ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BH&#256GO M&#256&#298</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 NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BHGO,M*"> <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">&#65279BH&#256GO, M&#256&#298, the sole survivor of the battle of Khidr&#257&#7751&#257, i. e. Muktsar (29 December 1705), was a descendant of Pero Sh&#257h, the younger brother of Bh&#257&#299 La&#7749g&#257h, a &#7692hillon Ja&#7789&#7789 who had converted a Sikh during the time of Gur&#363 Arjan. Born at her ancestral village of Jhab&#257l in present-day Amritsar district of the Punjab, she was married to Nidh&#257n Si&#7749gh V&#257&#7771&#257ich of Pa&#7789&#7789&#299. A staunch Sikh by birth and upbringing, she was distressed to hear in 1705 that some of the Sikhs of her neighbourhood who had gone to Anandpur to fight for Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had deserted him under adverse conditions. She rallied the deserters persuading them to meet the Gur&#363 and apologize to him. She set off along with them and some other Sikhs to seek out the Gur&#363, then travelling across the M&#257lv&#257 region. Ma&#299 Bh&#257go and the men she was leading stopped near the <i>&#7693h&#257b</i> or pool of Khidr&#257&#7751&#257 where an imperial army in pursuit of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had almost overtaken him. They challenged the pursuing host and fought furiously forcing it to retreat. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, who had supported them with a shower of arrows from a nearby high ground, found all the men except one, Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh, killed when he visited the battlefield. Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh, who had been seriously wounded, also died as the Gur&#363 took him into his lap. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh blessed those forty dead as the Forty Liberated Ones. He took into his care M&#257&#299 Bh&#257go who had also suffered injury in the battle. She thereafter stayed on with Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh as one of his bodyguard, in male attire. After the death of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh at N&#257nde&#7693 in 1708, she retired further south. She settled down at Jinv&#257&#7771&#257, 11 km from Bidar in Karn&#257&#7789aka where, immersed in meditation, she lived to attain a ripe old age. Her hut in Jinv&#257&#7771&#257 has now been converted into Gurdw&#257r&#257 Tap Asth&#257n M&#257&#299 Bh&#257go. At N&#257nde&#7693, too, a hall within the compound of Ta<u>kh</u>t Sach<u>kh</u>a&#7751&#7693 Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib marking the site of her residence is known as Bu&#7749g&#257 M&#257&#299 Bh&#257go.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Kuir Si&#7749gh, <i>Gurbil&#257s P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 10</i>. Patiala, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>, Amritsar, 1926-37<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, and Gi&#257n&#299 Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh, eds. , <i>Gur&#363 k&#299&#257&#7749 S&#257kh&#299&#257&#7749</i>, Patiala, 1986<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Guru Gobind Si&#7749gh</i>. Chandigarh, 1966<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh Padam<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>