Lesson video

Hello, my name is Ms. Ramali, and welcome to today's RE lesson, which forms part of our unit, Social Justice: How Might Sikhs to Promote Equality.

And in today's lesson, we are going to be exploring the origins of the name Singh and Kaur.

Okay, let's start today's lesson.

Today's lesson outcome is I can explain why the names Singh and Kaur are important in Sikhi and how Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh promoted equality.

To help guide us through today's lesson, there are three key words: Kaur, Khalsa, and Singh.

Kaur means princess, the name given to female members of the Khalsa.

Khalsa is the group of Sikhs that have a commitment to following Sikhi, including wearing the Panj Kakkars, also known as the five Ks.

And Singh means lion, the name given to male members of the Khalsa.

Today's lesson on Singh and Kaur takes two parts.

So we will begin by exploring the origin of Singh and Kaur, moving on to learn about Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh and equality.

Do you know the origins or meaning of your name? Have you ever thought about how someone's name makes you think or feel about them? And can someone's name change how you behave towards them? Without realising it, we can judge someone by their name, either positively or negatively.

Researchers have found that someone's name can make a difference to how someone is treated.

In a study in 2020, researchers looked at how a person's name can affect job applications.

People who applied for jobs as leaders with English names received 26.

8% of positive responses for their job applications.

Applicants with non-English names received 11.

3% of positive responses.

Why do you think this might be? Pause the video here, and, with your partner, discuss the question, and press play when you are ready to move on with the lesson.

Names are very important in the Sikh world view.

In 1699, the 10th human Guru, Guru Gobind Rai, you may also know him as Guru Gobind Singh, asked a crowd of people celebrating the festival of Vaisakhi who was prepared to die for their beliefs.

Five men that were prepared to give extra commitment to their beliefs stood forward.

They were then called the Panj Pyare, or the five beloved ones.

The Panj Pyare were given a special set of clothes to wear, known as the Panj Kakkars or five Ks.

They agreed to follow a special set of rules.

This was the start of the group of Sikhs that still exist today, known as the Khalsa, a group of Sikhs prepared to give extra commitment to their beliefs.

Okay, let's complete a check for understanding True or false? The first members of the Khalsa were people that were prepared to die for their beliefs.

Pause the video, and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done if you said this statement is true.

Okay, let's complete another check for understanding.

Which Guru established the Khalsa? A, Guru Nanak, B Guru Gobind Rai, or C, Guru Amar Das? Pause the video, and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Well done, if you said the correct answer is B.

The guru that established the Khalsa was Guru Gobind Rai.

If Sikhs choose to join the Khalsa, they can add the Sanskrit-derived word Singh or Kaur to their name.

Men that join the Khalsa take the name Singh, which means lion.

And women that join the Khalsa take the name Kaur, which means princess.

In India, a person's name could traditionally indicate their cast.

People would use this to identify the social status of a person and might treat them differently because of it.

Changing their name to Singh or Kaur meant that people could not identify a Sikh's cast.

And this was important because it aimed to reduce the discrimination of some casts and create equality.

When Sikhs join the Khalsa today, they can add Singh or Kaur to their name.

It usually goes at the middle or the end of their name.

For example, Mandeep Gill will be Mandeep Singh Gill or Mandeep Gill Singh.

"My name is Ria Kaur Kohli." Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

You need to complete the following sentences with the correct word.

Male Sikhs that join the Khalsa can add _____ to their name And female Sikhs that join the Khalsa can add _____ to their name.

So complete the sentences by filling in the correct word.

Pause the video and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Well done, if you said male Sikhs that join the Khalsa can add Singh to their name.

And female Sikhs that join the Khalsa can add Kaur to their name.

True or false? The name Kaur means queen.

Well done, if you said that statement is false.

It's false because the name Kaur means princess.

Not all Sikhs will have Singh or Kaur in their names because not all Sikhs are Khalsa Sikhs.

Some Sikhs give their babies the middle name Singh or Kaur whether they join the Khalsa or not.

If you meet someone with Singh or Kaur in their name, it does not necessarily mean that they are a member of the Khalsa.

This is because they have also become used as a surname.

For example, Ranjit tells us, "My parents called me Ranjit Singh Chopra, even though I'm not a member of the Khalsa." Okay, now we are going to pause and complete our first practise task.

You need to complete the table with the correct information.

So you are either gonna fill in the missing key term or the missing meaning.

So let's just have a look at the table so you understand what you need to do.

So for the first key term, we have the meaning.

So it's the name for the group of Sikhs that give extra commitments to their belief.

Secondly, we have Guru Gobind Rai or Guru Gobind Singh.

You need to complete the meaning for his name.

And then we have the meaning the name that male Khalsa Sikhs could add to their name, and it means lion.

So there you need to fill in the key term.

And for Kaur you need to give the correct meaning.

Good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video, and then press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, welcome back, everybody.

Well done on completing the practise task, let's check your answers.

So you needed to complete the table with the correct information.

So you might have said the following points.

So Khalsa is the key term that means the name for the group of Sikhs that give extra commitment to their beliefs.

Guru Gobind Rai or Guru Gobind Singh is the 10th Guru that established the Khalsa Singh is the name that male Khalsa Sikhs add to their name, and it means lion.

And Kaur, well the meaning is the name that female Khalsa Sikhs add to their name, and it means princess.

Fantastic, well done.

So now we're gonna complete the second part of the practise task.

Aisha meets someone whose name is Greetha Kaur Bhatti.

Can she be sure that this person is a Khalsa Sikh? Explain why.

