ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BHA&#7788&#7788-VAH&#298S</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="BHAll,VAH*S"> <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">&#65279BHA&#7788&#7788-VAH&#298S, scrolls or records maintained by Bha&#7789&#7789s, hereditary bards and genealogists. According to Nesfield as quoted in W. Crooke, <i>The Tribes and Castes of the North Western India</i>, 1896, Bha&#7789&#7789s are an "offshoot from those secularised Br&#257hma&#7751s who frequented the courts of princes and the camps of warriors, recited their praises in public, and kept records of their genealogies. " These bards constantly attended upon or visited their patron families reciting panegyrics to them and receiving customary rewards. They also collected information about births, deaths and marriages in the families and recorded it in their scrolls. These scrolls containing information going back to several past centuries formed the valued part of the bards' hereditary possessions.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A group of Bha&#7789&#7789s was introduced to Gur&#363 Arjan, N&#257nak V, by Bha&#7789&#7789 Bhikh&#257 who had himself become a Sikh in the time of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s. According to Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, XI. 21, and Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Bhagat M&#257l&#257</i>, he had once visited Gur&#363 Arjan with the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> of Sult&#257npur Lodh&#299. Some of the Bha&#7789&#7789s who came into the Sikh fold composed hymns in honour of the Gur&#363s which were entered in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib by Gur&#363 Arjan. These Bha&#7789&#7789s and their successors too maintained their <i>vah&#299s</i> in which they recorded information concerning the Gur&#363s, their families and some of the eminent Sikhs. These old <i>vah&#299s</i> are still preserved in the descendant families, now scattered mostly in Hary&#257&#7751&#257 state. Their script is <i>bha&#7789&#7789&#257kshar&#299</i>, a kind of family code like <i>la&#7751&#7693e</i> or <i>mah&#257jan&#299</i>. During the late 1950's, a researcher, Gi&#257n&#299 Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh, obtained Gurmukh&#299 transcripts of some of the entries pertaining to the Gur&#363 period, from Gur&#363 Hargobind (1595-1644) to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh (1666-1708) through Bha&#7789&#7789 M&#257n Si&#7749gh of Karsindh&#363 village, in J&#299nd district. Some of these were published as footnotes to <i>Sh&#257h&#299d Bil&#257s Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh</i>, edited by Gi&#257n&#299 Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh and published by Punjabi S&#257hitya Ak&#257dem&#299, Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, in 1961. The rest are still in manuscript form lying in the Department of Punjab Historical Studies, Punjabi University, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. These extracts provide valuable information regarding dates, places and events of the period.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As contemporary evidence, Bha&#7789&#7789-Vah&#299s have to be used with caution however, for they are not diaries of the eye witnesses. It was customary for the Bha&#7789&#7789s to visit their hereditary patrons usually twice a year at harvest time to sing their praises and receive rewards or customary donations as well as to collect information for record in their <i>vah&#299s</i>. These records are, therefore, based on information gathered generally after the occurrence of events and, possibly, sometimes received at second hand. This may not apply to entries regarding the Gur&#363s which were recorded by Bha&#7789&#7789s who generally remained in attendance. For instance, an entry about the conferment of Gur&#363ship upon the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in 1708 is by Bha&#7789&#7789 Narbud Si&#7749gh (son of Keso Si&#7749gh and grandson of Bha&#7789&#7789 K&#299rat whose hymns are included in the Holy Book) who had accompanied Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh to N&#257nde&#7693. On the whole, these Bha&#7789&#7789-Vah&#299s are a mine of information of historical and sociological value.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Gi&#257n&#299 Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>