ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>KHUSH&#256L CHAND R&#256J&#256</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 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">&#65279<u>KH</u>USH&#256L CHAND, R&#256J&#256, or <u>Kh</u>ush&#257l R&#257i (d. 1752), an official under the Mu<u>gh</u>al emperor Muhammad Sh&#257h (1719-48) and a writer and poet of some merit, described himself as a N&#257nakpanth&#299, i.e. a follower of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, his father J&#299van R&#257m, and grandfather, Anand R&#257m K&#257yastha, had also served in the Mu<u>gh</u>al court. <u>Kh</u>ush&#257l Chand's <i>Tar&#299<u>kh</u>-i-Muhammadsh&#257h&#299</i>, 1748, in Persian prose, gives an account of the successors of Aura&#7749gz&#299b from Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h I to the death of Raf&#299 ud-Daul&#257 Sh&#257h Jah&#257&#7749 II. It contains a detailed account of the massacre at Delhi of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur and of the Sikhs captured with him, including the story of a young boy who chose to die along with his brothers in faith declaring himself to be a Sikh although his mother had obtained a royal decree for his release on the plea that he was not. Besides, <u>Kh</u>ush&#257l Chand composed many songs and hymns in Hindi, Punjabi and Re<u>kh</u>t&#257, a manuscript of which is preserved in the Central Public Library, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 (MS. 568). In his compositions, he has used sixty odd different metres specifying the <i>r&#257ga</i> or musical measure and even the rhythm in each case, which fact testifies to his knowledge of music as well as of prosody. He was a devotee of the Gur&#363s and there are references in his verse to their teachings and to the events of their lives. The word <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 occurs at several places in his poetry, in its prevalent Sikh usage as a collective name for the Sikh commonwealth.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh Padam<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>