ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BAGHD&#256D (33º-20'N, 44º-30'E)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279BA<u>GH</u>D&#256D (33º-20'N, 44º-30'E), capital of Iraq, situated on the banks of Dajal&#257 (Tigris) River, has a historical shrine dedicated to Gur&#363 N&#257nak, who visited here on his way back from Mecca and Madina early in the sixteenth century. Here he held discourses with some local S&#363f&#299 saints. A memorial platform was raised on the spot where the Gur&#363 and his companion, Mard&#257n&#257, the Muslim bard, had stopped. A few years later, a room was constructed there and a stone slab with an inscription in Ottoman Turkish was installed in it. Translated into English it would read :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Look what was wished by the Glorious Lord in His majesty -</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That a new establishment be built for the saint B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak -</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Seven gave help and there came this chronogram:</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The blest disciple performed a meritorious work.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;May He then recompense it!</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The year which is now read as 917 Hijr&#299 was in earlier photographs of the inscription read as 927. It seems the figure "2" has since been mutilated and now reads more like the figure "1".</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the literature relating to the life of Gur&#363 N&#257nak the tradition about his visit to Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d is strong and persistent. The earliest testimony is that of Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s who was born twelve years after Gur&#363 N&#257nak and lived through the times of the five of the succeeding Gur&#363s. He was, throughout, in close touch with them and with some of the disciples from the time of Gur&#363 N&#257nak himself. In his <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, I. 35, Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s wrote about Gur&#363 N&#257nak's visit to Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d and said:</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#2603&#2623&#2608&#2623 &#2604&#2622&#2604&#2622 &#2583&#2623&#2566 &#2604&#2583&#2598&#2622&#2598 &#2600&#2635,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#2604&#2622&#2617&#2608 &#2588&#2622&#2567 &#2581&#2624&#2566 &#2565&#2616&#2597&#2622&#2600&#2622 l</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Translated into English the lines say, "The B&#257b&#257, i. e. the Gur&#363, journeyed on to Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d and made his seat outside the town. " This writing dates to about 60 years after Gur&#363 N&#257nak. It is by one who had direct access to Sikhs of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's time and to the tradition coming down from him. The statement is clear and unambiguous and the words that the Gur&#363 sat outside the town are specially meaningful in this context. The Janam Sakh&#299s also refer to his visit to Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d. Mention has been made of Gur&#363 N&#257nak having met Shai<u>kh</u> Abdul Q&#257dir Jil&#257n&#299 and Bahl&#363l Sh&#257h. These references are obviously anachronistic. Maybe, Gur&#363 N&#257nak met the disciples or descendants of these S&#363f&#299 saints. But the very fact that Ba<u>gh</u>d&#257d and the names of the S&#363f&#299 saints are connected with the tradition, indicates that there was some firm basis for the story which became current soon after Gur&#363 N&#257nak's passing away.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The inscription was first discovered by Sikh soldiers going to Iraq, then Mesopotamia, during World War I and has since been a topic of much spirited speculation and scholarly discussion.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gurdu&#257re Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1928<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith</i>. Bombay, 1969<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>