ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MEL&#298</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="MEL*"> <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">&#65279MEL&#298, lit. attached or companion, appears in the Sikh Scripture in different connotations &#8212 usually as a verb form, past indefinite of <i>mela&#7751&#257</i> (to attach, join, bring together), in the feminine form (GG, 54, 63, 90, 243, 379,389, 584 <i>et</i> al.); as an adjective meaning loving, attached (GG, 4243); and as a noun meaning associate, friend (GG, 392). In Zulf&#299q&#257r Ardist&#257n&#299, <i>Dabist&#257n-i-Maz&#257hib</i>, the term <i>meli</i> has been used as a title for a class of preachers among the seventeenth-century Sikhs. Preaching districts or <i>mañj&#299s</i> had been set up during the time of Gur&#363 Amar D&#257s (1552-74). The chiefs, designated <i>masands</i>, functioned as the Gur&#363s' local representatives. They preached the Gur&#363s' word in <i>sa&#7749gats</i> or fellowships of the holy, performed the rites of initiation, collected tithes and offerings meant for the Gur&#363 and ran the <i>la&#7749gar</i> (community kitchen). In some of the larger districts, the <i>masands</i>, the Gur&#363s' representatives, appointed their own assistants. These assistants were known as <i>mel&#299s</i>. According to Zulf&#299q&#257r Ardist&#257n&#299, as the <i>masands</i> formed a link between the Gur&#363 and the laity, the <i>mel&#299s</i> formed a link between the <i>masands</i> and the Sikhs living in their respective districts.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Shea, David, and Anthony Troyer, tr., <i>Dabistan-i-Mazahib</i>. London, 1843<BR> <li class="C1"> Ra&#7751dh&#299r Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, ed., <i>Prem Sum&#257rag Granth</i>. Jalandhar, 1965<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>