1.
Sikh
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A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a monotheistic religion which originated during the 15th century in the Punjab region of Northwestern Indian subcontinent. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit words शिष्य or शिक्ष, Sikh properly refers to adherents of Sikhism as a religion, not an ethnic group. However, because Sikhism has seldom sought converts, most Sikhs share strong ethno-religious ties, many countries, such as the United Kingdom, therefore recognize Sikh as a designated ethnicity on their censuses. Male Sikhs have Singh, and female Sikhs have Kaur as their middle or last name, initiated male and female Sikhs must cover their hair with a turban. The greater Punjab region is the homeland of the Sikhs. Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, was born to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. However, Sikh political history may be said to begin with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev, Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on 30 March 1699. Gobind Singh initiated five people from a variety of backgrounds, known as the Panj Piare to form the Khalsa. During the period of Mughal rule in India several Sikh gurus were killed by the Mughals for opposing their persecution of minority communities including Sikhs. Sikhs subsequently militarized to oppose Mughal rule, after defeating the Afghan, Mughal and Maratha invaders, the Misls were formed, under Sultan-ul-Quam Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The empire is considered the zenith of political Sikhism, encompassing Kashmir, Ladakh, hari Singh Nalwa, the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army in the North West Frontier, expanded the confederacy to the Khyber Pass. Its secular administration implemented military, economic and governmental reforms, after the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the latter recognized the martial qualities of the Sikhs and Punjabis in general and started recruiting from that area. During the 1857 Indian mutiny, the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British and this resulted in heavy recruiting from Punjab to the colonial army for the next 90 years of the British Raj. The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army, the British colonial rule saw the emergence of many reform movements in India including Punjab. This included formation in 1873 and 1879 of the First and Second Singh Sabha respectively, the Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer a clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice. The later part of British colonial rule saw the emergence of the Akali movement or the Gurdwara Reform Movement to bring reform in the gurdwaras during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, the months leading up to the partition of India in 1947 were marked by conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims. This caused the migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab
2.
Victoria Cross
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The Victoria Cross is the highest award of the United Kingdom honours system. It is awarded for gallantry in the face of the enemy to members of the British armed forces and it was previously awarded to Commonwealth countries, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857 and these investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War, since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals,11 to members of the British Army, the traditional explanation of the source of the metal from which the medals are struck is that it derives from Russian cannon captured at the Siege of Sevastopol. Some research has suggested a variety of origins for the material, research has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons that were captured from the Russians in 1855. Owing to its rarity, the VC is highly prized and the medal has fetched over £400,000 at auction, a number of public and private collections are devoted to the Victoria Cross. The private collection of Lord Ashcroft, amassed since 1986, contains over one-tenth of all VCs awarded, following a 2008 donation to the Imperial War Museum, the Ashcroft collection went on public display alongside the museums Victoria and George Cross collection in November 2010. These are unique awards of honours system, recommended, assessed, gazetted and presented by each country. In 1854, after 39 years of peace, Britain found itself fighting a war against Russia. The Crimean War was one of the first wars with modern reporting, before the Crimean War, there was no official standardised system for recognition of gallantry within the British armed forces. This structure was limited, in practice awards of the Order of the Bath were confined to officers of field rank. Brevet promotions or Mentions in Despatches were largely confined to those who were under the notice of the commanders in the field. Other European countries had awards that did not discriminate against class or rank, France awarded the Légion dhonneur and The Netherlands gave the Order of William. There was a feeling among the public and in the Royal Court that a new award was needed to recognise incidents of gallantry that were unconnected with a mans lengthy or meritorious service. Queen Victoria issued a Warrant under the Royal sign-manual on 29 January 1856 that officially constituted the VC, the order was backdated to 1854 to recognise acts of valour during the Crimean War. Queen Victoria had instructed the War Office to strike a new medal that would not recognise birth or class, the medal was meant to be a simple decoration that would be highly prized and eagerly sought after by those in the military services
3.
Gobind Singh (VC)
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Gobind Singh hailed from a small village named Damoi in the Nagaur district) of Rajasthan, India. He was 29 years old when he became a Lance-Daffadar in the 28th Light Cavalry and he was later attached to 2nd Lancers during the First World War. On the night of 30 November and 1 December 1917 east of Pezières, France, Lance-Dafadar Gobind Singh was in the midst of the Battle of Cambrai, an urgent message had to be sent to the brigade headquarters giving the position of the regiment. The route was a 6-mile stretch over open ground, under constant observation, Singh volunteered and not only delivered the message but also undertook a return message and a subsequent one. He survived enemy machine gun fire directed at him on all three occasions although his horse was killed every time and he succeeded each time in delivering his message, although on each occasion his horse was shot and he was compelled to finish his journey on foot. On 1 December 1917 when the 2nd Lancers was surrounded by the enemy brigade, at this time volunteers were called for to carry a message giving the position of the regiment to the headquarters on the outskirts of Piezeire. Lance Dafadar Govind Singh and Sowar Jot Ram were selected and given two different routes, both of them started immediately on a gallop. Jot Ram was killed as he tried to make his way to the destination, Govind Singh was given the open more difficult route which was under constant enemy fire. He had travelled half a mile of the lower ground when his horse was killed by machine gun fire. For some time Singh lay still close to his horse, then judging he was no longer watched, he got up, immediately there was a burst of machine gun fire upon him. He trembled over as if shot and waited before getting up again, by repeating this process varied by wriggling along the ground, he reached the brigade headquarters. A return message had now to be sent and he volunteered to take this too and he was given another horse and started back taking the high ground south of the valley until he reached the German post. Then dipping down and across the road he had covered two-thirds the distance when his horse was shot. An hour later another message had to be sent from the regiment, although exhausted and wounded, Govind Singh came forward again. He was told that he has already done his share but he insisted that he knew the ground better than anybody else, on the strength of this the Adjutant allowed him to go. This time he started from the end of the road, turned right and passed Catelet Copse. Halfway through Épehy, his horse was cut in half by a hit from a shell just behind the saddle. Govind Singh then ran on and eventually got into dead ground in renterent which debouches into the valley, thence he made his way out of the sight of the enemy to Pezières
4.
Gobind Singh Deo
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Gobind Singh Deo s/o Karpal Singh is a prominent Malaysian lawyer and politician and the Member of Parliament for Puchong, Selangor. He is also the legal bureau secretary of the Democratic Action Party. He is dubbed the little lion of Puchong and he is the son of the DAP politician and lawyer Karpal Singh. His brothers, Ramkarpal Singh and Jagdeep Singh Deo, are also DAP politicians, gobind was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1996, a year after returning from Lincolns Inn. He was elected to Parliament at the 2008 election, unseating the Barisan Nasional incumbent Lau Yeng Peng amid a significant swing to the opposition in Selangor. In 2009 he was suspended from Parliament for 12 months for calling the Prime Minister, Najib Razak and he later won a legal challenge seeking to be paid his normal remuneration for his period of suspension. He was re-elected to Parliament, with a margin, at the 2013 election
5.
Falcon
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Falcons are birds of prey in the genus Falco, which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, adult falcons have thin, tapered wings, which enable them to fly at high speed and change direction rapidly. Fledgling falcons, in their first year of flying, have flight feathers. This makes flying easier while learning the skills required to be effective hunters as adults. The falcons are the largest genus in the Falconinae subfamily of Falconidae, which also includes another subfamily comprising caracaras. All these birds kill with their beaks, using a tooth on the side of their beaks—unlike the hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey in the Accipitridae, the largest falcon is the gyrfalcon at up to 65 cm in length. The smallest falcons are the kestrels, of which the Seychelles kestrel measures just 25 cm, as with hawks and owls, falcons exhibit sexual dimorphism, with the females typically larger than the males, thus allowing a wider range of prey species. Some small falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, as is the case with many birds of prey, falcons have exceptional powers of vision, the visual acuity of one species has been measured at 2.6 times that of a normal human. Peregrine falcons have been recorded diving at speeds of 200 miles per hour, the Late Latin falco is believed to derive from falx as meaning a sickle, referencing the claws of the bird. In Middle English and Old French, the term faucon refers generically to several captive raptor species, the traditional term for a male falcon is tercel or tiercel, from the Latin tertius because of the belief that only one in three eggs hatched a male bird. Some sources give the etymology as deriving from the fact that a falcon is about one-third smaller than a female. A falcon chick, especially one reared for falconry, still in its stage, is known as an eyas. The word arose by mistaken division of Old French un niais, the technique of hunting with trained captive birds of prey is known as falconry. Compared to other birds of prey, the record of the falcons is not well distributed in time. The oldest fossils tentatively assigned to this genus are from the Late Miocene and this coincides with a period in which many modern genera of birds became recognizable in the fossil record. Falcons are roughly divisible into three or four groups, kestrels feed chiefly on terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates of appropriate size, such as rodents, reptiles, or insects. The second group contains slightly larger species, the hobbies and relatives and these birds are characterized by considerable amounts of dark slate-grey in their plumage, their malar areas are nearly always black. They feed mainly on smaller birds, third are the peregrine falcon and its relatives, variably sized powerful birds that also have a black malar area, and often a black cap, as well
6.
