ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BOT&#256 SI&#7748GH (d. 1739)</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="BOT,SIDGH"> <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">&#65279BOT&#256 SI&#7748GH (d. 1739), an eighteenth century martyr of the Sikh faith, belonged to the village of Bha&#7771&#257&#7751&#257 in Amritsar district. In those days of dire persecution, he along with many fellow Sikhs had sought the safety of wastes and jungles. At nightfall, he would come out of his place and visit some human habitations in search of food. Occasionally he would come to Amritsar by night to have a dip in the holy tank, spending the day in the wilderness around Tarn T&#257ran. One day he was noticed by some people who thought he was a Sikh. But one of the party said that he was not a Sikh, for had he been one he would not conceal himself thus. The taunt cut Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh to the quick. Accompanied by his companion Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh, a Ra&#7749ghre&#7789&#257 Sikh, and with a bamboo club in his hand, he took up position on the grand trunk road, near Sar&#257i N&#363r ud-D&#299n, near Tarn T&#257ran. To announce his presence and proclaim the sovereignty of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, he started collecting toll from the passers-by. Finding everyone submitting tamely to his authority, he sent a communication to the provincial governor himself. The words of the letter, as preserved in Punjabi folklore, were :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Chi&#7789&#7789h&#299 likh&#299 Si&#7749gh Bot&#257 :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Hath hai so&#7789&#257,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Vich r&#257h khalot&#257</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#256nn&#257 l&#257y&#257 ga&#7693&#7693e n&#363,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pais&#257 l&#257y&#257 khot&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#256kho Bh&#257b&#299 Kh&#257no n&#363,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yo&#7749 &#257khe Si&#7749gh Bot&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh writes this letter :</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With a big club in hand,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On the road do I stand.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I levy an &#257nn&#257 on a cart</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And a pice on a donkey.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This, tell your sister, kh&#257no, who is my sister-in-law,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Is what Bota Si&#7749gh declares.</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 wife of the Mu<u>gh</u>al governor is burlesqued here using her popular name "<u>Kh</u>&#257no. " Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh calls her his <i>bh&#257b&#299</i>, i. e. brother's wife with whom one could take liberties.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the governor, sent a contingent of one hundred horses under Jal&#257l D&#299n to arrest Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh alive and bring him to Lahore. Jal&#257l D&#299n asked Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh and Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh to surrender and accompany him to Lahore, promising to secure them the governor's pardon. Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh and his comrade spurned the offer and fell fighting valiantly against heavy odds. This happened in 1739.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Bhagat Lakshman Singh, <i>Sikh Martyrs</i>. Madras, 1928<BR> <li class="C1"> Chhibbar, Kesar Si&#7749gh, <i>Ba&#7749s&#257val&#299n&#257m&#257 Das&#257&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299&#257&#7749 K&#257</i>. Chandigarh, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Bha&#7749g&#363, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Pa&#7749th Prak&#257sh</i>. Amritsar, 1914<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Bhagat Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>