THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA
OF SIKHISM
Volume II E— L
HARBANS SINGH Editor-in-Chief
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY PATIALA
©
PUNJABI UNIVERSITY PATIAI.A ( Established under Punjab Act No. 35 of 196/)
Patron :
Dr. Jaspal Singh
Vice-Chancellor
EDITORIAL COMMI'ITEE
Harbans Singh Harminder Singh Kohli Sardar Singh Bhatia Dharam Singh Gurnek Singh Gurmukh Singh (Major) Gurcharan Singh Giani
Editor-in-Chief Assistant Editor Reader Reader Lecturer
Research Assistant Research Scholar
ISBN 8 1 -7380-204-1
Third Edition: 201 1 Copies: 1 100 Price : Rs. 800-00
Published b\ Dr. (Prof.) Manjit Singh, Registrar. Punjabi University, Patiala and printed at M/s Anand Sofvv Delhi.
To the memory of my KAILASH KAUR
PREFACE
"Encyclopaedias do not grow on trees," I had read somewhere as I was browsing among materials in the library. My object was to delve deeper into the mystique of the genre preparatory to drawing up my own plan of work on an Encyclopaedia of Sikhism I had been assigned to by the Syndicate of the Punjabi University. But I was not daunted by the dictum. I let it pass up. However, the admonishment it contained was not entirely lost upon me. I knew it would by no means be an easy task. It would be hard, arduous labour all the way up, demanding unceasing search and toil. I was not totally unaware of it, nor unprepared for it.
The Sikh Encyclopaedia was the brainchild of Professor Kirpal Singh Naraiig who was then the vice-chancellor of the Punjabi University. He had worked overtime to draw up for the University an elaborate programme in honour of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru or prophet-mentor of the Sikhs, which came off in 1966-67. The celebrations bequeathed to Patiala two permanent monuments; one, Guru Gobind Singh Bhavan, an intriguing, modern-looking structure, planted as if it were in the heart of the University campus and, second, a department of Religion, embracing the study of five world traditions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism, with the sixth, Jainism, diving in from the side a little later. Prior to putting down his plans on paper the vice-chancellor had taken a special trip out to Harvard University to seek the advice of the famous Professor Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Director, Center for the Study of World Religions. The department at Patiala was going to be the first academic set-up of its kind in India where Religion in the academe had been considered a highly combustible substance and where everyone seemed to have a hush- hush attitude towards it. Professor Kirpal Siiigh Naraiig, with the weight of his argument and with a dash of prescience, had his way. He linked up the academic programme with the Guru Gobind Singh celebrations and made it look generally as acceptable as the latter. When working out the courses of study and syllabi for the various traditions it soon became obvious that Sikhism among them was the least well-served by existing literary and historical materials. The suggestion emerged that the creation of a comprehensive reference work would be the first thing to do. The vice-chancellor promptly spelt out the title — the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism — and simultaneously nominated the chairman of the Guru Gobind Siiigh Department of Religious Studies to take charge of the matter.
How simplistic were the notions I had been nurturing in my mind began soon to dawn upon me. Also readily began to show up the shortcomings in the scheme I had devised. I had planned that, since it would not be practicable to collect under one roof specialists in different fields, most of the articles of the Encyclopaedia would be written by "outside" experts and that we would have a small editorial unit at the University to shepherd the
PREFACE
manuscripts, fact-check them, and revise them to ensure some kind of a literary discipline and symmetry. It seems I was not above exaggerating my own editorial experience and capacities. Three or four of the scholars whose names were on the top of my list were too busy and were chary of putting anything additional on their plate. They declined our invitations. This in fact turned out to be the principal pitfall. The number of contributors we could call upon fell dismally short of our needs. Scholars with experience of research in Sikh studies and of specialized writing were few and far between. Our choice was thus severely limited. In some cases our invitations for articles got accumulated in a few pairs of hands and our files were soon bursting at the seams with copies of reminders we had had to send out chasing after our contributors. We had to wait for long periods of time before securing manuscripts from them.
Still we had no choice except to adhere to the plan we had originally prepared.
Then we had no precedents to go by. On Sikh doctrine no concisely argued work existed. Even historical fact was far from well sifted. To this may be added the paucity of reliable and firm documentation. Authorities of whatever vintage hopelessly contradicted one another. This, despite the fact that most of the Sikh enterprise had occurred within the full view of history! It seems the focus has been woefully warped at some point. Efforts at rectification have remained tentative. It is not easy to restate and repack the entire range of information and knowledge of a people. An attempt has been made here precisely to define the ideas and terms of Sikhism. The writing is intended to be simple and tight, shunning the purple and the loose alike. The aim throughout has been clarity and precision.
Bypassing Amritsar, religious headquarters of Sikhism, as well as Anandpur Sahib, the birthplace of the Khalsa, Patiala became the focus of the world-wide Guru Gobind Siiigh celebrations in 1966-67. It is not on record if any other anniversary on the Sikh calendar had been observed with similar zeal and eclat. M.A. Macauliffe (1841-1913), British historian of the Sikhs, did draw their attention to the 200th birth anniversary of the Khalsa, due in 1899, but the event did not draw much popular attention. However, the tercentenary of Guru Gobind Singh's birth, 67 years later, was an event celebrated round the globe with unprecedented fervour. Festive and academic programmes to mark the occasion were set up in many parts of the world. The largest share of the responsibility was claimed by Patiala where Guru Gobind Siiigh Foundation was formed to direct and guide the celebrations.
The chief minister of the Punjab, Ram Kishan, called, on 8 August 1965, a convention representative of the religious, literary and lay elements in the life of the country. This gathering was the precursor of the permanent body called the Guru Gobind Siiigh Foundation. Maharaja Yadavinder Siiigh (1913-1974) of Patiala was chosen to be the president of the Foundation and a sum of Rs 12 lakhs was set apart for the celebrations by the State government in its annual budget which amount was, happily through an oversight, most unusual for a financial set-up anywhere in the world, repeated in the following year's budget. The Foundation was thus born with a "silver spoon" in its mouth.
The next meeting of the Foundation took place in the chandeliered hall of the palace of the Maharaja of Patiala, with a large portrait of Maharaja Ala Siiigh, 18th century Sikh hero and founder of the Patiala dynasty, overlooking the assembly from one side and the Hungarian painter August Schoeftt's famous canvas depicting Maharaja Ranjlt Singh's court wit', a replica in g .Id of the Amritsar Golden Temple underneath it, from the other.
PREFACE
Past and present thus converged at the time of that small Sikh assembly on 30 November 1965, refracting history into the current moment. Chandigarh, the State capital, was named the headquarters of the Foundation with GianI Zail Singh as the general secretary. One of the several committees appointed was charged with planning and bringing out literature appropriate to the occasion. From the offices of the Foundation soon began to flow a steady stream of literature comprising a commemoration volume, illustrated books for young readers, annotated editions of Guru Gobind Singh's works, and a biography of Guru Gobind Singh in English which was simultaneously translated into all major Indian languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Marathi", Gujarat!, Oriya, SindhI, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Kashmiri and Maithill.
In this spontaneous enthusiasm for anniversary celebration is reflected the Sikhs' response to the historical memory of the Gurus and to the important events of their history. Visible here is also their deep commitment to their faith, their joyous and urgent participation in their historical tradition, their cohesion and their love of the spectacular.
The burgeoning of interest in the study of Sikhism brought to light the grave paucity of materials on Sikhism, highlighting at the same time the need for serious academic research and study. The present publication aims at supplying the gap. The purpose of the undertaking was to prepare in English arid Punjabi a general reference work about Sikh religion. The work was to be comprehensive in scope and was to cover topics such as Sikh theology, philosophy, history, ethics, literature, art, ceremonies, customs, person- alities, shrines, sects, etc. The details of the scheme were worked out under the aegis of an advisory committee consisting of leading scholars of the day — Dr Bhaljodh Singh, Dr Ganda Singh, Professor Gurbachan Singh Talib, Dr Fauja Singh, Dr Taran Singh and Professor Gulwant Singh. The staff originally provided consisted of the Editor (Professor Harbaris Singh), two Assistant Editors (Dr Harkirat Singh and Professor Harminder Singh Kohli; the former was on his retirement replaced by Dr Jodh Singh), two Senior Research Fellows (Sardar Singh Bhatla and G.S. Nayyar) , one Research Associate (Dharam Singh), two Research Assistants (Gurnek Singh and Major Gurmukh Singh), and Re- search Scholar .(Giani Gurcharan Singh) . Some initial exploration was made by Himat Singh. '
The first task was to compile a list of subject-titles to be included in the Encyclopaedia. To this end, the staff, in the first instance, rummaged through libraries — on the campus, the University Library, Bhal Mohan Singh Vaid collection and Bhai Kahn Singh collec- tion, and off the campus, the Motibagh Palace library, and the State Archives, and compiled a list of likely topics. A list of nearly 4,000 titles thus emerged. At the same time a roster of likely authors was prepared. This comprised lists in Punjabi and in English. Those who did not write in English were free to write in Punjabi. We had their work translated into English.
Having to work on a long-term project has its own hazards. I passed through several health crises. At one point, I was incapacitated following an eye-surgery, but was, thanks to the skill and devoted care of the surgeon, Dr Robert M.Johnston, Leeburg, U.S.A., rescued from a hopeless situation recovering the full use of the eye. In 1989 I was felled by a stroke which led to serious physical decrepity but, fortunately, left my mental faculties generally intact. This was all the Guru's own mercy and I was able to continue my work on the Encyclopaedia. A tragedy hit me on the eve of the release of this volume. My beloved wife, Kailash Kaur, who had waited for a long time for the consummation of
PREFACE
my life's work and who had nursed me most lovingly throughout this period, passed away suddenly on 12 November 1992, leaving me utterly forlorn and shaken.
I must record here my gratitude to the Punjabi University for providing me with the necessary facilities and help. Successive vice-chancellors after Professor Kirpal Singh Naraiig, namely, Mrs Inderjit Kaur Sandhu, Dr Amrik Singh, Dr S.S. Johl, Dr Bhagat Singh and Dr H.K. Manmohan Singh nursed the project with all their heart, and treated me personally with much courtesy and affection. Dr H.K. Manmohan Singh has especially been alive to its scholarly needs and I am very happy that the first volume is being issued during his time. The first thing the newly arrived Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.S. Puar, did upon stepping on the campus was graciously to call upon the ailing editor-in-chief. On that occasion and subsequently he had many a positive word to say about the Encyclopaedia project. I need scarcely say how delighted I am to see the Encyclopaedia in print. I trust it will fulfil the hopes with which it was launched and help fertilize Sikh learning. I feel especially gratified fulfilling the promise I made to the academic fraternity several years ago. To my colleagues I render my heart-felt, affectionate thanks for the solid manner in which they stood by me, through thick and thin. Dr Hazara Singh, Head, Publication Bureau, who has earned wide acclaim for himself in this part of the country by his contribution to the art of printing, had reserved his special love for this publication. I must thank him for the attention and care he gave it. I must not omit the name of San tosh Kumar, my P. A., who very cheerfully gave this work many of his Sundays and holidays especially after I had been struck down and spent many a long hour when taking down notes trying to come to terms with my speech somewhat lisped by the malady. I thank him and all the rest of my colleagues for bearing with me so sportingly.
A-l, Punjabi University Patiala
12 December 1992
HARBANS SINGH
Editor-in-Chief
TRANSCRIPTION/PRONUNCIATION KEY FOR NON-ENGLISH WORDS/PHRASES
Certain names and terms have been used in the text in their original Punjabi form. In order to facilitate their correct pronunciation, the following key has been used while transcribing the original into the Roman script:
|
Punjabi phonemes (GurmukhT script) |
Hindi/Sanskrit |
Urdu/ Persian |
Roman script |
||
|
phonemes |
Arabic phonemes |
equivalents |
|||
|
(Dcvanagan |
script) |
(Persian script) |
|||
|
Letter/Vowel symbol |
Letter/Vowel symbol |
Lctter/Vowcl symbol |
|||
|
/ |
|||||
|
»f |
l |
a |
|||
|
an |
T |
r |
a |
||
|
fe f |
f |
i |
x |
i |
|
|
i |
l |
||||
|
t |
|||||
|
O |
1 * |
u |
|||
|
t |
u |
||||
|
XT |
*\ |
c |
|||
|
<i- |
ai |
||||
|
§• |
3ft |
9 |
o |
||
|
>if |
an |
ji |
au |
||
|
JT |
s |
||||
|
' 0> ' L / |
h |
||||
|
5T |
k |
||||
|
y |
J |
kh |
|||
|
1 |
J J |
g |
|||
|
ii r |
gh |
||||
|
cr- a |
ii |
||||
|
ch or c (1) |
|||||
|
chh or ch (1) |
|||||
|
j |
|||||
|
y |
* |
jh |
|||
|
?■ |
ii |
||||
|
? |
t |
||||
|
s |
-3 |
i |
th |
||
|
d |
|||||
|
~s |
S |
> |
|||
|
■s |
dh |
||||
|
n |
ix
TRANSCRIPTION/PRONUNCIATION KEY FOR NON-ENGLISH WORDS/PHRASES
|
Punjabi phonemes (Gurmukhl script) Letter/Vowel svmbol |
Hindi/Sanskrit phonemes (Devanagari script) Letter/ Vowel symbol |
Urdu/Persian Arabic phonemes (Persian script) Letter/Vowel symbol |
Roman script equivalents |
|
"TT O |
\1 |
||
|
TT *1 |
91 |
th |
|
|
ZT |
u |
||
|
•T *f |
& |
an |
|
|
7y |
*1 |
u |
n |
|
TT T |
IT P |
||
|
TIT |
ttK P" |
||
|
< — > • |
b |
||
|
—r 3 |
V |
tf |
oil |
|
V r |
*1 |
c 1 |
m IIJ |
|
CT |
"TT |
r* *• |
y |
|
tt 0 |
T \ |
i* |
|
|
ST |
TT |
J |
i i |
|
V, W \A) |
|||
|
V |
r \3) |
||
|
¥ |
A |
rn |
|
|
HT |
?1 |
if > |
sh, s |
|
if |
kh |
||
|
HT |
# |
gh |
|
|
SI- |
z |
||
|
S' |
• |
r |
|
|
s (4) |
|||
|
•■ |
ks |
||
|
tr |
|||
|
jn, gi, gy (5) |
|||
|
'followed by vowel |
|||
|
symbol |
|||
|
q |
TRANSCRIPTION/PRONUNCIATION KEY FOR NON-ENGI.ISH WORDS/PHRASES
Nasalization
(i) ri preceding K, 0", of, V, 31, W, U, ?, ff, H
(ii) n preceding ^, tT, S\ ?
(iii) n preceding 7, 5, S\ ?
(iv) n preceding 3", H, U, ?T
(v) m preceding U, g", ff, f, K
(1) Normally ch represents the sound "3 or & and dill luis been used for the heavier phoneme W, 3 or but in exceptional cases while transliterating Sanskrit terms or texts, c and ch have been used for the two sounds, respectively.
(2) Normally v lias been used to represent Punjabi W or Hindi ^ and w to represent 9 of Persian script in worcis of Persio-Arabic origin such as kotwal, fatiua, etc. There are, however, exceptions, as in the case of divan (religious assembly or congregation) and dhuan (title or institutional designation), or Goindval (place name in India) and Gujrariwala or Peshawar (place names in Pakistan). W has also been used in certain personal names where the indiviuals concerned are known to have used it when spelling their own names. For instance, Balwant Singh, Jawaharlal, Tiwana, etc.
(3) In spelling some place names, d has been used for B to follow prevalent usage, e.g. Nanded and Jinvada. There may be found some other instances where current usage has been preserved, as in Scindia, Gwalior, Lucknow or Phagwara.
(4) Use of r and s has been made sparingly in Sanskrit names and texts only. At other places ri and sh has been used to transliterate ^ and ^ respectively. Examples are (Lord) Kisna and (Guru Har) Krishan.
(ft) jii for ? is used only in spelling 5IR (jhan) and its derivatives in Sanskrit or classical context. Elsewhere gy or gi has been used as in Cyan or, more often, Gian.
USE OF ITALICS AND DIACRITICS
All non-English words, phrases and texts are printed in italics with diacritical marks as indicated in the transcription key. There is, however, an exception. Under 'Bibliography' diacritics arc used only where works cited are in Indian languages or in Persian. In the case of works in English or other European languages, diacritics have not been used even for the names of the authors though they be Indian. Italics and diacritics have also not been used in names of countries and of languages.
DATES
Dates are generally given in the Christian era. Where, however, Uikrami or Ilijn dates are cited in the original sources, they have also been made use of along with corresponding Christian era dates.
ABBREVIATIONS
|
AD |
Anno Domini (Christian era) |
|
AH |
Hijri era |
|
b. |
born in |
|
BC |
Before Christ |
|
Bk |
Bikramf era |
|
c. |
circa |
|
d. |
died in |
|
e.g. |
for example |
|
f./ff. |
folio/folios |
|
GG |
Sri Guru Granth Sahib |
|
i.e. |
that is |
|
km |
kilometre (s) |
|
lit. |
literally |
|
MS./MSS. |
manuscript/manuscripts |
|
p./pp. |
page/ pages |
|
Skt. |
Sanskrit |
xi
CONTRIBUTORS
|
A.C.B. |
A.C. Banerjee |
|
A.S. |
Ainrik Singh |
|
A.S.S. |
Ajit Siiigh Sarhadi |
|
Ad.S. |
Ardaman Siiigh |
|
Aj.S. |
Ajmer Siiigh |
|
Aj.S.L. |
Ajmer Singh, Lohgarh |
|
Ajn.S. |
Arjan Singh |
|
Ar.S.S |
Autar Siiigh Sandhu |
|
At.S. |
Atam Siiigh |
|
Atj.S. |
AtamjTt Siiigh |
|
BJ.H. |
B.J. Hasrat |
|
BJ.S. |
Braham jagdish Siiigh |
|
B.O. |
B.Ohri |
|
B.R.N. |
Baldev Raj Nayar |
|
B.S. |
Bliagat Siiigh |
|
B.S.A. |
Balwant Siiigh Anand |
|
B.S.D. |
BalbTr Siiigli Dil |
|
B.S.N. |
B.S.Nijjar |
|
B.S.V. |
Balbir Siiigh ViyogT |
|
Bb.S.N. |
BalbTr Siiigh Nandii |
|
Bli.K.S. |
Bhai Kirpal Siiigh |
|
Bh.S. |
Bhag Siiigh |
|
Bk.S. |
Balkar Siiigh |
|
Bl.S. |
Balwant Siiigh |
|
C.H.L. |
C.H.Lochlin |
|
C.O.M. |
Clarence O.McMullen |
|
D.C.S. |
David C. Scott |
|
D.G.D. |
Donald G.Dawe |
|
D.K.B. |
Dilip K. Biswas |
|
D.K.G. |
Dharmcndra Kumar Gupta |
|
D.P.A |
Dharam Pal Aslua |
|
D.S. |
Dharam Siiigli |
|
D.S.B. |
l~17\van Siiitrli BiiallS |
|
D.S.M. |
Darshan Siiigh Mainl |
|
D.S.U. |
Dalip Siiigh Uppal |
|
E.C.B. |
Emily C.Brown |
|
E.K.M. |
Ethne K.Marcnco |
|
E.N.M.R. |
E.N.Maiigat Rai |
|
F.S. |
Fauja Siiigh |
|
F.S.A. |
F.S.Aijazuddln |
|
G.A.H |
Gerald A. Heegcr |
|
G.B.S. |
GianT Balwant Siiigh |
CONTRIBUTORS
|
G.G.S. |
GiiinI Garja Siiigh |
|
G.K. |
Gunindar Kaur |
|
G.N.R. |
G.N.Rajguru |
|
G.R.S. |
Gur Rattan Pal Siiigh |
|
G.R.T. |
G.R.Thursby |
|
G.S. |
Ganda Siiigh |
|
G.S.A. |
Gurcharan Siiigh Anand |
|
G.S.Ch. |
G.S.Chhabra |
|
G.S.D. |
Gurdev Siiigh Deol |
|
G.S.G. |
Gurcharan Siiigh Giant |
|
G.S.K. |
Gurdial Siiigh Khosla |
|
G.S.M. |
Gurbachan Siiigh Maiigat |
|
G.S.Mr. |
Gurmukh Siiigh Musafir |
|
G.S.Ms. |
G.S.Mansukhani |
|
G.S.N. |
G.S.Nayyar |
|
G.S. P. |
Gurdial Siiigh Phul |
|
G.S.R. |
Gurdlp Siiigh Randhawa |
|
G.S.T. |
Gurbachan Siiigh Talib |
|
G.S.Z. |
Gurcharan Siiigh, Zira |
|
Gb.S. |
Gurbax Siiigh |
|
Gbh.S. |
Gurbhagat Siiigh |
|
Gbch.S. |
Gurbachan Siiigh |
|
Gbch.S.G. |
Gurbachan Siiigh Giani |
|
Gch.S. |
Gurcharan Siiigh |
|
Gd.S. |
Gurdarshan Siiigh |
|
Gdl.S. |
Gurdial Siiigh |
|
Gl.S. |
Gulcharan Siiigh |
|
Grn.S. |
Gurmukh Siiigh |
|
Gn.S. |
Gurnek Siiigh |
|
Gp.S.D. |
Gurdlp Siiigh Dip |
|
Gr.S. |
Gurdev Siiigh |
|
Gs.S. |
Gursewak Siiigh |
|
Gsh.S. |
Gursharan Siiigh |
|
Gt.S. |
Gurtcj Siiigh |
|
H.B. |
HimadrT Banerjce |
|
H.D. |
Hanieed ud-DTn |
|
H.M. |
Harji Malik |
|
H.R.G. |
Harf Ram Gupta |
|
H.S.D. |
Harjindcr Siiigh Dilgccr |
|
H.S.G. |
Harjit Siiigh Gill |
|
H.S.V. |
Hardev Siiigh Virk |
|
Hch.S. |
Harcharan Siiigh |
|
Hj.S. |
|
|
Hk.S. |
Harkirat Siiigh |
|
Hm.S. |
Harmandar Siiigh |
|
Hn.S. |
Harnam Siiigh |
|
Hr.B. |
Hardev Balirl |
|
Hr.S. |
Karf Siiigh |
|
i.e. |
Ian Copland |
xiii
CONTRIBUTORS
I.J.K. IanJ.Kcrr
Iq.S. Iqbal Singh
J.B.S. Jang Bahadur Siiigh
J.C.B.W. John C.B.Webstcr
J.K. Jitindcr Kaur
J.M.L. J.M.Lafont
J. P. Jeffrey Pcrril!
J.Pg. Joyce Pcttigrcw
J.P.S.U. J.P.S.Ubcroi
J.R.C. Jati Ram Gupta
J.S.A. Jagji t Singh Anand
J.S.G. J.S.Grcwal
f.SJ. Jaswant Siiigli Jas
j.S.K. J.S.Khurana
J.S.N. Jaswant Siiigli Nek!