Khalsa
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The word Khalsa translates to Sovereign/Free. Another interpretation is that of being Pure/Genuine, the Khalsa was inaugurated on 30 March 1699, by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru. The Khalsa is also called the nation of the Sikhs, the Sikhs of the Khalsa can be identified with the given Five Ks and titles of Singh and Kaur, granted after the disciple has been baptized into the order of the Khalsa. The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh at an event that coincided with the Vaisakhi day created the Khalsa in the year 1699 A, a Sikh male at being initiated into the Khalsa is titled Singh meaning Lion and a female is entitled Kaur meaning Princess. From then on they are referred to as Amritdhari. The Khalsa is considered the pinnacle of Sikhism, the Khalsa is expected to perform no ritual and to believe in no superstition of any kind but only believe in one God who is the Master and the Protector of all, the only Creator and Destroyer. The usual interpretation of the Ḳhālsā is made as Pure as in the statement, word ḳhāliṣa is the recognition of every Sikh that follows the discipline. There is also another word from Arabic خالسا which is pronounced as Khalsa and is adapted in Punjabi/English/Hindi, so, there are two different words in Arabic, خالسا and خالصة. Furthermore, there is a word in Persian خالص meaning pure, a reader of Urdu can testify the Ḫalis in the Persian script and language as described below. Khalsa is also used for a property which belongs to the emperor directly, the official language in the Mughal era was Persian and Persian language contains a word Khalis which directly translates to Pure in English. This may give a new meaning to the word Khalsa, in Sikh tradition, the word Khalsa first appears in a hukmanama by Guru Hargobind which refers to a sangat as Guru ka khalsa. It also appears in a letter by Guru Tegh Bahadur, in the same sense, although the early Mughal emperors had peaceful relations with the Sikh Gurus, the Sikhs started facing religious persecution during the reign of Jahangir. Persecution against the Sikhs continued until the creation of the Sikh Kingdom in 1799, Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru, was arrested and executed by Emperor Jahangir in 1606. The following Guru, Guru Hargobind formally militarized the Sikhs and emphasized the nature of the temporal power. In 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs was executed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for saving the religious rights of Hindus. In 1699, his son and the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh sent hukmanamas to his followers throughout the Indian sub-continent, asking them to gather at Anandpur Sahib on 30 March 1699, Guru Gobind Singh addressed the congregation from the entryway of a tent pitched on a hill. He drew his sword and asked for a volunteer who was willing to sacrifice his head, no one answered his first call, nor the second call, but on the third invitation, a person called Daya Ram came forward and offered his head to the Guru. Guru Gobind Singh took the volunteer inside the tent, and emerged shortly, one more volunteer came forward, and entered the tent with him
7.
Sikhism
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Sikhism, or Sikhi, is a panentheistic religion that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century. It is one of the youngest of the world religions. Sikhism has 25-28 million adherents worldwide and is the ninth-largest religion in the world, Sikhism is based on the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak, the first Guru, and the ten successive Sikh gurus. Guru Nanak established Kartarpur around 1520 and gathered the original core of the Sikh Panth there, an Indian religion, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on Absolute Truth. Sikhism emphasizes simran, that can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through Nam Japo as a means to feel Gods presence, hand in hand, secular life is considered to be intertwined with the spiritual life. He also established the system of the langar, or communal kitchen, Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru, established the political/temporal and spiritual realms to be mutually coexistent. The development of Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti movement, however, Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the Mughal Empire. Two of the Sikh gurus – Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a Sant-Sipāhī – a saint-soldier, the majority of Sikh scriptures were originally written in Gurmukhī alphabet, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts used in North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, which means students or disciples of the Guru, the anglicized word Sikhism is derived from the Punjabi verb Sikhi, with roots in Sikhana, and Sikhi connotes the temporal path of learning. Sikhism is a religion and states that there is one supreme entity holding control of the entire universe. This entity is referred to as Ik Onkar, the basis of Sikhism lies in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summated by Guru Nanaks words, Sikh teaching emphasizes the principle of equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikh principles encourage living life as a householder, Sikhism is a monistic form of monotheistic religion. In Sikhism, the concept of God is Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and invisible, niraṅkār, akaal, the beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure 1—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything, Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Gods hukam. God in Sikhism is known as Ik Onkar, the One Supreme Reality or the all-pervading spirit and this spirit has no gender in Sikhism, though translations may present it as masculine. It is also Akaal Purkh and Nirankar, in addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which it has created life
8.
Chandi di Var
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Chandi di Var also known as Var Sri Bhagauti Ji is a composition included in the 5th chapter of Dasam Granth. It is based on an episode from the Sanskrit work Markandeya Purana, in the ballad, the supreme goddess is transformed into a liberating divine power in the form of sword, that crushes perpetuators of falsehood. It is traditionally believed that Chandi di Var was written by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Anandpur Sahib, according to early Sikh Historian, Bhai Koer Singh Kalal as mentioned in Gurbilas Patshahi 10, Chandi di Vaar was written by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Anandpur Sahib. Various other Sikh historians and scholars like Giani Ditt Singh, Professor Sahib Singh, Giani Gian Singh, Ratan Singh Bhangu, Kavi Santokh Singh also supported this fact. According to Sikh Rehat Maryada, The first stanza of the Sikh ardās, an invocation to God, nihang and Namdhari Singhs recite Chandi di Var as part of their daily Nitnem. Bhagauti stands for God and sometimes for sword which is identified with God, bhagavathi is used as a synonym of the word Bhagauti in other parts of India. Following are general meanings of Bhagauti, done by various Tikakars, The follower of Truth i
9.
Zafarnama (letter)
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The Zafarnāma /zəfərnɑːmɑː/ was a victory letter sent by Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1705 to the Mughal Emperor of India, Aurangzeb after the Battle of Chamkaur. The letter is written in Persian verse, Guru Gobind Singh Ji sent Bhai Daya Singh to Ahmednagar to give it to Aurangzeb. However it is said that a copy of the Zafarnama, written by himself, was found with the Mahant of Patna Sahib in 1890 and one Babu Jagan Nath made a copy, this copy was somehow misplaced by him. Since Babu Jagan Nath was himself a scholar in Persian language, he could reproduce it from his memory and got it printed in Nagri Parcharni Patrika in Benaras. He is also believed to have sent a copy to Sardar Umrao Singh Shergill in Amritsar who is said to have given it to Khalsa college, in Punjab newspapers, it first appeared in the Khalsa Samachar of 16 July 1942. Then in 1944, Kapur Singh ICS published it in Urdu Ajit of Lahore under the heading Fatehnama, the abrupt end of the Zafarnama also indicates that it is not complete and that some verses have been left out. Objections raised by some scholars on the authenticity of a few verses may be viewed in this context, in this letter, Guru Gobind Singh Ji reminds Aurangzeb how he and his henchmen had broken their oaths sworn upon the Quran. He also states that in spite of his sufferings, he had won a moral victory over the Emperor who had broken all his vows. Despite sending an army to capture or kill the Guru Ji. In the 111 verses of this notice, Guru Gobind Singh Ji rebukes Aurangzeb for his weaknesses as a human being and for excesses as a leader. Guru Gobind Singh Ji invited Aurangzeb to meet him in Kangar village near Bathinda, on the way, there will be no danger to your life, For, the whole tribe of Brars accepts my command. Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote this letter from the village of Dina in Malwa region of the Punjab, Guru Gobind Singh spent few days at Dina and then moved to Dod, Kotkapura, Dhilwan Kalan, Jaitu, Muktsar, Lakhi Jangal, and Damdama Sahib. Guru Gobind Singhs Ji last fight with Mughal Army happened at Khidrane Di Dhaab now called Sri Muktsar Sahib, one of the most quoted verses from the Zafarnama is the following couplet, Chu kar az hama heelt e dar guzshat, Halal ast burdan ba shamsheer dast. All modes of redressing the wrong having failed, raising of sword is pious and just
10.
