ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MAN&#298 SI&#7748GH BH&#256&#298 (d.1737)</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="MAN*,SIDGH,BH*"> <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">&#65279MAN&#298 SI&#7748GH, BH&#256&#298 (d.1737), scholar and martyr, came, according to Kesar Si&#7749gh Chhibbar, his contemporary, of a Kamboj family, and according to some later chroniclers, following Gi&#257n&#299 Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, <i>Panth Prak&#257sh</i>, of a Dulla&#7789 Ja&#7789&#7789 family of Kambov&#257l village (now extinct), near Sun&#257m (30º-7'N, 75º-48'E), in Sa&#7749gr&#363r district of the Punjab. Man&#299 Si&#7749gh is said to have been brought in the early years of his birth to the presence of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur at Anandpur. He was approximately of the same age as the Gur&#363's own son, Gobind Si&#7749gh. Both grew up together &#8212 Gobind R&#257i [D&#257s] and Man&#299 R&#257m were the names they went by in those pre <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 days. Man&#299 Si&#7749gh remained in his company even after he had ascended the religious seat as Gur&#363. Man&#299 Si&#7749gh accompanied the Gur&#363 to the seclusion of P&#257on&#7789&#257 where Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh spent some three years exclusively given to literary work.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Man&#299 Si&#7749gh had also developed a taste in letters. He transcribed for distribution the holy volumes and shorter anthologies of hymns and <i>&#347abdas</i>. When on 30 March 1699 Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh inaugurated the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh was among those who took the vows. Soon thereafter he was sent by the Gur&#363 to Amritsar to take charge of the Harimandar which had been without a custodian since the death in1696 of So&#7693h&#299 Harj&#299. Man&#299 Si&#7749gh happened to be in Anandpur again when following the last of a series of battles against the Hindu hill r&#257j&#257s and the Mu<u>gh</u>al troops at Anandpur, the Gur&#363 evacuated the town on the night of 5-6 December 1705. He escorted Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's wives, M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299 and M&#257t&#257 S&#257hib Dev&#257&#7749 to Delhi. In 1706 re-rejoined Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh at Talva&#7751&#7693&#299 S&#257bo (Damdam&#257 S&#257hib) where he prepared under his guidance the final recension of Sikh Scripture, the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Some time after the Gur&#363's departure for the South, Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh resumed his duties at Amritsar. According to Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>, he carried out his duties at Amritsar under the authority of M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299, who was at Delhi.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Residing in, the Ak&#257l Bu&#7749g&#257," says Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, "he strengthened the sinews of Sikhs' religious faith and corrected such of them as had faltered or erred. He sowed the seed and planted <i>gurmat</i> among all irrespective of caste, through discourse and anecdote. " He also went around the countryside preaching. For example, a letter, still preserved, written by him to M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299 on 20 April 1711 shows him to be engaged in his religious and administrative duties at Amritsar; but three years later in 1714-15, he was, according to <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i> at N&#257naksar in B&#257g&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 village in Jha&#7749g district giving discourses on the life of Gur&#363 Hargobind.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As dissensions broke out in the Sikh Panth after the capture and martyrdom of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur, Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh used his influence to bring about peace between the warring groups &#8212 the Banda&#299 Sikhs and the Tat <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. During the repression let loose on the Sikhs by the Mu<u>gh</u>al governors of the Punjab, Abd us-Samad <u>Kh</u>&#257n and his son and successor, Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the traditional festivals D&#299v&#257l&#299 and Bais&#257kh&#299 had hardly been held in peace. In 1737, Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh sought Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n's permission to hold the D&#299v&#257l&#299 festival at Amritsar. It was granted on the condition that a poll tax amounting to five thousand rupees (ten thousand according to Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363) would be paid to government. This was simply a ruse, because, on the other hand, the governor sent a strong force under D&#299w&#257n Lakhpat R&#257i to annihilate the Sikhs collected for the festival. Man&#299 Singh got wind of the governor's plan and forbade the Sikhs, scattered in different forests and desert regions, to assemble at Amritsar. Consequently no tax could be collected and paid. Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh was prosecuted for not paying the stipulated sum. After a summary trial he was asked either to embrace Islam or face death. He chose the latter and was executed with his body mangled bone by bone. On the site of his martyrdom in Lahore stood, until the partition, Gurdw&#257r&#257 Shah&#299d Gañj. Another memorial Gurdw&#257r&#257 has been raised in recent decades at the ruined site of Kambov&#257l near Lau&#7751gov&#257l, believed to be his birthplace.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh's achievement in the literary sphere is his compilation of the <i>Dasam Granth</i>, the Tenth Master's Book, containing compositions generally believed to be Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's. To his name are attributed two other works in prose: <i>Gi&#257n Ratn&#257val&#299</i>, an account in traditional style of the life of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, and <i>Bhagat Ratn&#257val&#299</i>, better known as <i>Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Bhagat M&#257l&#257</i>, which is an illustrative commentary, in anecdotal style, on Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s' V&#257r XI. The author of <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i> also claims that his work is based upon discourses given by Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Sohan Kav&#299, <i>Gurbil&#257s Chhev&#299&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Mahim&#257 Prak&#257sh</i>. Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Chhibb&#257r, Kesar Si&#7749gh, <i>Bans&#257val&#299n&#257m&#257 D&#257s&#257&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299a&#7749 K&#257.</i> (ed.,Ratan Si&#7749gh Jagg&#299). Chandigarh, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Bha&#7749g&#363, Ratan Si&#7749gh. <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gur&#363 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257</i> [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970.<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagg&#299, Rattan Si&#7749gh, <i>Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh : J&#299van te Rachn&#257</i>. Patiala, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"> Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Shah&#299d Bil&#257s</i> (ed. Gi&#257n&#299 Garj&#257 Si&#7749gh). Ludhiana, 1961<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>