When “Sparrow Became Hawks” incorporates and analyzes Sikh normative religious litera-ture created during the eighteenth century by reading it alongside news reports, court his-tories, and other primary sources, drawing on Persian, Punjabi, and Braj texts from archives throughout Northern India. Author’s con-textualization of the changing ideology of the Khalsa within broader political and cultural processes in North India show how martial practices were materially shaped in response to religious reforms.