Bachittar Natak
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Bachittar Natak is from Dasam Granth, ang 94 to ang 175 of the 2326 ang. It is generally attributed to the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, although the word Natak means drama in Punjabi, this is no drama. The Guru has outlined the circumstance and history of the time and how great courage and it starts with a praise of the Akal Purukh. It then gives a genealogy starting from King Surya, King Raghu, King Aja, King Dasrath to Lord Rama and it gives the authors own biography and includes the Battle of Nadaun, Husaini battle and the arrival of prince Muazzam in the Punjab. It continues up to AD1696 and it is written in early Braj bhasha with some Apabhramsha influence. Several translations in Punjabi, Hindi and English exists, the lifes story of Guru Gobind Singh is further told by the court-poet Sainapat, who is also believed to have translated the Chanakya Niti at the Gurus behest. Sainapat finished his Sri Gur Sobha in AD1711, three years after the death of the Guru, other early sources are Koer Singhs Gurbilas Patshahi, written in 1751 and the Bansawalinamah by Kesar Singh Chhibbar. There is some controversy regarding the authorship since some of the content, bichitra Natak is the a beautiful composition, a memoir of Guru Gobind Singh, which he added in Dasam Granth, commonly known as his Brief Autobiography. It is a part of the Dasam Granth and is the given to the third Bani in the second holy scriptures of the Sikhs. This text spans from page 94 to page 175 of the 2326 pages of this book of the Sikhs at www. srigranth. org. This Bani is an autobiographical narrated by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh for the first 32 years of his life, although the word Natak means drama in Punjabi, this is no drama. The Guru has outlined the circumstance and history of the time and how great courage and it starts with a praise of Akal Purakh. It then gives a genealogy of Bedis and Sodhis starting from Lord Rama and it gives the authors own biography and includes the battle of Nadaun, Husaini battle and the arrival of prince Muazzam in the Punjab. It continues up to AD1696. The chapters are numbered at the beginning, chapter 1, Eulogy of Akal Purukh, the ultimate being. Opening statements and mention of Lava and Kusha, the two sons of Rama, chapter 3, Descendants of Lava and Kusha and emergence of the Bedi and Sodhi clans. Chapter 4, The Recitation of the Vedas and the Offering of Kingdom, the interaction of the two clans. Chapter 5, Description of the Spiritual Rulers, i. e. of the nine Sikh Gurus preceding Gobind Singh himself, chapter 6, The Command of Supreme Lord to Me be born into the World. Includes an account of Gobind Singh performing tapa at Hemkunt in the Himalayan mountains, chapter 7, Description of the Poet
11.
Patna City
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Patna City, popularly known as Patna Sahib is a neighbourhood in Patna, Bihar, India. It is regarded as sacred by the Sikhs in India. The tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh was born there, the Patna Sahib Gurudwara is considered to be one of the holiest of the five Takths or seat of authority of the Sikhs. The place is named Harminder Takth though the Sikhs respectfully call it Patna Sahib, the famous Guru Gobind Sahib Gurudwara is an important shrine for Sikhs from all over the world. Patna City is an old area of Patna therefore very crowded and congested. Patna City history belogs to Patlipura, Patna City comes under Patna Sahib. Bengali Colony, Jhauganj, Rambagh, Kali Asthan, Nehru Tola, Marufganj, the main Guru Gobind road connects Patna Sahib Gurudwara and Patna City Chowk. Mangal Talab is a water body located here, Patna City has all sorts of facilities like schools, hospitals for its residents. Other than Sikh Religious center it has a number of Hindu Temples and Mosques and it has a number of Boarding and Lodging facilities around religious centers. Patna Ghat is the Ganga side Ghat of Patna City and this area is served by Deedarganj police station of Patna Police. Today, Patna City is also a trading centre. It is connected to metropolitan cities of India by the Howrah-Delhi Main Line
12.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
13.
Hazur Sahib Nanded
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Hazūr Sāhib, also spelled Hazoor Sahib, also known as Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Abchalnagar Sahib and Abchal Nagar, is one of the five takhts in Sikhism. It is located on the banks of the River Godavari at the city of Nanded in the state of Maharashtra, the gurudwara within the complex is known as Sach-Khand. The structure is built at the place where Guru Gobind Singh died, the inner room of the gurdwara is called the Angitha Sahib and is built over the place where Guru Gobind Singh was cremated in 1708. The gurdwara was built between 1832 and 1837 by order of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Hazur Sahib marks the site where Guru Gobind Singh ji had his camp in 1708. The Guru held his court and congregation here and was convalescing after being attacked by two would-be assassins, one of the attackers stabbed the Guru, and was killed by him with a single stroke of his talwar. The other was killed by his followers as he tried to escape, the Gurus wound was deep, but initially healed after being stitched by a European surgeon. However the wound re-opened a few days later when the Guru was stringing a bow for one of his Sikhs, the Sikhs built a room over the platform where Guru Gobind Singh ji would sit while holding his court and installed the Guru Granth Sahib on it. Guru Gobind Singh ji, while conferring Guruship on the holy Book, had himself named Nanded as Abchalnagar after the first word of a hymn read at random on the occasion, in October 2008, the 300th anniversary celebration of the Guruship of Guru Granth Sahib took place here. This site is now one of five Takhats which are places of importance to the Sikhs. The other four takhats are, Akal Takhat at Amritsar, Takhat Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur, Takhat Patna Sahib in Bihar and Takhat Damdama Sahib in Talwandi Sabo, Bhatinda, Sachkhand had been used by Guru Nanak Dev ji to mean the abode of God. Ranjit Singh had the present building of the Takhat Sahib constructed with money, artisans, around the same time the Nizam of Hyderabad State a Muslim ruler of the Deccan Region raised a contingent of Northern Sikhs as part of his army. Most of these men settled permanently in Hyderabad State and also devout Hindus of the Deccan embraced Sikhism in the 19th century, Hindus also have a high regard for the Guru Gobind Singh and gurudwara. Some of the rituals and ceremonies connected with working are peculiar to this Takhat Sahib, the Takht houses both the sri Guru Granth Sahib ji and the Sri Dasam Granth. This follows the pattern of Takht Sri Patna Sahib, the most important aspect of this holy shrine is that there are two sanctum sanctorum here. While all the functions are carried out by the priests in the outer room, no one except the head priest can enter this holy vault. In 2008, the 300th Gurudomship ceremony of Guru Granth Sahib and 300th death anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh were celebrated on a scale at Hazoor Sahib. The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh also addressed to the Sad-Sangat on the main event function, to publicise the event the Jagriti Yatra was arranged which travelled through different cities across the country and also some places in abroad. Recently, a show has been started at Gobind Bagh near the main gurudwara
14.
