So what exactly was the Arya Samajh?
Re: Arya Samajh
Ghar wapsi program of 1920s. Shudhi movement which created communal differences between Muslims and Hindus. In a way, one can give credit to demand of separate country for Muslims to such movements. Though Gandhi ji at later stages became vocal about conversion of Sikhs and Muslims to Hinduism through Shudhi, but his silent in earlier stages created doubts that he supported the movement.
Re: Arya Samajh
It was a Hindu reform movement which emphasized the belief in only one supreme almighty or creator, infallible authority of Vedas, rejection of idol worship & other forms of hypocrisy, equality of all human beings and empowerment of women. Most support for Arya Samaj is in Punjab in India.
Re: Arya Samajh
I thought Arya samajh was a version of ‘aa raha hai samajh’ until I clicked on the thread. 
Re: Arya Samajh
samaj =society
samajh =understanding
spelt wrongly
Re: Arya Samajh
Samaaj
Re: Arya Samajh
samaj =society samajh =understanding
spelt wrongly
That's the culprit.
Re: Arya Samajh
What is Indian concept of Aryans? Do they believe that they spread from India elsewhere?
Re: Arya Samajh
It was a Hindu reform movement which emphasized the belief in only one supreme almighty or creator, infallible authority of Vedas, rejection of idol worship & other forms of hypocrisy, equality of all human beings and empowerment of women. Most support for Arya Samaj is in Punjab in India.
Was this counter of Sikhism then?
Re: Arya Samajh
There are multiple theories and your question can be answered in affirmation. If you got some time, then this one is worth reading:
like Bhakti was to Sufiism 
Re: Arya Samajh
like Bhakti was to Sufiism :p
What was the Bhakti movement? Read about all these terms in the past but blank now... :(
Re: Arya Samajh
Hindu mystics in short. Mira Bai, Bhagat Kabir, Sain Baba to name few and then came Guru Nanak to introduce Sikh belief. Shudhi movement by Arya Samaj did tried to convert Sikhs in 1920s Punjab.
The first blow to the Hindu-Sikh unity was struck by Arya Samaj. In 1877 Swami Dayanand Saraswati visited Punjab (oddly enough at the invitation of Sikh organizations) and opened a branch of the Samaj at Lahore. He launched his shudhi(purification) movement to bring breakaway Hindus including Sikhs back into the Hindu fold. Swamiji was intemperate in his speech; he described Guru Nanak as a dambhi(hypocrite) and the Granth Sahib as a book of secondary importance. The Arya Samachar published from Lahore lampooned Sikhism in the following verse:
Nanak Shah Fakeer ne naya chalaaya panth Idhar udhar sejor karlikh mara ik granth;
Pehley cheley kar liye, pichhey badla bhes Sir par saafa bandh kar, rakh leeney sab kes.
Sikh organizations retaliated with anger. Singh sabhas were set up in Amritsar and Lahore to counteract Arya Samaj propaganda. They had the blessings of the British government. A spate of books on Sikhism were published in Gurmukhi and English including the definitive six volumes by M.A. Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion. Amongst these was Kahan Singh’s booklet, Ham Hindu Nahi Hain, ‘We are not Hindus.’
The process of separatism was carried a step further by the Akali movement launched in the 1920s to wrest control of Sikh gurdwaras from hereditary mahants (priests) who had for generations been with non-kesadhari Sikhs or Hindus. The most significant outcome of the four years of intense Akali agitation in which the Hindus had supported the mahants was equivocally stated by Mahtab Singh in a speech in Punjab Legislative Council in April 1921. **He said: ‘I, for one, say that if the Sikhs do not wish to remain in the fold of Hinduism, why should the Hindus seek to force them to do so? What benefit can they obtain by keeping on unwilling people as partners in their community? Why not let them go?’ **
Re: Arya Samaaj
Shudhi movement and enforcing Vande matram in schools were some of the reasons which pushed Muslims away. Interestingly the extremist parties like RSS and VHP have remained in secular India and become more powerful with the passage of time.
Re: Arya Samajh
Was this counter of Sikhism then?
In some ways it was. However, Arya Samaj was/is part of Hinduism and not a separate religion.