J.S.S. Jit Singh Sital
]h.S.A. Jasbfr Singh Ahluwalia
Jd.S. Jodli Siiigli
Jg.S. Jagjit Singh
Jn.S. Janak Siiigli
K.A.N. K.A. Nizami
K.C.G. K.C. Gulati
KJ.S. K. Jagjit Siiigh
K.K.B. Krishna Kumar! Bahsal
K.L.S. Krishan Lai Sharma
K.L.T. K.L.Tuteja
K.M. Kamlcsh Mohan
K.R.S. K.R.Srinivasa Iycnger
K.S. Khushwant Siiigli
K.S.D. KuldTp Singh DhTr
K.S.D1. Kartar Siiigli Duggal
K.S.K. K.S.Kaiig
K.S.M. K.S.Malhi
K.S.S. Kcmial Siiigh Sandliu
K.S.T. K.S.Thapar
K.S.V. Kuhvant Siiigh Virk
K.S.T1. K.S.Talwar
K.T.L. K.T.Lal\vani
KAV.J. Kenneth W. Jones
Kn.S. Kishan Siiigh
Kr.S. Kirpiil Siiigh
Kt.S. Kartiir Siiigh
L.C. Lachman Chellaram
L.M.J. L.M.JosiiT
M.A.S. Maharaja Amarindcr Siiigh of Patiala
M.G.S. Major Gurmukh Siiigh
xiv
CONTRIBUTORS
M.K. Madanju Kaur
MJ. Mark Juergensmeyer
M.J.C. Marie Joy Curtiss
M.J.L. MurrayJ.Leaf
M.L.A. M.L.Ahluwalia
M.LJ. Moti Lai Jotwani
M.R.A. Mulk Raj Anand
M.S. Mohinder Siiigh
M.S.A. M.S.Ahluwalia
M.S.G. Mohinder Siiigh Gill
M.S.N. Man Siiigh NirarikarT
Mb.S. Mubarak Siiigh
Md.A. Mohammad Aslam
Mg.S. Mrigendra Siiigh
Ml.S. Milkha Siiigh
Mm.S. Manmohan Sehgal
Mp.S. Maheep Siiigh
Mt.S. Mehtab Siiigh
Mv.S. Mehervan Siiigh, Singapore
N.Q.K. Noel Q. King
N.S.A. Nirvair Siiigh ArshI
N.S.G. Naunihal Siiigh GianI
N.S.S. N.S. Sodhi
N.S.Sa. Niranjan Siiigh Sathi
Nj.S. Niranjan Siiigh
Np.S. Nripinder Siiigh
Nr.S. Narain Siiigh
Nz.S. Nazer Siiigh
P.M.W. P.M.Wylam
P.S. Piar Siiigli
P.S.G. Pratap Siiigh Giani
P.S.G1. Prltam Siiigh Gill
P.S J. Parkash Siiigh Jammu
P.S.P. Piara Siiigh Padam
P.S.S. Piara Siiigh Sambhl
P.S.Sf. Pritam Siiigh Safeer
Pd.S. Parduman Siiigh
Pr.S.G. Partap Siiigh Gill
Pk.S. Parkash Siiigh
>
R.K. Rachhpal Kaur
R.R. Raja Ram
R.S.D. R.S.Dutta
R.S.J. Rattan Siiigh JaggI
R.S., Q.E. Rajindcr Siiigh, QaumI F.ktii
Rj.S. Rajindcr Siiigh
Rm.S. Ram Singh
XV
CONTRIBUTORS
|
S.H.A. |
Syed Hasan Askarl |
|
S.K.B. |
S.K. Bajaj |
|
S.K.K |
SatTsh K.Kapoor |
|
S.L. |
Spencer Lavan |
|
S.M. |
Swarnjit Mehta |
|
S.M.R. |
Satya M.Rai |
|
S.P.S. |
S.P. Singh |
|
S.R.B. |
Sita Ram Bahri |
|
S.R.S. |
Sri Ram Sharma |
|
S.S.A. |
Shamsher Singh Ashok |
|
S.S.Am. |
Sarmukh Singh Amole |
|
S.S.B. |
S.S.Bhatia |
|
S.S.B1. |
S.S.Bal |
|
S.S.C. |
Sukhdev Siiigh Charak |
|
S.S.D. |
Surjlt Siiigh Dulai |
|
S.S.G. |
Surjit Siiigh Gandhi |
|
S.S.J. |
Sohan Siiigh Josh |
|
S.S.K. |
t— ' l f - • 1 1/11- Sunnder Singh Kohh |
|
S.S.S. |
Sant Siiigh Sekhoii |
|
s.s.u. |
Swinder Singh Uppal |
|
S.S.V.B. |
S.S.Vaiijara Bedt |
|
S.S.W. |
Surain Siiigh Wilkhu |
|
Sb.S. |
Satbir Siiigh |
|
Sb.S.S. |
Siihib Siiigh Sethi |
|
Sd.S. |
Sudarshan Siiigh |
|
Srn.S. |
Sliamsher Siiigh |
|
Sn.S. |
Sohan Siiigh |
|
Sw.S. |
Sarwan Siiigh |
|
Sy.S. |
Satyindra Siiigh AVSM (Retd.) |
|
T.H. |
Tecna Hazoorla |
|
T.S. |
Taran Siiigh |
|
T.S.B. |
Trilochan Siiigh Bed! |
|
T.S.R. |
T.S.Raju |
|
U.S. |
Ujagar Siiigh |
|
V.N.D. |
V.N.Datta |
|
W.H.M. |
W.H.McLeod |
|
W.O.C. |
W.Owcn Cole |
|
W.a. |
Wazir Siiigli |
|
Wm.S. |
Waryam Siiigli |
|
Y.F. |
Yohanan Friedmann |
|
Z.S. |
Zail Siiigh |
xvi
E
EDWARDES, SIR HERBERT BENJAMIN (1819-1868), soldier, writer and statesman, son of the Rev. B. Edwardes, was born on 12 November 1819. He joined the Bengal infan- try as a cadet in 1841, and served as Urdu, Hindi and Persian interpreter to his regi- ment. He was aide-de-camp to Lord Hugh Gough during the first Anglo-Sikh war and .'as, in 1847, appointed assistant to Sir Hen- Montgomery Lawrence, British Resident at the Sikh capital, who sent him to effect the settlement of Bannu, the account of which is given in his work, A Year on the Punjab. Frontier in 1848-49, London, 1851. Upon the murder of Vans Agnew and Anderson at Multan and the rebellion of Dlwan Mul Raj in April 1848, Edwardes collected a force of tribesmen and, with the aid of Nawab of Bahawalpur and Colonel Van Cortlandt of the Sikh service, attacked Mul Raj and his supporters, defeat- them at Kincri on 18 June and gaining her victory over them at Saddosam on 2 July. Edwardes opened negotiations wi th Mul Raj and, at the same time, frantically sought from the Resident at Lahore a few heavy guns, a mortar battery, and sappers and min- ers.
The Multan affair was a local incident which the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie seemed determined to enlarge into a Sikh lational uprising to have an excuse to in- adc the Punjab. He was critical of the con- duct of Edwardes and wrote to the Resident at Lahore saying that he altogether disap- proved of army officers such as Lieut. Edwardes taking upon themselves to volun-
teer negotiations on a subject of such critical importance without authority from their su- periors.
Edwardes served as commissioner of Peshawar (1853-59) and commissioner of Ambala (1862-65). He died in London on 23 December 1868.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Cauda Singh, The British Occupation of the Punjab. Patiala, 1956
2. Gupta, Hari Rain, Punjab on the Eve of First Sikh War. Chandigarh, 1956
3. Hasrat, B.J., Anglo-Sikh Relations. Hoshiarpur, 1968
4. Edwardes, Sir Herbert Benjamin, A Year on the Punjab Frontier in 1848-49. London, 1851
B.J.H.
EKADASI, from Sanskrit ekadasa — eka (one) + da'sa (ten) — meaning eleven, is the elev- enth day of the lunar fortnight, in both its dark and light halves. Among Vaisnavite Hin- dus, ekadasi also harivasar (lit. Visnu's day) is a day of fasting. Partaking of food in any form on this day is considered a sin, while observing a fast on this day is believed to be meritorious. In the Sikh system no special sanctity attaches to any particular day, nor any demerit. As says Guru Amar Das, Nanak III:
The fifteen lunar days, seven days of the week,
Months and seasons repeat themselves
endlessly; So do the days and nights. That is how the world goes.
ELECTRIFICATION OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE
2
ELECTRIFICATION OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE
Coming and going is by the Creator's Will;
The Creator alone is truth immutable.
(GG, 842)
According to Guru Nanak, a true EkadasI is observed by him who lodges the One in his heart and who eschews violence and worldly allurements. Engrossed in superstition, one does not perceive the essence (GG, 840). In the same tone is Guru Arjan's verse in the Gaurl measure:
On EkadasI see God by your side, Controlling your passion, listen to the
Lord's praise. Let contentment reside in your heart
and compassion for all living beings; Thus will your brata be fulfilled.
(GG, 299)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sabadarth Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Amritsar, 1964
M.G.S.
ELECTRIFICATION OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE. Whether or not electricity be in- ducted into the Golden Temple premises was a raging polemic in the closing years of the nineteenth century. There were views pro and con, and the debate was joined by both sides vehemently - and unyieldingly. As was then the style of making controversies, religious and social, no holds were barred and no acrimonious word spared to settle the argument. If tradition and usage were drawn upon by opponents, need to move with the times was urged by the supporters, pejoratively called bijU bhaklas, devotees of electricity.
The initiative came from the Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Amritsar. At its 23rd annual session, on 26January 1896, it made a formal resolution recommending the installation of electricity in the Golden Temple. Sardar Sundar Singh Majlthia told the audience that Sri Hariniandar which was in beauty the very image of bailtunth, i.e. paradise, by day was
shrouded in darkness by night. Many holy and old people who came to do homage late in the evening or in the small hours of the morning suffered injury owing to lack of lighting. Electric light would, pleaded Sardar Sundar Singh, enhance the glory of the Gold- en Temple and prove a boon to the visiting devotees.
Col Sardar Javala Singh, the officially ap- pointed manager of the Golden Temple, and Master Narain Singh of Khalsa High School, Gujrariwala, endorsed Sardar Sundar Singh's proposal. An 11-member committee, with Sardar Bahadur Sardar Arjan Singh as pres- ident, was set up to carry through the plan. The committee secured the support of influ- ential men in the Sikh community such as Baba Sir Khem Singh Bed!, Rai Bahadur Sardar Sujan Singh of Rawalpindi and Sardar Balwant Singh of Attarl. Subscription lists were opened and fund-raising started in towns and villages.
The lighting committee sent a deputa- tion to wait on Raja Bikram Singh of Faridkot who was the patron of the Khalsa Diwan of Amritsar and helped religious and public causes with an open hand. Col Javala Singh and Sardar Sundar Singh Majlthia, who led the group to Faridkot, returned with an as- surance from the Maharaja for financial support. At a meeting held at Akal Takht on 25 April 1897, three of the courtiers sent by the Maharaja of Faridkot announced on his behalf that, in commemoration of the unin- terrupted 60-year rule of Queen Victoria, he would have electricity installed in the Gold- en Temple premises at a cost of Rs 20 thousand.
Then opposition raised its head. In May 1897, three granthisoi Golden Temple served a registered notice on Sardar Sundar Singh Majlthia, secretary of the lighting commit- tee, censuring the scheme.
On 22 June 1897, the Diamond Jubilee was observed by Sikhs in Amritsar. Karivai Gajcndra Singh, son of the Maharaja of
ELECTI-
ON OF THE GOLDEN TEMPLE 3 ELECTRIFICATION OF THE GOLDEN TKMPLE
Faridkot, participated in the celebrations. On this occassion, electricity was displayed in the Golden Temple by importing tempo- rarily into the precincts the private genera- tor belonging to Rai Dholan Das.
The Maharaja of Faridkot visited Amritsar on 14 August 1897, and, at a public meeting of the Sikhs, announced a donation of Rs 1 lac for electricity as well as for a new building for Guru ka Langar. Part of the money was invested in a generating set and accessories.
The opponents had not been idle. On 29 July 1897, the executive committee of the Lahore Singh Sabha placed on record its disapproval of the proposal. The three Gold- en Temple granthis, BhaT Harnam Singh, Bhal Bhagat Singh and Bhat Partap Sirigh, pub- lished a letter in the Khalsa Akhbar of Lahore, 27 August 1897, openly attacking the proposal. Argument upon argument was marshalled to show the utter inappropriate- ness of inducting electricity into the sacred premises. The article was repeated in a tract entitled Bijll Bidaran ("Demolition of Electricity") .
Electricity was dangerous. To substanti- ate the point, allusion was made to the title of Government enactment of 1887 which ran as follows: An act to provide for the protec- tion of person and property from the risks incident to the supply and use of electricity for lighting and other purposes. Another ex- tract quoted was\from the Civil and Military Gazette of Lahore, 27 October 1897: "Several persons in America have lost their lives in various cities through coming in contact with electric light and power wires." Instances were mentioned of the damage caused by electric- ity to a factory in Dharlval and the disorder created at the inaugural ceremonies for the opening of Sirhind canal. The granthis ar- gued that there was no precedent of electric- ity having been installed either in Bethlehem or in Ka'aba. Of more than 1500 churches in London, not one had been electrified — not even Westminster Abbey. Thirdly, it was
urged, custom and tradition sanctioned only illumination by ghee. Electricity was sheer extravagance. Its dazzle would hinder con- centration and meditation. As a coup de grace, the point was pressed that electric light was western and the building of Harimandar eastern. The two were contradictory.
The granthis were backed by pujaris of Takht Sri Abchal Nagar at Nanded, who re- jected all other lighting except that by ghee which alone had the necessary sanctity. Babu Teja Sirigh of Bhasaur, a leading figure in the Sirigh Sabha renovation, contributed a letter to the Khalsa Akhbar, 3 September 1897, to make the point that the real light the Sikhs needed was for the elimination of dis- tinctions of caste in the community. For Harimandar, lighting by ghee, permitted by their eastern custom, was the most appropriate. Another correspondent in a let- ter in the Khalsa Akhbar, 27 August 1897, had stated that he had enquired from the Arch- bishop of the Punjab and learnt that there was no electric light in St. Peter's or in St. Paul's. He also recalled the criticism made by Englishmen themseives who termed the Gothic-style clock-tower be ;ide the Golden Temple a monstrosity. Western light inside the Temple would be similarly offensive, he concluded. Sant Khalsa Dyal Sirigh of HotT Mardan joined the fray with an angrily writ- ten pamphlet. He said that splitting the roof or walls of the temple to fix electric wiring would be a sacrilege.
In its editorial on 6 August 1897, the Khalsa Akhbar commented that the Golden Temple was not a museum to which people had to be allured by such meretricious display. On 20 August 1897, it praised the Maharaja of Faridkot for his munificence in providing funds for electricity, but satirized his friends who had counselled him this kind of extravagance.
In the Khalsa Akhbar of 6 August 1897, SrT Guru Sirigh Sabha of Jalandhar published a note in support of the granthis. One of the
ELLENBOROUGH, LORD EDWARD LAW
4
ELLENBOROUGH, LORD EDWARD LAW
questions raised was: "What will happen if the engine went out of order?" In its editori- al the same day, the Khalsa Akhbdr wrote: "What the Sikhs needed was the light of the Gurus' Word rather than that of electricity."
Electricity, when it came, did appear a novelty. Visiting the Golden Temple after an interval of 16 years, Drjohn Campbell Oman, who had been a Professor at Government College at Lahore (1877-97) and Principal of the Khalsa College at Amritsar (1898-99), referred to it in these terms: "... the garish electric light, installed on the temple itself amidst the modest old-world cheraghs, look- ing like an ill-mannered, obtrusive upstart completely out of its proper element."
The advocates of bijli had won. But the controversy left behind a trail of bitterness. Essentially, it was a conflict between the Lahore and Amritsar wings of the Singh Sabha. Both were mutually hostile and had persistently wrangled over all sorts of issues, major and minor. But, surprisingly, the Lahore group which styled itself more pro- gressive and derided the Amritsar group for its "conservatism," was foremost in opposing electricity. Yet it was not able to obstruct the march of events. Electricity would have, in any case, come. But the initiative taken by Sardar Sundar Singh. Majlthla and the sup- port given him by the Maharaja of Faridkot will be remembered in history.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Prarihana Pattar. Amritsar, 1951
2. Bijli Bidaran. Ainritsaf, 1897
3. The Khalsa AMilrnr. Lahore, 1897
-i. Sant Khalsa, Dyal Siiigh, Sri Darhtir Sahib Amritsar vich bijli di roshni ntil beadln. Amritsar, 1897
r>. Oman, John Campbell, Culls, Customs and Superstitions of India. Delhi, 1972
S.S.B.
ELLENBOROUGH, LORD EDWARD LAW (1790-1871), Governor-General of India ' 1842-44), son of Edv aid Law, Baron
Ellenborough, Lord Chief Justice of England, was born on 8 September 1790. He was edu- cated at Eton and at St John's College, Cambridge. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1818. He was appointed Lord Privy Seal in 1828 and president of the Board of Control (1828-30) whence began his connection with Indian affairs. He suc- ceeded Lord Auckland as Governor-General of India in February 1842. On his arrival in India, Lord Ellenborough found himself con- fronted with an alarming situation in Afghan- istan and northwest frontier. The garrisons of Jalalabad and Ghaznl were surrounded by hostile Afghans; the Qandahar division was unfit to move for lack of support; and of the five brigades moved across the River Ravi, none had yet reached Peshawar. Large Sikh forces were collected at Peshawar where Gen- eral Pollock with three British brigades felt uneasy at the large assemblage. In that hour of difficulty, voices were being raised for full military support from the Sikhs. Maharaja Sher Singh was being blamed for not having helped his British allies whole-heartedly.
When in April 1842, Robert Sale had defeated the Afghan army under the walls of Jalalabad and Pollock had forced the Khaibar, Lord Ellenborough hastily decided to termi- nate the Tripartite Treaty. An offer was made to the Sikh government to occupy Jalalabad after the withdrawal of the British army. The offer was in reality aimed at diverting the Sikh troops then employed in the Chinese Tartary, and those garrisoned at Lahore and Amritsar. Ellenborough, who was assembling a large British force on the Anglo-Sikh fron- tier at the River Sutlej, wished to see the Sikh position weakened by the withdrawal of the Sikh troops. As is evident from his private correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, he was preparing for a war with the Sikhs. The correspondence shows that, as early as October 1843, he had begun to discuss with the Home Government possibilities of a mil- itary occuption of the Punjab. He had laid
ELLEN BOROUGH PAPERS
5
EM I NA BAD
out a network of spies and agents provoca- teur in the Sikh capital and had raised the strength of British military outposts to 11,639 men and 48 guns. A flotilla of severity 35-ton boats to bridge the Sutlej at Flrozpur had been under construction. Ellenborough wrote in April 1844: "Let our policy [towards the Sikhs] be what it may, the contest must come at last, and the intervening time that may be given to us should be employed in unostentatious but vigilant preparation."
Two years after his return to England, Ellenborough became First Lord of Admiral- ty in Sir Robert Peel's ministry in 1846. In 1858, under Lord Derby he became presi- dent of the Board of Control. He died on 22 December 1871.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Hasrat, B.J., The Punjab Papers. Hoshiarpur, 1970
2. Law, Algernon, India Under Lord Ellenborough 1842- 44. London, 1926
3. Buckland, C.E., Dictionary of Indian Biography. London, 1906
B.J.H.
ELLENBOROUGH PAPERS, official and private correspondence and papers of Lord Ellenborough, Governor-General of India (1842-44), preserved in the Public Records Office, London. Some of these papers were used by Lord Colchester in his History of the Indian Administration of Lord Ellenborough in His Correspondence with the Duke of Wellington and the Queen (London, 1874). Similarly, Sir Algernon Law published some selected pa- pers in his India under Lord Ellenborough (Lon- don, 1926) containing references to the Punjab, particularly the dissensions in the State and the intentions of British govern- ment about its future. Among others, the Papers contain letters to and from the Gov- ernor-General's Agent, North-West Frontier (January 1844-June 1844) PRO 30/12 (60) and PRO 30/12 (106). Also included are files containing correspondence and papers
relative to the Punjab (1839-44) PRO 30/12 Part II (i); Lord Ellenborough's private cor- respondence, with Sir Henry and Lady Hardinge (1842-47), providing information about Hardinge's policy towards the Punjab before and after the Anglo-Sikh war of 1845- 46, and the British military movement to- wards the Sutlej frontier, and about his deals with Gulab Singh (PRO 30/12, 21/7); and about Ellenborough's military policy and bel- licosity towards the Sikhs (PRO 30/12 (72).
The Ellenborough Papers contain some of the most revealing documents relevant to Anglo-Sikh relations. Soon after the disaster of the first Afghan War, Ellenborough abrupt- ly terminated the Tripartite Treaty, and de- cided to re-establish British "military charac- ter" by the collection of a large British force on the Company's "weakest frontier," i.e. the Sutlej (PRO 30/13-28/12). He conceived the idea of extending the Dogra power at the expense of the Lahore Darbar by separating the Jammu hills from the plains of the Punjab. His letter to Queen Victoria (October 1843) unravels his designs "to bring plains first, and at a later period hills, unden«jir direct protection and control." Consequently, the Company's relations with the State of Lahore were viewed by him as that of "an armed truce:" and to repeat, "Let our policy [to- wards the Sikhs] be what it may, the contest must come at last, and the intervening time that may be given to us should be employed in unostentatious but vigilant preparation^"-
BIBLIOGRAPHY Hasrat, B.J., The Punjab Papers. Hoshiarpur, 1970
B.J.H.
EMINABAD (32°-2'N, 74°-16'E), an ancient town in Gujranwala district of Pakistan, is sacred to Guru Nanak (1469-1539) in whose day it was called Sayyidpur. According to BhdiBala Janam Sdkhi, after leaving Sultanpur and before setting out on his long travels, Guru Nanak, accompanied by Bhal Mardana,
EMINABAD
6
EUROPEAN ADVENTURERS OF NORTHERN INDIA
first visited Eminabad where Bhai Lalo, a carpenter by profession, became his Sikh. A hymn of Guru Nanak in the Guru Granth Sahib suggests that he was in Eminabad when th"3 town was sacked by Babar in 1521 . Janam Sakhis also mention that during the attack by the Mughal force the Guru was held in prison and given a stonemill to ply. Eminabad came under Sikh rule when Sardar Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkla occupied it during the 1760's.
The town claimed historical shrines which were administered by the ShiromanI Gurdwara Parbandhak committee since 28 February 1922 until 1947.
GURDWARA RORI SAHIB, half a kilometre north- west of the town, marks the site where, ac- cording to tradition, Guru Nanak after the destruction of the town had stayed with Bhai Lalo. Here the Guru had to sit and lie on a hard bed of small stones (rori in Punjabi) as alluded to in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, I. 24. This was the premier gurdwara of the town. The multi-storeyed building was set on fire by a mob of zealots soon after the partition of the Punjab on 15 August 1947.
gurdwara CHAKKi sahib, inside the town, pre- served as a relic a stonemill which was be- lieved to be the one which Guru Nanak was made to ply during his brief period of captivity.
GURDWARA KHUHl BHAI LALO, also inside the town, marked the house and the well (khuhi, in Punjabi) belonging to Bhai Lalo. Here Guru Nanak had first met him.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Tara Singh, Sri Gur Tirath Sangrahi Amritsar, n.d.
2. Thakar Singh, Giant, Sri Gurdudre Darshan. Amritsar, 1923
3. Kohli, Surindar Singh, ud., Janamsdkhl Bhai Bala. Chandigarh, 1975
4. Harbans Singh, Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith. Bombay, 1969
M.G.S.
ETAWAH (26° - 47'N, 78° - 58'E), a district town of Uttar Pradesh, 127 km southeast of Agra, has two Udasi Ashrams commemorat- ing the visits of Guru Nanak and Baba Sri Chand. Sikh chronicles have not recorded these visits, but they do mention that Guru Tegh Bahadur while travelling to the east in 1666 passed through Etawah. He is believed to have stayed at the Udasi Ashram inside the town. The ashram is now known as Gurdwara Purabl Tola, also referred to local- ly as Ban Sahgat. The Gurdwara is controlled by Udasi priests who in their religious prac- tice and liturgy do not strictly observe the Sikh way of worship, although the Guru Granth Sahib is installed in the building and is visited by several Sahajdharl Sikhs who come to bow before it in the morning and evening everyday.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Tara Singh, Sri Gur Tirath Sangrahi. Amritsar, n.d.
2. Thakar Singh, Giani, Sri Gurdudre Darshan. Amritsar, 1923.
3. Randhir Singh, Udasi Sikhan dt Vithia. Chandigarh, 1972
M.G.S.
EUROPEAN ADWNTURERS OF NORTHERN INDIA, 1785 to 1849, by C. Grey, first pub- lished in 1929 and reprinted by the Lan- guages Department, Punjab, Patiala, in 1970, contains biographical sketches of over one hundred Europeans who came to or served in the Punjab during Sikh times. The book, which is the result of "some six years of labour" in the archives of the Punjab Gov- ernment as well as the consultation of a large number of contemporary memoirs and oth- er works, supplements Compton's European Adventurers which the author found both out of date and incomplete. Broadly speaking,
EUROPEAN ADVENTURERS OF NORTHERN INDIA 7
these adventurers fall into two groups: well- known men like George Thomas and Avitabile and the lesser-known men "of whom no account has hitherto appeared." They could also be classified as combatants and non-combatants; the former category in- cludes Generals like Ventura and Potter and the latter class includes medical men like Honigberger and Harlan, the antiquarian Masson and the engineer Bianchi. It also deals with certain aspects of the organization of the Khalsa army and the role of its Euro- pean officers in introducing western meth- ods of drill and discipline. Foremost amongst these officers were Allard, Ventura, Avitabile and Court. Jean Francois Allard is described as the "Suliman Bey of Ranjit Singh," and Jean Baptiste Ventura the "baron of the Fauj- i-Khas." Both of them had fled France after the fall of Napoleon and passing through many an adventure in Persia arrived at Lahore >n March 1822. Allard was assigned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to training the Sikh cavalry, while Ventura raised four infantry battalions of the Special Brigade in the Euro- pean style. Claude Auguste Court is described as the "architect of Sikh artillery." He distin- guished himself as an artillery commander and an ordnance officer. Paolo di Avitabile, a Neapolitan who drifted from Naples to Persia where he obtained a civil appointment as administrator of the Kurdish districts, came to Lahore in 1826, and secured a rank in the Sikh army through the good offices of Ventura. He also held civil appointments and proved to be a firm administrator. His rule of Wazlrabad is described as just and vigor- ous, and his governorship of Peshawar as a rule of "gallows and gibbets." Grey has also furnished accounts of some of the colourful personalities such as Josiah Harlan and Alexander Gardner, both Americans. He nicknames the former the Yankee Doodle, who proved untrue to his salt, andjoined the Afghans to fight against the Sikhs at Jamrud after having served Maharaja Ranjit Singh
EVENTS AT THE COURT OF RANJIT SINCH
for seven years. He is drawn as a vainglorious and ambitious person who once thought of occupying the masnad of Kabul and under the pretence of studying alchemy counter- feited Nanakshahl rupees. Grey describes Alexander Gardner as a fake and his Memoirs fictitious.