Ajit Singh (Sikhism)
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Ajit Singh, also referred to with honorifics as Sahibzada Ajit Singh or Baba Ajit Singh, was the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh. His younger brothers were Sahibzada Jujhar Singh, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and he was killed during the Second Battle of Chamkaur. Ajit Singh was born to Mata Sundari and Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib on 26 January 1687 and he was brought up in Anandpur, where his education included religious texts, history and philosophy. He received training from Baba Jeevan Singh in riding and the arts of swordsmanship. He was given his first military assignment when barely 12 years old, a Muslim tribe, the Ranghars of Nuh, had attacked and looted a Sikh Sangat coming from the Pothohar region of northwest Punjab. Guru Gobind Singh sent Ajit Singh in command of 100 men to the village, Ajit Singh reached the village on 23 May 1699, recovered the looted property and punished the offenders. In 1700 Anandpur was attacked by hill chiefs assisted by troops provided by the Mughal faujdar of Sirhind, Guru Gobind Singh had erected five Qila on the outskirts of the city. Ajit Singh, assisted by Bhai Udai Singh, a soldier, was put in charge of the defence of the Qila Taragarh Sahib. On 29 August the hill chiefs made the fort the target for their first attack, for four days the chiefs attacked the fortresses around the citadel, without success. He also fought valiantly in the Battle of Nirmohgarh, on 15 March 1701, a Sikh Sangat coming from the Darap area was waylaid by Gujjars and Ranghars. Sahibzada Ajit Singh led an expedition against them. When this news reached the people, they praised the Sikhs for their role, when Mughal forces besieged Anandpur in 1704, Sahibzada Ajit Singh again displayed his qualities of courage and steadfastness. After a long stalemate, the Mughal Faujdar gave his assurances that he wanted the fort of Anandpur. Anandpur was vacated on the night of 5th and 6 December 1704, Sahibzada Ajit Singh was given the command of the rearguard. As the besiegers, violating their promises, attacked the column. Ajit Singh crossed the Sarsa rivulet, then in spate, along with his father, younger brother, Jujhar Singh, and some others. Further reduced in numbers by casualties at the hands of pursuing troops from Ropar, there they rested for some hours in the fortress of Budhi Chand Rawat. But, in the afternoon the Muslim soldiers from Malerkotla and Sirhind reached there, surrounded the fortress, the Sikhs too took up position
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Jujhar Singh
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Sahibzada Jujhar Singh, the second son of Guru Gobind Singh, was born to Mata Jito at Anandpur Sahib. This event is now celebrated on April 9 each year according to the Nanakshahi Calendar), like his elder brother Sahibzada Ajit Singh, he started training in martial arts such as the Gatka along with the study of the religious texts. In 1699, when he was eight years old, he received the rites of Khalsa initiation, called the Amrit Sanchar Ceremony. He was one of the band that successfully waded through the flooded Sarsa rivulet on horseback and made their way to Chamkaur by nightfall on 6 December 1705, the band comprised his father, Guru Gobind, his elder brother Ajit and forty men. They erected a stockade and decided to fight to the last man, by dawn, the Mughal forces of approximately 1 million had begun a siege of the Garhi and surrounding areas. As they ran out of ammunition and arrows, the Sikhs inside split themselves into batches of five each who would go out one after the other to engage the besiegers in hand-to-hand combat. Jujhar Singh led the last sally towards the end of the day, gurdwara Qatalgarh in Chamkaur Sahib now marks the site where he and Ajit Singh fell. Sahibzada Ajit Singh Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Sahibzada Fateh Singh Kuir Singh Gurbilds Pdtshdhi 10, patiala,1968 Chhibbar, Kesar Singh, Rnnsdvalindma Dasdn Pdlshdhldn Kd. Chandigarh,1972 Gian Singh, Giani, Panth Prakdsh, patiala,1970 Padam, Piara Singh, Char Sdhihidde. Patiala,1970 Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion, oxford,1909 DiscoverSikhism - Sahibzada Ajit Singh & Sahibzada Jujhar Singh The eldest two sons of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Read about their lives and stories here
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Zorawar Singh (Sikhism)
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Sahibzada Zorawar Singh was the third of Guru Gobind Singhs four sons. He and his brother, Sahibzada Fateh Singh are among the most hallowed martyrs in Sikhism. A combination of Mughals and hillmen besieged Anandpur Sahib on the orders of emperor Aurangzeb, the stock of food in the town ran out. The Mughals promised to leave the Sikhs alone if they would hand over the fortress of Anandpur, to this Guru Gobind agreed and left the town with his family and a small band of retainers. They had not gone far when the Mughals, breaking their promise. Guru Gobind entrusted his two sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh as well as his mother, Mata Gujri. Gangu brought Mata Gujri and the two Sahibzadas to his village of Sahedi. Bribed by the Mughals, he turned over the three members of Guru Gobinds family to the faujdar of Morinda and they were then brought to Sirhind in the presence of Wazir Khan, the Nawab of Sirhind. The two sons of Guru Gobind, Zorawar and Fateh were offered safe passage if they became Muslims, both refused, and so Wazir Khan sentenced them to death. After Guru Gobinds death, Madhodas Bairagi, a hermit from Nanded, after laying waste, the cities of Samana and Sandhaura, he moved towards Sirhind and after defeating the Mughal forces, beheaded Wazir Khan. The place where the two sons of Guru Gobind were bricked alive is today known as Fatehgarh Sahib
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Fateh Singh (Sikhism)
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Sahibzada Fateh Singh was the fourth and youngest son of Guru Gobind Singh. He and his brother, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh are among the most hallowed martyrs in Sikhism. He is also known as Baba Fateh Singh, the term Baba is used in India for an elder who is respected for his wisdom. Sahibzada Fateh Singh was born in Anandpur Sahib on 25 February 1699 and his mother died when he was one year old, and he and his brother Zorawar were cared for by their grandmother, Mata Gujari, until their martyrdom. In May 1705 a combination of Mughals and hillmen besieged Anandpur Sahib on the orders of emperor Aurangzeb, for several months the Sikhs withstood the attacks and blockade, but eventually the stock of food in the town ran out. The Mughals offered the Sikhs safe exit if they left Anandpur, Guru Gobind Singh agreed and evacuated the town with his family and a small band of retainers. Mata Gujari and the two Sahibzadas were brought by the familys servant Gangu to his village of Sahedi. Bribed by the Mughals, he turned over the three members of Guru Gobind Singhs family to the faujdar of Sirhind and they were then brought to the Nawab Wazir Khan in Sirhind. The two sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Zorawar and Fateh were offered safe passage if they became Muslims, with a courage that belied their years, both boys refused to do so. Wazir Khan sentenced them to death and they were bricked up alive within a wall. Gurudwara Bhora Sahib marks the site of the wall in Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, after Guru Gobind Singhs death, Banda Singh Bahadur, born Lachman Dev, also known as Madho Das and Banda Bairagi, took revenge on those who had taken part in the deaths of the children. After laying waste, the cities of Samana and Sandhaura, he moved towards Sirhind and after defeating the Mughal forces, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Sahibzada Jujhar Singh Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
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Guru Tegh Bahadur
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Guru Tegh Bahadur, revered as the ninth Nanak, was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. Tegh Bahadur continued in the spirit of the first guru, Nanak, gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of the Gurus body. Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in a Sodhi Family, the Sixth guru, Guru Hargobind had one daughter Bibi Viro and five sons, Baba Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai, Atal Rai and Tyaga Mal. Amritsar at that time was the centre of Sikh faith, Guru Tegh Bahadur was brought up in Sikh culture and trained in archery and horsemanship. He was also taught the old classics and he underwent prolonged spells of seclusion and contemplation. Tegh Bahadur was married on 3 February 1633, to Mata Gujri, in the 1640s, nearing his death, Guru Hargobind and his wife Nanaki moved to his ancestral village of Bakala in Amritsar district, together with Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. Bakala, as described in Gurbilas Dasvin Patishahi, was then a town with many beautiful pools, wells. After Guru Hargobinds death, Tegh Bahadur continued to live in Bakala with his wife and he spent most of his time in meditation, but was not a recluse, and attended to family responsibilities. He made visits outside Bakala, and visited the eighth Sikh guru Guru Har Krishan, in March 1664 Guru Har Krishan contracted smallpox. When asked by his followers who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakala, taking the advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru, many installed themselves in Bakala, claiming themselves as the new Guru. Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants, the Sikh tradition has a legend on how Tegh Bahadur was selected the ninth guru. A wealthy trader, Baba Makhan Shah Labana, had prayed for his life and had promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh guru if he survived. He arrived in search of the ninth Guru, every guru he met accepted the 2 gold coins and bid him farewell. Then he discovered that Tegh Bahadur also lived at Bakala, Labana gifted Tegh Bahadur the usual offering of two gold coins. Tegh Bahadur gave him his blessings and remarked that his offering was considerably short of the five hundred. Makhan Shah Labana forthwith made good the difference and ran upstairs and he began shouting from the rooftop, Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re meaning I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru. In August 1664 a Sikh Sangat arrived in Bakala and anointed Tegh Bahadur as the guru of Sikhs. The Sangat was led by Diwan Durga Mal, and a formal Tikka ceremony was performed by Bhai Gurditta on Tegh Bahadur conferring Guruship on him
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Guru Granth Sahib
