AHC: Make Sikhism less of a Punjabi religion

While they are certainly Sikhs who are not Punjabi if I have to guess around 95% of Sikhs are Punjabi. However, could Sikhism ever branch out into Sindh, Balochistan, Gujarat, Bihar and maybe even Bengal and the Dravidian areas? Hell, could Sikhism ever have a foothold in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iran or Burma?
 
IMO not really. It evolved in a special circumstance in the Punjab region. Possibly, if you have a wank Sikh Empire that is overly zealous in conversion, but that would also be the extension of Punjabi culture as it is a top-down approach. If they couldn't convert the Muslims to a large extent in neighboring provinces, I fail to see their potential.
 
While they are certainly Sikhs who are not Punjabi if I have to guess around 95% of Sikhs are Punjabi. However, could Sikhism ever branch out into Sindh, Balochistan, Gujarat, Bihar and maybe even Bengal and the Dravidian areas? Hell, could Sikhism ever have a foothold in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Iran or Burma?

Hard but not entirely impossible for a Western Sikh spread. Have the EIC and Sikh Empire come to terms (or even better, become allies) and butterfly away the EIC conquest of the Sikhs.Sikhism via enhanced missionary efforts (much more so than OTL) spreads to Pathan, Baloch, Sindhi and Afghani territories due to the Sikh Empire controlling these territories with British help/alliance..

OTOH, it is very difficult to get Sikhism to spread to the east or south, as the EIC had already established de jure or de facto control of these areas. The only chance would be a peaceful spread through missionary activity (without political control).
 
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Hard but not entirely impossible for a Western Sikh spread. Have the EIC and Sikh Empire come to terms (or even better, become allies) and butterfly away the EIC conquest of the Sikhs.Sikhism via enhanced missionary efforts (much more so than OTL) spreads to Pathan, Baluchi, Sindhi and Afghani territories due to the Sikh Empire controlling these territories with British help/alliance..

OTOH, it is very difficult to get Sikhism to spread to the east or south, as the EIC had already established de jure or de facto control of these areas. The only chance would be a peaceful spread through missionary activity (without political control).

Pretty interesting, though it is Baloch, not Baluchi. I'm a Baloch myself, it is a pet peeve of mine for people to use the wrong demonym.
 
Hard but not entirely impossible for a Western Sikh spread. Have the EIC and Sikh Empire come to terms (or even better, become allies) and butterfly away the EIC conquest of the Sikhs.Sikhism via enhanced missionary efforts (much more so than OTL) spreads to Pathan, Baloch, Sindhi and Afghani territories due to the Sikh Empire controlling these territories with British help/alliance..

OTOH, it is very difficult to get Sikhism to spread to the east or south, as the EIC had already established de jure or de facto control of these areas. The only chance would be a peaceful spread through missionary activity (without political control).

You're discounting overthrow or weakening of the British. Do you believe it's ASB for the British to become weaker in India before OTL independence?
 
I figure the Sikhs expanding into Central Asia would be the best fit. My guess would be they'd probably take what would be now more-or-less Pakistan along with whatever Punjab territory they have before spreading. Maybe they could have a few advantages through association with them???
 
I figure the Sikhs expanding into Central Asia would be the best fit. My guess would be they'd probably take what would be now more-or-less Pakistan along with whatever Punjab territory they have before spreading. Maybe they could have a few advantages through association with them???
To achieve the above mentioned spread of Sikhism two conditions are required. A survival of a strong Sikh state and its alliance with the EIC. If Ranjit Singh had able successors who were militarily and diplomatically brilliant this could have been plausible. An alliance with the EIC will help them to secure the eastern and southern borders. Then the Sikh kingdom could set their eyes in the north western direction. But to conquer the powerful tribes a very strong military and good planning are essential.
 
Sikhism expanding into Rajasthan seems the best bet, as the religion of some of the non-Rajput peoples. Rajasthan already has a lot of Jat people, so that’s your best bet for expansion, considering Sikhism is also considered the religion of the Jats.

The best way to make Sikhism expand is in Himachal Pradesh (and the Hindu parts of Jammu and Kashmir), but the former was considered part of Punjab until the 1960s (and the latter until the 1840s), so I’m not sure you’d consider that expansion into non-Punjabi areas.
 
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