BJ.H.
EVENTS AT THE COURT OF RANJIT SINGH, 1810-181 7, edited by H.L.O. Garrett and G.L. Chopra, is a rendition in English of Persian newsletters comprising 193 loose sheets and forming only a small part of a large collec- tion preserved in the Alienation Office, Pune. This material was brought to the notice of the editors by Dr Muhammad Nazim, an of- ficer of the Archaeological Survey of India. Events at the Court of Ranjit Singh was first published in 1935 by the Punjab Govern- ment Records Office, Lahore, as their mono- graph No.17, and reprinted, in 1970, by the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala.
The newsletters, entitled "Akhbar Deorhi Sardar Ranjit Singh Bahadur" cover the peri- od from 1 November 1810 to 8 August 1817, with a sprinkling of a few supplementary ones written up to 2 September 1817 from Shahpur, Multan, Amritsar and Rawalpindi. Additionally, there is one brief piece which bears the date 10 June 1822. The newrwriter lived in Lahore and his informant was one Khushal Singh whom the editors identify as Jamadar Khushal Singh, the chief chamber- lain or deorhi officer at the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Probably written for the Peshava's daftar-which secured and recorded news from several different Indian courts, this set of newsletters from the Sikh court at Lahore is an important source of informa- tion on the early period of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's career and provides intimate glimps- es into his civil, military and judicial administration. What comes out strikingly from these papers is the efficient intelligence service the Lahore Darbar had established.
EVENTS AT THE COURT OF RANJIT SINGH
8
EVENTS AT THE COURT OF RANJIT SINGH
The Darbar sent out special messengers to Kashmir, Kabul, Sindh, Ludhiana, and the cis-Sutlej, British-protected principalities of Patiala, Nabha, Jlnd, Kaithal and Kalsia. These messengers, called jaufis or pairs, brought daily reports from newswriters stationed in those places.
The newsletters relate to a period when Multan had not yet been conquerred, nor had been Kashmir and Peshawar. The news- letter dated 19 September 1813 reports that Sardar Fateh Khan Wazlr had left Kabul with sufficient troops intent on proceeding to- wards Multan. It also mentions that he was hatching, through correspondence, a con- spiracy with Nawab Muzaffar Khan of Multan. News was received that Hazrat Muhmud Shah, narching from Jalalabad, was expected to enter Peshawar. Ranjit Singh forestalled the move and was able to stem the Afghan advance. These reports however do not con- tain any account of the impending Sikh- Afghan struggle for supremacy in the north which culminated in the battle of Haidaru in 1813 in which the Sikhs routed the Afghans.
Ranjit Singh's own designs to expand the limits of his kingdom unfold tellingly. Muzaffar Khan, Nawab of Multan, was liable to an annual tribute of Rs 80,000. Plans were set in motion for the conquest of Multan. Likewise, for that of Kashmir. No account is forthcoming of the successive Sikh invasions of Multan in 1810, 1816, and 1817. Similarly, these papers tell little about the joint Sikh- Afghan campaign against Kashmir in 1812
which aborted or about Ranjit Singh's even more disastrous expedition of 1814. There are, nevertheless, some interesting sidelights. A newsletter, for instance, relates that Phula Singh Akall was levying con tributions — 1 ,000 rupees and a horse — on the Akalls of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. The Koh-i-Nur di- amond wrested from Shah Shuja' ul-Mulk was evaluated by the jewellers who reported: "It was found in weight equal to three hun- dred and a few more "Surakhs" and in value it was declared priceless as no other similar jewel existed anywhere else." References oc- cur to the Maharaja's administration of justice. A darogha-i-addlat or judge, charged with harshness, was warned to administer jus- tice in accordance with the principles of re- ligion and equity. Rama Nand Sahu of Amritsar held charge of justice within his area for an annual payment of "rupees thir- teen lakhs" but he was under warning to administer it with mercy and honesty.
Muslims enjoyed full freedom of worship. The newsletter of 9January 1811 relates how they were exhorted by beat of drum to offer Eid-day prayers at the Royal Mosque, Lahore. Lawlessness and dacoity were not tolerated. Those in charge of police stations were warned that failure to apprehend culprits within a reasonable time would discredit them. On Eid-day, men were posted in the streets and bylanes of Lahore to watch for anyone misbehaving or intimidating others. Totally, this Persian intelligence record is of much historical and sociological value.
B.J.H.
F
FANE, SIR HENRY (1778-1 840), commander- in-chief of the British Indian army, who vis- ited the Punjab in 1837 on the occasion of the marriage of Karivar Nau Nihal Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh's grandson. Sir Henry Fane's visit to Ranjit Singh was an event of considerable interest. He was highly im- pressed by the extraordinary discipline of the Maharaja's troops and the splendour of his court. In his several meetings with the British commander-in-chief, Ranjit Singh questioned him on the strength and compo- sition of the British army, on the extent of Russian influence in Persia, and on the abil- ity of the Shah of Persia to give effective aid to the Russians. The Maharaja paraded be- fore Sir Henry his troops for a grand review and inspected the contingent of British lanc- ers and horse artillery, which had accompa- nied the commander-in-chief to La hore. The latter was invited to participate in the Holl festival at Lahore and was entertained by a mock battle of the zenana corps of Amazons. He also saw the Sikh crown jewels including the celebrated Koh-i-Nur which he described as a badly cut diamond plainly set in gold.
Sir Henry Fane made a detailed apprais- al of the Sikhs' military power which, accord- ing to him, consisted of 60-70 regiments of infantry, 700 pieces of artillery and innumer- able cavalry. His confidential report to Lord Auckland, the Governor-General, contained speculations on the ability of the British to destroy the military might of Ranjit Singh. According toJ.D. Cunningham, a young Brit- ish officer prepared during Sir Henry's visit
a map of the Punjab which formed the groundwork of all maps used during the first Anglo-Sikh war. One significant event dur- ing the commander-in-chiefs visit was the establishment by the Maharaja of the Order of the Auspicious Star of the Punjab with which he decorated his British guest.
Sir Henry Fane died at sea on board the Malabar off St. Michael's in the Azores on 24 March 1840.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Hasrat, Bikramajit, Life, and Times of Ranjit Singh. Nablia, 1977
2. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol.1. Princeton, 1963
3. Buckland, C.E., Dictionary of Indian Biography. London, 1906
S.S.B.
FARIDKOT TIKA, the earliest full-scale exegesis or annotated version of the Guru Granth Sahib, was prepared under the patronage of the princely rulers of the state of Faridkot. Hence its popular name Faridkot Vala Tikd or, for short, Faridkot. Tika. Its full title is Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Satik. Satlk literally means with ttka, annotation or commentary.
The Guru Granth Sahib is an anthology of spiritual poetry of six of the Gurus and a number of medieval saints as well as of some of the followers contemporary with the first five Gurus. The language used is, by and large, Punjabi or Hindi, not difficult to understand. Yet, because of its poetic form
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and philosophical content and the linguistic peculiarities bequeathed it by a long range of time and space it spanned, the Scriptural text transmitted to the laity required to be annotated and explained. In consequence arose a whole body of exegetical literature; also several schools of interpretation. The starting-point is that corpus itself. Successive Gurus clarified, elaborated and expounded in their own verse the meaning of the com- positions they had inherited. The Janam Sakhis contain these interpretations clothed in much hagiographical detail. This is espe- cially so in the case of writers attempting to provide a setting and background to the hymns they are expounding. One prominent example is the pothi by Baba Miharban. The writings of BhaT Gurdas (d. 1636) are placed by some in the same category.
During the eighteenth century and up into the early part of the nineteenth, the task of interpreting and preaching the Holy Writ primarily rested with the Udasi and Nirmala schoolmen. In the worst days of persecution they were left unmolested. They remained in control of Sikh shrines and institutions; also during the time when the Sikhs had estab- lished their authority in the Punjab. All in- struction was carried out orally. The only writings of this period were the Rahitndmds which were, strictly speaking, rules of con- duct rather than works of exegesis. The first Udasi exegete of this period who left a writ- ten record of his scriptural studies was Anandghana, who completed his tika of Japu in 1795, followed by exegeses of several oth- er barns. Anandghana was the first to sepa- rate historical account from interpretative comment. His interpretations arc saturated with Upanisadic lore and are densely Vedantic rather than Sikh, and are apparent- ly a conscious reincubation of Hindu ideolo- gy in Sikh thinking.
Nirmala scholars generally echoed the Udasi trend of interpreting Sikh scriptural texts in the inflated style prescribed by Hin-
du commentators on Upanisadic and Vedic texts. Bhal Santokh Singh (1788-1843), the most prominent among the Nirmalas, did write his Garabganjani Tika (tika to humble the garab, i.e. pride, of Anandghana) in crit- icism of Anandghana's interpretations in his Japu 'Tika, but he too was writing from within the Hindu framework and represented a deep Brahmanical influence. Besides tikas, anno- tation of scriptural writings continued to flourish throughout the nineteenth century in the form of Praydi (glossaries) and Kos (dictionaries), two prominent illustrations being Granth Guru Girarath Kos (1895) and Praydi Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji De (1898) .
A new phase of exegetical writing began with the advent of Western learning. It was, in fact, a Westerner scholar, Ernest Trumpp who first took up an end-to-end English trans- lation of the entire Guru Granth Sahib. But Trumpp's scorn for traditional interpreta- tions of the faith and his overt antipathy towards it earned him the reproach of the entire Sikh people. Following the publica- tion of Trumpp's work in 1877, unfinished though it remained, Raja Bikram Singh, rul- er of Faridkot (1842-98) and patron of the Amritsar Khalsa Dlwan, commissioned a full- scale commentary in Punjabi on Guru Granth Sahib. The first draft prepared by Giani Badan Singh of Sekhvah was ready by 1883. It was then revised by a synod of Sikh schol- ars representing a wide variety of schools of thought current among the Sikhs, with Mahant Sumer Singh of Patna Sahib as chairman. Other members of the committee were Giani Harbhajan Singh of Amritsar, Sant Singh of Kapurthala state, Jhanda Singh of Gurdwara Nanakiana Sahib, near Sarigrur, Rai Singh of Jaiigl Rana, Dhian Singh of Sekhvari, Pandit Hamir Singh Sanskrit!, Pandit Balak Ram Udasi Sanskrit! and Baba Bakhtavar Singh GianI. The revision was com- pleted during the time of Raja Bikram Singh, but he did not live long enough to sec pub- lication of the work he had sponsored. The
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printing started during the reign of his suc- cessor, Raja Balbir Singh ( 1 869-1 906) . Three volumes came out during his time and the fourth and final one during the reign of his successor, Maharaja Brijindar Singh (1896- 1918). By this time the first edition had al- ready run out. A large number of the sets had been presented free of cost to gurdwdrds and to scholars. The rest were sold at a nom- inal price. Meanwhile, suggestions for fur- ther revisions and for the use of standard Punjabi instead of Braj in the exegesis had been pouring in from various Singh Sabhas and Khalsa Dlwans. The Maharaja ordered, in August 1918, the formation of a revision committee and, pending the revision, or- dered the publication of a second edition to meet the immediate demand. However, his untimely death a few months later (22 De- cember 1918) upset the entire plan. The proposed revision never took place, though a second edition did appear in 1924. Maharaja Brijindar Singh's successor Raja Harindar Singh was averse to the idea of a revision. He used to say that the tikd had been commissioned by his ancestors and it must remain in the same form and style in which they had left it. The original copy of the tikd is still preserved in the toshdkhdnd of the late Raja. There have, however, been reprints of the original brought out by the Languages Department (Bhasha Vibhag) Punjab, the first one in the series appearing in 1970.
BIBLIOGRAPHY I . Taran Singh, Gurbani ditin Viakhia Pranatian. Patiala, 1980
I. "Introduction" in Fandkot Tikd. Patiala, 1970
M.G.S.
FARID, SHAIKH (569-664 ah/ad 1 1 73-1265) , Sufi mystic and teacher, who is also known to be the first recorded poet in the Punjabi language. His father Shaikh Jamaluddln Sulaiman whose family related, according to
current tradition, to the rulers of Kabul by ties of blood, left his home in Central Asia during the period of Mongol incursions in the course of the twelfth century. Seeking safety and some place to settle in, he came into the Punjab where already under Ghaznavid rule several Muslim religious cen- tres had developed and sizeable Muslim pop- ulations had grown, particularly in the areas now included in West Punjab (Pakistan).
To Shaikh Jamaluddin Sulaiman was born in 569 ah/ad 1173 in the month of Ramadan a son, the future Shaikh Farld. The newly- born child is said to have been named after the Sufi poet F'ariduddin Attar, author of several works on Sufi philosophy. The child became famous by the first part of his name Farid, which is Arabic for 'Unique'. He also acquired the appellation of Shakarganj or Ganj-i-Shakar (Treasury of Sugar) or Pir-i- Shakarbar.
The place of his birth, close to Multan, was called Kotheval. His father having died while he was still a child, his mother Qarsum Bib!, an extremely pious lady, brought him up. He grew up to be a great saint, combin- ing with holiness learning in all the sciences comprehended at that time under Islamic religious studies, such as canon law, jurispru- dence and mystical philosophy.
About the appellation of Shakarganj pop- ularly given him, it is related that in order to induce the child to say his prayers regularly, "his mother used to place under his prayer- mat a small packet of shakar or country sugar which the child would get as a reward. Once, it is said, she forgot to provide the incentive. Such was the piety of the child and such the divine favour that a packet of shakar never- theless appeared in the usual place. On dis- covery, this was attributed to a miracle, and 'itnce the appellation Shakarganj. Another explanation given is that while undergoing in his youth extremely hard penance, he in a fainting state once looked around for some- thing to break a three days' continuous fast.
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Not finding anything to assuage his hunger, he thrust a few stone pebbles into his mouth. By divine intervention, the stones turned into lumps of sugar. But this name may in reality be traceable to the blessing which he is re- corded to have received from his spiritual preceptor, Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, who praised the sweetness of his dispo- sition and of his word, and remarked: "Thou shall be sweet like sugar."
Shaikh Farid is one of the founding- fathers of the famous Chishtl Sufi order in India, which began its long course in the country towards the close of the twelfth cen- tury with the coming of the great saint Khwaja Mu'inuddin Chishtl. Khwaja Mu'inuddin came to India during the reign of Rai Pithora or Prithviraj Chauhan, the last Rajput king of Delhi, whose kingdom stretched to Ajmer and beyond. Shaikh Farid became the disci- ple of Khwaja Qutubuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, himself a disciple of Khwaja Mu'Inuddin Chishtl. He first met his future master at Multan and became deeply devoted to him. When the Khwaja was leaving Multan to resume his onward journey to Delhi, he ad- jured him to follow him to the city after completing his studies at Multan. Farid con- tinued his Sufi practices under the guidance of the master he had adopted. This involved, in accordance with the tradition of the Chisti order, rigorous penance and constant prayer, to subdue the flesh and acquire spiritual illumination. Included in this discipline was chilla-i-makus, constant prayer with head hung downwards for forty days. Shaikh Farid set up a centre of devotion at Harisi, in present- day Haryana, later shifting to Ajodhan, now Pak Pattan in Sahiwal district of Punjab (Pakistan). This was then a wild and arid area, with few of the comforts of life, and here he came in obedience to Khwaja Qutubuddln's command: "Go thou and set up settlement in some wasteland." Ajodhan is close to the River Sutlej on its western side, r>n the banks of one of its tributary streams.
The stream was served by a ferry called pattan Later, in honour of Shaikh Farid it came tc be known as Pak Pattan (holy ferry). Tht place, now a fairly well-developed town, is til this day called by that name. It is recordec that Shaikh Farid spent his entire life from his twenty-fourth year on at Ajodhan, where he made a reputation for himself by his pi- ous and austere living and his many benefi- cent works. As related by his disciple, the famous Shaikh Nizamuddin Awliya, who vis- ited him at least three times at Ajodhan there was more often than not very little in his home to eat and the family and disciple; would feel blessed if they could make a meal on deld, a wild sour-tasting berry growing on a leafless thorny bush. He maintained in the tradition of the ChishtT saints, a khanaqah or hospice for itinerant Sufis and others, along wilh a prayer-house where strangers would be provided food and shelter and spiritual instruction. Here Shaikh Farid also received visits from travelling scholars, other Sufis and dervishes and from large crowds seeking his blessing. Some miraculous stories are relat- ed of him which illustrate the great faith he inspired and the veneration in which the people held him.
That the Sufis brought the healing touch to the strife-torn religious scene in those times isj evidenced by an incident which bears a deep symbolic character. Once someone brought a pair of scissors. Shaikh Farid put it by and asked instead for a needle, saying: "I am come to join not to sever." Shaikh Farid, whose influence spread far and wide, had, according to a report, twenty khalifas or se- nior missionary-disciples to preach his mes- sage in different parts of the country. Out of these, three were considered to be the prin- cipal ones. At the head was the famous Shaikh Nizamuddin Awliya of Delhi, followed by Shaikh Jamaluddin of Hahsi and Shaikh 'Alauddin 'Ali Ahmad Sabir of Kaliyar, in Rajasthan.
The modern town of Faridkot, which is
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FARID, SHAIKH
situated close to Bathinda and would in Shaikh Farid's time be on the road leading out from Delhi and Hahsi towards Multan, is traditionally associated with his name. Ajodhan would be distant about a hundred miles from this place. A credible story con- nects the name of this place, Faridkot (Fort of Farid) , with the forced labour that this saint had to undergo there in the time of the local chief named Mokal, then building his fort. By a miracle Shaikh Farid's saint- hood was revealed and, on the inhabitants showing him reverence, he blessed the place.
The Guru Granth Sahib contains the spir- itual and devotional compositions of certain saints besides the Gurus. Prominent among these are Kabir, Ravidas, Namdev and Farld. The poetry of Shaikh Farid, as preserved in the Guru Granth Sahib is deeply sensitive to the feeling of pity, the subtle attractiveness of sin, inevitable death and the waste of human life owing to man's indifference to God and goodness. His language is of an extraordinary power and sensitivity. The tragic waste of man's brief span of life in frivolous pursuits moves him to tender expression of pity and reproach. Withal he is deeply hunian and man's situation moves him to deep compas- sion such as would be in a man with eyes who saw a blind man standing on the edge of a precipice, about to take the fatal step into nothingness. The voice of human suffering finds in him an expression heard seldom and only in the greatest poetry. His language is the authentic idiom of the countryside of southwestern Punjab, where he spent the major portion of his life. Yet by a miracle of poetic creation this language has become in his hands full of subtle appeal, evoking ten- der emotions and stimulating the imagination.
The main theme of Shaikh Farid's baniis what in the Indian critical terminology would be called vairdgya, that is dispassion towards the world and its false attractions. In Sufi terminology this is called taubd or turning away. The bani of Farld in the Guru Granth
Sahib is slender in volume, but as poetry of spiritual experience it is creation of the high- est order. It consists of four sabdas (hymns) and 112 slokas (couplets) . Guru Nanak, Guru Amar Das and Guru Arjan have continued the theme of some of Farid's couplets. These continuations appear in the body of Farid's bani. Guru Nanak has left a sabda in measure Suhi as a corrective to Farid's beautiful lyric in the same measure, which, however, ap- peared to view the future of the human soul in a rather pessimistic light.
Certain recent writers, led by M.A. Macauliffe, have raised doubts as to Shaikh Farid Shakargahj's authorship of the bani, mainly on the score of its language which they think is too modern for his day. While in the course of oral transmission it may have at places taken on the colouring of subse- quent periods, it is the authentic idiom of Multani-Punjabi which that dialect retains to this day. The language argument against Farid's authorship cannot be sustained. The Gurus would not have given this bani the place of honour they did, were they not con- vinced that it was composed by Shaikh Farid Shakarganj, the most revered Muslim Sufi of the Punjab. The high level of poetry, the sheer genius which has created it would make the claim of a lesser man than Shaikh Farid to authorship insupportable. History does not know of any other man as famous as Farid, the name used in the verses included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sabadarth Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Amritsar, 1964
2. Gurdit Singh Giani, Itihas Sri Guru Granth Sahib. (Bhagat Bani Bhag). Chandigarh, 1990
3. Sahib Singh, Bhagat Bani Salik. Amritsar, 1959-60
4. Vlr Singh, Bhai, Shabad-Shalok Sheikh Farid Sahib. Amritsar, 1909
5. MaculifFe, M.A., The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
6. Kohli, Surindar Singh, A Critical Study of Adi Granth. Delhi, 1951
G.S.T.
FARRIS
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FARRUKH-SIYAR
FARRIS (d. 1842) , a Frenchman, who joined the Sikh army in 1841 and was employed in the gunpowder factory. He died at Lahore within one year of his appointment.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grey, C., European Adventurers of Northern India. Lahore, 1929
G1.S.
FARRUKH-SIYAR (1683-1719), Mughal em- peror of India from 1713-19, was the second son of Azlm al-Shan, the third son of Bahadur Shah. Born at Auraiigabad in the Deccan on 11 September 1683, he in his tenth year ac- companied his father to Agra, and in 1697 to Bengal, when that province was added to his charge. In 1707, when Azlm al-Shan was sum- moned to the court by Auraiigzlb, Farrukh- STyar was nominated his father's deputy there, which post he held until his recall by 'Azlm al-Shan in 1711. When Bahadur Shah died at Lahore on 27 February 1712, Farrukh-SIyar was at Patna, having tarried there since the previous rainy season. Following the defeat and death of his father in the contest at Lahore, Farrukh-SIyar proclaimed himself king at Patna on 6 March 1712. He marched on Delhi, defeatingjahandar Shah, who had succeeded Bahadur Shah, on 10 January 1713, after a hard-fought battle at SSmugarh near Agra.
After his accession to the throne of Delhi, Farrukh-SIyar launched the sternest proceed- ings against Sikhs who had under Banda Singh Bahadur risen in the Punjab. He de- puted his best military generals against them. 'Abd us-Samad Khan was appointed gover- nor of Lahore and was entrusted with the task of quelling Sikh insurrection. Accord- ing to Akhbar-i-Darbar-Mu 'alia, high-ranking military generals such as Bakhshi ul-Mulk Muhammad Khan Bahadur, Ghazi ud-Dln Khan Bahadur, Mahabat Khan Bahadur and Hamid ud-Din Khan Bahadur moved against the Sikhs at the head of their forces. Chopped
heads of the victims were often sent to the emperor by the commanders to win his pleasure. Sikhs' main column under Banda Siligh Bahadur was subjected to a most strin- gent siege at the village of Gurdas-Narigal, about 6 km from Gurdaspur. For eight long months, the garrison resisted the siege un- der gruesome conditions. The royal armies at last broke through and captured Banda Siiigh and his famishing companions on 7 December 1715. After being paraded in the streets of Lahore, they were taken to Delhi where they arrived on 27 February 1716. Be- sides 740 prisoners in heavy chains, the cav- alcade to imperial capital comprised seven hundred cartloads of the heads of Sikhs with another 2,000 stuck upon pikes. By Farrukh- Slyar's order, Banda Siiigh and some two dozen leading Sikhs were imprisoned in the Fort, while the remaining 694 were made over to the kotwal, Sarbarah Khan, to be ex- ecuted in the KotwalT Chabutra at the rate of a hundred a day. Then Banda Siiigh Bahadur and his remaining companions were taken to the tomb of Khwaja Qutb ud-Din Bakhtiyar KakI, near the Qutb Mlnar. There he was offered the choice between Islam and death. Upon his refusal to renounce his faith, his four-year son, Ajai Siiigh, was hacked to piec- es before his eyes. Banda Siiigh himself was subjected to the harshest torments. His eyes were pulled out and hands and feet chopped off. His flesh was torn with red-hot pincers and Finally his body was cut up limb by limb. This happened on 9 June 1716.