So using your information from this first learning cycle on the origin of Singh and Kaur, have a go at answering those two questions.

Pause the video, and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, welcome back everybody.

<v ->So Aisha meets someone whose name is Greetha Kaur Bhatti.

</v> Can she be sure that this person is a Khalsa Sikh? Well, the answer is no.

We cannot be sure that Greetha is a Khalsa Sikh because although she has the name Kaur, this might have been given to her when she was born, so she may or may not be a Khalsa Sikh.

Fantastic, well done on completing the first practise task.

So that moves us on to the second part of our lesson on Sigh and Kaur.

And now we are going to learn about Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh and her role in equality.

So first of all, we are going to look at this photograph, and I would like you to discuss with your partner what you can see in this photograph.

And then after you've discussed what it is that you can see, consider well what kind of person might this be in the photograph and when do you think it might have been taken.

So for example, you might want to consider really importantly what is this person wearing? What can we tell about when this photograph was taken? So think about that.

The photograph is not in colour, but it's in black and white print.

And think about what the person is wearing and what it might tell you about who she is.

So remember, with your partner you're gonna discuss these three questions.

Pause the video here, and then press play when you are ready to reflect on your answers.

Okay, welcome back everyone.

Fantastic discussions.

So let's spend some time reflecting on your answers and see what you might have said.

This is a photograph of Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh, and she lived between 1876 and 1948.

She was the goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Perhaps you identified that she might be somebody who had high status because of the grand clothes that she was wearing.

And she would've had high status because she was the goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Now, her father was the last Maharaja of Lahore in India, and he moved to England in 1854.

Princess Sophia carried on the Sikh fight for equality, so let's find out how she did that.

Well, this is another photograph of Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh.

Now, I'd like you again to have a look at this photograph, and I'd like you to consider the question, well, what might she be doing? So I want you to have a look at the photograph, and in particular, see what is it that Sophia is holding in her hand.

You might have to look really close at this photograph to be able to identify that.

And also have a look at the sign that is propped up next to her, and see what that sign says, and what that might indicate as to what Sophia is doing in this photograph.

And then also consider how might this link to fighting for equality.

Okay, so pause the video here, and, again, with your partner, I'd like you to discuss those two questions.

Once you finish your discussions, I'd like you to press play to move on with the lesson.

Okay, fantastic discussions again.

Excellent.

Well done.

So let's find out what Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur was doing and how this linked to fighting for equality.

Well, Princess Sophia joined the suffragette movement in Britain.

So the suffragettes were women who were looking to fight for equality for women so that they had the same right to vote as men.

And Princess Sophia sold copies of The Suffragette newspaper.

And here in this photograph, she is stood outside Hampton Court Palace.

Now, her influence contributed to women being given more voting rights from Parliament.

So we can see then from this information how her work linked with equality.

Let's pause and complete a check for understanding.

So which movement did Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh join to promote equality for women? Was it A, the feminist movement, B, the Suffragists movement, or C, the Suffragettes movement? Well done if you said the correct answer was C, the Suffragettes movement.

This is another photograph of Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh.

Now, what do you think she might be doing and how might this link to fighting for equality? So with your partner, I'd like you to have a look at this photograph, discussing these two questions.

So in this photograph you're going to be looking particularly at what Sophia is wearing, have a look at any symbols that you might be able to see on her uniform, and think about what that might indicate.

And see if you can link this to how this might be showing Sophia fighting for equality.

Pause the video here, have your discussions, and then press play when you are ready to reflect on your answers.

Okay, welcome back everybody.

Well, this photograph was taken in the first World War of Sophia, and here she promoted equality for the Indians that were part of the British army.

So she did this by selling flags to raise money for the Punjabi troops.

She also raised money for the Red Cross.

She raised money for injured soldiers and to ensure that Indian soldiers had equal medical treatment.

She visited and nursed injured Indian soldiers, and some of them were very pleased to see her.

Okay, let's complete a check for understanding.

What did Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh do to raise money for Indian soldiers? A, sold flags, B, sold uniforms, or C, sold newspapers? Pause a video and press play when you are ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said the correct answer is C.

Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh sold flags to raise money for Indian soldiers.

Okay, so now we are going to complete our second practise task.

So here we have the statement, "Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh lived out the Khalsa values of her name." Do you agree or disagree with the statement? Explain your answer using evidence from her story.

Your answer should include the meaning of Kaur and Singh and examples of Princess Sophia's achievements.

Good luck completing the practise task.

Pause the video, and then first play when you are ready to check your answer.

Okay, welcome back, everybody.

So in your answer for the practise task, you might have said some of the following points.

I agree that Princess Sophia showed Khalsa values.

Singh means lion, and she fought for equality.

She joined organisations in Britain that promoted equality for women and she sold suffragette newspapers.

Her work contributed to women having more rights in Britain, including being able to vote.

She raised money for wounded Indian soldiers by selling flags, and the money helped provide medical treatment for the soldiers.

Well done on completing your final practise task for today's lesson.

So that brings us to the end of today's lesson on Singh and Kaur.

And here is a summary of our key learning points.

So the Khalsa is a group of Sikhs prepared to give extra commitment to their beliefs.

If Sikhs choose to join the Khalsa, they can add Singh or Kaur to their name.

Changing a name to Singh or Kaur meant it was not possible to identify a Sikh's cast, which helped reduce discrimination and create equality.

And lastly, Princess Sophia Duleep Kaur Singh promoted equality through the Suffragette movement during the First World War for Indian soldiers that were part of the British Army.

Well done on completing today's lesson, and thank you very much for joining me.

Goodbye.