Singh Sabha Movement (Raj Karega Khalsa)

With the introduction of a census into the Sikh Empire, it brought up the question of what it meant to be a Sikh. This led to the creation of the Singh Sabha Movement that aimed to reform Sikhism, aswell as claimed to "propagate the true Sikh religion". The movement also aimed to promote Punjabi, in the Gurmukhi script, to the same official status of Persian, or to replace Persian with Punjabi, and thus make Punjabi the sole official language of the empire.

Factions
The movement was divided into three major factions; The Ambarsariya Singh Sabha was based in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and was led by Khem Singh Bedi. Khem Singh Bedi clamied to be a direct descendant of Guru Nanak, the founder and first guru of Sikhism. His faction campaigned for recognising the significance of Khalsa initiation and Sikh identity, they also supported the need for living guru, the concept of divine incarnations and that the Hindu and Sikh society were indivisible.

The Bhasauri Singh Sabha was based in Bhasaur and was led by Tej Singh. His faction campaigned for the radical approach where anyone not baptised as Khalsa should not be considered a Sikh, and any discussion of Hindu-Sikh relationship was an insult to the Sikhs.

The Lahori Singh Sabha was based in the capital of Lahore and was led by Gurmukh Singh. His faction campaigned for only believing the ten Sikh Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib as the source of Sikh beliefs and practice, and while Khalsa initiation was ideal but those who had not gone through initiation were indivisible part of the Sikh community if they accepted the Guru Granth Sahib as their Guru. Gurmukh Singh saw Sikhs as distinct from Hindus and the question of Hindu-Sikh relationship was an irrelevant question.

Public views
The Lahori Singh Sabha became the most popular faction amongst the commoners of the empire mainly due to the fact the faction used Sikh scriptures as the core source of their beliefs. However, those more inclined to Hinduism did not favour the faction as it advocated for the ditching of many Hindu practices which Sikh scriptures criticised. The faction was also supported by popular and influential author, lexicographer and encyclopedist, Kahn Singh Nahba, who would write the book originally published in Persian as, 'Ma Na Hindu Hastem', 'We are not Hindus' and was published into the Punjabi, 'Assi Hindu Nahi', a few months later. Some members of the aristocratisy campaigned for the Ambarsariya Singh Sabha, mainly looking to take advantage of the fact that Khem Singh Bedi supported the need for living guru by looking to install an individual who favoured them as guru.

Result
In order to resolve the issue, Maharaja Nau Nihal Singh invited the leaders of the three factions to the his palace in Lahore, to discuss and debate their beliefs to the Maharaja. This meeting is often called the Council of Lahore. After days of debating, the Maharaja embraced the ideas and beliefs of the Lahori Singh Sabha led by Gurmukh Singh.