According to George Forster, A Journey from Bengal to England, an edict was issued by Farrukh-SIyar after the execution of Banda Siiigh directing that "every Sicque falling into the hands of his officers should, on a refusal of embracing the Mahometan faith, be put to the sword. A valuable reward was also giv- en by the emperor for the head of every Sicque; and such was the keen spirit that animated the persecution, such the success of the exertions, that the name of a Sicque
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no longer existed in the Mughul dominion. Those who still adhered to the tenets of Nanock, either fled into the mountains at the head of the Punjab, or cut off their hair, and exteriorly renounced the profession of their religion."
Farrukh-Siyar was deposed and blinded by his own men with needles pressed into his eyes on 28 February 1819 and choked to death on the night between 27 and 28 April.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Bhagat Singh, ed., Akhbar-i-Darbar-Mu 'alia. Patiala, 1984
2. Irvine, W., Later Mughnls. London, 1922
3. Nijjar, B.S., Punjab under the Later MugAafa.Jalandhar ; 1972
B.S.
FATEH CHAND MAINI, RAJA, a ranked cit- izen of Patna in Bihar, who served Guru Tegh Bahadur with dedication during his visit in 1665. Fateh Chand and his wife were devout Sikhs and received the Guru and his family with great honour. They put them up in their newly built house, themselves con- tinuing to live in the old one. After the de- parture of the Guru 's family for the Punjab, the couple converted their house into a dharamsala for the sahgat or devotees to as- semble in holy congregation. The place came to be known as Main! Sahgat. On the site now stands Gurdwara Bal Lila Main! Sahgat. This is a new building, but the porch of the old one has been kept intact. On the en- trance wooden door are carved the Mul Mantra and the date "Sambat 1725 Assu vadl 10" corresponding to 28 August 1668.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Gian Singh, Gianl, Panlh Prakash [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970
2. Trilochan Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur: Prophet and Martyr. Delhi, 1967
3. Harbans Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur. Delhi, 1982
P.S.P.
FATEHGARH SAHIB, GURDWArA, 5 km north of Sirhind (30°-37'N, 76°-23'E), marks the site of the execution of the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh at the behest of Wazlr Khan of Kunjpura, the faujdar of Sirhind. As Guru Gobind Singh evacuated Anandpur on the night of 5-6 December 1705, he was closely pursued by the host. In front ran the Sarsa swollen with rain water. Under cover of a quick rearguard action fought on the banks of the stream, he suc- ceeded in crossing it, but the members of his family got scattered in the tumult. Guru Gobind Singh's old mother, Mata Gujarl, and her two grandsons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, aged 9 and 7 years respectively, had nowhere to go until their cook, named Garigu, offered to take them to his own vil- lage Kherl. They accompanied him to his house. But he proved deceitful and betrayed them to Jan! Khan and Man! Khan of Morinda. The latter at once despatched them to Sirhind where they were consigned to the Cold Tower (Thanda Burj) of the Fort. On 9 December 1705, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh were produced before Wazlr Khan, who had just returned from the battle of Chamkaur. Wazlr Khan tried to lure them to embrace Islam with promises of riches and honours, but they spurned the offer. He threatened them with death as an alternative to Islam, but they remained firm. A death sentence was eventually awarded. Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla protested that it would be improper to harm the inno- cent children. Wazlr Khan, however, ordered them to be bricked up alive in a wall, if they still refused conversion. They were kept in the Cold Tower in that severe winter for another two days. On 11 December, they, under the orders of Wazlr Khan began to be paved with bricks standing on the ground. However, as the masonry reached above chest height, it crumbled. The next day, 12 De- cember 1705, the Sahibzadas were once again offered the choice of conversion or death.
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FATEHGARH SAHIB, GURDWARA
They chose the latter and fearlessly faced the executioner's sword. The cruelty of their murder and their fearlessness of death which they preferred to giving up their faith finds a touching narration in "Ganj-i-Shahldaii" an Urdu poem by a Muslim poet, Allahyar Khan JogI, who used to recite it from Sikh platforms during the second and third de- cades of the twentieth century. The aged Mata Gujart who had all along been con- fined in the Cold Tower, only a little dis- tance away, breathed her last as the news reached her ears.
The dead bodies were kept for the night at a spot now called Bimangarh, just outside the fort wall, and were cremated the follow- ing day by Seth T°dar Mall, a weahhy mer- chant of Sirhind.
Sirhind suffered the full fury of Sikh ire when Banda Singh Bahadur marched upon it with his daring host. Wazlr Khan was killed and the city was occupied on 14 May 1710. Diwan Suchchanand, who had explicitly championed the penalty laid upon the cap- tives by the faujdar, was captured and tor- tured to death. The town, including the Fort, was razed to the ground. A memorial was raised marking the spot where the Sahibzadas were martyred and named Fatehgarh.
Sirhind, however, soon fell back into the hands of the Mughals and was later conquerrcd by Ahmad Shah Durrani who appointed Zain Khan faujdar'm 1761. As Zain Khan was finally defeated and killed in battle on 14 January 1764 by the Dal Khalsa and as the Sikhs occupied the country around Sirhind, no Sikh Sardar was willing to keep the accursed town. It was consequently con- ferred upon BhaT Buddha Singh, a pious and humble Sikh. He later sold it to Baba Ala Singh, founder of the Patiala dynasty. To honour the memory of the young martyrs, a gurdwara was constructed on the site of the bid memorial and named Fatehgarh Sahib. Maharaja Karam Singh (1798-1845) of Patiala had the gurdwara rebuilt. He also gave Sirhind
Nizamat (district) the name of Fatehgarh Sahib. Other shrines were, in course of time, established around the central Gurdwara. For over a century the management of the shrines at Fatehgarh Sahib remained in the hands of local priests. In 1906, a committee consisting of custodians of the different shrines was formed. In 1944, Patiala govern- ment constituted an Interim Gurdwara Board and an Improvement Committee for Gurdwaras Fatehgarh Sahib and Joti Sarup. After the formation of the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) in July 1948, the Interim Board was amalgamated with the Dharam Arth (Religious Endowments) Board. Upon the unification of PEPSU and East Punjab into a single state of the Punjab, the gurdwaras in PEPSU passed under the control of the ShiromanI Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Renovation and development originally planned by the Im- provement Committee of 1944 were taken in hand in 1955-56.
The architectural design of the present building is Indo-Muslim, with its flat-roofed pyramidal construction over a square base, a ribbed lotus dome on top, mosaic floor and a richly patterned ceiling, radiating and cusped arches, and projecting windows. It stands on an extensive mound and commands the landscape for miles around. The three- storeyed edifice on a raised platform has a divan hall on the ground floor, with a base- ment below and a central pavilion and dome on lop. The basement called Bhora Sahib contains the old brick enclosure believed to be the exact site of the execution of the Sahibzadas. The Guru Granth Sahib is seat- ed here with holy relics, hilt of a sword and a dagger and a rust-eaten fragment of a double-edged weapon. The divan hall has a marble floor and an artistically patterned ceiling with the Guru Granth Sahib seated in the centre in a gilded palalu, portable cano- pied seat, on a marble platform. The invert- ed lotus at the apex of the dome above and
FATEHGARH SAHIB, GURDWARA
17
FATEHGARH SAHIB, GURDWARA
the pinnacle are covered with gold-plated sheets and have an umbrella-shaped gold finial. So are the domes of the four kiosks one at each corner of the roof. The three- storeyed gateway is topped by decorative can- opied pavilions and a clock-tower.
GURDWARA BIMANGARH is a small, simple hut of baked bricks, 100 metres east of the main Gurdwara. It marks the place where dead bodies of the three martyrs were kept for the night, and their hearses prepared prior to cremation. It is managed by the Niharig Sihghs.
GURDWARA SAHIBJGTI SARUP, about 1.5 km southeast of Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib indi- cates the site where the mortal remains of. the mother and two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh were cremated.
After the deaths of Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh and of Mata Gujari, Seth Todar Mall, a wealthy and influential citizen of Sirhind, made arrangements to perform the last rites. But no one would give him a patch of land in the locality to be used as cr ema- tion ground until one Chaudhari Atta agreed to sell him a plot. His stipulation was that Todar Mall could take only as much space as he could cover with gold mohars. The Seth produced the coins and bought the piece of land he needed. He cremated the three corps- es and a Sikh, Jodh Singh living in Attevali village, buried the ashes.
At the time of the conquest of Sirhind by Banda Singh Bahadur in 1710 or later by the Dal Khalsa in 1764, no memorial was raised at this place, so that when Maharaja Karam Singh of Patiala got Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib rebuilt, he had to search for and deter- mine the exact spot of cremation. The urn containing the ashes was at last discovered and he got a gurdwara, built over it in 1843 and named it Joti Sarup. A century later, in 1944, Maharaja Yadavinder Singh set up a committee for the improvement of Fatehgarh
Sahib and Joti Sarup. Consequently two up- per storeys and a dome were added to the building in 1955. Earlier, when ajodhpur prince, Himmat Singh, married Princess Shailendra Kaur of Patiala in 1951, the Maharaja of Jodhpur donated money for the construction of a separate shrine dedicated to the sacred memory of Mata Gujari. This samadh, a small square canopied platform built in white marble, stands in the south- western corner of the circumambulatory ve- randah on the ground floor. During the an- nual Sabha festival, the most dramatic event is a mass procession on 13 Poh taken out from Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib and ending at Gurdwara Joti Sarup. At the latter place, Kirtan Sohila and Anandu Sahib are recited followed by supplication in memory of the martyrs. With this the programme officially comes to an end.
GURDWARA MATA GUJARI is close to the main Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib. Both are, in fact, situated on the same mound of ruins of the old Fort of Sirhind. Thanda Burj used to be a high tower built at a bend of the rampart of the Fort. Owing to its exposure to wind currents from all directions and to a water current from below it was a pleasant resort for the faujddr to spend his hot summer afternoons. In winter, however, it was intol- erably cold. When Mata Gujari and her grand- sons were brought to Sirhind as captives in the cold season (8 December 1705), they were detained in this Tower.
When Banda Singh Bahadur sacked Sirhind in 1710, the Cold Tower escaped destruction. But in the turbulent times that followed, the water channel running below it was blocked and disappeared, and the top- most portion of the tower fell down. After the establishment of Sikh rule in 1764, it became a revered place of pilgrimage, but its renovation had to wait until the Improve- ment Committee for Gurdwaras Fatehgarh Sahib and Joti Sarup was constituted in 1944.
FATEHGARH SAHIB, GURDWARA
18
FATEH KAUR
Actual work on the implementation of plans prepared by the Committee, however, com- menced only in 1955-56. Since then except for a portion of the original Fort wall, the place has been changed into an entirely new building, modest but elegant in design, a noble memorial to the illustrious Mata, Mother. The Guru Granth Sahib is seated in the room on the ground floor. A narrow winding staircase leads up to the first floor, a bare room with a low platform in the cen- tre and a lotus dome above. There was a tradition, now discredited, that Mata Gujari, on hearing of the execution of her grand- children, jumped down from the tower over the Fort wall. There is a small room near the foot of the stairs which was believed to be the exact spot where she fell dead. The Guru Granth Sahib is installed in this room as well. This shrine was further renovated in recent decades. The top room has been converted into a domed pavilion and the dome is cov- ered with gilded copper plates.
SHAHID GANJ (I) is a low square platform with a flagpost, in the northern part of the inner compound of the main Gurdwara. It marks the site of the cremation of Sikhs who laid down their lives at the time of Banda Singh's conquest of Sirhind in 1710. This shrine, too, is attended by the Nihaiig Sihghs.
SHAHID GANJ (II) is a small gurdwara, 300 metres south of the main shrine. In the days of fierce persecution which overtook the Sikhs after Banda Singh Bahadur, decapita- tion of their heads was a favourite sport. It is said that once the Dal Khalsa captured 40 cart-loads of such heads being carried from Lahore for presentation to the Emperor at Delhi. These heads were cremated on the site now occupied by Gurdwara Shahld Ganj (II). According to another tradition, this Shahldganj is a memorial to Jathedar Malla Singh who fell here fighting against Zain Khan in 1 764. The present building was raised
in 1955-56.
SHAHID GANJ BABA SUKKHA SINGH, half a kilometre north of the main Gurdwara, is a memorial to a Sikh commander, Sukkha Singh, who fell a martyr here in the battle against Zain Khan in 1764.
THArA SAHIB pAtshAHI CHHEVTn, a simple plat- form inside a low brick-wall enclosure, is dedicated to Guru Hargobind who, accord- ing to local tradition, stayed here awhile during his travels through these parts.
Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, with affiliat- ed shrines, is administered directly by the ShiromanI Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. In addition to the daily programme of morning and evening services and Kirtan, largely attended assemblies are held on the first of each Bikraml month. The notable event of the year is a fair, pop- ularly known as Sabha, held on 11, 12 and 13 of Poh, which fall during the last week of December, to commemorate the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh's sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, and Mata Gujari.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Tara Singh, Sri Gur Ttrath Sangrahi Amritsar, n.d.
2. Thakar Singh, GianT, Sri Gurduare Darshan. Amritsar 1923
3. Padam, Piara Singh, Char Sahibzade. Patiala, 1988
M.G.S.
FATEH KAUR (d. 1773), popularly known as Mai Fatto, was the wife of Baba Ala Singh, founder of the Patiala family. She was the eldest daughter of Chaudhari Khana, a zamindar of Kaleke, in present-day Sarigrur district of the Punjab. It is said that at her birth her parents, disappointed at having a female child, put her in an earthen vessel and buried her alive. A holy man, Dyal Das, in the line of Bhai Bhagatu, happening to pass along and, seeing the mother in tears, enquired the cause of her grief. On Dyal
FATEH KAUR
19
FATEH KHAN TIWANA
Das's advice, the child was dug out from underneath the earth unhurt. As she grew up, she came to be known by the name of Fatto. She was married to Ala Singh in 1707 and bore him three sons, Sardul Singh, Bhumla Singh and Lai Singh, all of whom died in the lifetime of their father, and a daughter, Pardhan Kaur.
Fateh Kaur was a devoted housewife. She helped her husband in matters of state as well. It was she who at the time of plunder of Barnala took the initiative and appointed a deputation to negotiate peace with Ahmad Shah Durrani who was on his way to Kabul after the battle of Panlpat (1761). She was able to secure peace on payment of a tribute. It was also owing to her influence that Baba Ala Singh had the support of the descen- dants of Bhal Bhagatu, one of the most re- vered Sikh families of the cis-Sutlej territory. Bhal Gurbakhsh Singh of this family, who founded the state of Kaithal, helped Baba Ala Singh in his conquest of a large number of territories, including Budhladha and Tohana. Fateh Kaur lovingly served the Dal Khalsa and kept an open Guru ka Laiigar for them. After the death of Baba Ala Singh, Fateh Kaur installed her grandson, Amar Singh, on the throne of Patiala. Himmat Singh, half-brother of Amar Singh, raised a revolt against him, but Fateh Kaur intervened and brought about a compromise between the two.
Fateh Kaur, who is counted among the builders of Patiala state, died in 1 773 at Patiala and was cremated near Baba Ala Singh's samadh, in the area known as Shah! Samadhari, the royal cemetery.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Griffin, Lepel, Rajas of the Punjab. Lahore, 1870
2. Ganda Singh, The Patiala and East Punjab Stales Union. Patiala, 1951
3. Kirpal Singh, Life of Maharaja Ala Singh and His Times. Amritsar, 1954
S.S.B.
FATEH KHAN (d. 1818), son of Painda Khan, the Barakzat chief, who overthrew Shah Zaman, the king of Afghanistan (1793- 1800), and placed his half-brother Shah Mahmud on the throne of Afghanistan, him- self becoming prime minister. Shah Mahmud was dethroned in 1803 and was succeeded by Shah Shuja'. Fateh Khan ex- pelled Shah Shuja' in 1809 and restored Shah Mahmud to sovereignty. Shah Shuja' fell into the hands of 'Ata Muhammad Khan, the governor of Kashmir. As Kashmir was the richest province of the kingdom of Af- ghanistan, Fateh Khan turned his attention towards 'Ata Muhammad Khan. He conclud- ed a treaty with Maharaja Ranjlt Singh for a joint expedition to Kashmir which was un- dertaken in 1812. 'Ata Muhammad was de- feated and replaced by Fateh Khan's real brother, Muhammad 'Azlm Khan, but Fateh Khan did not fulfil the terms of the treaty, and the Sikh general, Diwan Mohkam Chand, seized Shah Shuja' who was brought to Lahore. Ranjlt Singh took Attock in June 1813. Fateh Khan and his brother, Dost Muhammad Khan, made an attempt to re- gain the fort, but were defeated by Diwan Mohkam Chand. Recovery of Attock re- mained the dream of Fateh Khan till his death in 1818.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Siiri, Sohan Lai, ' Udmat-ut-Twarikh . Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, Ranjil Singh. Oxford, 1905
3. BhagaL Singh, Maharaja Ranjil Singh and His Times. Delhi, 1990
H.R.G.
FATEH KHAN TIWANA (d. 1848) was the son of Khuda Yar Khan, a jagirdar in the neighbourhood of Dera Isma'Il Khan. The Sikh general, Harl Singh Nalva appointed him to take charge of Mittha Tiwana, coun- try in the upper regions of the Sindh Sagar Doab. On being implicated in the assassina- tion of Raja Dhian Singh in September 1843,
fatehnAmah
20
FATEHNAMAH
Fateh Khan fled to Dera Isma'Tl Khan and raised the standard of revolt. When in 1844 Diwan Lakkhi Mall was sent from Lahore to punish him, Fateh Khan took shelter in the fort of Tonk, but was forced to flee. He re- mained in hiding in the trans-Indus territory. Later, he was implicated in the murder of Karivar Pashaura Singh. After the first Anglo- Sikh war, Fateh Khan Tiwana became the governor of Bannu. In November 1848, Herbert Edwardes sent him to suppress Sikh disturbances. A Sikh force brought him to bay in the fort of Dalipgarh where he was killed in action.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Siiri, Sohan Lai, 'Udmal-ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol. II. Princeton, 1966
3. Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Ranjil Singh anil His Times. Delhi, 1990
H.R.G.
FATEHNAMAH, or Namah-i-Guru Gobind Singh, a letter (ndmah in Persian) that Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) is believed to have addressed to Emperor Aurarigzib pri- or to his better-known Zafarnamah includ- ed in the Dasam Granlh. The first reference to the existence of Fatehndmah dates to 1922 when Babu Jagan Nath Das published in the Nagari Prachdrini Palrikd, Savan 1979 / July-August 1922, a letter supposed to have been sent by Chhatrapati Shivajl to Mirza Raja Jai Singh. In his introduction, Babu Jagan Nath Das had mentioned that he had copied around 1890 two letters from manu- scripts in the possession of Baba Sunier Singh, mahant of Takht Sri Harimandar Sahib at Patna from 1882 to 1902 — one, Shivajl 's which he was publishing in the Palrikd and the other, Guru Gobind Singh's which, he added, he had lost and of which he could not procure another copy owing to the death of the owner of the original document. According to Babu Jagan Nath
Das, the letter, which he declared was not the same as the Zafarnamah or any portion of it, contained more than 100 couplets. He reproduced some of the couplets from memory which he sent to Sardar Umrao Singh Majlthia (1870-1954), who arranged them in order and sent a copy each to the Khalsa College, Amritsar, and to Bhal Vlr Siiigh (1872-1957). The latter published it with a Punjabi translation in the Khalsa Samachdr of 16 July 1942 in an essay enti- tled Uchch da Pir. Sirdar Kapur Singh re- produced it two years later with an intro- duction and translation in Urdu in the Ajit, a weekly then published from Lahore. He gave it the title Falchndmah. Dr Ganda Singh included the Persian text, with an introduc- tion in Urdu, in his M'dkhiz-i-Twdrikh-i- Sikkhan, vol. 1, 1949, under the title "Namah-i-Guru Gobind Singh."
The incomplete letter Fatehndmah has twenty-three and a half couplets, the twen- ty-first one having only one line. Its theme, language, style and metre are the same as those of the Zafarnamah, though its tone is severer. Like the latter, it too chastises Aurarigzib for his tyranny, deceitful policy and perjury. The fourteenth couplet refers to the killing of two of the Guru's four sons which shows that this letter was written sometime after the battle of Chamkaur in which his two elder sons fell fighting and before the news of the martyrdom of the two younger ones at Sirhind had reached him at Lamma Jattpura. As history records, the Zafarnamah was written and despatched to Aurarigzib through Bhal Daya Siiigh and Bhai Dharam Siiigh only a few days later.
J.S.S.
FATEHNAMAH, by Bhal Dyal Siiigh, is a ver- sified account of the victor)' (fateh, in Per- sian) of the Sikhs in the battle fought on Sunday, 22 Baisakh 1854 lik/30 April 1797, against Shah Zaman's forces led by one of his generals Ahmad Khan, also called
FATEHNAMAH GURU KHALSA JI KA
21
FATEH SHAH
ShahanchI Khan, in which the latter got killed and his forces fled the field. Nothing is known about the poet who, judging from his diction, belonged to the western parts of the Punjab. The poet showers special praise on the Sikh warrior, Sahib Singh Bhang!, chief of Gujrat, which indicates that he may have been a relation of his or a protege. Although there is no internal evi- dence to date the work, it seems from the details of the battle to be a near-contempo- rary work. The poem comprises 15 pauris or stanzas followed by two savaiyyds, with two dohiras at the end. The opening stanza is by way of invocation to the Almighty "who at His will controls everything and by whose aid victory is achieved." The poem briefly touches upon Shah Zaman's capture of Lahore and the adjoining areas of the Punjab and the Sikhs' dispersal towards the hills. However, the Sikhs reassembled as the Afghan king returned to Kabul to quell a revolt there. ShahanchI Khan, whom Zaman Shah had left behind to deal with the Sikhs, marched towards Gujrat and camped on the bank of the River Chenab. A fierce battle took place in which Sikhs were at a disad- vantage at one stage but, inspired by Sahib Singh and "helped by the divine powers of Guru Gobind Singh" (11), they re-entered the field with redoubled zeal and won the battle. The poet attributes the Afghans' defeat to their obliviousness of God (15).
D.S.
FATEHNAMAH GURU KHALSA Jl KA, by Ganesh Das, an employee of the Sikh Darbar, and published as edited by Sita Ram Kohli, contains accounts, in Punjabi verse, of three of the major battles of Sikh times. The first of these was fought at Multan in 1818 between Maharaja Ranjit Singh's forc- es and the army of the local Afghan ruler Muzaffar Khan. The second, the first battle of Peshawar, also known as the battle of Naushera, was fought in 1823 between Sikhs
and Muhammad Azlm Khan, who after the death of his brother Fateh Khan, had ac- quired power in Afghanistan and wished to re-establish Afghan supremacy over Peshawar. The third, the second battle of Peshawar, was waged at Saidu, a few kilometres south of Akora, in 1826 between the Sikhs and Sayyid Ahmad's host. The Sayyid who hailed from Rae Barell, in present-day Uttar Pradesh, had declared jihad against the Sikhs. Ganesh Das's de- scription of these engagements is embel- lished with conventional poetic devices, yet its historical core remains unimpaired. In fact, the details of the battles he has given correspond with those recorded in contem- porary chronicles such as Twarikh-i-Mahdrdjd Ranjit Singh, Umdat-ut-Twarikh, Zafar Nama- i-Ranjit Singh and Jang-i-Multan. Ganesh Das has great admiration for Maharaja Ranjlt Singh as well as for the Khalsa. His apprais- al of the role of the Maharaja in the Sikh body politic is highly perceptive. For him Ranjlt Singh was the leader of the Khalsa commonwealth rather than a Maharaja or sovereign, and he addresses him as Singh Sahib (exalted member of the Khalsa) . Ganesh Das attributes victories won in these battles to the Khalsa as a whole and not to Ranjit Singh. Hence the title of his work: Fatehnamah Guru Khalsa Ji Ka, i.e. account of the victories of the Guru Khalsa.
G.R.S.
