ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>B&#298R SI&#7748GH B&#256B&#256 (1768-1844)</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="B*R,SIDGH,BB,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279B&#298R SI&#7748GH, B&#256B&#256 (1768-1844), soldier-become-religious preacher and saint, was born in July 1768 at the village of Gaggob&#363&#257, in Amritsar district of the Punjab, the son of Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh and Dharam Kaur. After the death of his father in one of the campaigns against the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n rulers of Mult&#257n, B&#299r Si&#7749gh joined the Sikh army. He participated in Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's campaigns for the capture of Kashm&#299r and Pesh&#257war. After several years of active service, he secured his dismissal from the army as he came under the influence of B&#257b&#257 Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh, a Sikh saint belonging to Kur&#299, in R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299 district. B&#299r Si&#7749gh took to preaching Gur&#363 N&#257nak's word and soon attracted a considerable following in the M&#257jh&#257 area. He set up his <i>&#7693er&#257</i> in the village of Naura&#7749g&#257b&#257d, near Tarn T&#257ran. The <i>&#7693er&#257</i>, named Santpur&#257, became a popular pilgrim centre and it is said that about 4, 500 visitors were fed in the <i>la&#7749gar</i> every day. Such was the influence B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh had acquired that a volunteer army of 1, 200 musket men and 3, 000 horse attended upon him.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh was a true well-wisher of the dynasty of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and was deeply grieved at the disaster which had overtaken it through the envy of the courtiers after the death of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 in 1839. During that critical period, Sikh soldiers and peasantry began to turn to him for guidance. On 2 May 1844, Atar Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257, who had been in residence in British India for some time, crossed the Sutlej into Sikh territory and joined B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh who was then camping near Har&#299ke Patta&#7751. Prince Kashm&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Prince Pashaur&#257 Si&#7749gh and many Sikh <i>sard&#257rs</i>, including Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh Nalv&#257, son of the celebrated Sikh general Har&#299 Si&#7749gh Nalv&#257, and D&#299w&#257n Bais&#257kh&#257 Si&#7749gh, had already taken asylum at B&#299r Si&#7749gh's <i>&#7693er&#257</i>. B&#299r Si&#7749gh's camp had become the centre of Sikh revolt against &#7692ogr&#257 dominance over the Punjab. Perturbed at these developments, H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, the &#7692ogr&#257 prime minister of the Sikh kingdom, sent a strong force comprising 20, 000 men and 50 guns under the command of M&#299&#257&#7749 L&#257bh Si&#7749gh to attack the citadel of B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh. The troops besieged the camp on 7 May 1844. B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh forbade his Sikhs to fight back saying, "How can we attack our own brethren?" He was in meditation in the presence of the Holy Book, when he was killed with a shell from the besiegers. Prince Kashm&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Atar Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 also lost their lives in the heavy cannonade and, in the panic, hundreds of B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh's followers were drowned in the river while trying to cross it. The troops, however, never forgave H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh for forcing them into an action which led to the death of a holy man. He tried to atone for what had happened by promising to build a <i>sam&#257dh</i> where B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh had been cremated, and set aside land yielding Rs 5, 000 annually for its maintenance, but his critics were far from assuaged. He had to pay for this onslaught on Naura&#7749g&#257b&#257d with his own life before the year was out. General Court's battalion, which had played a leading part in the action, was boycotted when it reached the headquarters and was always referred to as <i>gur&#363m&#257r</i> (killer of the <i>gur&#363</i> or holy man).</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Smyth, G. Carmichael, <i>A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore</i>. Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhagat Singh, <i>Maharaja Ranjit Singh and His Times</i>. Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Ganda Singh, ed. , <i>The Panjab in 1839-40</i>. Amritsar, 1952<BR> <li class="C1"> Sher Singh, <i>Sr&#299 B&#299r Mrigesh Gur Bil&#257s Dev Tar&#363</i>.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">J. S. Khur&#257n&#257<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>