ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KAUR SI&#7748GH NIHA&#7748G AK&#256L&#298 (1886-1953)</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="KAUR,SIDGH,NIHADG,AKL*,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">&#65279KAUR SI&#7748GH NIHA&#7748G, AK&#256L&#298 (1886-1953), scholar and religious preacher, was the eldest son of Bh&#257&#299 Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh and M&#257&#299 Karam Kaur of Paddhar, a small village near Chak&#257r in that part of Jamm&#363 and Kashm&#299r which is now under Pakistan's occupation. The family traced its descent from one Trilok&#299 N&#257th, who was among the group of Kashm&#299r&#299 Br&#257hma&#7751s who had travelled to Chakk N&#257nak&#299 (Anandpur) in 1675 to tell Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur how they suffered persecution at the hands of the Mu<u>gh</u>al satrap. Trilok&#299 N&#257th's son, Amolak N&#257th, who was Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh's great-grandfather, received the rites of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 baptism and became Amolak Si&#7749gh. Kaur Si&#7749gh, whose original name was P&#363ran Si&#7749gh, was born on 28 June 1886. He studied Sikh scriptural texts, Sanskrit, Braj and Indian system of medicine under B&#257v&#257 Mah&#257&#7749 Si&#7749gh Bed&#299 of Dupa&#7789&#7789&#257 village in his native state. In 1904, he came in contact with Gi&#257n&#299 B&#257gh Si&#7749gh, a well known scholar of Pesh&#257war, whom he accepted as his teacher. P&#363ran Si&#7749gh became a skilled speaker and took part in debates espousing the Sikh faith in the <i>odium theologium</i> launched by &#256rya Sam&#257j spokesmen. In 1906 he went on a pilgrimage to Ta<u>kh</u>t Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib Abchalnagar, N&#257nde&#7693, where he took the rites of the double-edged sword and became a Niha&#7749g renamed Kaur Si&#7749gh. He started signing himself as Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh Niha&#7749g. Then followed a long period of travels throughout the length and breadth of India and Afghanistan preaching the message of the Gur&#363s. In 1907, he started work on a line-wise alphabetical index of the entire text of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Completed in 1920, it was published in March 1923 under the title <i>Guru Shabad Ratan Prak&#257sh</i> popularly known as <i>Tuk-tatkar&#257</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Some time after 1920, Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh returned to his native Kashm&#299r where he became very popular as a deeply religious man and social reformer. In June 1928, he established at Chak&#257r an institution named Gur&#363 N&#257nak &#256shram, with a residential school for imparting general as well as religious education. He also set up a library and published a school bulletin called <i>&#256shram Sam&#257ch&#257r</i>, later, redesignated <i>Kashm&#299r Sikh Sam&#257ch&#257r</i>. He also opened a chain of schools in small villages around Chak&#257r. After the attack of tribal invaders from Pakistan in 1947, Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh devoted himself to the task of resettling the Kashm&#299r&#299 refugees.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Besides the <i>Guru Shabad Ratan Prak&#257sh</i> (1923), Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh published in 1929 an index of Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s's works. Among his other publications were Kav&#299 Sain&#257pati's <i>Sr&#299 Gur Sobh&#257</i> (1925) and a standard breviary or missal of daily Sikh prayers, <i>Gu&#7789k&#257 Pr&#257manik Nitnem</i> (1927). His <i>Buddh&#299b&#257ridh Hitopadesh Ratn&#257kar</i> was a Gurmukh&#299 transcript of <i>Pañchtantra</i>, a Sanskrit classic. His original works include <i>Sukh S&#257gar arth&#257t Ghar d&#257 Vaid</i>, a treatise on Ayurvedic system of medicine and <i>Istr&#299 Sa&#7749ka&#7789 Mochan</i>, a forceful plea for the social uplift of women (1925).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 in 1952 (28 November), Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh suffered a stroke as he was travelling from Delhi to Sa&#7749gr&#363r, the site of a Kashm&#299r&#299 refugee camp, and was admitted to the R&#257jindra Hospital. He died there on the evening of 23 January 1953.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Atar Si&#7749gh, <i>J&#299van Brit&#257nt Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh Niha&#7749g</i>. Chandigarh, 1971<BR> <li class="C1"> Himmat Si&#7749gh, <i>Ak&#257l&#299 Kaur Si&#7749gh</i>. Patiala, 1979<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>