FATEH SHAH (d. 1716) was the ruler of the Himalayan state of Srlnagar (Garhval) from 1684 to 1716. He had strained rela- tions with Raja MedinI Prakash of Sirmur. When Guru Gobind Singh made Paonta his headquarters in April 1685 at the invitation of the latter, he brought about reconcilia- tion between Fateh Shah and the Sirmur chief. According to Sikh chroniclers, Guru Gobind Singh sent presents through his diwan, Nand Chand, to Raja Fateh Shah on the occasion of the marriage of his daugh-
FATEH SINGH
22
FATEH SINGH AHLUVALlA
ter to Ajmer Chand, son of Raja Bhlm Chand of Kahlur. Bhlrn Chand, who resented the cordiality which existed between Guru Gobind Singh and Fateh Shah, urged the Srinagar ruler not to accept the presents sent by the Guru. He also urged him to join hands with him in waging war upon the Guru. Fateh Shah obliged him by joining the attacking host against the Guru in the battle of Bharigani fought on 18 September 1688, 10 km northeast of Paonta. For the Guru it was a mystery why he should have done so: in the Bachitra Natah he said that Raja Fateh Shah "raged and fought with me purposelessly." Raja Fateh Shah's later years were occupied in contest with the rulers of Kumaori. He died in 1716.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sukha Singh, Gurbilas Dasvin Patshahi. Lahore, 1912
2. Hutchinson, J. and J. Ph. Vogel, History of the Punjab Hill Stales. Lahore, 1933
3. Harbans Singh, Guru Gobind Singh. Chandigarh, 1986
K.S.T.
FATEH SINGH (d. 1716), an army com- mander under Banda Singh Bahadur, who was appointed administrator of Samana af- ter the town was occupied by the Sikhs in 1709. Fateh Singh participated in several of Banda Singh's battles against the Mughal rulers. In the battle of Sirhind fought at the nearby village of Chappar Chin, Fateh Singh killed Nawab Wazlr Khan, the faujdar of Sirhind. He was taken prisoner at Lohgarh in December 1710 and, after several years in jail, was executed in Delhi in June 1716 along with Banda Singh and his other companions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Gian Singh, Giani, Panth Prakash. Patiala, 1970
2. Bhaiigu, Ratan Singh, Prachin Panth Prakash. Anirilsai , 1914
3. Ganda Singh, Life of Banda Singh Bahadur. Amrilsar, 1935
G.S.D.
FATEH SINGH (d. 1875), son of Nidhan Singh Hathu, was a soldier in the Sikh army and was attached to his father's contingent wherein he remained until 1827 when he was placed in the Ghorcharha Kalah regiment. In 1 834, he accompanied Maharaja Ranjit Siiigh to Peshawar and, in 1840, he was sent, under Arjan Siiigh Raiighar Naiiglla, to Mandl and Kullu where a rebellion had broken out. Af- ter the death of Raja Hira Siiigh in December 1844, Fateh Siiigh was ordered to Rajaurl and Punchh to put down an insurrection there. During the first Anglo-Sikh war (1845-46), Fateh Siiigh remained in Lahore with Gener- al Gulab Singh Pahuvindia assigned to pro- tecting the minor Maharaja Duleep Siiigh. Soon after the war, he was appointed com- mandant of the Suraj Mukhi corps. In 1847, he accompanied Lieut. Herbert Edwardes to Bannu, and served throughout the Multan campaign of 1848. After the annexation of the Punjab, he joined the police. Fateh Siiigh died in 1875.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Suri, Sohan Lai, 'Umddt-u t-Txodrikh . Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
3. Gupta, Had Ram, Punjab on the Eve of the First Sikh War. Chandigarh, 1955
S.S.B.
FATEH SINGH AHLUVALIA (d. 1836), son of Bhag Siiigh, and a grand-nephew of Jassa Siiigh Ahluvalia, leader of the Ahluvalia misl and of the Dal Khalsa, who in 1758 pro- claimed the sovereignty of the Sikhs in the Punjab. Fateh Siiigh succeeded to the Ahluvalia chiefship in 1801. He was the cho- sen companion of Maharaja RanjTt Siiigh, with whom he in 1802 exchanged turbans in a permanent bond of brotherhood. Fateh Siiigh look part in almost all the early cam- paigns of Ranjft Siiigh — Kasur (1802-03), Malva (1806-08), Kahgra (1809), Multan (1818), Kashmir (1819) and Mankera
FATEH SINGH AHLUVAlIA
23
FATEH SINGHJKALIANVAlA
(1821). He fought in the battle of Haidru (1813) and held command in the Bhimbar, Rajaurl and Bahawalpur expeditions. In 1806, Fateh Singh acted as the plenipotentiary of Ranjit Singh and signed the first Anglo-Sikh treaty with Lord Lake at the time when the Maratha chief, Jasvant Rao Holkar, had sought shelter in the Punjab.
Close association with the ruler of Lahore brought Fateh Singh ample rewards. The Maharaja had bestowed upon him the dis- tricts of Dakha, Kot, Jagraori, Talvandi, Naraingarh and Raipur after his Malva campaigns. He possessed extensive territo- ries on both sides of the Sutlej yielding an annual revenue of 1,76,000 rupees in 1808; in 1836, his territories were estimated to be worth 16,00,000 rupees annually.
The cordiality between the two chiefs was strained by Fateh Singh's direct communica- tions with the British over the question of Bhirog and Kotla chiefships, the construc- tion by him of a strong citadel at Isru and his constant pleas for British protection. Feeling unsafe at Lahore, Fateh Singh fled across the river in 1825 to his cis-Sutlej territory and sought British protection. Ranjit Singh promptly seized his trans-Sutlej possessions, but showed willingness to forgive him if he returned to Lahore.
The rift between the Ahluvalia chief and Maharaja of Lahore was, however, soon repaired. Fateh Singh .returned to Lahore in 1827, and the Maharaja received him with honour restoring to him all his possessions. Later in his life, Fateh Sirigh lived at Kapurthala where he died in October 1836.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Suri, Sohan Lai, 'Umdal-ut-Twankh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and His Times. Delhi, 1990
3. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs. Delhi, 1983
4. Khushwant Singh, Ranjit Singh: Maharajah of the Punjab 1780-1839. Bombay, 1962
S.S.B.
FATEH SINGH CHHACHHI (d. 1814), son of Tahal Singh Chhachhl, a Kohli Khatri belonging to Gujrahwala district in the Punjab, served under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He fought in the campaigns launched by the Maharaja for the conquest of Pind Dadan Khan, Pindi Gheb and Jhahg and obtained considerable addition to his estates at Bharatpur, Sahival and Kuftjah. He died fight- ing during the expedition against Kashmir in 1814.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Suri, Sohan Lai, 'Umddt-ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
S.S.B.
FATEH SINGH KALIANVALA (d. 1807), mil- itary commander and jagirdar under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the son of Jassa Siiigh and grandson ofjaimal Singh. Jaimal Siiigh was a Sandhu Jatt and the first in the line to em- brace the Sikh faith. He was a resident of Kala village in Amritsar district. In the troops of the Sukkarchakkla chiefs, Charhat Singh and Mahari Singh, he had fought against the Chatthas inhabiting the northern part of Gujrahwala district. In one of the skirmishes with the Chatthas he lost both of his sons, Jai Sirigh and Jassa Sirigh. Fateh Sirigh entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit Sirigh in 1797, and rapidly rose in the favour of his master. He was a brave and skilful soldier and took part in almost, every campaign undertaken by the Maharaja during his early career. He fought against Ghulam Muhammad Khan Chattha and against Jodh Sirigh of Wazlrabad. He was with the Maharaja at the time of the capture of the city of Lahore in 1799. He participated in the Kasur (1801) and Jharig (1806) campaigns. Fateh Sirigh conquered Chiniot from Jassa Sirigh Bharigi and, when Jharig was taken in 1806 from Ahmad Khan Sial, the district was leased to him. When towards the close of 1806, Qutb ud-DIn Khan
FATEH SINGH MAN
24
FATEH SINGH, SAHIBZADA
of Kasur raised the banner of revolt, Fateh Singh- Kaliarivala was sent against him. In 1807, Ranjit Singh, after a visit to Patiala, besieged the fort of Naraingarh held by Sardar Kishan Singh. Fateh Singh, who was in immediate command, assaulted the fort, but was repulsed and mortally wounded. He died on 25 October 1807.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Stiri, Sohan Lai, 'Umddt-ut-Twdrikh. Lahore, 1885- 1889.
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
3. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol. I. Princeton, 1963
4. Sinha, N.K., Ranjit Singh. Calcutta, 1933
5. Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and His Times. Delhi, 1990
j.R.G.
FATEH SINGH MAN (d. 1845), son of Sham Singh Man, soldier, diplomat and command- er in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. He en- tered the service of the Maharaja as a troop- er, and took part in several campaigns, in- cluding those of Multan (1818) and Kashmir (1819). He rose to be a humedan. In 1811, he had a jdgir worth one lakh of rupees and maintained a contingent of 300 horsemen. He served mostly in the northwest frontier region, across the Indus. After Maharaja Ranjit Singh's death, he became an active partisan of Kahvar Nau Nihal Singh and Wazlr Dhian Singh. In 1839, he served under Kahvar Nau Nihal Singh in the Sikh army sent to Peshawar to assist Colonel Claude Wade in Shahzada Taimiir's expedition to Kabul.
In the courtly intrigue following the death of Maharaja Kharak Singh and Kahvar Nau Nihal Singh, Fateh Singh Man aligned himself with the faction supporting Rani Chand Kaur against Sher Singh. The fac- tion comprised Sandharivalla Sardars, the Jammu brothers, and the Bhals. However, the accession of Sher Singh to the throne
of Ranjit Singh on 20 January 1841 broke up the faction supporting Chand Kaur. Fateh Singh submitted to Maharaja Sher Singh and saved his jdgirs and command. He continued thereafter to serve in the Sikh army, retaining his influence at the court.
The army panchdyats deputed Fateh Singh to Jammu to negotiate with Raja Gulab Singh the surrender of Hlra Singh's treasure which the Dogfa chief had carted away to his capital. Gulab Singh paid Rs 4,00,000 as earnest money, and promised to surrender the treasure at an early date. The Lahore deputation left Jammu but was waylaid outside the town by Gulab Singh's troops and Fateh Singh Man was killed on 28 February 1845.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sun, Sohan Lai, 'Umdat-u t-Twarikh . Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
3. Bhagat Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh and His Times. Delhi, 1990
4. Smyth, G. Carmichael, A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore. Patiala, 1970
B.J.II.
FATEH SINGH, SAHIBZADA (1699-1 705) , the youngest of Guru Gobind Singh's four sons, was born to Mata Jltojl at Anandpur on 25 February 1699. After the death of his mother, on 5 December 1 700, he was brough t up under the care of his grandmother, Mata Gujarl, with whom he remained till the last. On 12 Decem- ber 1 705, h e was martyred at Sirhind along with his elder brother, Zorawar Singh.
See ZORAWAR SINGH, SAHIBZADA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sainapali, Kavi, Sri Gur Sobha. Patiala, 1967
2. Chhibbar, Kesar Singh, Bansavalinama Dasdn Palshahian Kd. Chandigarh, 1972
3. Sukha Singh, Bhat, Gurbilds Dasvin Pdlshdhi. Lahore, 1912
4. Padam, Piara Singh, Char Sdhibzdde. Patiala, 1967
FATEH SINGH, SANT
25
FATEH SINGH, SANT
5. Trilochan Singh, Life-sketch of Guru Gobind Singh. Chandigarh, 1968
S.SA.
FATEH SINGH, SANT (1911-1972), who enjoyed wide religious esteem among the Sikhs (sunt, lit. a holy man) and who during the latter part of his career became a domi- nant political figure, was born, on 27 Octo- ber 1911, the son of Bhal Channan Singh, a resident of Badiala in present-day Bathinda district of the Punjab. He had no formal schooling and started learning to read Punjabi only at the age of 15. In view of his interest in religious texts, his father appren- ticed him to a well-known scholar, Sant Ishar Sihgh, of Sekha, a village near Barnala. In company with Sant Channan Siiigh, another holy man, he migrated to Gariganagar dis- trict of the then princely state of Bikaner in Rajasthan, where a large number of Sikh peasants had settled down in the newly estab- lished canal colony. Having established him- self at Buddha Jauhar, a little-known place which he made famous, Fateh Singh moved from village to village preaching the Sikh faith through klrtan and discourse and ad- ministration of amrit or the vows of the Khalsa. He simultaneously worked for the promotion of education among the masses and was instrumental in the construction of, besides a number of gurdwaras, several schools and colleges, an orphanage and a centre for imparting training in kirlan. In this task he was assisted by Sant Channan Siiigh who, though senior in age, always acknowledged him as his elder, and their partnership and their respect for each other lasted till the very end. His pious way of living earned Fateh Siiigh the title of Sant.
Sant Fateh Siiigh made his debut in pol- itics when he joined the Punjabi Suba agita- tion (1955-56), a campaign launched by the Shiromani Akall Dal under the leadership of Master Tara Siiigh for the creation of a new state comprising Punjabi-speaking areas
carved out of the then-existing Punjab. His rise in the Akall hierarchy was very rapid. As the Punjabi Suba agitation entered its sec- ond phase, Fateh Siiigh unfolded at a spe- cially convened conference at Amritsar (12 October 1958) the plan of action to be pur- sued by the Shiromani Akall Dal of which he had by that time become the senior vice- president. On 15 March 1959 he led a mas- sive march of Sikhs in the Indian capital, New Delhi. As the Punjabi Suba movement gathered momentum in May 1960, the re- sponsibility of directing its course fell to Sant Fateh Siiigh. He displayed rare qualities of leadership and restraint in running in a most orderly manner the seven-month-long agita- tion in which, according to one estimate, 57129 Akall volunteers courted arrest.
In a final bid for the attainment of a Punjabi-speaking state, Sant Fateh Siiigh put his own life at stake and started on 18 De- cember 1960 a fast-unto-death. Before sub- mitting himself to the ordeal he offered prayers at the Akal Takht and at the Harimandar, and addressed a mammoth gathering of the Sikhs adjuring them to re- main calm and peaceful in any eventuality.
There was universal applause for the purity of Sant Fateh Singh's motive and no one questioned the sincerity of his resolution. Yet everybody wished that the worst might somehow be averted. There was intense ac- tivity in government and political circles. In- dian leaders of diverse opinion tried to inter- vene and persuade Sant Fateh Siiigh to aban- don the fast. The Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, issued several conciliatory public statements, but Sant Fateh Siiigh judged them as falling short of his stipulation. At last the one issued on 8 January 1961 was pronounced by Master Tara Siiigh and the Working Committee of the Shiromani Akall Dal to be satisfactory and they as well as Panj Piare or the Five Elect, speaking for the en- tire Khalsa Panth, asked him to end his fast. On the morning of 9 January 1961, Fateh
FATEH SINGH, SANT
26
FATEH SINGH, SANT
Singh took his first sip of nourishment in twenty-two days — a glass of juice from the hands of Bhai Chet Singh, one of the Gold- en Temple priests.
Political negotiations ensued between the Government of India and the Akali Dal. Sant Fateh Singh had three meetings with Prime Minister Nehru — on 8 February, 1 March and 12 May 1961, but with no positive result. His personal political authority had however been firmly established among the Sikhs. In July 1962, he directly challenged Master Tara Singh, forming his own Akali Dal which on 2 October 1962 wrested control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Commit- tee from the hands of the latter. In the Gurdwara elections on 17 January 1965, Sant Fateh Singh annexed 90 of the elected seats, conceding only 45 to Master Tara Siiigh. To force the issue of Punjabi Suba, he pro- claimed from the Akal Takht on 16 August 1965 that he would restart his fast from 10 September 1965 and that, if he survived the fast for 15 days with his demand still not conceded, he would commit self-immolation by burning himself alive on the 16th day. But as hostilities between India and Pakistan broke out in September 1965, he not only postponed the fast but also issued an appeal to all his countrymen, particularly Sikhs, to rally behind the government. The war ended on 22 September 1965 and on 23 Septem- ber, the Home Minister of India announced in Parliament the setting up of a Cabinet Committee consisting of Indira Gandhi, Y.B. Chavan and Mahavir TyagT to pursue further the question of the formation of a Punjabi- speaking state. He also requested the Speak- er of the Lok Sabha and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha to form for the same purpose a Parliamentary Consultative Committee. Mat- ters moved fast thereafter. The report of the Parliamentary Committee, headed by Speak- er Hukam Singh, was made public on 18 January 1966, recommending the reorgani- zation of the existing state of Punjab on lin-
guistic basis. Mrs Indira Gandhi who had, after the sudden death of Lai Bahadur Shastrl, taken over as Prime Minister, finally conced- ed the demand on 23 April 1966. On 3 Sep- tember, the Punjab Reorganization Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha and on 1 No- vember 1966 Punjabi-speaking state became a reality. A lifelong bachelor, Sant Fateh Singh greeted the event with the words: "A handsome baby has been born into my household."
The demarcation of the boundaries of the new Punjab basically on the recommen- dations of a commission appointed by the Government of India, however, started a new polemic. Sant Fateh Singh protested that Chandigarh, city built as capital for the Punjab after Partition, and some Punjabi- speaking areas had been left out of the new stale. On 5 December 1966 he announced that to have this injustice undone he would sit afasting on 17 December 1966 and com- mit self-immolation on 27 December 1966 if he survived till that day and his demands remained unfulfilled. The demands were: (i) inclusion of Chandigarh and the Punjabi-speaking areas assigned to Himachal Pradesh and to the newly created state of Haryana in the Punjab; (ii) sever- ance of common links (governor, high court, etc.) between Punjab and Haryana; and (iii) restoration of the control of Bhakhra and other multipurpose projects to the Punjab. Sant Fateh Singh began his fast on the appointed day (17 December). Simultaneously, moves were initiated by gov- ernment and influential political leaders to have him terminate the fast and thus avert the threatened tragedy. At last, Hukam Siiigh, the Lok Sabha Speaker, and Giani Gurmukh Siiigh Musafir, Chief Minister of the Punjab, communicated to him assuranc- es on behalf of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and persuaded him to break his fast. Sant Fateh Siiigh ended the fast on 27 December 1966.
fatuhAt NAMAH-I-SAMADI
27
FATUHAT NAMAH-I-SAMADI
Sant Fateh Singh thereafter became a controversial figure and his influence began to decline. He started another fast-unto-death on 26 January 1970, with self-immolation to follow on 1 February 1970 if Chandigarh was not merged with Punjab by then. On 29 Jan- uary, the Union Government announced that "the capital project area of Chandigarh should as a whole go to Punjab," but this was hedged round by stipulations such as the transfer of Fazilka tahsil from Punjab to Haryana. The All-Parties Action Committee and the Akali Dal High Command at their separate meetings on 30 January 1970 passed resolutions welcoming the decision regard- ing Chandigarh, but opposing that on Fazilka. These resolutions were conveyed to Sant Fateh Singh, who was persuaded to end (30 January 1970) the fast he was going through. On 25 March 1972, he announced his retire- ment from active politics.
Sant Fateh Singh died at Amritsar on 30 October 1972.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Ghai, Charan Das, God's Man: A Biography of Sant Fateh Singh. Ludhiana, 1969
2. Sarliadi, Ajit Singh, Punjabi Suba. Delhi, 1970
3. Harbans Singh, The Heiitage of the Sikhs. Delhi, 1983
4. Budhiraja, Arjan Singh, Do Muldkdldn. Amritsar, n.d.
5. Ashok, Shamsher Singh, Shiromani Gurdwdrd Prabandhak Committee da Panjah Said Itihds. Amritsar, 1982
6. Dilgeer, Harjinder Singh, Shiromani Akali Dal. Chandigarh, 1980
j.K.
FATUHAT NAMAH-I-SAMADI, an unpub- lished Persian manuscript preserved in the British Library, London, under No. Or. 1870, is an account of the victories of Abd us- Samad Khan. Nawab Saif ud-Daulah Abd us- Samad Khan Bahadur Dilerjahg was appoint- ed governor of the Punjab by the Mughal Emperor Farrukh-Slyar on 22 February 1713, with the specific object of suppressing the
Sikhs who had risen under Banda Singh com- missioned by Guru Gobind Singh himself, shortly before his death, to chastise the ty- rannical rulers of Punjab and Sirhind. Abd us-Samad Khan immediately marched out and besieged Banda Singh in his stronghold of Lohgarh Fort, in the Sivalik foothills. The latter stood his ground for six months and then escaped into the hills in the beginning of October 1713. After destroying the Fort of Lohgarh, the Nawab turned his attention to the supression of the recalcitrant Kharal, Gondal, Bhatti and Ranjha tribes of the bar area [modern Faisalabad and Sheikh upura districts of Pakistan. He had hardly started his campaign, when Banda Siiigh reappeared in the plains and captured Pathankot and Gurdaspur. As he was operating around Batala, north of Amritsar, Abd us-Samad Khan, with a 25,000 - strong force sent from Delhi and Sirhind to reinforce him, set out against him. Abd us-Samad's son, Zakarlya Khan, then /aw/rfarofjammu, advanced from the north. Their combined troops moved swiftly. Banda Singh, unable to retire to the Fort of Gurdaspur, which he had lately strengthened and provisioned, took up posi- tion in a haveU, or walled house, with a large- compound at Gurdas-Narigal, a village six kilometre west of Gurdaspur. The imperial army invested the house, blocking all possi- ble routes of escape and cutting off all sup- plies of food and fodder. The siege contin- ued for eight months, from April to early December 1715. Reduced to desperate straits, Banda Singh was captured on 7 December 1715. The book also describes Abd us-Samad Khan's campaigns against 'Isa Khan Manjh, a minor chief to the south of the River Sutlcj, and Husain Khan Keshgl of Kasur, and his part in the court intrigues at Delhi leading to the downfall of the king-making Sayyid brothers.
The author of Fatiihat Ndmah-i-Samad't , Ghulam Muhly ud-Dln, who had taken part in the siege of Gurdas-Narigal, gives an eye-
FATUHAT NAMAH-I-SAMADI
28
FAZALDAD KHAN CM IB
witness account of several such happenings covering the period 1713-22. The work, ac- cording to the chronogram given in the pref- ace, is dated ah 1 135/ad 1722-23. What makes the manuscript especially relevant to Sikh history is the space devoted in it to the last phase of Bands Singh's struggle against the Mughals. Excluding the 14-page preface, the first 117 pages of the 175-page document deal with the Sikhs. The author is no admir- er, not even sympathizer, of the Sikhs. He is clearly hostile as is evident from his pejora- tive phraseology and invective. Yet the over- all picture of Sikhs' character and of their political and social ideas and practices that emerges from his narrative is far from discreditable.
Ghulam Mohiy ud-Dln has not divided his narrative into chapters, but has given separate headings to the events narrated. The introduction, consisting of 29 pages, from 14 to 42, furnishes a background to the rise of the Sikhs under Banda Singh Bahadur, highlighting the circumstances leading to the estrangement between the Sikhs and the Mughals during the time of Guru Gobind Singh. Further, some of the information provided by the author regarding the early victories of the Sikhs under Banda Singh over the Mughal officials is at once new and pertinent. "They expelled Wazlr Khan's garrisons from thcinas everywhere," writes the author, "and brought the entire countryside right up to the cities and towns of Sirhind under their control." Elated with the victory attained, they erected a khamba, or wooden tower, on the other side of the plain of Thanesar touching the north western boundary of the Delhi empire. "The implication of their claim [by setting up a khamba},'" he explains, "was that if the Emperor of Hindustan with all his victorious armies and conquering hordes, chose to direct his attention to this part of the land, this tower should, like a cloud of dust, serve to remind him that he
had to cry a halt to his march and that his jurisdiction ended there." The implication is clear that Banda Singh's was not merely a predatory campaign, as some historians have tried to depict it; he clearly aimed at establishing a sovereign Sikh State. Another point the author makes is that while upper- class urban Hindu population was by and large loyal and faithful to the Mughal government, the low-caste Hindus, whom he terms as khas-o-hhashdk-i-hanud-i-jahanami wajud, i.e. the dregs of the society of Hindus condemned to hell, volunteered to become Sikhs. Hindus even from distant Iran, Turan, Kabul, Qandahar and Multan embraced the faith in large numbers. These people after joining the ranks of the "Nanak-prastari" or worshippers of Nanak, became so powerful that the author considers them a terrible calamity and exclaims: "Taqat-i-insani ba dfat-i-dsmdm kuja hampanjd shawad? (How could human power contend with calamity from the heavens?) In a poem inserted in the prose narrative, he praises the Sikhs for their mastery over the arts of archery and swordsmanship. At another point, he applauds their skill in manufacturing guns from hollowed trunks of trees. Moral values the Sikhs uphold are scarcely slurred by the contumelious epithets used for them by the author. To quote an instance, "They [Sikhs] are dirty, wretched, unclean and verily devils incarnate, a calamity on earth descending from the heavens, but they never take a woman except for a mother. "
Gh.S.
