ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>HARN&#256M KAUR B&#298B&#298 (1882-1906)</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="HARNM,KAUR,B*B*,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">&#65279HARN&#256M KAUR, B&#298B&#298 (1882-1906), a pioneer in the field of women's education, was born on 10 April 1882 in a Siddh&#363 Ja&#7789&#7789 family of Chand Pur&#257&#7751&#257, a village in F&#299rozpur district of the Punjab. Her father's name was Bhagv&#257n D&#257s and mother's R&#257m De&#299. Her own original name was Ji&#363&#7751&#299. Bhagv&#257n D&#257s, a religious-minded person, had become a disciple of an Ud&#257s&#299 <i>s&#257dh&#363</i>, R&#257m D&#257s, of F&#299rozpur, after whose death he became the head of his <i>&#7693er&#257</i> or seminary. Here Ji&#363&#7751&#299 and her mother joined him when the former was only an infant. She was a precocious child and had read <i>Pañj Granth&#299, Das Granth&#299</i> and <i>Han&#363m&#257n N&#257&#7789ak</i> before she was six years of age. She then joined the local &#256rya P&#257&#7789hsh&#257l&#257 and learnt Hindi, but left off after six months because the P&#257&#7789hsh&#257l&#257 had no facilities to teach Gurmukh&#299. Later she was sent to the village of Daudhar, now in Far&#299dko&#7789 district, where she studied for several years under Bh&#257&#299 D&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh. Meanwhile, Bh&#257&#299 Ta<u>kh</u>t Si&#7749gh, who had started a Gurmukh&#299 school at F&#299rozpur under the auspices of the local Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, offered to open a school exclusively for girls. The Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 welcomed the proposal but was reluctant to let it be run by a bachelor. To overcome the difficulty, Ji&#363&#7751&#299's parents. promised Ta<u>kh</u>t Si&#7749gh the hand of their daughter. The Kany&#257 P&#257&#7789hsh&#257l&#257, lit. girls' school, was opened in F&#299rozpur on 5 November 1892, and Ji&#363&#7751&#299 joined it both to learn and to teach as an employee of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. Her betrothal to Ta<u>kh</u>t Si&#7749gh took place on 11 October 1893 and they were married on 8 May 1894. She received the new name of Harn&#257m Kaur when she was administered on 15 July 1901 <i>p&#257hul</i> or the rites of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The couple threw themselves heart and soul into their work. Harn&#257m Kaur's monthly salary was Rs 6 and her husband's Rs 8. On 1 September 1900, tired of internal dissensions in the management of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, they quit service, but continued to teach privately. Early in 1903, B&#299b&#299 Harn&#257m Kaur persuaded her husband jointly to open a boarding school for girls at F&#299rozpur. A number of parents offered to send their daughters to the boarding school which was named Sikh Kany&#257 Mah&#257 Vidy&#257l&#257 and which started functioning from March 1905. Harn&#257m Kaur worked hard to make the Vidy&#257l&#257 succeed. In addition to helping her husband at teaching, she looked after catering and lodging arrangements for their wards. She had also set up Istr&#299 Satsa&#7749g, a women's religious society, which held meetings in the afternoon of every Wednesday, and a <i>parch&#257rak jath&#257</i> or missionary group. But she did not live long to serve the cause to which she had dedicated herself, and died on 1 October 1906.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Karam Si&#7749gh, <i>J&#299van B&#299b&#299 Harn&#257m Kaur</i>. F&#299rozpur, 1907<BR> <li class="C1"> S&#363raj Si&#7749gh, <i>B&#299b&#299 Harn&#257m Kaur</i>. Amritsar, 1908<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Harn&#257m Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>