By Asia Samachar | United States |
American football team The Dallas Cowboys is paying homage to a Sikh warrior and administrator as they gear up for the new NFL season.
The iconic NFL franchise has just released its theme for the season, “Carpe Omnia”, which means ‘seize everything’. Along with it, they have also put up a new sign near their players’ locker room that prominently features a Sikh warrior Hari Singh Nalwa.
Their players were seen wearing hoodies with the emblem of Hari Singh Nalwa, the Commander-in-chief of the Khalsa Fauj, the army of the Sikh Empire (1799-1849) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He is known for his conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud Afghanistan.
Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has instituted a theme for each year he’s been in Dallas. This year, it’s “Carpe Omnia”.
“I think themes are important,” McCarthy said in an interview. “They come to you at different points of the offseason. This came a little different. I think it needs to illustrate where you feel your football team is at, where they are in their progression towards winning a championship.”
So, who is Hari Singh Nalwa? Amardeep Singh, author of the ‘‘Lost Heritage: The Sikh Legacy in Pakistan‘ and a subsequent documentary series “Allegory of Guru Nanak’s Travels”, says: “What everyone forgets is that Hari Singh Nalwa was not just a warrior – He was an able administrator, agriculturist, poet and also command leader. His photo and personality image is in reality very different from what modern artists have started depicting.”
He shared a painting. Standing left of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, is said to be the only image of Hari Singh Nalwa, painted in the period of Lahore Darbar (Refer Book: Hari Singh Nalwa, Champion of Khalsa Ji, by Vanit Nalwa).
Haripur, close to Rawalipindi was named after Hari Singh Nalwa after he took charge as the administrator of Hazara Region. The cultivation of Malta that happens in this region in present times, is credited to Hari Singh Nalwa’s vision of building the ‘Rangila’ water canal system that irrigated the land. He imported special varieties of plants and one of them that became the revenue generator of this region till date is the Malta Fruit.
“One should read his Persian poetry as official exchange with the Pathan leader of Amb State – it is bureaucracy dialogue in fine poetic language. He also led an army because of situational need but his personality was far greater than a warrior!,” he added.
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