FAZALDAD KHAN CHIB (d. 1864), son of Raja Umar Khan Chib, was recipient of a pension of rupees four thousand from Maharaja Ranjlt Singh which was originally granted to his elder brother Amir Khan a.s compensation for the confiscated territory of his father. Fa/.aldad Khan was taken into service by Prince Kharak Singh to whom the
FERINGHEE
29
FIVE EVILS
area of Khar! Kariall, the territory which had belonged to Fazaldad Khan's ancestors, was given in jagir. Ten years later some sovdrs or horsemen were also allowed him. Fazaldad Khan accompanied Sher Singh Atarlvala to Multan in 1848, but did not join the rebellion. He died in 1864.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Siiri, Sohan Lai, 'Vmdat-ut-Twankh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
G.S.N.
FERINGHEE is an adaptation of the Indo- Persian term frangi or firingi used to denote a person of European origin. It is dervied from Frank, "a member of a group of ancient Germanic peoples dwelling in the regions of the Rhine, one division of whom, the Salians, conquered Gaul [modern France so named after them] about AD 500." Turks were the first Asian people to come in contact with Franks whom they called frangi, a name applied to all Europeans.
Europeans who came to India following the arrival in 1498 at Calicut of Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese explorer, were also called Feringhees. Niccolao Manucci, a Ve- netian adventurer who came to India about the middle of the seventeenth century and remained here for over half a century, records that Feringhee was a term of con- tempt and was used by the Indians for Euro- peans whom they despised. "The Hindus," he says in his Storia do Mogor, "call all Europeans... in India by the name of Farangis, a designation so low, so disgraceful in their tongue, that there is nothing in ours which could reproduce it." The first Sikh writer, poet in this instance, in whose works the word is found is Bhai Gurdas (d. 1636), but there it carries no derogatory implication. He, describing the infinite vari- ety and diversity of peoples and creeds in the world, lists Feringhees along with Sunnls,
Christians, Jews, Shlahs, infidels, Armenians, Romans, Sayyids, Turkomans, Mughals, Pathans, Negroes, black-clad monks and recluses. It was only after the establishment of Sikh rule under Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839) that the common people came in actual touch with the Feringhees. They included Europeans employed by the Maharaja (at salaries and perquisites much higher than those given to the sons of the soil), Christian missionaries with religious conversion as their ultimate aim, and offic- ers and diplomats of the British East India Company putting on airs as rulers of a great empire. The Sikhs generally regarded them with distrust and dislike and considered them as intruders. The pro-British behaviour of most of them after the Maharaja's death confirmed the people in their belief that the Feringhees were time-servers and ene- mies of the Khalsa. The antipathy contin- ued until the British withdrawal from India in 1947, after which the word virtually fell into disuse.
B.j.H.
FITZROY, JOHN, an Englishman in the em-, ploy of the East Indian Company. In 1835, he came to Lahore and entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He did not stay long and took his dismissal the following year.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grey, C, Eurofiean Adventurers of Northern India. Lahore, 1929
Gl.S.
FIVE EVILS or pancadokh or panj vikar as they are referred to in Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, are, according to Sikhism, the five major weaknesses of the human personality at variance with its spiri- tual essence. The common evils far exceed in number, but a group of five of them came to be identified because of the obstruction they are believed to cause in man's pursuit of
FIVE EVILS
30
FIVE EVILS
the moral and spiritual path. The group of five evils comprises kama, krodha, lobha, moha, and ahankara (kdm, karodh, lobh, moh and hankar, in Punjabi); translated into English these words mean lust, wrath, greed, attach- ment and egoity, respectively. The word 'evil' here may be understood to represent the connotation of Punjabi pap (sin), dokh (de- fect), or kilbikh (defilement).
The number five {panj, panca) is tradi- tional and has been used in a variety of contexts. One comes across repeated refer- ences to pentads in philosophy, religion, eth- ics, mythology and history of India. The god Siva has five faces, hence his name Pancdnana; the Buddha analysed human personality into five aggregates (panca-skandha) and laid down five moral precepts (pancasila) ; the Upanisads speak of the five fires (pancagni) and five sheaths or wrappers investing the self (pancakosah) ; Jainism has its five vows (panca- vratas), and the Yoga system its five absten- tions (yamas) and five observations (niyamas); five are the organs of sense, five the organs of action, five the objects of sense, five the gross and subtle elements (panca mahabhuta or panca lattva) . There are also the traditions of five makaras of Tantric Yoga, five kakars of later Sikhism and of the first five members of the Khalsa community and so on. The list of pentads (pancaka) can be lengthened. How- ever, theologically, no special significance attaches to the number five in the group of evils except that these five human failures are believed to constitute strong hindrances to spiritual progress.
The early Vedic literature bears no refer- ence to the concept of 'five evils'; the terms moha, kama, krodha and aham do occur in the Vedic texts, but they are not enumerated as a series of evils. Moreover, these words do not seem to have any significant relation to ethical and soteriological ideas in the Vedic age. It was the ascetic sages of non-Vedic tradition, the munis and sramanas who pro- pounded the philosophy of renunciation and
the methods of sense-control. The impact of their ideas and practices was felt by the Upanisadic teachers. Thus the Upanisads, though they do not condemn kama or desire, are aware of the evils like rdga or passion, avidyd or nescience, moha or delusion, and ahankara or egoity. These evils are mentioned and condemned in some of the post-Bud- dhistic Upanisads such as the Pra'sna, Svelasvatara, Aitareya, Isa and Mundaka. The last-named text refers to 'the sages whose defilements have been destroyed' (ksinadosah) , although it does not enumer- ate the 'defilements'.
Long before these later Upanisads, how- ever, leaders of sramanic philosophers had expounded soteriological techniques in which eradication of all evils and imperfec- tions was considered sine qua non for ulti- mate release. It is in the teachings of Kapilamuni, Parsvanatha, Sakyamuni and Mahavlra that one finds a detailed discussion of the nature and function of kama, krodha, lobha, moha and ahankara and many other kindred vices.
The old Pali texts contain three lists of evils and factors which obstruct meditation and moral perfection. The list of five 'hindrances' (nivaranas) consists of sensu- ous desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restless- ness and sceptical doubt. These hindrances blind man's mental vision and make concen- tration difficult. The list of ten 'fetters' (sanyojanas) , which bind beings to sansdra, comprises the following: belief in a perma- nent individuality, sceptical doubt, belief in the efficacy of mere moral observances and rituals, sensual passion, ill will, desire for existence in the material world, desire for existence in the immaterial world, conceit, restlessness and nescience.
The first two in the list of five hindranc- es, viz. sensuous desire (kdmacchanda) and ill will or malice are the same as the first two in the list of five evils mentioned in the Sikh canon. Likewise, belief in a permanent indi-
FIVE EVILS
31
FIVE EVILS
viduality (satkdyadrsti) , sensual passion (kdma- rdga), ill will, conceit (mana) and nescience (avidya), included in the Buddhist list of ten fetters, are comparable to egoity, lust, wrath, pride and delusion or attachment of Sikh enumeration.
The third Buddhist list of ten 'defilements' (Pall kilesa, Punjabi kalesh and Skt. klesa), includes the following: greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), delusion (moha), con- ceit (mana) , false views, sceptical doubt, sloth, distraction, shamelessness and recklessness. In this list, again, the first four defilements are nearly identical with those included in the list of 'five evils' minus lust (kdma) . This last evil is mentioned separately and repeat- edly in the Buddhist scriptures in Pall as well as in Sanskrit. Similarly wrath (krodha) is men- tioned separately as a powerful enemy of holy life. Early Buddhist sources describe the triad of lobha, dosa (dvesa), and moha as the three roots of evil (akusala-mula). One of the standard Buddhist words for evil is klesa which maybe translated as 'defilement' or 'deprav- ity'. A list of six defilements is found in some Buddhist Sanskrit sources and includes pas- sion (raga) , ill will (pratigha) , conceit ( mana) , nescience (avidya), false view (kudrsti), and sceptical doubt (vichikitsa) .
The Jaina sources also contain details concerning evils and defilements. All the five evils of the Sikh list are found repeatedly mentioned in the sacred literature ofjainism. The Avasyakasutra has a list of eighteen sins which includes among others wrath (krodha) , conceit, delusion (mdyd), greed, and ill will. The standard Jaina term for evil is 'dirt' or 'passion' (kasdya). The Dasavaikdlikasutra states that four kasdyas, viz. wrath, conceit, delusion and greed, cause rebirth. The Uttarddhyayanasutra mentions moha, trsnd (synonym of kdma) and lobha as the sources of sorrow.
The Yogasutra (II. 3) has a list of five defilements or hindrances called panca-klesah. These are nescience (avidya) , egoity (asmitd) ,
passion (raga), ill will (dvesa) and the will to live (abhinivesa). It should be pointed out here that avidya equals moha; asmitd is iden- tical with ahankdra; raga is similar to kdma; dvesa is not different from krodha; and abhinivesa belongs to the category of lobha understood as continuous desire for exist- ence in sansdr.
The Bhagavad-gitd mentions all the five evils although they are not enumerated as forming a pentad. The text mentions kdma as desire or wish and at one point it is identified with krodha. Besides kdma and krodha, the Bliagavad-gitdmentions passion (raga) , ill will, attachment, delusion, egoity, greed, conceit and nescience (ajndna), and employs terms such as papa, dosaand kalmasator impurities or defilements. In one verse hypocrisy, arro- gance, conceit, wrath, harsh speech and nescience are described as demoniac qualities. Medieval Buddhist, Jainist, and Brahmanical authors of religious and philosophical works continued to discuss the meaning, nature and methods of eradicating the five and more evils. The Tantric adepts (siddhas) recommended rather radical techniques of combating the evil psychological forces, especially through the method of 'conquering passions through passions'. Reference may be made here to Tulasldasa who, in a series of quadriparti vers- es (chaupais) in his Rdmacharitamdnasa, ac- knowledges the universality of kdma, krodha, lobha, moha, mana and trsnd which afflict not only men but also the gods.
There is no philosophical or theological explication of the five evils, collectively or individually, in Sikh Scripture, but man is repeatedly warned against them. They have been called diseases or maladies which afflict human beings with disastrous effects. The evil pentad is however mentioned at numer- ous places in the Holy Book. In at least five instances the list consists of the following: kdm, krodh, lobh, moh and abhimdn or ahankdr. At one place instead of moh and abhimdn we have -mod and nindd. Here the word mad may
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be interpreted in the sense of 'intoxication born of egoity'. The word nindd means slander. In two of the seven instances cited here the members of the evil pentad are called 'five thieves' (panch-chor) . In a hymn by Kablr the list has trishnd (craving), kdm, krodh, mad and matsar as the five evils. The word trishnd (Skt. trsnd) means craving or desire, while the word matsarmeans jealousy. Often the five evils are referred to as 'the five' (panch) or 'all the five' (sdre panch) . At places the five organs of sense (jndnendriyas) are also often referred to as 'the five'.
One, two, three or four of the five cardi- nal evils are repeatedly mentioned almost throughout the body of the Sikh canon. The triad kdm, krodh and lobh finds as frequent a mention as the triad kdm, krodh and ahahkdr or moh, lobh and ahankdr. Among the five evils the one that is condemned more than the others is ahankdr. When only two of the five are mentioned, the pair consists either of kdm and krodh, or of moh and gumdn, or of lobh and moh; when a group of four out of the five evils is cited, it usually consists of the first four, kdm, krodh, lobh and moh. Since the Sikh canon is a composite text containing the religious poetry not only of the Gurus but also of several saints and Sufis from var- ious regions, synonyms, occasionally from dif- ferent languages, occur. Thus lobh is also called lalach; man is called garab (Skt. garva) and gumdn; moh is also called bharam (Skt. bhramd) .
A word of most frequent occurrence is haumai. It is perhaps derived from aham, T or egoity, the essential element of ego; hankdr, ahankdr are its semantic cognates. The word man is employed in a double sense; some- times it is clearly used in the sense of 'honour' or 'respect'. In most cases, however, it is synonymous with abhimdn.
Although it is permissible to identify haumai with ahankdr, the fact that haumai is not included in the evil pentad and yet comes in for the strongest censure in the Scripture
would lead to the conclusion that it is re- garded as a major evil in addition to those forming the pentad. It may be added that haumai or egoity, self-centredness, the per- sonality system, the belief in one's individual existence, is the basis of all the other evils. From this standpoint, ahankdr may be reck- oned as an offshoot of haumai. The assertion or affirmation of T runs counter to the affir- mation of 'Thou'; the consciousness of 'self- existence' or 'one's own existence' {sva-bhdva or dtma-bhdva) is diametrically opposed to the consciousness of God's existence. In a system in which the sole reality of God (ik onkdr) is the first principle, there can be no room for the reality of an 'individual existence' or 'one's own existence' apart from or along with the existence of God. To say that God alone is the reality means that there is no other reality that belongs to someone else, and that there is no someone else who can claim an independent reality of his own. The truth is that there is no truth in haumai.
Nevertheless, this unreal reality, this false truth — haumai — apparently exists. It is un- real and false from the standpoint of God who is the only absolute Reality; it is real and true from the standpoint of the fettered crea- tures coursing in sansdr. These creatures have assumed a reality of their own; every fettered being is seemingly convinced of its own ex- istence; this conviction flourishes in its igno- rance of God's reality. There can be no such thing as co-existence of God and not-God; Reality and falsity cannot co-exist as cannot light and darkness. Therefore, where there is awareness of God's reality there is absence of one's own reality, and vice versa; where there is awareness of one's own existence or haumai, there is absence of the awareness of God's existence. The Scripture says: "Haumai jdi td kant samdi — God is realized only when one eradicates egoity" (gg, 750); literally, '(one) merges into (one's) Lord only when (her/his) egoity has disappeared'.
The five evils, lust, wrath, greed, attach-
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ment and egoity, flourish on the soil o£4he belief in one's individualized existence. By destroying the doctrine of one's own exist- ence or the belief in one's individual reality, the sages (sant, sddh) cancel in one stroke, as it were, the entire catalogue of evils. Desire, anger, avarice, infatuation, egoism, passion, jealousy, hypocrisy, pride, deception, false- hood, violence, doubt, and nescience and other forms of depravity listed in the Guru Granth Sahib do not affect him who has overcome his own self and found his essence in God's reality. Liberation (mukti, mokh) means the extinction of all the evils headed by haumai.
The Sikh canon also points to the way of extinguishing evils of all kinds. It is acknowl- edged that the five evils afflict all beings in sansdrand that it is difficult to control them. Yet the possibility of conquering them is not ruled out in the theological framework of Sikhism; the moral training of a Sikh is in fact directed towards controlling the senses and eradicating the evils. The seeker of lib- eration has first to liberate himself of the yoke of the pentad. No headway can be made towards God-realization without discarding the cardinal evils. Kablr says, "He alone cher- ishes the Lord's feet who is rid of desire, wrath, greed and attachment — kdrnu krodhu lobhu mohu bibarjit haripadu chinai soi (gg, 1123).
Loving devotion ( bhagati, bhakli) to God is, according to Sikhism, the way to ulti- mate release. One can love God only when one has annihilated self-love; this means that the devotee must be humble and surrender himself fully unto God. The Gurus stress the necessity of taking refuge in God. To this end, one must first renounce pride {man) . Constant awareness of God (simran) is the panacea for all ills. He who enshrines the Lord's lotus feet in his heart destroys sins of many existences. Devotion to God eradicates the evils in an instant and puri- fies the body (gg, 245). The destruction of
evils may be viewed both as a cause and consequence of the practice of nam simran. Awareness of God's presence comes only when lust, wrath, avarice, attachment and egoity have departed from the devotee; when the devotee lives in constant aware- ness of God, the evils touch him not. Such a person is unaffected by pleasure and pain, for he has freed himself from evils such as lobh, moh and abhimdn. Guru Tegh Bahadur describes such a sage as one liberated while still alive and calls him an image of God on earth (gg, 1426-27).
Another way of overcoming haumai and other evils is to keep the company of the saints {sant, sddh) who radiate virtuous qualities. One kills lust, wrath, greed and other depravities of the evil age {kali-kales) by taking refuge in the sangat, the holy fellowship. It is by discarding the most pow- erful of evils, egoity, that one can get admis- sion to this sacred society. Egoity ceases as one takes to the company of the holy (gg, 271) . A third method of overcoming the evils is to submit oneself to the instruction of the spiritual preceptor {guru). He who would overcome the five evils must follow his teaching. The wisdom obtained from the preceptor is like a swift sword {kharagu kardrd) which cuts through confusion, infatuation, avarice and egoity (gg, 1087) . One celebrates God's virtues through the favour of the sage {sant prasddi) and destroys lust, anger and insanity born of egoism {unmad) . In Guru Nanak's Sidh Gosti it is stated that without the preceptor one's efforts bear no fruit. The importance of living up to the instruction of the holy preceptor can be judged from the concept of the 'Guru-oriented person' {gurmukh) so central to the Sikh moral system. A gurmukh is one who has turned his face towards the Guru, that is to say, a person who by practising what the Guru teaches has freed himself from the depravities and lives in the Divine presence. He achieves this portion by conquering the evils under the
FIVE KHANDS
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FIVE KHANDS
guidance of the Guru and ever remains in tune with the Supreme Reality.
See AHANKAR, RAM, KRODH, LOBH and MOH
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Jodh Singh, Bhai, Gurmati Nirnaya. Lahore, 1932
2. Sher Singh, The Philosophy of Sikhism. Lahore, 1944
3. Nirbhai Singh, Philosophy of Sikhism. Delhi, 1990
4. Nripinder Singh, The Sikh Moral Tradition. Delhi, 1990
5. Teja Singh, Essays in Sikhism. Lahore, 1941
6. Wazir Singh, Philosophy of Sikh Religion. Delhi, 1981
7. Avtar Singh, Ethics of the Sikhs. Patiala, 1970
L.M.J.
FIVE RHANDS or Panj Rhands, lit. realms {panj = five, khand = region or realm), signi- fies in the Sikh tradition the five stages of spiritual progress leading man to the Ulti- mate Truth. The supporting text is a frag- ment from Guru Nanak's Japu, stanzas 34 to 37. The Five Realms enumerated therein are dharam khand, the realm of righteous action {pauri 34) , gian khand, the realm of knowl- edge (pauri 35) , saram khand, the realm of spiritual endeavour {pauri 36), karam khand, the realm of grace, and sach khand the realm of Truth {pauri 37). The concept of the spir- itual journey running into several stages is found in other religious traditions as well. The number of stages and the nomenclature may vary, but the broad features of the jour- ney remain the same. The seven muqamat of the Sufis, the eight angas of Patanjal yoga, the five kosas of Vedanta and dash bhumis of Buddhism run on parallel lines though they are embedded each in a different cultural milieu.
The Panj Khands in the Japu delineate the different stages of spiritual ascent trac- ing the evolution of human consciousness on different planes involving man's thought, emotions and action. Though Guru Nanak does not explicitly deal with these transfor- mations and only touches upon the core
characteristics of each stage {khand), yet the emphasis on one aspect does not exclude the others. In each stage, the status or posi- tion of the individual is set forth in a social setting. The seeker is not conceived of as a recluse or ascetic: social obligations and moral qualities form an essential core of the spiritual path. The empirical mind is first emancipated from the grip of desire and purified by a rigorous moral discipline. When it learns to stand still, it is brought to the Divine Portal which it can enter only with the divine grace. There it finds itself face to face with the Truth Eternal, i.e. God.
The delineation of the Panj Rhands is preceded by two introductory remarks in the two preceding stanzas. First, there is the term pavarian, i.e. rungs of a ladder, denoting stages of the mystical ascent. Guru Nanak relates this ascent to the constant remem- brance of His Name. Then occurs another insight which implies that all the endeavours that the spiritual aspirant makes and all the means that he employs during these endeavours have their ultimate source in divine grace without which he may not even feel the initial impulse towards spiritual life.
The first stage is the dharam khand. "The earth exists for dharma to be practised." The word dharam has been employed in the sense of duty. Duty is usually performed either out of a sense of social responsibility or through moral awareness. Guru Nanak links this sense of duty to man's consciousness of divine justice. This is the stage in which a sense of inquisitiveness is aroused in the mind of the devotee who is now no longer a casual on- looker of the world around but can perceive the divine purpose behind the creation of this planet of ours, the earth, which is set in the cosmic cradle of time and space and is sustained by the vital elements. Man has been placed in this world to respond to the Cre- ator's purpose. In His court, he will be judged according to his moral response.
The next is gian khand. "In the realm of
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FIVE SYMBOLS
knowledge, knowledge is ignited, i.e. illumi- nation dawns." The seeker here becomes aware of the universe and the mystery of existence. Through the creation, he gains knowledge of the Creator from whom it emanates. Knowledge here is not merely in- tellectual or sensual; it is intuitive awareness, a spiritual consciousness which expands the vision of the seeker. His sense of wonder is born not merely of his awareness of the many forms of life or the ordered movement of numerous celestial spheres, but of his per- ception of God who is the sole force behind all. In front of this limitless variety of cosmic life, he feels humble. This simultaneous ex- perience of expansion of vision and of the sense of humility leads to vismaya or vismad (wonder) .
Saram Khand is the sphere of spiritual endeavour. Here man strives against the last remnants of his ego which still afflict him in spite of his experiencing strong emotions of humility in the gian khand. If the sense of awe and wonder is not accompanied or followed by discipline, the experience might become a mere emotion, something remem- bered with nostalgia but having no perma- nent worth. To become worthy of receiving the divine grace, one must chisel one's surati (consciousness) which is a unifying thread for all human faculties. This chiselling of intellect and wisdom would erase even the subtlest layers of ego from one's mind.
Karam Khand (the realm of grace) is the sphere where reigns the Divine grace. The process of liberation with grace initiated is now brought to completion. All sense of du- alism ends. The devotee is one with the Lord and with those who have attained this state of bliss. One reaches here only after achiev- ing a heroic victory over the evils. Yet he is not a passive devotee, but a man of awak- ened courage and great deeds.
The final stage of spiritual ascent, i.e. sach khand (the realm of the Truth) , defies description. "Hard as steel is the story of this
state to narrate." Described as the abode of the Nirarikar, the Formless One, sach khand is not a geographical spot, but the final state of the evolution of human consciousness. One can only experience it, but not describe it, for here words cease to have any meaning and no analogies can help in describing the Unique. Here in the Divine Court, the perfect ones rejoice in His presence. It is from here that His Will (hukam) goes out to the universe, and the liberated, grace-filled souls perform it joyously and effortlessly. The devotee becomes one with Him and realizes Him as a unifying force working through all objects of His creation. This way he attains to the non- spatial sach khandand to the Dweller therein, the Nirarikar, who is nowhere outside his own heart.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sabadarth Sri Guru Granth Sahib. Amritsar, 1964
2. Jodh Singh, Rh&l.Japuji Safik. Amritsar, 1950
3. Ram Singh, Japjl da Visha te Rup. Ludhiana, 1969
4. Sohan Singh, The Seeker's Path. Calcutta, 1959
5. McLeod, W.H., Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion. London, 1968
6. Talib, Gurbachan Singh, Japuji: fhe Immottal Prayei Chant. Delhi, 1977
Rm.S.
FIVE SYMBOLS, a set of five distinctive fea- tures or elements of personal appearance or apparel that set off Sikhs from the followers of any other religious faith. Any study of religious symbols involves a dual task: first,, to explain the meaning of symbols not only in terms of their original connotations but also on the basis of contemporary categories of understanding; secondly, to discriminate between genuine symbolism and any post hoc interpretations which later times may have imposed on things originally having little symbolic relevance.
