sewapanthis (see www.shastarvidiya.org and www.sarbloh.info).

He has also lectured across the world on the Sikh martial tradition and has contributed to several Discovery Channel documentaries, radio programmes and publications on the subject.

In his determination to preserve what experts regard as one of the last surviving branches of Sikh classical knowledge, Nidar Singh is currently preparing an extensive series of books uncovering the history, philosophy and science of shastar vidya.