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Guru Granth Sahib is the central religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal living Guru following the lineage of the ten human Gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth, the first rendition, was compiled by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan and this second rendition became known as Guru Granth Sahib. After Guru Gobind Singh died, Baba Deep Singh and Bhai Mani Singh prepared many copies of the work for distribution, the text consists of 1430 Angs and 6,000 śabads, which are poetically rendered and set to a rhythmic ancient north Indian classical form of music. The bulk of the scripture is classified into thirty-one rāgas, with each Granth rāga subdivided according to length, the hymns in the scripture are arranged primarily by the rāgas in which they are read. Guru Granth Sahib is predominantly composed by six Sikh Gurus, Guru Nanak, Guru Angad, Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan, and Guru Teg Bahadur. It also contains the traditions and teachings of fourteen Hindu Bhakti movement sants, such as Ramananda, Kabir and Namdev among others, the vision in the Guru Granth Sahib, states Torkel Brekke, is a society based on divine justice without oppression of any kind. While the Granth acknowledges and respects the scriptures of Hinduism and Islam and it is installed in a Sikh gurdwara, many Sikhs bow or prostrate before it on entering the temple. The Granth is revered as eternal gurbānī and the authority in Sikhism. During the guruship of Guru Nanak, collections of his hymns were compiled and his successor, Guru Angad, began collecting his predecessors writings. This tradition was continued by the third and fifth gurus as well, in order to prevent spurious scriptures from gaining legitimacy, Guru Arjan began compiling a sacred book for the Sikh community. In addition, he sent disciples to go across the country to find and he also invited members of other religions and contemporary religious writers to submit writings for possible inclusion. Guru Arjan selected hymns for inclusion into the book, and Bhai Gurdas acted as his scribe, while the manuscript was being put together, Akbar, the Mughal Emperor, received a report that the manuscript contained passages vilifying Islam. Therefore, while travelling north, he stopped en route and asked to inspect it, Baba Buddha and Bhai Gurdas brought him a copy of the manuscript as it then existed. After choosing three random passages to be read, Akbar decided that this report had been false, in 1604 Guru Arjans manuscript was completed and installed at the Harmandir Sahib with Baba Buddha as the first granthi, or reader. Since communities of Sikh disciples were scattered all over northern India, the sixth, seventh, and eighth gurus did not write religious verses, however, the ninth guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, did. The tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh, included Guru Tegh Bahadurs writings into the Guru Granth Sahibbut did not include any of his own verses in the Guru Granth Sahib. The religious verses of Guru Gobind Singh were not included in Guru Granth Sahib, but some of his religious verses are included in the daily prayers of Sikhs. During this period, Bhai Mani Singh also collected Guru Gobind Singhs writings, as well as his court poets, and included them in a secondary religious volume, today known as the Dasam Granth Sahib
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Sikh gurus
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The Sikh gurus the strong and powerful established Sikhism, which started as a minor religion, but developed into a prominent religion over the centuries. No guru comes to start a religion, but religions are formed around the teachings, as is the case since the Sikh gurus appeared, Guru Nanak was the first of the recognized Sikh gurus. There were ten recognized living gurus in the Nanak line, modern Sikhism believes the Adi Granth or Granth Sahib, the writings of the gurus, to now be the guru. This belief has been integrated alongside the writings of Sikh gurus, modern Sikhism says that the Tenth Guru Guru Gobind Singh bestowed the guruship forever to the Guru Granth Sahib. Akhara History of Sikhism Khalsa Panth Udasi sikhs. org sikh-history. com srigurugranthsahib. org
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Guru Nanak
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Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated world-wide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Kartik Pooranmashi, Guru Nanak has been called one of the greatest religious innovators of all time. He travelled far and wide teaching people the message of one God who dwells in one of His creations. He set up a spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness. Nanak was born on 15 April 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī near Lahore and his parents were Kalyan Chand Das Bedi, popularly shortened to Mehta Kalu, and Mata Tripta. His father was the local patwari for crop revenue in the village of Talwandi and his parents were both Hindus and belonged to the merchant caste. He had one sister, Bebe Nanaki, who was five years older than he was, in 1475 she married and moved to Sultanpur. Nanak was attached to his sister and followed her to Sultanpur to live with her and her husband, at the age of around 16 years, Nanak started working under Daulat Khan Lodi, employer of Nanakis husband. This was a time for Nanak, as the Puratan Janam Sakhi suggests. According to Sikh traditions, the birth and early years of Guru Nanaks life were marked with events that demonstrated that Nanak had been marked by divine grace. Commentaries on his life details of his blossoming awareness from a young age. At the age of five, Nanak is said to have voiced interest in divine subjects, at age seven, his father enrolled him at the village school as was the custom. On 24 September 1487 Nanak married Mata Sulakkhani, daughter of Mūl Chand and Chando Rāṇī, the couple had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand. Sri Chand received enlightenment from Guru Nanaks teachings and went on to become the founder of the Udasi sect, the earliest biographical sources on Nanaks life recognised today are the Janamsākhīs. Bhai Gurdas, a scribe of the Gurū Granth Sahib, also wrote about Nanaks life in his vārs, although these too were compiled some time after Nanaks time, they are less detailed than the Janamsākhīs. The Janamsākhīs recount in minute detail the circumstances of the birth of the guru, gyan-ratanavali is attributed to Bhai Mani Singh who wrote it with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Guru Nanak. Bhai Mani Singh was a Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh who was approached by some Sikhs with a request that he should prepare an account of Guru Nanak’s life. At the end of the Janam-sakhi there is an epilogue in which it is stated that the work was taken to Guru Gobind Singh for his seal of approval
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Guru Angad
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Guru Angad was the second of the ten Sikh Gurus. He was born in a Hindu family, with the name as Lehna. Bhai Lehna grew up in a Khatri family, his father was a small scale trader, he worked as a pujari. He met Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and became a Sikh and he served and worked with Guru Nanak for many years. Guru Nanak gave Bhai Lehna the name Angad, chose Angad as the second Sikh Guru instead of his own sons, after the death of Guru Nanak in 1539, Guru Angad led the Sikh tradition. He is remembered in Sikhism for adopting and formalizing the Gurmukhi alphabet from pre-existing Indo-European scripts such as the Tankre of the Himalayan region and he began the process of collecting the hymns of Nanak, contributed 62 or 63 hymns of his own. Instead of his own son, he chose a Vaishnava Hindu Amar Das as his successor, Guru Angad was born in a village, with birth name of Lehna, to Hindu parents living in northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent called the Punjab region. He was the son of a small but successful trader named Pheru Mal and his mothers name was Mata Ramo. Like all the Sikh Gurus, Lehna came from Khatri caste, at age 16, Angad married a Khatri girl named Mata Khivi in January 1520. They had two sons and one or two daughters, depending on the primary sources, the entire family of his father had left their ancestral village in fear of the invasion of Babars armies. After this the family settled at Khadur Sahib, a village by the River Beas near what is now Tarn Taran, before becoming a Sikh and his renaming as Angad, Lehna was a religious teacher and priest who performed services focussed on Durga. Bhai Lehna in his late 20s sought out Guru Nanak, became his disciple, several stories in the Sikh tradition describe reasons why Bhai Lehna was chosen by Guru Nanak over his own sons as his successor. One of these stories is about a jug which fell into mud, Guru Nanaks sons would not pick it up because it was dirty or menial a task. Then he asked Bhai Lehna, who picked it out of the mud, washed it clean. Guru Nanak touched him and renamed him Angad and named him as his successor, after the death of Guru Nanak on 22 September 1539, Guru Angad left Kartarpur for the village of Khadur Sahib. This move may have suggested by Guru Nanak, as the succession to gurgaddi by Guru Angad was disputed and claimed by the two sons of Guru Nanak, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das. Post succession, at one point, very few Sikhs accepted Guru Angad as their leader, Guru Angad focussed on the teachings of Nanak, and building the community through charitable works such as langar. The second Mughal Emperor of India Humayun visited Guru Angad around 1540 after Humayun lost the Battle of Khanua, according to Sikh hagiographies, when Humayun arrived in Khadur Sahib Guru Angad was sitting and listening to hymns of the sangat
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Guru Amar Das