A symbol is generally defined as some- thing that stands for, represents or denotes something else, especially a material object
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FIVE SYMBOLS
representing or taken to represent something immaterial or abstract, as being an idea, qual- ity or condition. Words, phrases and sen- tences, for instance, represent various be- ings, ideas, qualities or conditions. Like any other religion, Sikhism also incorporates in its thought and practice a variety of symbols. Most of the philosophical terms such as mdyd, kdl, mukti, anhad ndd, are used in Sikhism in common with other religions of Indian ori- gin; but there are others especially modified or coined by the Gurus precisely to mark their new connotations. Of the modified ver- bal symbols the most significant is Guru Nanak's Ik Oankdr. Ultimate Reality was the mystic monosyllable Om, which appeared first in the Upanisads as the object of profound religious meditation. In later times Owcanie to represent the Hindu triad, Brahma, Visnu and Siva. By Guru Nanak's time the more popular use of the term which equated the three mythical gods with their Creator, the Supreme One, had gained ground. Guru Nanak modifed the term by prefixing the figure "1" to Orikar to stress the unicity of the Ultimate Reality. This made Sikhism a strict- ly monotheistic creed. Examples of symbolic terms originally coined or introduced by the Gurus are nam, the manifest equivalent of the Transcendent One; hukam standing for Divine Will or Divine Law; nadar meaning Divine grace: Akdl, the Timeless One, i.e. God; Sarb Loh, lit. all-steel, representing the All-Powerful God. Another original term in Sikhism is Vdhiguru (lit. Hail! the Enlightener who dispels Darkness) for God. As the fig- ures of Om and swastika symbolize Hinduism, the cresent and the numerals 786 denote Islam, and the cross signifies Christianity, there are symbols which define and individ- uate Sikhism. There are symbols peculiar to the Sikhs and their use gives them their iden- tity and marks them off as a distinct people. For example, their mill mantra, in abbreviat- ed form, the statement of their fundamental creed is used as a preamble to their religious
writings. It is set down at the top of their private correspondence as well. It is also su- perimposed as a crest on their flag. Another form of the crest is a composite figure of khandd (double-edged sword), a chakra (steel quoit) and two swords joined close together at the bottom symbolizing strength and sov- ereignty of the Khalsa. The Sikh flag, rever- ently called nishdn sahib {sahib, added as an honorific) comprising a high-flying penant, yellow, saffron or dark blue in colour, with a khandd atop its flagpost, is commonly seen in the compound of a gurdward or Sikh place of worship. The flag, the crest and the war cry Sat Sri Akdl (True is the Exalted Timeless One) have served the Khalsa to maintain its high morale and esprit de corps through the ups and downs of its history. A penant is defined as an emblem of victory but the form of salutation current among the Khalsa — Vdhiguru ji kd khalsa, Vdhiguru ji ki fateh — constantly reminds them that lest a triumph fill them with vanity, victory is always from God. Another popular and distinctive form of salutation is Sat Sri Akdl.
Forms of salutation help to recognize the Sikhs as individuals and also as a communi- ty formed around the religion called Sikhism. But the most prominent distinguish- ing marks of the Sikhs, especially of the members of the Khalsa brotherhood, are what are commonly called the panj kakars, from each of the five articles beginning with the letter "k". The initiation ceremony called amrit sahchdr, repeating the original cere- mony that canonized the order of the Khalsa on the Baisakhi day of AD 1699, is itself sym- bolic of imparting a new immortal life to the initiates. During the ceremony every initiate into the order is enjoined upon to adopt and never to part from his person five symbolic physical objects — hes (unshorn hair), kangha (a comb), kirpan (sword), hard (a steel bracelet) and kachchhd or kachhahird (a pair of specially designed shorts) — all names beginning with the phoneme 'k' and
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FIVE SYMBOLS
hence collectively called panj kakar (panj = five; kakar = symbols). The numeral panj (five) itself has a symbolic significance in Sikh usage. Physical bodies, it is believed, are made of five elements; there are five khands (regions or stages) in the ascent to the point of realization of the highest spir- itual truth; the traditional village council, panchdyat, consists of five members in the popular belief that where five punches have assembled together (for the sake of admin- istering justice), there God Himself is present; it is panj piare (the Five Elect) who prepared and administered amrit (the holy initiatory water) to novitiates; five bdnis (scrip- tural texts) are recited as amrit is being pre- pared; the Sikhs own five takhts as the seats of the highest religious authority and legis- lation; and traditionally for the daily reli- gious devotions a regimen of five bants is laid down. Bhal Gurdas (d. 1636), records: As one Sikh is sufficient to announce his identity, two of them make up the holy congregation. Among five of them God him- self is present (iku sikhu dui sddh sangu pafijin paramesaru) , Varan, XIII. 19.
The five k's may be regarded as parts of the uniform of the Khalsa which is defined as Akal ki Fauj, God's own army, created to fulfil the divinely ordained mission of Guru Gobind Singh, viz. dharam chaldvan, sant ubdran dust sabhan ko mill updran — to up- hold dharma, protect the saintly and uproot the wicked (Bachitra Ndtak, 6) . There is noth- ing esoteric or mystic about the five k's. They were simply chosen to serve as aids to the preservation of the corporate life of the Panth. It, however, seems to be essential for a social symbol to contain something of the nature of an archetypal kernel so that it may appeal rationally as well as emotively to the collective consciouness of the community and thereby acquire wide acceptance and emo- tional sway over the minds of men.
Kes or the unshorn hair imprint on the individual the investiture of the spiritual man
exemplified by rishis or sages of yore, and even of God Himself (whose epithet keshava means one who carries long tresses, although, it must be remembered, the God of Sikhism is Formless and is occasionally personalized only for the sake of explanation of the at- tributes by which He is remembered) . They also signify manliness, virility, courage and dignity, and therefore signify qualities both of a sant (saint) and a sipahl (soldier) and a life both of bhakti (spiritual devotion) and shakti, i.e. strength of conviction, of courage, and of fortitude.
The vow to leave the hair untrimmed also signifies a disavowal of the cultic path of renunciation and asceticism marked among the practitioners by closely cropped hair or by keeping them matted.
Long-winded explanations on scientific grounds of the advantages of full-grown hair sometimes advanced are really unnecessary. It is enough to say that the Sikhs keep their hair untrimmed and uncut first because it is one of their religious vows and secondly be- cause it is a clear mark of identification. Guru Nanak said, "if you see a Sikh of the Guru, bow low and fall at his feet" (GG. 763). Rahitnamas enjoin upon every Sikh to enter- tain and assist others. A Sikh will be the easiest to know from his long hair.
Kanghd (the comb required to keep the hair tidy) symbolizes cleanliness. As a vestural symbol, it appears to repudiate the practice of Tan trie yogis, who keep their hair matted (jatd) as their outward denominational symbol.
Kirpan (the sword) signifies valour. It seems to represent what has been called "the sword of God in heavenly regions" {Isaiah, XXXIV, 5). For Guru Gobind Singh the sword was the emblem of Divine Energy for the destruction of the evil and protection of the good. Also called bhagauti (bhagvati or the goddess Durga, slayer of the demons) which in the Sikh vocabulary stands for the sword as well as for the Almighty. It is invoked at the very beginning of ardds, supplicatory
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prayer of the Sikhs.
The word kirpan seems to have been com- pounded from kirpa (krpd or compassion) and an (honour, dignity). Hence as a sym- bolic weapon it shall only be wielded in com- passion (to protect the oppressed) and for upholding righteousness and human dignity. It stands, therefore, for the heroic affirma- tion of honour and valour for the vindica- tion of ethical principles.
Kara (the steel bangle) was adopted as a pragmatic accessory to kirpan. A set of strong steel bangles used to be worn by warriors as protective armour over the arm that wielded the sword. But besides the symbolism of self- defence that its pragmatic value seems to indicate, it has a deeper symbolic significance. As a circle it signifies perfec- tion, without beginning, without end. Tradi- tionally, a circle also represents dharma, the Supreme Law, and Divine justice. It also sym- bolizes restraint and control. The kara, there- fore, symbolizes for the Sikhs a just and law- ful life of self-discipline (rahit) and self-con- trol (sanjam).
Kachchh or Kachhahira (pair of shorts) is a sartorial symbol signifying manly control. It contradicts the puritanical vows of chastity and celibacy (of sannyasa) . At the pragmatic level, its sartorial design makes for greater agility and easy movements, thereby ensur- ing ready preparedness, tayydr bar tayydr, (readiness beyond ordinary readiness) .
Of these five symbols, primacy unquestionably belongs to kes. It is the Sikhs' kes which rescued them from a critical situation. Unwarily, they had succumbed to a process of backsliding. The decline had in fact set in during the days of Sikh power. The stern religious discipline which had sustained the Sikhs through a period of difficulty and privation gave way to a life of luxury and plenty. They lost what, following Ibn Khaldun, may be described as their "desert qualifies." A second — and even more sinister — debilitating factor was the
Brahmanical ritual and practice which had gained ascendancy as an adjunct of regal pomp and ceremony. These now took a firmer hold over the Sikh mind. In this way, Sikh faith became garbled beyond recognition. The teachings of the Gurus which had supplied Sikhism its potent principle of re-creation and consolidation were obscured by the rising tide of conservatism. It was fast losing its characteristic vigour and its votaries were relapsing into beliefs and customs which the founding Gurus had clearly rejected. Absorption into ceremonial Hinduism indicated the course inevitably set for the Sikhs. This was the critical challenge they faced in the years following the British occupation of the Punjab.
Such had been the dereliction of the faith that several British observers prognosti- cated dismally for it. Some thought it was already dead; others felt it was irretrievably due for extinction. The following excerpt from the Punjab Administration Report for 1851-52 — a bare two years after the annex- ation of the Punjab — will illustrate:
The Sikh faith and ecclesiastical polity is rapidly going where the Sikh political ascendancy has already gone. Of the two elements in the old Khalsa, namely, the followers of Nanuck, the first prophet, and the followers of Guru Govind Singh, the second great religious leader, the former will hold their ground, and the latter will lose it. The Sikhs of Nanuck, a comparatively small body of peaceful habits and old family, will perhaps cling to the faith of their fathers; but the Sikhs of Govind [Singh] who are of more re- cent origin, who are more specially styled the Singhs or "lions" and who embraced the faith as being the religion of warfare and conquest, no longer regard the Khalsa now that the prestige has depart- ed from it. These men joined in thou- sands, and they now desert in equal
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FIVE YEARS IN INDIA
numbers. They rejoin the ranks of Hin- duism whence they originally came, and they bring up their children as Hindus. The sacred tank at Umritsar is less thronged than formerly, and the atten- dance at the annual festivals is diminish- ing yearly. The initiatory ceremony for adult persons is now rarely performed. It was the late nineteenth century renais- sance, the Singh Sabha movement, which halted this relapse into Hinduism by, besides preaching Sikh religious doctrine, laying stress on the initiatory rite of Khande dl Pahul and meticulous observation of the mandato- ry panj kakdr, the Five Symbols.
Along with kes, the turban became a cru- cial symbol, too. Sikhs cherish the greatest respect for it. They must not cut or shingle their hair and they must keep their heads covered with turbans. It may be observed how lovingly, painstakingly, proudly and colourfully they adorn their heads with neatly- tied crown-like turbans. As Sikh history testi- fies, depilatory apostasy is the greatest sin among them. It is for this reason that they introduced into their regular petitionary prayer, they call ardds, words to this effect: Lord preserve our faith until our last breath and until the last hair on our bodies.
These symbols, being the gift of the Guru, also possess a sacramental status. They are held dear as keepsakes of the Tenth Guru who had completely identified himself with his Khdlsd. A keepsake essentially symbolizes a relationship of love. These symbols, there- fore, also signify the Sikhs' love for their Guru as also his for them.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sher Singh, ed., Thoughts on Symbols in Sikhism. Lahore, 1927
2. Kapur Singh, Parasaraprasna. Ami i tsar, 1989
3. Nripinder Singh, The Sikh Moral Tradition. Delhi, 1990
4. Avtar Singh, Ethics of the Sikhs. Patiala, 1970
5. Cole, W.Owen, and Piara Singh Samlbhi, The Sikhs:
Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Delhi, 1978
6. Sikh Rahit Maryada. Amritsar, 1975
7. Padam, Piara Singh, Rahitndme. Patiala, 1974
J.S.N.
FIVE YEARS IN INDIA, by Henry Edward Fane, aide-de-camp to his uncle, General Sir Henry Fane, commander-in-chief of the army of the East India Company during late 1830's, is "a narrative of [the author's] trav- els in the Presidency of Bengal, a visit to the court of Runjeet Singh, a residence in the Himalayan mountains, an account of the late expedition to Cabul and Afghanistan, voy- age down the Indus, and journey overland to England." Fane had kept an immaculate journal of his travels from the time his reg- iment got orders to move to Ceylon in June/ July 1835, till he arrived at Falmouth, En- gland, in April 1840. His actual stay in India was of three and a half years, from August 1836, when he arrived at Calcutta, to the end of 1839, when he commenced his jour- ney homeward. The travelogue was pub- lished in two volumes, under one cover, by Henry Colburn, London, in 1842. It was reprinted by the Languages Department, Punjab, in 1970 in two separate volumes of 16 chapters each.
Soon after his arrival at Calcutta, Fane accompanied Sir Henry on the latter's in- spection tour of Company's military estab- lishments spread over the Gangetic plain. Travelling by river and road transport through cantonments such as Patna, Kanpur, Agra and Aligarh, the General was in the country around Meerut when, in February 1837, he received a letter from Maharaja Ranjlt Singh inviting him to at- tend the marriage of his grandson, Nau Nihal Singh. The commander-in-chief ac- cepted the invitation. Henry Edward Fane, who accompanied him to the Sikh capital of Lahore, provides in his book a graphic description of the visit which lasted from 3 March to 1 April 1837. He describes the
FIVE YEARS IN INDIA
40
FORD, MATTHEW WILLIAM
lavish festivities which took place at Amritsar from where the wedding party started and at Atari where the nuptial ceremonies were held. He was deeply impressed by the Maharaja's personality and character. As he records: "Runjeet, among his subjects, has the character generally of a kind and gen- erous master, and one of the best princes that has ever reigned in India. As evidence of his being a really good and amiable man may be cited his kindness to children... and the fact of his never having, since he con- quered the country, put a man to death for even the most heinous crimes..." Yet Fane was not above the white man's pride and prejudice. For him Ranjit Singh's army, though trained by European officers, was no match for the Company's troops in dis- cipline and perfection of drill movements, and when he witnessed a review of the Sikh troops again in December 1838, at the time of the meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Lord Auckland at Flrozpur, he attributed their better performance on the occasion to "the extraordinary effect that our expedition to Lahore, in 1837, has had upon Runjeet's troops."
From among the cis-Sutlej Sikh chief- tains, the author was most impressed by the ruler of Patiala (Maharaja Karam Singh) whom he describes as "the largest man I almost ever saw, standing, I should think, six feet seven or eight, with bone and sinew in proportion.... He has the character of a good prince, father and son, characters rare- ly to be met with among the higher princes and chiefs of India." His disparaging remarks were reserved for the last of the Great Mughals, Emperor Bahadur Shah II, actual- ly a pensioner of the East India Company: "I did not like the General so lowering him- self as to stand in the presence of a dirty, miserable old dog like this man, after hav- ing been seated in the durbar of Runjeet Singh."
The second volume contains an account
of Fane's travels with the Afghanistan expe- dition, undertaken to reinstal Shah Shuja' on the throne of Kabul with a view to check- mating Russian designs, and his return jour- ney to England. He describes his journey from Flrozpur down the Sutlej and the Indus to Rohrl, and then the march through the Bolan pass into Afghanistan and entry into Kabul, occupying Qandahar and Ghazni on the way. At Kabul, Fane joined Colonel Wade, the politicaL.agent at Ludhiana, intending to travel with him through the Punjab on his way to Bombay. But he changed his plans at Attock where he found another companion with whom he set out by boat down the river Indus, shifted to a bigger vessel at Karachi, and reached Bombay on 11 December 1839. From there he embarked for England on 1 January 1840, reaching his home country on 13 April 1840.
S.K.B.
FORD, MATTHEW WILLIAM (d. 1841), an Englishman who started his career in 1804 as an ensign in a West India regiment. He suc- cessively served with the 7th Foot, the 70th Foot, the 1st Royal Scots and the 22nd Light Dragoons. In 1823, he was appointed pay- master to the 16th Foot. While stationed at Kama! in 1837, he embezzled large sums of money and deserted the British troops. He came to Lahore towards the end of the year and joined the Sikh army as a battalion com- mander on Rs 800 per month, later commut- ed for ajagirof three villages near Rawalpindi. Ford's battalion belonged to Avitabile's brigade. At the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's funeral procession, Ford command- ed the regiment that lined up the streets of Lahore.
After the Maharaja's death, European em- ployees of the court became suspect espe- cially in the eyes of the Sikh troops. In March 1841, Ford was at Hazara when he was at- tacked by his own men and seriously injured.
FOULKES, R.
41
FUKINAUL, THOMAS
He escaped to Peshawar where he died of the injuries a month later.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Grey, C, European Adventurers of Northern India. Lahore, 1929
Gl.S.
FOULKES, R. (d. 1841), an Englishman, who joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh's cavalry in Feb- ruary 1836. He remained attached to Gener- al Ventura as aide-de-camp, and accompa- nied him on his expedition to Mandi in 1840. On the conclusion of the campaign, he was left in charge of the Sikh troops stationed at MandT. However, his troops mutineed in March 1841, and assassinated him.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Grey, C, European Adventurers of Northern India.
Lahore, 1929
Gl.S.
FRANCIS, a French adventurer, who arrived at Lahore in 1833 and joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. But he had no military train- ing, and was discharged from the service soon afterwards.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grey, C, European Adventurers of Northern India. Lahore, 1929
Gl.S.
FUKINAUL, THOMAS, a Frenchman, who during 1822-23 was in Maharaja Ranjit Singh's service, employed in the gunpowder factory.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grey, C, European Adventurers of Northern India. Lahore, 1929
Gl.S.
G
GADlAL, a village in Ropar district of the Punjab about 18 km east of Garhshahkar, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who arrived here in 1700 from Khera Kalmot and stayed awhile under a fig tree. A memorial in the form of a small platform built around the fig tree with a 5-metre-high Nishan Sahib marks the spot.
Gn.S.
GAGA, village 2 km west of Lahira (29°56'N, 75°-48'E), in Satigrur district of the Punjab, was visited by Guru Tegh Bahadur during his travels in these parts. According to SakluPolht, the Guru arrived here for a night's stay. As the Sikhs went out to collect grass for the horses, the landowners chased them away. The Guru immediately struck camp and pro- ceeded to Gurne Kalari. Landowners, over- come by remorse when they learnt who the visitor was, followed the Guru to make expia- tion for their misdemeanour. Receiving his pardon, the repentant villagers returned to Gaga and established a manji sahib at the place where the Guru had halted. A gurdwara was raised by one Jawahar Singh in 1848. Seva Siiigh, a minister in Nabha state, recon- structed it in 1876. The building was reno- vated again in 1975. Gurdwara Guru Sar Patshahi IX, as it is now called, is a square hall, with a domed sanctum in the middle of it. A portion of the older building, a pavilion with a cubicle at either side, still stands form- ing the southern side of the hall, with the sarovar to the north of the hall. The Gurdwara, provided with 108 acres of land, is
administered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Special divans are held on the tenth of the light half of every lunar month and on important Sikh anniversaries. Dussehra, in October, is a fes- tival which is celebrated with great fervour.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1 . Mulva Desh llaian di Saklii Pothl. Amritsnr, 1968
2. Taiil Singh, Sri Gur Tiraih Sangrahi. Amritsar, n.d.
3. Thakar Singh, Giant, Sri Gurduare Darshan. Amritsar, 1923
M.G.S.
GAGGOBUA, village 27 km southwest of Amritsar (31°-38'N, 74°-52'E) along the Amritsar-Khemkaran road, is sacred to Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who came here once following the chase. Gurdwara Mahjl Sahib Chhevih Patshahl, constructed at the site of the old shrine, marks the spot where Guru Hargobind had halted. The Gurdwara is "affiliated to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
Gaggobua was also the native place of Baba Bir Singh, a nineteenth-century saint, whose memory is perpetuated through two gurdiuaras, both managed by his descendants.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Tara Siiigh, Sri Gur Tiraih Sangrahi. Amritsar, n.d.
2. Thakar Singh, Giani, Sri Gurduare Darshan. Amritsar, 1923
Gn.S.
GAHAL (locally pronounced Gailh), village
GAHIR GAMBHlRIE MAT .
43
GAJJAN, BHAI
on the right bank of the Bathinda branch of Sirhind Canal, 30 km north of Barnala (30°- 22'N, 75°-32'E) in Sahgrur district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Har Rai (1630-61), who once made a brief halt here during his travels in the Malva country. Gurdwara Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Patshahl VII, situated in a spacious compound in the northeastern part of the village, comprises a square sanc- tum, with a domed room above it and a hall in front. The Gurdwara is endowed with land- ed property and is administered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Commit- tee through a local committee.
During the Vadda Ghallughara or the Great Holocaust of 5 February 1 762, the bad- ly mauled, yet unvanquished, Sikh column is said to have passed through Gahal on its way to Barnala. A memorial shrine in honour of the Ghallughara martyrs has been raised in the Gurdwara compound. Sant Channan Singh, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, laid, on 22 Febru- ary 1967, the cornerstone of the building which was completed in May 1971.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. lava Singh, Sri Gur Tirath Sangrahi. Amritsar, n.d.
2. Thakar Singh, Giani, Sri Gurduare Darshan. Amritsar, 1923
M.G.S.
GAHIR GAMBHIRIE MAT KESVAMI BISHAN DAS YATI JI KA JIVAN CHARITRA, by Bhagvan Das, is a biographical portrayal (jivan charitra) of Svami Bishan Das, founder of the Gahir Gambhirie sect. The author who was a disciple of Bishan Das compiled this account during 1886-1902 at Phillaur, near Ludhiana. The manuscript, still unpub- lished, is preserved at the Khalsa College at Amritsar under catalogue No. 1334, and con- tains 648 folios, each measuring 32x24 cms and containing 24 lines. The narrative is in simple Braj verse; for the devotional hymns some of the poetic forms and musical mea-
sures from the Guru Granth Sahib have been used. The volume, covering only six years, 1953 Bk/AD 1896 to 1958 Bk/AD 1902, of the life of Bishan Das (1863-1935), is marked number II which suggests the existence of a previous volume but which still remains undiscovered. Although Bishan Das studied under an Udasi teacher, he had not adopted the sectarian garb as his portrait included in the work reveals. He in fact struck out his own path. He commonly addressed God as Gahir Gambhir, the solemn and serene, and maintained that this was the best way to de- scribe the Supreme Being. To elaborate the point, he quoted verses from the Guru Granth Sahib pronouncing these attributes of the Divine, as most apt. From the term Gahir Gambhir, his followers and devotees came to be known as Gahir Gambhirie. Bishan Das revered the Guru Granth Sahib and held continuous readings of it at his dera called Kirtan Mandir. He travelled extensively throughout the Punjab and beyond preach- ing the Sikh tenets: as the manuscript con- cludes he was preaching in Lyallpur (now in Pakistan). He preached against the use of intoxicants, denounced slander and bhekhox pretence, and rejected caste divisions. He gave women a place equal with menfolk. The names of several of his women disciples oc- cur in his Jivan Charitra. He was, however, opposed to the Singh Sabha movement which, he asserted, was abolishing the old order introducing "innovations".
S.S.Am.
GAIJAN, BHAI, an Uppal KhatrT, named among Guru Nanak's Sikhs in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 14.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala. Amritsar, 1955
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-33
Gn.S.
GAJjA SINGH, MAHANT
44
GAJJA SINGH, MAHANT
GAJJA SINGH, MAHANT (c. 1850-1914), maestro of Sikh classical devotional music, was born in a Jatt Sikh family of Vandar, a village in Farldkot district of the Punjab. He had a sensitive ear for music from his early childhood. His father, a pious Sikh himself, apprenticed him for religious instruction to the mahant or custodian of Gurusar (Mehraj), a historical shrine about 25 km northeast of Bathinda (30°-14'N, 74°-59'E). The mahant was impressed by the rapid progress Gajja Singh made in learning the scriptural and other texts and by his ability to sing the sa- cred hymns in the folk tunes he had picked up in his native village. He arranged, through the mahant of Gurdwara Ber Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhl, to send young Gajja Singh to learn classical music under Mir Rahmat AH, the eminent court musician of Kapurthala state. One of his co-pupils was Mahbub All alias Bhai Buba, a direct descendant of Bhal Phiranda of Bharoana, to whom Gum Nanak had, just before setting out on his travels, sent Bhal Mardana to procure a rabdb, i.e. rebeck. Bhal Buba and his father, Bhai Amir Bakhsh Rababl, were widely respected among Sikhs as much for their honoured lineage as for their status in the rababl school of Sikh music. Association with them encouraged Gajja Singh to master, besides classical mu- sic, the traditional Sikh tartan. After finish- ing studies with Mir Rahmat All, Bhai Buba went to Bahawalpur state as chief court mu- sician, and Bhai Gajja Singh returned to Gurusar where, after the death of his patron, he succeeded him as mahant. An akhara or seat of the Nirmala sect, to which the mahants of Gurusar belonged, had been established at Patiala in 1861. Mahant Gajja Singh vis- ited there regularly, especially during the rainy season, and his performance both as a" vocalist and instrumentalist attracted wide notice. His virtuosity in playing on the tails, a bow instrument with frets like a sitdr, had become proverbial. He had a style of his own and, copying his master Mir Rahmat All's
vina, sur-bahar and sitdr, he was able to pro- duce the effect of jhala or jhankar, i.e. trill- ing, on his taus. Bhal Kahn Singh of Nabha, scholar and encyclopaedist, who had attend- ed some of his performances, wrote in his Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahdn Kosh: "Bhal Gajja Singh has been a peerless pandit of music. Those who have listened to his alap or mel- ody on the taus can never forget him."
