ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GURBAKHSH SI&#7748GH SANT (1871-1939)</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="GURBA"> <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">&#65279GURBA<u>KH</u>SH SI&#7748GH, SANT (1871-1939), better known as Sant Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, scholar and preacher, was born in 1871 at Ch&#363n&#299&#257&#7749 in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 district. His father, Bh&#257&#299 Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh, and his family shifted to H&#257&#7749sro&#7749, near Nav&#257shahar in Jalandhar district, as the repression was let loose by government on the N&#257mdh&#257r&#299s. He served as <i>granth&#299</i> in the village <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>. Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh received his early education in a <i>&#7693er&#257</i> at Fateh&#257b&#257d, near Kha&#7693&#363r S&#257hib. He had a religious inclination from the very beginning and was drawn into the company of Nirm&#257l&#257 saints while still very young. With a group of them he travelled first to Jh&#257&#7749s&#299 and then to V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299 -- two centres of Nirmal&#257 learning. At these places he acquired proficiency in Sanskrit grammar, Ved&#257nta, Ny&#257ya and Mim&#257&#7749s&#257. He came to be reckoned as a powerful logician and was sent to Pray&#257g, Haridv&#257r, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, Amritsar, and other Nirmal&#257 centres to participate in learned debate. His skill as a logician was put to test especially in the religious polemics which raged in the Punjab towards the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth. Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh had by now been converted to Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 ideology which he preached with zest and vigour. He revelled in discourse with the &#256ry&#257 Sam&#257jists and won for his powers in argument the title of Sabh&#257 Jitt Pa&#7751&#7693&#299t, i.e. Pa&#7751&#7693it or scholar victor in debating forums. He was named adviser for religious affairs to the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Amritsar. In 1908 he took over as editor of the <i>Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 State Gazette</i> which had then started appearing in Punjabi under the orders of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh (1891-1938) . This appointment and his close association with the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 linked his name with Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 for ever. He was nominated along with B&#257b&#363 Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh of Bhasau&#7771, Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh and Dr Bh&#257&#299 Jodh Si&#7749gh, a member of the committee, constituted by the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n on 20 October 1910, to work out the draft of a Sikh code which was published under the title <i>Gurmat Prak&#257sh: Bh&#257g Sa&#7749sk&#257r</i>. Unmatched in platform oratory, Sant Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh spent his last years in comparative oblivion.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He died in 1939.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Sam&#257ch&#257r</i>. 23 April 1953<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Patrik&#257</i>. April 1980<BR> <li class="C1"> Vis&#257kh&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>M&#257lv&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Kishanpura, 1953<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Shamsher Si&#7749gh Ashok<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>