ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>DITT SI&#7748GH GI&#256N&#298 (1853-1901)</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="DITT,SIDGH,GIN*,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">&#65279DITT SI&#7748GH, GI&#256N&#298 (1853-1901), scholar, poet and journalist, was an eminent Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 reformer and editor. He was born on 21 April 1853 at Kalau&#7771, a village in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 district of the Punjab. His ancestral village was Jhall&#299&#257&#7749, near Chamkaur S&#257hib, but his father, D&#299v&#257n Si&#7749gh, had migrated to his wife's village, Kalau&#7771. D&#299v&#257n Si&#7749gh, a Ravid&#257s&#299&#257 by caste and a weaver by trade, was a religious-minded person who had earned the title of Sant for his piety. Himself an admirer of the Gul&#257bd&#257s&#299 sect, he sent Ditt Si&#7749gh at the age of nine, to be educated under Sant Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh at &#7692er&#257 Gul&#257bd&#257s&#299&#257&#7749 in the village of Tio&#7771, near Khara&#7771 in Ropa&#7771 district. Ditt Si&#7749gh studied Gurmukh&#299, prosody, Ved&#257nta and <i>Niti-&#346&#257str&#257</i> at the &#7692er&#257, and learnt Urdu from Day&#257 Nand, a resident of Tio&#7771. At the age of 16-17, he shifted to the main Gul&#257bd&#257s&#299 centre at Cha&#7789&#7789hi&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257, near Kas&#363r, in Lahore district. Formally initiated into the sect of Sant Des&#257 Si&#7749gh, he became a Gul&#257bd&#257si preacher. Not long afterwards, he came under the influence of Bh&#257&#299 Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh, formerly a follower of Gul&#257bd&#257s&#299 sect, who had joined the &#256rya Sam&#257j. Ditt Si&#7749gh also became an &#256rya Sam&#257jist. He was introduced to Sw&#257m&#299 Day&#257 Nand, the founder of the &#256rya Sam&#257j, during the latter's visit to Lahore in 1877. Soon, however, he and his friend, Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh, were drawn into the Sikh fold through Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, then an active figure in the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 movement. In 1886, Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, following the establishment of the Lahore <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n parallel to the one at Amritsar, floated a weekly newspaper, the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r</i>. Though its first editor was Gi&#257n&#299 Jha&#7751&#7693&#257 Si&#7749gh Far&#299dko&#7789&#299, the principal contributor was Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh, who soon took over editorship from him. He had passed the Gy&#257n&#299 examination the same year and had been appointed a teacher at the Oriental College. In his hands the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r</i> became an efficient and powerful vehicle for the spread of Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 ideology. The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Amritsar led by B&#257b&#257 Khem Si&#7749gh Bed&#299 and the ruler of Far&#299dko&#7789, R&#257j&#257 Bikram Si&#7749gh, had Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh excommunicated, under the seal of the Golden Temple, in March 1887. On 16 April 1887, Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh issued a special supplement of his <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r</i> in which appeared a part of his <i>Svapan N&#257&#7789ak</i> (<i>q. v. </i>), or Dream Play, a thinly-veiled satire, ridiculing the Amritsar leaders and their supporters. One of the victims of the burlesque, B&#257v&#257 Ude Si&#7749gh, filed a defamation suit against Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh in a Lahore court. The latter was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs 5 but was on appeal acquitted by the sessions court on 30 April 1888. The case had dragged on for over a year, imposing severe financial hardship on the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r</i>. It had already suffered a setback by the death in May 1887 of its chief patron, Ka&#7749var Bikram&#257 Si&#7749gh of Kap&#363rthal&#257. In 1889, it had to be closed down, along with the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Press. Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, however, secured, through Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, help from the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of N&#257bh&#257 and the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 A<u>kh</u>b&#257r</i> recomenced publication on 1 May 1893. Editorship was again entrusted to Ditt Si&#7749gh. Ditt Si&#7749gh also helped Bhagat Lakshman Si&#7749gh to launch from Lahore on 5 January 1899 the <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257</i>, a weekly in English.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh and his friend, Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh, had not severed their connection with the &#256rya Sam&#257j even after their initiation into the Sikh faith. The final breach came on 25 November 1888 when, in a public meeting held on the eleventh anniversary of the Lahore &#256rya Sam&#257j, Pa&#7751&#7693it Gur&#363 Dutt of Government College, Lahore, and L&#257l&#257 Murl&#299 Dhar spoke disparagingly about the Sikh Gur&#363s. This hurt the feelings of Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh and Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh and they left the &#256rya Sam&#257j for good. They joined hands with Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh and threw themselves whole-heartedly into the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 work.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh wielded a powerful pen and was equally at home in prose as well as in verse. He wrote more than forty books and pamphlets on Sikh theology and history and on current polemics. Well-known among his works are: <i>Gur&#363 N&#257nak Prabodh</i>, <i>Gur&#363 Arjan Charittar</i>, <i>Dambh Bid&#257ran</i>, <i>Durg&#257 Prabodh</i>, <i>Panth Prabodh</i>, <i>R&#257j Prabodh</i>, <i>Mer&#257 ate S&#257dh&#363 Day&#257nand d&#257 Samb&#257d</i>, <i>Naql&#299 Sikh Prabodh</i> and <i>Panth Sudh&#257r Binai Pattar</i>. He also published accounts of the martyrdoms of T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh of V&#257&#7749, Subeg Si&#7749gh, Mat&#257b Si&#7749gh M&#299r&#257&#7749ko&#7789&#299&#257, T&#257r&#363 Si&#7749gh and Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ditt Si&#7749gh's marriage took place in Lahore in 1880 according to Sikh rites. His wife, Bishan Kaur, shared his religious zeal and the couple had a happy married life. They had two children, a son, Baldev Si&#7749gh, born in 1886, and a daughter, Vidy&#257vant Kaur, born in 1890. Ditt Si&#7749gh was very fond of his daughter who was a highly precocious child. Her death on 17 June 1901 was a great blow to Ditt Si&#7749gh, who had already been under a strain owing to persistently heavy work since the death in 1898 of Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh. He still continued to work with patience and fortitude, but his health deteriorated rapidly and he fell seriously ill. A Muslim doctor, Rah&#299m <u>Kh</u>&#257n, treated him, but it was of no avail. Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh died at Lahore on 6 September 1901. The loss was mourned widely by the Sikhs. A 15-member memorial committee was formed with Bh&#257&#299 S&#257hib Arjan Si&#7749gh B&#257ga&#7771&#299&#257&#7749 as chairman. Notable memorials honouring his name were Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Boarding House in Lahore and Bh&#257&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh Library opened at Sikh Kany&#257 Mah&#257vidy&#257l&#257 F&#299rozpur by Bh&#257&#299 Ta<u>kh</u>t Si&#7749gh, one of his former students and a close friend.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Amar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Lahir de Ughe Sañch&#257lak Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh J&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1902<BR> <li class="C1"> Dalj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 de Mo&#7693h&#299 Gi&#257n&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh J&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1951<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Lahir</i>. Ludhiana, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"> Jolly, Surjit Kaur, <i>Sikh Revivalist Movements</i>. Delhi, 1988<BR> <li class="C1"> Chandar, Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, <i>My Attempted Excommunication from the Sikh Temples and the Khalsa Community at Faridkot in 1887 </i>. Lahore, 1898.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdarshan Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>