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Guru Amar Das was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552 at age 73. Amar Das adhered to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism for much of his life, One day he heard his nephews wife, Bibi Amro, reciting a hymn by Guru Nanak, and was deeply moved by it. He persuaded her to him to her father, Guru Angad, and in 1539. In 1552, after the death of Guru Angad, he became Guru Amar Das and he wrote and compiled hymns into a Pothi that ultimately helped create the Adi Granth. He founded centres of Sikh pilgrimage, and picked the site for the Golden Temple, Guru Amar Das remained the leader of the Sikhs till age 95, and named his son-in-law Bhai Jetha later remembered by the name Guru Ram Das as his successor. Amar Das was born to mother Bakht Kaur and father Tej Bhan Bhalla on May 51479 in Basarke village in what is now called Amritsar district of Punjab and he married Mansa Devi and they had four children which they named as Mohri, Mohan, Dani and Bhani. Amar Das was a religious Hindu, reputed to have gone on some twenty pilgrimages into the Himalayas, about 1539, on one such Hindu pilgrimage, he met a Hindu monk who asked him why he did not have a guru and Amar Das decided to get one. On his return, he heard Bibi Amro, the daughter of the Sikh Guru Angad and he learnt from her about Guru Angad, and with her help met the second Guru of Sikhism and adopted him as his spiritual Guru who was much younger than his own age. Guru Angad named Amar Das his successor in 1552, instead of naming of his surviving son Shri Chand. After Amar Das became the third Guru, he continued his pilgrimages to religious sites and he died in 1574, and like other Sikh Gurus he was cremated, with the flowers immersed into harisar. The use of fire being most appropriate way was explained by Guru Nanak in religious terms of god Agni burning the trap of death, Guru Amar Das emphasised both spiritual pursuits as well an ethical daily life. He encouraged his followers to wake up before dawn, do their ablutions and he recommended holy devotion with Guru image in his followers heart. He was also a reformer, and discouraged veiling of womens faces as well as sati and he encouraged the Kshatriya people to fight in order to protect people and for the sake of justice, stating this is Dharma. He met the Mughal Emperor Akbar, Akbar, who sought to encourage tolerance and acceptance across religious lines, readily accepted the suggestion. The Sikh hagiographies called janam-sakhis mention that Guru Amar Das persuaded Akbar to repeal the tax on Hindu pilgrims going to Haridwar. Guru Amar Das composed the hymn called Anand and made it a part of the ritual of Sikh marriage called Anand Karaj. The Anand hymn is sung, in times, not only during Sikh weddings. Parts of the Anand hymn are recited in Sikh temples every evening, at the naming of a Sikh baby and it is a section of the Anand Sahib composition of Guru Amar Das, printed on pages 917 to 922 of the Adi Granth and set to the Ramkali raga
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Guru Ram Das
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Guru Ram Das was the fourth of the ten Gurus of Sikhism. He was born on 24 September 1534 in a poor Hindu family based in Lahore and his birth name was Jetha, he was orphaned at age 7, and thereafter grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village. At age 12, Bhai Jetha and his moved to Goindval. The boy thereafter accepted Guru Amar Das as mentor and served him, the daughter of Guru Amar Das married Bhai Jetha, and he thus became part of Guru Amar Dass family. As with the first two Gurus of Sikhism, Guru Amar Das instead of choosing his own sons, chose Bhai Jetha as his successor, Ram Das became the Guru of Sikhism in 1574 and served as the Sikh leader until his death in 1581. He faced hostilities from the sons of Guru Amar Das, shifted his base to lands identified by Guru Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak. This newly founded town was eponymous Ramdaspur, later to evolve and he is also remembered in the Sikh tradition for expanding the manji organization for clerical appointments and donation collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement. He appointed his own son as his successor, and unlike the first four Gurus who were not related through descent and his father was Hari Das and his mother Anup Devi, a Sodhi Khatri caste family. He married Bibi Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das. They had three sons, Prithi Chand, Mahadev and Guru Arjan, Guru Ram Das died on 1 September 1581, in the city of Amritsar, Punjab. Of his three sons, Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru, the choice of successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs. Guru Ram Das is credited with founding the city of Amritsar in the Sikh tradition. Two versions of stories exist regarding the land where Guru Ram Das settled, in one based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations, for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. In another version, Emperor Akbar is stated to have donated the land to the wife of Guru Ram Das. After his coronation in 1574, and the opposition he faced from the sons of Guru Amar Das. He started by completing the pool, and building his new official Guru centre and he invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle into the new town with him. The town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan financed by donations, Guru Ram Das composed 638 hymns, or about ten percent of hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib. He was a poet, and composed his work in 30 ancient ragas of Indian classical music
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Guru Arjan
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Guru Arjan was the first martyr of the Sikh faith and the fifth of the ten Sikh Gurus, who compiled writings to create the eleventh, the living Guru, Guru Granth Sahib. He was born in Goindval, Punjab the youngest son of Guru Ram Das and Mata Bhani and he was the first Guru in Sikhism who was born in a Sikh family. Guru Arjan led Sikhism for a quarter of a century and he completed the construction of Harimandir Sahib at Amritsar, after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a pool. Guru Arjan compiled the hymns of previous Gurus and of saints into Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture. Guru Arjan reorganized the Masands system initiated by Guru Ram Das, by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one tenth of their income, the Masand not only collected these funds but also taught tenets of Sikhism and settled civil disputes in their region. The dasvand financed the building of gurdwaras and langars, Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam. He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE, historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture. His martyrdom is considered an event in the history of Sikhism. It is remembered as Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan every year on 16 June, Arjan was the son of Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru in Sikhism. Arjan had two brothers, Prithi Chand and Mahadev. Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru, Mahadev, the middle brother chose the life of an ascetic. His choice of Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes, the stories in the Sikh tradition about the succession dispute around Guru Arjan are inconsistent. In one version, Prithi Chand is remembered in the Sikh tradition as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, the Sikhs following Guru Arjan called the Prithi Chand faction as Minas, who are alleged to have attempted to assassinate young Hargobind, and befriended Mughal agents. However, the version, found in alternate competing texts written by the Prithi Chand led Sikh faction contradict this version. They offer a different explanation for the attempt on Hargobinds life, the mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru. Arjan, at age 18, became the fifth Guru in 1581 inheriting the title from his father, Guru Arjans martyrdom in Mughal custody has been a controversial issue in Sikh history, and has been variously interpreted. A similar theory floated in early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a single execution. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Gurus execution, in 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in Lahore Fort, where by some accounts he was tortured and executed, and by other accounts the method of his death remains unresolved
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Guru Hargobind
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Guru Hargobind was the sixth of the Sikh gurus. He was barely eleven years old when he became Guru on 11 June 1606, after the execution of his father, Guru Arjan and he initiated a military tradition within Sikhism to resist Islamic persecution and protect the freedom of religion. He had the longest tenure as Guru, lasting 37 years,9 months and 3 days, Hargobind was born in 1595 in Vadali Guru, a village 7 km west of Amritsar, the only son of Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru. He suffered from smallpox as a child and survived an attempt by an uncle, as well as another attempt on his life. He studied religious texts with Bhai Gurdas and trained in swordsmanship, shortly afterwards, Guru Arjan was arrested, tortured and killed by order of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Hargobinds succession ceremony took place on 24 June 1606. He put on two swords, one indicated his spiritual authority and the other, his temporal authority and he followed his martyred fathers advice and always kept himself surrounded by armed Sikhs for protection. The number fifty two was special in his life, and his retinue consisted of fifty two armed men and he thus founded the military tradition in the Sikh faith. Guru Hargobind had three wives, Mata Damodari, Mata Nanaki and Mata Maha Devi and he had children from all three wives. Two of his eldest sons from the first wife died during his lifetime and his youngest son by his third wife was Tegh Bahadur, who became the influential ninth Sikh Guru. The Guru was a martial artist, a hunter and, according to Persian records, unlike earlier Gurus, he. Guru Hargobind encouraged people to physical fitness and keep their bodies ready for physical combat. The arming and training of some of his followers began. The Guru came to possess seven hundred horses and his Risaldari grew to three hundred horsemen and sixty musketeers and he nominated his grandson to succeed him as the seventh Guru Har Rai. He died in 1644, and was cremated on the banks of River Sutlej, because of the execution of Guru Arjan by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Hargobind from the very start was a dedicated enemy of the Mughal rule. He advised Sikhs to arm and fight the mughals, the death of his father at the hands of Jahangir prompted him to emphasise the military dimension of the Sikh community. He symbolically wore two swords, which represented miri and piri and he built a fort to defend Ramdaspur and created a formal court, Akal Takht. Jahangir responded by jailing the 14 year old Guru Hargobind at Gwalior Fort in 1609, on the pretext that the fine imposed on Guru Arjan had not been paid by the Sikhs and it is not clear as to how much time he spent as a prisoner. The year of his release appears to have been either 1611 or 1612 and it is unclear why he was released
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Guru Har Rai