Mahant Gajja Singh continued to enjoy the patronage of ruling princes of Patiala. Maharaja Bhupinder Singh (1891-1938) in fact served a period of apprenticeship with him learning classical music. At the Delhi Darbar of 191 1, Gajja Singh gave a memora- ble performance representing the Patiala Gharana of music. He was rewarded with the grant of a free railway pass for life to travel anywhere in India for the propagation of his art. Encouraged by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh, he took up the project of recording the original rits, i.e. forms or modes of the rdgas as set by Guru Arjan and preserved orally by Sikh musicians. The work had been undertaken during the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh by the Nirmala Mahant of Dera Baba Mishra Singh in Amritsar, but it had remained incomplete. However, the then priest of Dera Baba Mishra Singh, Mahant Kapur Singh, was invited to Patiala. Two oth- er helpers appointed were Mahant Mela Singh and Baba Dial Singh Kairon. Already in 1910, Bhai Buba had, at Mahant Gajja Singh's persuasion, joined the Patiala court. Ram Krishan Singh, a junior mahant at the historical Gurdwara Motlbagh, was co-opted as adviser on Sanskrit musical terminology, and Bhal Durga Singh, the best-known calligraphist of Patiala at the time, was en- gaged as the scribe. Mahant Gajja Singh, as the head of the team, started work on the thirty-one rdgas of the Guru Granth Sahib, with an introductory part covering two of the three initial compositions, Rahrasi and Kzrtan Sohild, which form part of the daily devotions of the Sikhs. He had also taken up the five
GAJPAT SINGH, RAJA
45
GANDA SINGH
chaukis, i.e. daily choruses or hymn-singing sessions, and some of the Vars in different musical measures when death intervened. Mahant Gajja. Singh died on 12 June 1914, and the work was left unfinished.
Mg.S.
GAJPAT SINGH, RAjA (1738-1789) , founder of the Sikh state of Jlnd, was born on 15 April 1738, the second son of Sukhchain Singh (d. 1751), who was the younger broth- er of Gurdit Singh, an ancestor of the rul- ing family of Nabha. In 1755, at the age of seventeen, Gajpat Singh seized a large tract of country including Jlnd and Safidoh. In 1764, he joined the Khalsa Dal under Jassa Singh Ahluvaha and took part in the con- quest of Sirhind. He then overran Panipat and Karnal. In 1766, he made Jind his capital. Unlike other Sikh chiefs, he contin- ued to acknowledge the Mughal authority in Delhi and paid revenue to the Emperor. He obtained the title of Raja under a royal farman or decree from Emperor Shah Alam II in February 1772. Gajpat Singh was con- stantly at war with the Nabha chief, and seized his territories Amloh, Bhadsoh and Sahgrur in 1774. Raja Amar Singh of Patiala and other Sikh chiefs compelled him to re- turn the first two to Nabha, but Gajpat Singh retained Sarigrur which eventually became the capital of the Jlnd state. In 1774, Raja Gajpat Singh's daughter, Raj Kaur, was mar- ried to Mahari Singh of the Sukkarchakkla misl. Raj Kaur became the mother of Maharaja Ranjlt Singh.
Raja Gajpat Singh was a strong ally of Raja Amar Singh of Patiala. He accompanied the Patiala chief on many of his expeditions, join- ing him in his incursions upon Sialba and Meerut. He also assisted Amar Singh's succes- sor, Raja Sahib Singh, to restore order in his territories. In 1789, while engaged in an expe- dition against refractory villages near Ambala, Gajpat Singh fell ill and was carried to Safidoh where he died on 11 November 1789.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Griffin, Lepel, The Rajas of the Punjab. Delhi, 1977
S.S.B.
GALAURA, BHAL, a resident of village Chlka in the present Kaithal district of Haryana, became a devotee of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The Guru appointed him his masand, repre- sentative in Hisar and Hahsl, in which capac- ity he spread the teachings of the Gurus in that region.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Santokh Siiigh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratiip Sitraj Granlh. Amritsar, 1927-33
Gn.S.'
GALOTIAN KHURD, village in Daska tahsil of Sialkot district in Pakistan, claimed a his- torical Sikh shrine commemorating the visit in 1659-60 of Guru Har Rai, Nanak VII. Ear- lier Guru Hargobind, his predecessor, had also passed through Galotlaii on his way back from Kashmir in 1620. The Gurdwara, a two- storeyed domed sanctum within a spacious marble-floored hall, was affiliated to the ShiromanI Gurdwara Parbandhak Commit- tee, Amritsar. An old banyan tree under which the Gurus are said to have sojourned during their yisits still stood in the Gurdwara compound in 1947 when the shrine had to be abandoned in the wake of the wholesale evacuation of Sikhs from the newly formed State of Pakistan.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Tara Siiigh, Sri Gur Tirath Sangiahi. Amritsar, n.d.
2. Thakar Singh, Giani, Sri Gurduare Darshan. Amritsar, 1923
M.G.S.
GANDA SINGH (d. 1845), of Butala, in Gujrariwala district of undivided Punjab, was a soldier in the Sikh army. Early in his ca- reer, he was assigned by Maharaja Ranjlt Singh to Prince Sher Singh's troops. Ganda
GANDA SINGH
46
GANDA SINGH
Singh's father, Dharam Singh, had also served in the army and taken part in several battles including those of Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar. Ganda Singh remained the favourite of Prince Sher Siiigh who granted him ajagirworth 3,000 rupees from his own estates. He fought in the Prince's Yusafzai and Kullu campaigns and held both civil and military appointments under him when he was the Nazim of Kashmir. He afterwards served at Naushehra and Bannu. When Sher Siiigh ascended the throne, he conferred upon Ganda Singh several jagin around Butala, and appointed him to the command of the Orderly Dera. He was with the Maharaja when the latter was assassinated in September 1843, and was severely wounded in the endeavour to save his life.
Ganda Siiigh was killed in December 1845 in the battle of Ferozeshah in which his son, Kirpa.1 Siiigh, was wounded.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Suri, Sohan Lai, 'Udmat-utrTxoankh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
S.S.B.
GANDA SINGH (1900-1987), celebrated Punjab historian who by his sustained and pioneer work in the field of historical re- search initiated new trends in Sikh histori- ography and who by his critically important work became a vital and pervasive influence in historical learning in northern India, was born on 15 November 1900, the son ofjavala Siiigh of Hariana, an old town close to the city of Hoshiarpur in the Punjab. He began his education in the village mosque, later translating himself to the primary school. He passed the middle standard examination from D.A.-V. (Dayanand Anglo-Vernacular) Middle School, Hoshiarpur, and his matric- ulation from Government High School in the same town. He joined the Forman Chris- tian College at Lahore, but soon left it to
enlist in the army (1919). He served at the Supply and Transport Corps Base Depot, Rawalpindi, and at the divisional office at Peshawar before he was attached to the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force, Basra, in 1920 and later to the British Royal Army Pay Corps, also at Basra, in 1921. There he had his thigh torn by a bullet shot and he was hospitalized. After recovery he was re- patriated to India, but had been mistakenly reported dead to his family. This led to a dramatic situation. When he suddenly ap- peared at the door of his home in the vil- lage late one evening, he was taken to be a spirit and was refused admittance. As he was recognized the following morning at the doorstep of his house, the family's horror turned into jubilation.
Ganda Siiigh did not stay at home for long. He went back to Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and then to Iran, there to join the Anglo-Persian Oil Company at Abadan as accounts officer. At Abadan, he came un- der the influence of the British scholar, Sir Arnold Wilson, who besides his official du- ties as general manager of the company was working on his Bibliography of Persia. Young Ganda Siiigh now aspired to prepare a bib- liography of his native Punjab. On his re- turn to Punjab towards the end of 1930, he first worked on the editorial board of the Phulva.fi, a Punjabi monthly published from Lahore. One long-lasting friendship he picked up there was with Bhagat Lakshman Singh, a Sikh reformer and educationist. He however missed meeting with Karam Siiigh, the historian, then very enthusiastic in promoting the cause of Sikh history. Karam Siiigh died before Ganda Siiigh could meet him.
In October 1931 began Dr Ganda Singh's long and fruitful career as a re- searcher and historian. The Khalsa College at Amritsar placed him in charge of its newly-created Sikh History Research Depart- ment, which position he kept till 1949.
GANDA SINGH
47
GANDA SINGH
During this period he travelled extensively, rummaging various public libraries, archives and private collections throughout India in quest of materials on Sikh history, enrich- ing the library of his department and also brought out several books and tracts based on these.
In 1949, he came to Patiala where he was appointed Director of Archives and Curator of Museum under the Government of PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab States Union). In
from November 1957 to December 1962. He held membership of Asiatic Society, Calcutta, Indian Institute of Historical Stud- ies, Calcutta, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London, and Bharat Itihas Saiishodhak Mandal, Poona. He pre- sided over the medieval section of Punjab History Conference session of the Institute of Historical Studies, Calcutta, held at Shillong in 1974 as well as over its 13th session held at Panaji (Goa) in 1975. In
GANDA SINGH
48
GANDA SINGH MASHARIQI
Hukamname (Punjabi), 1967; Sarddr Jassa Singh Ahluv aZia(Punjabi) , 1969; Maharaja Duleep Singh Correspondence (English), 1977; Deportation of Lala Lajpat Rai and Sardar Ajit Singh (English), 1978; and Seditious Litera- ture of the Panjab (English), 1987.
Dr Ganda Singh's magnificent work was widely acknowledged and lauded in his life- time, and he received honours from a num- ber of professional institutions and associations. The Punjab Government invest- ed him with the Award for Literature on 31 March 1963 and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, paid its tribute on 28 March 1964. On 19 December 1964, Muslim University, Aligarh, conferred on him the degree of D. Litt. honoris causa. Sikh Educational Conference honoured him during its 52nd annual session held at Kanpur on 25-27 October 1974, and Punjabi Univer- sity, Patiala, at the annual session of the Punjab History Conference held during No- vember 1976. The University also brought out during the same year an anthology, Es- says in Honour of Dr Ganda Singh, lovingly edited by his old pupil Professor Harbahs Singh. The University also awarded him the degree of Doctor of Literature at its 15th convocation held on 25 February 1978. The Indian History Congress during its Silver Jubilee session held at PanajT (Goa.) on 5-7 November 1987 honoured him as one of the five distinguished historians of India. The Government of India honoured him with the award of Padma Bhushan in 1983.
In the course of his long career as a researcher and scholar, Dr Ganda Singh had acquired a vast personal collection of rare books, maps, documents and manuscripts which occupied several rooms of his modest residence on the Lower Mall at Patiala. This precious treasure is now the property of Punjabi University, Patiala, to which institu- tion he donated the entire collection.
Dr Ganda Singh died at Patiala on 27 December 1987.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Harbans Singh and N.G. Barrier, ed., Punjab Past and Present: Essays in Honour of Dr Ganda Singh. Patiala, 1976
2. Verma, Devinder Kumar, and Jasmer Singh, A Bibliography of Dr Ganda Singh. Rajpura, 1989
M.G.S.
GANDA SINGH MASHARIQI (1857-1909), Urdu poet, scholar and religious guide in the line of family preceptors to the chiefs of Ropar in the Punjab. His grandfather, Bhai Bagh Singh (1757-1822), and his father, Bhai Bishan Singh (1809-90) , had served the Ropar family as priests and counsellors. When the British East India Company confiscated the princely state in 1846 for its sympathy with the Sikhs during the Anglo-Sikh war (1845- 46), and placed Raja Bhup Singh, of Ropar, under detention in Saharanpur, Bhai Bishan Singh accompanied his master to Saharanpur. He returned to Ropar after the death of Raja Bhup Singh (1851) and settled down to a life of worship and strict religious discipline in his former residence, then fa- mous as Granthi Bagh. Here Ganda Singh Mashariqi was born on 2 August 1857. He passed his middle standard examination from Bhai Bishan Singh Raj Granthi Middle School, Ropar. As he grew up he taught in the same school for some time and then joined service in the accounts branch of the Military Works Department of Government of India, where he rose to be an accounts officer. Ganda Singh gave evidence of his poetic genius when he was still very young. As was customary in those days, he adopted a pen-name for himself— which in his case was Mashariqi — lit. eastern. The young poet was deeply influenced by the uprise of the Namdhari movement, the tremors of which were then being felt in the Punjab and beyond. From the merely romantic, his poet- ry took a distinctly patriotic tone. He ap- prenticed himself to the famous Urdu poet Dagh Dehlavl. He also wrote verse in Persian
GANDHUAN,
49
GANESHA SINGH, BHAI
which generally had a Sufi touch. His poems usually appeared in Paisa Akhbar and Akhbdr- i-'Am, both published from Lahore. His fame as a poet travelled to Delhi, Uttar Pradesh (then United Province) and beyond. Mashariql also wrote Guru Nanak Dev's bi- ography (Janamsakht) in Urdu which he called Vigyan Kosh and which was published by Af tab Press, Lahore, in 1883. He also wrote an annotated translation of Japuji'm Urdu. Pub- lished in 1892, it is the oldest work in this genre in Urdu.
Ganda Singh Mashariqi died at Ropar on 2 April 1909. His Urdu and Persian poems were collected and arranged by his son, Subedar Narain Singh (1885-1968). These have been published by his grandson, Kulwant Singh, in the form of a book enti- tled Diwan-i-Mashariqi. The first 28 pages of the Diwan contain eulogies of the Lord, Manifest and Unmanifest. Then follows praise of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh. Thereafter begins the text comprising 264 ghazals of all shades, amorous, gnostic, di- dactic and patriotic. The third part of the Diwan comprises miscellaneous verse, epi- grams and mathnavis.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Kulwant Singh, Late Sardar Ganda Singh Mashariqi. Chandigarh, n.d.
P.S.
GANDHUAN, a village 20 km southwest of Sunam (30°-7'N, 75°-48'E) in Saiigriir dis- trict of the Punjab, has a historical shrine dedicated to the memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur who visited it in the course of his travels in these parts. According to local tra- dition, a resident of the village, Bhai Muglu, was a devotee of Guru Hargobind and had shown his prowess in the battle of Mehraj (1634). The Guru, pleased at his devotion and valour, had invited him to ask for a boon. Bhai Muglu said that his only wish was that he should be favoured with a glimpse of
the Guru before he breathed his last. It is said that Guru Hargobind, after a moment's reflection, told him that this would not be possible, for Bhai Muglu might outlive him. Yet he added that he might still see the Guru before he died. Years rolled on, and Bhai Muglu, old and feeble, awaited death. Guru Tegh Bahadur, so the tradition continues, was at that moment amid a group of disciples at Bhlkhl, some 20 km to the west of Gandhuari. It is said that he suddenly went into meditation, and then ordered his horse to be made ready. Riding through Dhaleo and Kanakval, he reached the house of Bhai Muglu, who lay gasping for breath. Bhai Muglu was overwhelmed with joy and join- ing his palms in reverence and, shedding tears of thankfulness, he passed away in per- fect peace. Guru Tegh Bahadur had the rites of cremation performed before returning to Bblkhi.
A shrine was established by the devotees marking the site east of the village where Guru Tegh Bahadur had stood watching the cremation of his disciple. The present Manji Sahib, a two-storeyed octagonal structure with a dome above, was constructed in 1937. An assembly hall, a row of rooms for officiants and pilgrims and the Guru ka Lahgar were added later. The Guru Granth Sahib is seated both in the Manji Sahib and in the hall.
The Gurdwara owns 44 acres of land and is administered by the ShiromanI Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee through a local committee. The most important annual event is the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
M.G.S.
GANESHA SINGH, BHAI (d. 1888), assis- tant chief secretary of the Khalsa Diwan, initially called Singh Sabha General, which was established in 1880 to co-ordinate the activities of the Singh Sabhas at Lahore and Amritsar, was employed in the Amritsar
GANGA, bhAI
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GANGA RAM
municipal committee as a sarishldddr or clerk. When the Khalsa Diwan was reorga- nized in 1883, Bhal Ganesha Singh was named one of the two chief secretaries, the second being the better known Bhai Gurmukh Singh. With the split in the Khalsa Diwan in 1885, whereas Bhal Gurmukh Singh left to establish a separate body at Lahore, Bhal Ganesha Singh continued as chief secretary of the Amritsar Diwan. The constitution, adopted by this Diwan at its Dlvali session of 1887, provided for two hous- es — Mahan Khand, the upper section com- prising Sikh aristrocracy, and Saman Khand, the lower section, representing the common people. Bhal Ganesha Singh was nominat- ed secretary of the Saman Khand as well as of the executive committee appointed to carry out official business subject to "confir- mation of its proceedings by the Mahan Khand as and when it met." Bhal Ganesha Singh, however, soon resigned, probably for health reasons. He died at Gujraiiwala on 11 March 1888 after a long illness.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
JagjTt Singh, Singh Sabha Lahir. Luclliiana, 1974
M.G.S.
GANGA, BHAI, a Sahigal Khatrl of Agra, was a soldier in the Mughal army. He once called on Guru Arjan. The Guru, as says Bhal ManI Singh, Sihhdn di Bhagat Mala, told him that it ill became him to serve the op- pressive Mughal regime. When Gahga pleaded the need to make a living, Guru Arjan said, "Remain with the young Hargobind, and you will receive not only worldly success, but spiritual enlightenment as well." Bhai Gahga served Guru Hargobind and fought valiantly his battles against the Mughals.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. ManI Siiigh, Bhal, Sihhan dt Bhagat Mala. Amritsar, 1955
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Siiraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-33
T.S.
GANGA, MATA (d. 1621), consort of Guru Arjan (1563-1606), Nanak V, was the daugh- ter of Bhai Krishan Chand of the village of Mau, 10 km west of Phillaur in the Punjab. The nuptial ceremonies took place at her village on 19 June 1589. She was the mother of Guru Hargobind born to her at Vadall, near Amritsar, on 19 June 1595. She died at Bakala (now Baba Bakala) on 14 May 1621. Her dead body was immersed in the River Beas in deference to her wish that her body be consigned to water, as had been her husband's, and not burnt. However, a sym- bolic cremation was also carried out and a samadh built at Bakala, which has since been replaced by a shrine named Gurdwara Mata Gahga.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Gurbilas Patshahi Chhevln. Patiala, 1970
2. Satibir Sirigh, Paratakhu Hari. Jalandhar, 1982
M.G.S.
GANGA RAM, an affluent Brahman merchant of Bathinda (30°-14'N, 74°-59'E) now a dis- trict town in Malva region of the Punjab, accepted Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Arjan. He, according to Bhai Santokh Siiigh, Sri Gur Pratap Siiraj Granth, once crossed the Sutlej with a large stock of bdjard, a variety of millets. Learning that a vast body of men was at work digging a large tank at Guru Chakk (present-day Amritsar), he proceeded in that direction hoping to sell his merchandise profitably. At Amritsar, he saw large number of Sikhs engaged in voluntary sevd, digging and shovelling and carrying basketfuls of earth on their heads, and, although they had had little to eat owing to Guru ka Larigar or community kitchen having run short of ra- tions, their pace had not slackened. Gahga Ram was deeply affected by the Sikhs' zeal
GANGA RAM
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GANGU, BHAI
and devotion. He turned over his entire stock of grain to the langar, and himself joined the devotees in the holy sevd. He declined to accept money for the grain he had brought and, instead, humbly supplicated the Guru to be admitted as a disciple. He stayed on in Amritsar and returned to his village Bathinda only after the completion of the sacred pool. He devoted his remaining years to medita- tion and to preaching message of Guru Nanak. His descendant, Bhai Mul Chand, became famous for his piety and spiritual powers. Mul Chand's shrine at Sunam (30°- 7'N, 75°-48'E), in Saiigrur district of the Punjab, is still visited by devotees of diverse faiths. Gaiiga Ram's direct descendants offi- ciate as priests there.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Cur Pratap Siiraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-33
2. Satibir Singh, Paratahhu Hari. Jalandhar, 1982
T.S.
GANGA RAM was one of the five sons of Bhai Sadhu and Bibi Vlro, the daughter of Guru Hargobind, who formed part of Guru Gobind Singh's retinue at Paonta, in present- day Himachal Pradesh, when he was attacked by a combined force of some of the hill chiefs headed by Raja Fateh Shah of Garhval. Gaiiga Ram, along with his brothers, fought in the battle that took place at BhariganI, not far from Paonta, on 18 September 1688. He sur- vived the action in which two of the broth- ers, Sarigram Shah and Jit Mall, were killed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Kuir Singh, Gurbilas Patshahl 10. Patiala, 1968
2. Harbans Singh, Gum Gobind Singh. Chandigarh, 1966
M.G.S.
GANGA RAM, DIWAN (1775-1826) was a Kashmiri Brahman whose father, Kishan Das, was a government employee. During the op- pressive days of the governors of Kashmir,
Kishan Das migrated to Delhi, and later set- tled in the village of Rampur, near Banaras, where Gaiiga Ram was born about the year 1775. Gaiiga Ram received a good education and, at the age of 20, entered the service of Maharaja Daulat Rao Scindia of Gwallor, serv- ing under his French officers, Louis Bourquin and General Perron. He was entrusted with duties in the political and military departments. When in September 1803, Lord Lake defeated Daulat Rao Scindia, Gaiiga Ram returned to Delhi where he lived from 1803-13. In 1809, he was employed by the East India Company to serve under Colonel David Ochterlony, then engaged in the set- tlement of British relations with the cis-Sutlej states.
In 1813, Maharaja Ranjlt Siiigh invited him to Lahore and gave him appointment as the head of military accounts and keeper of the privy seal. In 1821, Gaiiga Ram was given charge of the civil administration of Gujrat. Two years later he was recalled to Lahore to reorganize the department of aBkari or excise.
Gaiiga Ram died at Lahore in 1826.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Sun, Sohan Lai, 'Umdat-ut-Twankh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F.Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
3. Kohli, STta Ram, ed., Zafarnamah-i-Ranjit Singh. Lahore, 1928
H.R.G.
GANGU, BHAI, was, according to Bhai Santokh Siiigh, Sri Our Pratap Suraj Granth, a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Aiigad. He attained spiritual merit through sevd or hum- ble service and simran, absorption in the re- membrance of the Divine Being.
Gn.S.
GANGU, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He lived at the village of Dalla in present-day Kapurthala district of the Punjab and received spiritual instruction
GANGU, BHAI
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GANJ NAMAH
at the hands of Guru Amar Das ( Varan, XI. 1 6) .
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhdn di Bhagat Mala. Amritsar, 1955
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Cranth. Amritsar 1927-33
BSD.
GANGU, BHAI, a Sahigal Khatri, was a de- voted Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He received instruction at the hands of the Guru himself and learnt to repeat always the Name, VahigurQ.
See UDDA, BHAl, Varan, XI. 19
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1 . Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhdn di Bhagat Mala. Amritsar, 1955
2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri. Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-33
T.S.
GANGUSHAHIS, a Sikh missionary order which owed its origin to Garigu Shah. Garigu Shah, also known as Gaiiga Das, was born in a BasI Khatri family of Garhsharikar, in Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab, and was a disciple of Guru Amar Das, the third Guru or prophet preceptor of the Sikh faith. He was sent to the Sivalik hills to preach the word of Guru Nanak and given charge of a seat in the Sirmur region. He and his succes- sors built a considerable following which emerged over the years as a distinct order. They raised their own shrines at places like Daun, near Kharar, in Ropar district, built by Garigu Shah, and Khatkar Kalari near Bariga, in Jalandhar district, built by Jawahar Singh, his great - grandson. These are venerated to this day by the members of the sect and others.
The Garigushahis were excommunicat- ed by the Khalsa when Kharak Singh, the incumbent of their gaddiat the time of Guru Gobind Singh's death, called the Sikh con-
gregations 'widowed' with the implicit mean- ing of himself being left to lead the Sikhs, and to buttress his claim, he is said to have performed some miracles. He also opposed khande di pdhul, initiation by the sword, as introduced by Guru Gobind Singh, and rec- ommended instead charan pdhul.
The Garigushahis, a small community nu- merically, live in the Sivalik hill territory, mainly in the areas of Jauharsar, Pinjaur, Dagshai and Nahan. They have their derds or centres which the followers visit to