ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>K&#256HN SI&#7748GH 4</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="KHN,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">&#65279K&#256HN SI&#7748GH, of N&#257bh&#257 (1861-1938), celebrated scholar and encyclopaedist, was born on Bh&#257do&#7749 vad&#299 10, 1918 Bk/30 August 1861, in a &#7692hillon Ja&#7789&#7789 family at the village of Sabaz Baner&#257, in what then used to be the territory of the princely ruler of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. His father, Narai&#7751 Si&#7749gh (mother : Har Kaur), was a man of saintly character and he succeeded to the charge of Gurdw&#257r&#257 &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 Aj&#257p&#257l Si&#7749gh, at N&#257bh&#257, upon the death in 1861 of his grandfather, Sar&#363p Si&#7749gh. K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, the eldest of three brothers and one sister, did not attend any school or college for formal education, yet he mastered several branches of learning by private effort. By the age of 10, he could recite freely both the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib and the Dasam Granth. He read Sanskrit classics with Pa&#7751&#7693its in and around N&#257bh&#257 and learnt music from a famous musicologist, Mahant Gajj&#257 Si&#7749gh. He sought Maulaw&#299s in Delhi to teach him Persian. In 1883 he went to Lahore where during his two-year stay he studied Persian texts and assisted Professor Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, a leading figure in the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257, in the publication of his <i>Sudh&#257r&#257rak</i>. In 1887 he was appointed tutor to &#7788ikk&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh, the heir apparent of N&#257bh&#257 state. From the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's private secretary to judge of the High Court, he held several different appointments in the state, serving for a brief interregnum, 1915-17, in the neighbouring Sikh state of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. In 1885, he had a chance meeting with Max Arthur Macauliffe which led to a life-long friendship. Macauliffe depended a great deal on his advice and guidance in the work he was then doing on Sikh scriptures and on the history of early Sikhism. He took him along to England when his 6-volume <i>The Sikh Religion</i> was in print at the Clarendon Press. Such was his admiration for Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh that he assigned to him the copyright of the book.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; From among Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh's works, <i>Gurushabad Ratan&#257kar Mah&#257n Kosh</i> (1930), an encyclopaedia of Sikh literature, will remain a permanent monument to his unmatched industry and erudition. His maiden work <i>R&#257j Dharam</i> (1884), written at the instance of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh of N&#257bh&#257, was followed by <i>N&#257&#7789ak Bh&#257v&#257rth D&#299pik&#257</i> (1888), an exegesis of extracts from the <i>Han&#363m&#257n N&#257&#7789ak</i>, based on his notes prepared for the instruction of the young prince under his tutelage. In 1898, he published <i>Ham Hind&#363 Nah&#299&#7749</i> which set forth forcefully the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 standpoint with regard to Sikh identity. The <i>Gurmat Prabh&#257kar</i>, a glossary of Sikh terminology, concepts and institutions, was published in 1898, and <i>Gurmat Sudh&#257kar</i>, an anthology of important Sikh texts, scriptural and historical, in 1899. His <i>Gur&#363 Chhand Div&#257kar</i> (1924) and <i>Gur &#346abad Ala&#7749k&#257r</i> (1925) deal primarily with rhetoric and prosody employed in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib and some other Sikh texts. His <i>Guru Gir&#257 Kasau&#7789&#299</i> answers some of the questions raised by his pupil, &#7788ikk&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh, about the meanings of certain hymns in the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, and his <i>Shar&#257b Nikhedh</i> (1907) is a didactic work stressing the harmful effects of drinking. Among his other works are <i>&#7789&#299k&#257s</i> or exegeses of <i>Jaiman&#299 A&#347vamedh</i> (1896), <i>Vi&#7779&#7751&#363 Pur&#257&#7751a</i> (1903), <i>Sadu</i> and <i>Cha&#7751&#7693&#299 d&#299 V&#257r</i> (1935). From among his works which were published posthumously, <i>Gurmat M&#257rta&#7751&#7693</i> (2 volumes) which essentially follows the format of his earlier <i>Gurmat Prabh&#257kar</i> but includes much more explanatory material was published in 1960. A travelogue was published in 1984.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh lived in seclusion, totally immersed in his scholarly pursuit, yet his influence transcended the bounds he had created around himself. From the privacy of his study, he continued to enrich contemporary Sikh life in its diverse aspects. A man of aristocratic bearing, he was extraordinarily handsome, with sharp, chiselled features. He had the interests of an aesthete and loved art, flowers and music. In several spheres, he was the arbiter of taste. Through his writings, he subtly moulded the course of Sikh awakening at the turn of the century. On latter-day Sikh learning, he has left a permanent imprint.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; K&#257hn Si&#7749gh died at N&#257bh&#257 on 24 November 1938.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Vidi&#257rth&#299, Devinder Si&#7749gh, <i>Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh N&#257bh&#257 : J&#299van te Rachn&#257</i>. Patiala, 1987<BR> <li class="C1"> Sukhj&#299t Kaur, <i>Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh N&#257bh&#257 te un&#257&#7749 d&#299&#257&#7749 Rachn&#257v&#257&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1973<BR> <li class="C1"> Amarj&#299t Si&#7749gh, ed., <i>Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh : Ik Adhiain</i>. Patiala, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh, <i>Prasidh Vidv&#257n Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh N&#257bh&#257</i>. Amritsar, 1966<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Satyindra Si&#7749gh; ASVM(Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>