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Guru Har Rai was the seventh of ten Gurus of Sikhism. He became the Sikh leader at age 14, on 8 March 1644, after the death of his grandfather and he guided the Sikhs for about seventeen years, till his death at age 31. Guru Har Rai is notable for maintaining the army of Sikh soldiers that the sixth Sikh Guru had amassed. He supported the moderate Sufi influenced Dara Shikoh instead of conservative Sunni influenced Aurangzeb as the two entered into a war of succession to the Mughal Empire throne. After Aurangzeb won the war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him, Aurangzeb kept Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs at that time. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims, Har Krishan became the eighth Guru at age 5 after Guru Har Rais death in 1661. Some Sikh literature spell his name as Hari Rai, Har Rai was born to Nihal Kaur and Baba Gurditta. His father died while he was 8 years old, at age 10, in 1640, Guru Har Rai was married to Mata Kishan Kaur the daughter of Daya Ram. They had two children, Ram Rai and Har Krishan, the latter of whom became the eighth Guru and his elder brother Dhir Mal had gained encouragement and support from Shah Jahan, with free land grants and Mughal sponsorship. Dhir Mal attempted to form a parallel Sikh tradition and criticized his grand father, the sixth Guru disagreed with Dhir Mal, and designated the younger Har Rai as the successor. Authentic literature about Guru Har Rai life and times are scarce, he left no texts of his own, some of the biographies of Guru Har Rai written in the 18th century such as by Kesar Singh Chhibber, and the 19th century Sikh literature are highly inconsistent. Guru Har Rai provided medical care to Dara Shikoh, possibly when he had been poisoned by Mughal operatives, according to Mughal records, Har Rai provided other forms of support to Dara Shikoh as he and his brother Aurangzeb battled for rights to succession. Ultimately, Aurangzeb won, arrested Dara Shikoh and executed him on charges of apostasy from Islam, in 1660, Aurangzeb summoned Har Rai to appear before him to explain his relationship with Dara Shikoh. In the Sikh tradition, Guru Har Rai was asked why he was helping the Mughal prince Dara Shikoh whose forefathers had persecuted Sikhs and Sikh Gurus. Har Rai is believed to have replied that if a man plucks flowers with one hand and gives it away using his other hand, Guru Har Rai died of natural causes. He appointed his 5 year old younger son Har Krishan as the guru before his death. Guru Har Rai traveled to Malwa region of the Indian subcontinent and he started several public singing and scripture recital traditions in Sikhism
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Guru Har Krishan
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Template, Sikhi sidebar Guru Har Krishan was the eighth of the ten Sikh Gurus. At the age of 5, he became the youngest Guru in Sikhi on 7 October 1661, succeeding his father and he contracted smallpox and died of the disease in 1664 before reaching his 8th birthday. He is also known as Bal Guru, and sometimes spelled in Sikh literature as Hari Krishan and he is remembered in the Sikh tradition for saying Baba Bakale before he died, which Sikhs interpreted to identify his granduncle Guru Tegh Bahadur as the next successor. Guru Har Krishan had the shortest tenure as Guru, lasting only 2 years,5 months and 24 days, Guru Har Krishan ji was born in Kiratpur in northwest Indian subcontinent to Krishen Devi and Guru Har Rai ji. After Aurangzeb won the war in 1658, he summoned Guru Har Rai in 1660 to explain his support for the executed Dara Shikoh. Guru Har Rai sent his elder son Ram Rai to represent him, Aurangzeb kept the 13 year old Ram Rai as hostage, questioned Ram Rai about a verse in the Adi Granth – the holy text of Sikhs. Aurangzeb claimed that it disparaged the Muslims, Aurangzeb meanwhile rewarded Ram Rai, patronizing him with land grants in Dehra Dun region of the Himalayas. However, Guru Harkrishan Rai contracted smallpox when he arrived in Delhi, on his deathbed, Guru Har Krishan said, Baba Bakale, and died in 1664. The devout Sikhs interpreted those words to mean that the next Guru is to be found in Bakala village, which identified as Guru Tegh Bahadur. Authentic literature with more details about Guru Har Krishans life and times are scarce, when they reached Delhi, Guru Har Krishan and his party were the guests of Raja Jai Singh II. Every day, large numbers of Sikh devotees flocked to see the Guru, one of the historic gurdwaras in India, the Bangla Sahib in Delhi, was built on the site where Guru Har Krishan helped the sick. Guru Har Krishan died at Gurudwara Bala Sahib, Delhi
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Bhagat
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For the Sindhi performance art see Sindhi bhagat Bhagat means devotee, and comes from the Sanskrit word Bhakti, which means devotion and love towards God. Indian, Hindu and Jain name, from modern Indo-Aryan bhagat ‘devotee’, ‘votary’, from Sanskrit bhakta and they evolved a belief in one God that preceded Bhagat Kabir selected the writings of The Great Hindu Bhaktis and Sufi saints. In Hinduism and bhagat Sikhism, the community, which follow the teachings of Bhagat Kabir, in Punjab, Bhagat community having faith in Hindu and Sikh religion. Bhagats having their faith in all the Gurus of Sikhism but they considered Bhagat Kabir is their chief Guru, in Hinduism, Sikhism a Bhagat or Sant is a holy person who leads humanity towards God and highlights injustices in the practices of the world. The Sufi Muslim Bhagats lived in Hindu centres and became imbued with Hindu spirituality
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Kabir
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Kabir was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose writings influenced Hinduisms Bhakti movement and his verses are found in Sikhisms scripture Adi Granth. His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was influenced by his teacher. During his lifetime, he was threatened by both Hindus and Muslims for his views, when he died, both Hindus and Muslims he had inspired claimed him as theirs. Kabir suggested that True God is with the person who is on the path of righteousness, considered all creatures on earth as his own self, to know God, suggested Kabir, meditate with the mantra Rāma, Rāma. Kabirs legacy survives and continues through the Kabir panth, a community that recognises him as its founder and is one of the Sant Mat sects. Its members are known as Kabir panthis, the years of Kabirs birth and death are unclear. Some historians favor 1398–1448 as the period Kabir lived, while others favor 1440–1518, many legends, inconsistent in their details, exist about his birth family and early life. However, modern scholarship has abandoned these legends for lack of historical evidence, according to the Indologist Wendy Doniger, Kabir was born into a Muslim family and various birth legends attempt to drag Kabir back over the line from Muslim to Hindu. This alone would explain his relative ignorance of Islamic tenets, his acquaintance with Tantric-yoga practices. He appears far more conversant with Nath-panthi basic attitudes and philosophy than with the Islamic orthodox tradition, some legends assert that Kabir never married and led a celibates life. Kabirs family is believed to have lived in the locality of Kabir Chaura in Varanasi, kabīr maṭha, a maṭha located in the back alleys of Kabir Chaura, celebrates his life and times. Accompanying the property is a house named Nīrūṭīlā which houses Niru, the house also accommodates students and scholars who live there and study Kabirs work. Kabir composed poems in a pithy and earthy style, fused with imagery and his poems were in vernacular Hindi, borrowing from various dialects including Avadhi, Braj, and Bhojpuri. They cover various aspects of life and call for a devotion for God. Kabir and his followers named his verbally composed poems of wisdom as bāņīs and these include songs and couplets, called variously dohe, śalokā, or sākhī. The latter term means witness, implying the poems to be evidence of the Truth, literary works with compositions attributed to Kabir include Kabir Bijak, Kabir Parachai, Sakhi Granth, Adi Granth, and Kabir Granthawali. However, except for Adi Granth, significantly different versions of texts exist and it is unclear which one is more original, for example. The most in depth analysis of various versions and translations are credited to Charlotte Vaudeville
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Ravidas
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Ravidas was a North Indian mystic poet-sant of the bhakti movement during the 15th to 16th century CE. Venerated as a Guru in the region of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra and he was a poet-saint, social reformer and a spiritual figure. He is considered as the founder of 21st-century Ravidassia religion, by a group who previously were associated with Sikhism, the life details of Ravidas are uncertain and contested. Most scholars believe he was born about 1450 CE, in a family that worked with animals and their skin to produce leather products. Tradition and medieval era texts state Ravidas was one of the disciples of the Brahmin bhakti sant-poet Ramananda, Ravidas devotional songs were included in the Sikh Scriptures, Guru Granth Sahib. The Panch Vani text of the Dadupanthi tradition within Hinduism also includes numerous poems of Ravidas, Guru Ravidas Ji taught removal of social divisions of caste and gender, and promoted unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedoms. His name often includes the honorific Bhagat, sometimes spelled as Ravidass, the details of Ravidas life are not well known. Most scholars state he was born about 1450, and died about 1520, Ravidas was born in the village of Seer Goverdhanpur, near Varanasi in what is now Uttar Pradesh, India. His birthplace is now known as Shri Guru Ravidas Janam Asthan, mata Ghurbinia was his mother, and his father was Raghuram. His parents belonged to a leather-working Chamar community, whose profession involved processing dead animals and their skins, while his original occupation was leather work, he began to spend most of his time in spiritual pursuits as a Vaishnava Hindu in the Ramananda tradition. Thereafter he spent most of his life in the company of Hindu saints, sadhus and he is traditionally considered as Kabirs younger contemporary. His ideas and fame grew over his lifetime, and texts suggest Brahmins used to bow before him and he travelled extensively, visiting Hindu pilgrimage sites in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and those in the Himalayas. He abandoned saguna forms of beings, and focussed on the nirguna form of supreme beings. As his poetic hymns in regional languages inspired others, people from various background sought his teachings, most scholars believe that Ravidas met Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism. He is revered in the Sikh scripture, and 41 of Ravidas poems are included in the Adi Granth and these poems are one of the oldest attested source of his ideas and literary works. Another substantial source of legends and stories about the life of Ravidas is the hagiography in the Sikh tradition and this text, composed over 150 years after Ravidas death, in 1693, includes him as one of the seventeen saints of Indian religious tradition. The 17th-century Nabhadass Bhaktamal, and the Parcais of Anantadas, both chapters on Ravidas. Anantadas, a writer who belonged to the bhakti poet-sant Ramananda group and this text, called the Parcaīs, included Ravidas among the sants whose biography and poems were included
