ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>JAW&#256HIR SI&#7748GH BH&#256&#298 (1859-1910)</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="JAWHIR,SIDGH,BH*,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">&#65279JAW&#256HIR SI&#7748GH, BH&#256&#298 (1859-1910), a leading figure in the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 movement, was the son of Bh&#257&#299 &#256tm&#257 Si&#7749gh Kap&#363r of Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257, now in Pakistan. He was born at Amritsar in 1859. After finishing school, he entered service in the accounts department of the North Western Railway in 1876, and making steady progress rose to be the superintendent in the Manager's office in 1903. In 1882, he attended law classes of the University of the Pañj&#257b, but did not continue to complete the course. In 1886, he applied for the position of a <i>granth&#299</i> at the Harimandar at Amritsar, but his candidature was rejected owing to his earlier religious affiliations. In his younger days, Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh had been, under the influence of Sant Bah&#257dur Si&#7749gh, a follower of the Gul&#257bd&#257s&#299 sect, and had later joined the &#256rya Sam&#257j. He had been the secretary of the Lahore &#256rya Sam&#257j and vice-president of the &#256rya Paropk&#257ri&#7751&#299 Sabh&#257 from 1878 to 1883. He was also appointed a member of the <i>&#256rya Patr&#299k&#257</i> committee in 1885. Meanwhile, however, he, along with his friend and associate, Bh&#257&#299 Ditt Si&#7749gh, had been reclaimed to his ancestral faith through the influence of Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, Ka&#7749var Bikram&#257 Si&#7749gh and Sard&#257r Atar Si&#7749gh of Bhadau&#7771, although he did not formally break away from the &#256rya Sam&#257j until 25 November 1888, when, at its eleventh annual meeting at Lahore, Pa&#7751&#7693it Gur&#363 Dutt, of Government College, spoke in highly provocative terms attacking the Sikh Gur&#363s. Thereafter, Bh&#257&#299 Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh devoted himself whole heartedly to the cause of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 movement. He became vice-president of the Lahore Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, and went out lecturing on its behalf when free from official duties during Christmas and other Holidays. Promotion of education among Sikhs was one of his persistent concerns. Unlike some other leaders of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, he kept clear of the wranglings of the factional Lahore and Amritsar groups.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh's interest in education dated back to his &#256rya Sam&#257j days. He had been one of the original promoters of the D.A.V. College at Lahore in 1885, and had worked as secretary of its fund-raising committee. He had also been a fellow of the Añjuman-i-Punjab. Earlier, in 1882, he had pressed the claims of the Punjabi language before the Hunter Commission on Education. He himself passed the proficiency examination (Buddh&#299m&#257n) in Gurmukh&#299 Punjabi from the University of the Pañj&#257b in 1886. In 1899, he was appointed a member of the Punjab Text Book Committee. He was made a fellow of the Pañj&#257b University in November 1904. Already, in 1897, he had been elected a member of the Calcutta Literary Society. But his singular contribution to the cause of Sikh education was his steadfast work for the establishment of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College at Amritsar. He was one of the members of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College Establishment Committee set-up in 1890, and when, in March 1892, the College was opened, he was made honorary secretary of the College Council. He worked in this capcity for 14 years. He resigned the office twice, in 1897 and in 1902, but the Council considered him indispensable and persuaded him to stay on. When in 1906, he finally resigned the secretaryship as well as his membership of the managing committee, he still continued as a member of the College Council.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In July 1897 he was appointed a member of the management committee for Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh's <i>sam&#257dh</i> at Sh&#257h Bil&#257val, Lahore. His name was also enrolled in the list of assessors to help sessions courts in the trial of criminal cases. On several occasions, he approached the government, on behalf of the Sikh community, and presented addresses to British viceroys and lieutenant-governors. The refrain of these addresses was a request for the extension of educational facilities in villages and for making Punjabi the basis of education, with due provision for subsequent acquisition of English and high scholarship.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bh&#257&#299 Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh wrote a number of books, mostly in Urdu. He was once officially commended for preparing the best chronogram in Persian for the inauguration of the Lansdowne Bridge over the Indus at Sakkhar in 1889. The congratulatory note from the director of the North Western Railway said : "Bhai Jawahir Singh -- allow me to congratulate you as the best poet of all that we tried." His works include <i><u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Dharam, Ifl&#257s-i-Hind, Day&#257nand Itih&#257s, Dharam Vich&#257r, Guide to Punjabi, Aim&#257l-i-&#256rya</i> and <i>Radd-i-B&#257tl&#257&#7749</i> or <i>Tary&#257q-i-Sarasvat&#299 Phobia</i>. The last two contain his polemic against the &#256rya Sam&#257j, following his disavowal of it. <i>Ifl&#257s-i-Hind</i> or The Poverty of India and <i>Dharam Vich&#257r</i> or Thoughts on Duty were favourably reviewed even by English newspapers like the <i>Homeland Mail</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bh&#257&#299 Jaw&#257hir Si&#7749gh commanded the respect of his British officers as well as of the Sikh aristocracy. He had the rare privilege of having <i>bartv&#257r&#257</i> (mutual friendly relations) with the rulers of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, N&#257bh&#257, J&#299nd and Kap&#363rthal&#257 on occasions of joy and sorrow. He died, after a brief illness, on 14 May 1910.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Lahir</i>. Ludhiana, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh, <i>Puñj&#257b d&#299&#257&#7749 Lahir&#257&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1954<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Jubilee Book</i>. Amritsar, 1936<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdarshan Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>