Ghadar and a return to Punjab

Santokh Singh Dhardev was a Ghadar activist associated with the early Punjabi labour and peasant press. A University of Cambridge thesis dates his return to colonial Punjab to 1926; Sohan Singh Josh’s memoir places his release from village detention in 1925. The differing chronologies need further archival checking. Both discuss his efforts to organise workers’ and peasants’ politics after time abroad. It connects his international experiences with the development of new political networks in Punjab. The spelling of his name and village varies across sources, so readers should check names, dates and associations when following archival references. His political activity formed part of a wider transition among some Ghadar veterans towards socialist and communist organising.[1][4]

The journal Kirti

Research on anti-colonial movements describes preparations by Santokh Singh and colleagues including Bhag Singh Canadian and Karam Singh Cheema for the Punjabi monthly Kirti. Its first issue appeared in Amritsar in February 1926. The journal linked the memory of Ghadar with discussion of workers and wider struggles against subordination. The thesis draws on a contemporary announcement and later histories; the stated aims of a new publication should be compared with surviving issues to see how they developed in practice. Publishing involved a group of organisers and contributors, not a single voice acting alone.[2]

A short organising career

A study of Ghadar’s influence on Bhagat Singh identifies Santokh Singh as a founder and editor of Kirti and places him among Ghadar figures Bhagat Singh met. Santokh Singh’s failing health curtailed his work, and Sohan Singh Josh later became associated with the journal’s editorship. Histories can differ in how they describe formal editorial roles and the work of those who actually managed a publication. Comparing a masthead, memoirs and administrative records is more useful than assuming that all accounts use the same definition of editor. Kirti remains evidence of debate within a developing movement.[3]

Sources & notes

Source records include access dates and, where known, limits on what was examined. Checks used AI assistance; independent human or specialist review has not been completed.

  1. Ammar Ali Jan. A Study in the Formation of Communist Thought in India, 1919–1951 ↗Written source · Source date: 2018 · Locator: Cambridge PhD thesis, printed pp. 105–107 (PDF pp. 105–107): Santokh Singh and Kirti. Accessed 2026-11-03.The thesis passage was checked. Its 1926 return date differs from other accounts; the cited archival record was not independently checked.Return to Ghadar and a return to Punjab, paragraph 1 ↑
  2. Bhupinder Singh. The Anti-British Movements from Gadar Lehar to Kirti Kisan Lehar: 1913–1939 ↗Written source · Source date: 2011 · Locator: Thesis title page and discussion of preparations for Kirti. Accessed 2026-11-03.Thesis authorship and indexed publication information were checked; individual issues of Kirti were not examined.Return to The journal Kirti, paragraph 1 ↑
  3. Harish K. Puri. Bhagat Singh and the Ghadar Movement ↗Written source · Source date: 2007 · Locator: Revised conference paper, paragraph on Bhagat Singh’s meetings with Ghadar leaders. Accessed 2026-11-05.The reproduced paper and its paragraph on meetings with Ghadar leaders were rechecked. The previous www address returned a certificate hostname mismatch in the local test; the linked non-www address returned HTML. The author’s underlying sources were not independently examined.Return to A short organising career, paragraph 1 ↑
  4. Sohan Singh Josh. My Meetings with Bhagat Singh and on Other Early Revolutionaries ↗Historical thesis · Source date: 1976 · Locator: Printed p. 72, Santokh Singh’s release and preparations for Kirti. Accessed 2026-11-03.The indexed memoir passage was checked; the underlying colonial records were not independently examined. Its chronology differs from the Cambridge thesis.Return to Ghadar and a return to Punjab, paragraph 1 ↑
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