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Fariduddin Ganjshakar
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He was one of the founding fathers of the Chishti Sufi order. Upon completing his education, Farīd left for Sistan and Kandahar, once his education was over, he moved to Delhi, where he learned the Islamic doctrine from his master, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki. He later moved to Hansi, Haryana, when Quṭbuddīn Bakhtiyār Kākī died in 1235, Farīd left Hansi and became his spiritual successor, and he settled in Ajodhan instead of Delhi. On his way to Ajodhan, while passing through Faridkot, he met the 20-year-old Nizāmuddīn, who went on to become his disciple, Baba Farid had three wives and eight children. One of his wives, Hazabara, was the daughter of Sulṭān Nasīruddīn Maḥmūd, the great Arab traveller Ibn Battuta once visited this Sufi saint. Ibn Battuta says that Fariduddin Ganjshakar was the guide of the King of India. He also met Baba Farids two sons, Baba Farids descendants, also known as Fareedi, Fareedies or Faridy, mostly carry the name Fārūqī, and can be found in Pakistan, India and the diaspora. Fariduddin Ganjshakars descendants include the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, whose daughter was the Emperor Jehangirs foster mother and their descendants settled in Sheikhupur, Badaun and the remains of a fort they built can still be found. One of his descendants was the noted Sufi scholar MuhibbUllah Allahabadi, Fariduddin Ganjshakars shrine darbār is located in Pakpattan. Fareedudin Gangshakar preached peace and harmony among Moslems, Hindus, Sikhs and he used to write poetry at peaks of ecstasy, subdued in True Love. The way he describes Gods attributes and personality in one of the pieces of his poetry, is transcendental, the piece is called Husn-e-Haqiqi, The Beauty of Truth. Husn-e-Haqiqi Lyrics English Translation O Beauty of Truth, the Eternal Light, one of Farīds most important contributions to Punjabi literature was his development of the language for literary purposes. Although earlier poets had written in a primitive Punjabi, before Farīd there was little in Punjabi literature apart from traditional, by using Punjabi as the language of poetry, Farīd laid the basis for a vernacular Punjabi literature that would be developed later. The city of Faridkot bears his name, according to legend, Farīd stopped by the city, then named Mokhalpūr, and sat in seclusion for forty days near the fort of King Mokhal. The king was said to be so impressed by his presence that he named the city after Baba Farid, the festival Bābā Sheikh Farād Āgman Purb Melā is celebrated in September each year from, commemorating his arrival in the city. Ajodhan was also renamed as Farīds Pāk Pattan, meaning Holy Ferry, there are various explanations of why Baba Farid was given the title Shakar Ganj. One legend says his mother used to encourage the young Farīd to pray by placing sugar under his prayer mat, once, when she forgot, the young Farīd found the sugar anyway, an experience that gave him more spiritual fervour and led to his being given the name. There is also a covered corridor
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Namdev
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Namdev, also transliterated as Namdeo and Namadeva, was a poet-saint from Maharashtra, India who is significant to the Varkari sect of Hinduism. He is also venerated in Sikhism, as well as Hindu warrior-ascetic traditions such as the Dadupanthis, the details of Namdevs life are unclear. He is the subject of many miracle-filled hagiographies composed centuries after he died, scholars find these biographies to be inconsistent and contradictory. Namdev was influenced by Vaishnavism, and became known in India for his devotional songs set to music. His philosophy contains both nirguna and saguna Brahman elements, with monistic themes, details of the life of Namdev are vague. He is traditionally believed to have lived between 1270 and 1350 but S. B, some scholars date him to around 1425 and another, R. Bharadvaj, proposes 1309-1372. Namdev was married to Rajai and had a son, Vitha, contemporary references to him by a disciple, a potter, a guru and other close associates also exist. Smrtisthala, a later Mahanubhava text from around 1310, may possibly refer to him, after that. As with various details of his life, elements such as this may have been invented to sidestep issues that might have caused controversy. In this instance, the controversy was that of caste or, more specifically. He was born into what is recognised as a Shudra caste, variously recorded as shimpi in the Marathi language. That he was himself a calico-printer or tailor and that he spent much of his life in Punjab, the Lilacaritra suggests, however, that Namdev was a cattle-thief who was devoted to and assisted Vithoba. A friendship between Namdev and Jñāneśvar, a yogi-saint, has been posited at least as far back as circa 1600 CE when Nabhadas, a hagiographer, noted it in his Bhaktamal. Namdev is generally considered by Sikhs to be a man, many of whom came from lower castes. Such men, who comprised both Hindus and Muslims, traditionally wrote devotional poetry in a style that was acceptable to the Sikh belief system, a tradition in Maharashtra is that Namdev died at the age of eighty in 1350 CE. Sikh tradition maintains that his place was the Punjabi village of Ghuman. Aside from a shrine there that marks his death, there are monuments at the other claimant places, being Pandharpur, scholars note that many miracles and specifics about Namdevs life appear only in manuscripts written centuries after Namdevs death. The birth theory with Namdev floating down a river, is first found in Mahipatis Bhaktavijay composed around 1762, Mahipatis biography of Namdev adds numerous other miracles, such as buildings rotating and sun rising in the west to show respect to Namdev
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Bhagat Sadhana
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Bhagat Sadhna, also called Sadhna Qasai, was a North Indian Muslim poet, saint, mystic and one of the devotees whose hymn was incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib. Venerated in the region of Punjab, among Sikhs and Ravidassias and his one hymn is present in Adi Granth Sahib, in Raga Bilaval. The followers of Bhagat Sadhna are called Sadhna Panthis and his only memorial is a mosque, present at Sirhind, where he died. Sadhna was born in 1180 AD at village Sehwaan in Hyderabad, as his ancestors were butchers by profession, he continued the family profession of slaughtering goats and selling meat. It is said there were shady trees and drinking water facility available near your shop. Due to this, in addition to customers, travelers, saints and even used to come over. Sadhna was very interested in spirituality from his adolescence and as a result, Sadhna got shaligram shilas and used them as weights in his profession. Sadhna annoyed vaishnav sadhus and pundits with this act, on one side, he was of lower profession and caste, and on the other, he was belittling their idol worship by using idol in the flesh of animals, which is consider as sin by the Pundits. Those religious scholars always argued and debated him, in which Sadhna always outwitted them. It is recorded one of vaishnav saint took shaligram stones with him. Sadhna had no issues with this and did not object, vaishnav saint continued worshipping shaligram but got no internal pleasure and wisdom, as he had seen in state, behavior and thoughts of Sadhna. With dashing hopes he returned Shaligram Stones, the weights of Sadhna back, Sadhna preached that Shaligrams Stones are not god as these are lifeless stones, and can not give any wisdom to a living being. His spiritual quest led him to renounce the life of a householder and he left Sehvan and roamed about the country preaching the love of God. This historical account is from the time when Sadhna was young, during his travels in North India, his looks pleased a young married Brahmin lady, who wanted to have sex with him. When she asked Sadhna, he replied that he could not have sexual relation with anyone out of his marriage and she thought Sadhna might be fearing of his husband. Without understanding Sadhna thoughts, she killed her husband, came back to Sadhna and told what she did. Sadhna got shocked and left the area after sermonizing her, the lady felt ashamed, she burnt herself on husbands funeral pyre, so that people continued thinking her to be Sati-Savitri. According to few authors, He came to Punjab after this incident, another view exist that Brahmins wife complained to local administration that Sadhna raped her
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Bhagat Pipa
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Bhagat Pipa, born in Malwa region of north India, was a Rajput king of Gagaraungarh, who abdicated and turned into a sant and Hindu mystic poet of the Bhakti movement. Pipas year of birth or death is unknown, but he is believed to have lived in late 14th. Bhagat Pipa is considered one of the earliest influential sants of the Bhakti movement in 15th century north India and his devotional hymns are incorporated in Guru Granth Sahib, a Sikhism scripture. Pipa is also known as Raja Pipaji or Rao Pipa or Sardar Pipa or Sant Pipaji or Pipa Bairagi or Pipanand Acharya, Pipa was born in a Rajput royal family, at Gagaron, in present-day Jhalawar district of Rajasthan in a Rajput family, became the king of Gagaraungarh. According to Bhaktamal, a Bhakti movement hagiography, his wife Sita stayed with him before, the robbers were so moved that they abandoned their ways and became his disciples. His date of birth and death is unknown, but the traditional genealogy in Bhakti hagiography suggests he died about 1400 CE, Pipa taught that god is within ones own self, and that true worship is to look within and have reverence for God in each human being. He influenced Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and Bhagat Pipas hymns are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, two collections of Pipa’s sayings are known to exist, namely Shñ Pipa ji Bani and Sarab Gutaka, both in manuscript form. Pipa Math, a monastery in Dwãrkã, honours his memory, michaels, Alex, Hinduism, Past and Present, Princeton, Princeton University Press Encyclopedia of Sikhism by Harbans Singh. Published by Punjabi University, Patiala Exegesis of Bani of Bhagat Pipa - Dharam Singh Nihang Singh * History of Bhagat Pipaji Maharaj
