ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>M&#298&#7750&#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 NAME="keywords" CONTENT="M*F"> <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">&#65279M&#298&#7750&#256, meaning hypocritical, secretive, mean-natured, deceitful, is an epithet applied in the Sikh tradition to Prith&#299 Chand (1558-1618), the eldest son of Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s and such of his descendants as had not joined the main body of the Sikhs. There is also a community confined mainly to Alvar, Jaipur and Jodhpur districts of R&#257jasth&#257n and N&#257rnaul and Gu&#7771g&#257o&#7749 districts of Hary&#257n&#257 which is known by this name and which is generally given to the profession of thieving. Prith&#299 Chand, despite his high caste, had the epithet of M&#299&#7751&#257 attached to his name because of his envious nature. He was ambitious of securing for himself the office of Gur&#363 which, being the eldest son of his father, he claimed as his natural right. When Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s named his youngest son, Arjan Dev, to be his spiritual successor, Prith&#299 Chand was deeply embittered and turned hostile towards the new Gur&#363 whom he tried to harm in several ways. Devioussly he tried to wean away his followers and divert the offerings meant for him to his own enrichment. He then set up a rival seat at Hehar in the district of Lahore, declaring himself to be the rightful successor to his father. He had appropriated from the family's collection the traditional emblem of succession and enlisted the support of the Mu<u>gh</u>al authority in behalf of his claims. He had his son, Manohar D&#257s popularly known as Miharb&#257n, compose hymns in imitation of Gur&#363 N&#257nak and his successors. He tried to have Gur&#363 Arjan's infant son, Hargobind, poisoned. It was because of these malevolent designs that Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s, poet and scholar, fastened on Prith&#299 Chand the epithet <i>m&#299&#7751&#257</i>. He called him "the black-faced <i>m&#299&#7751&#257</i>" (<i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, XXXVI. 1). The followers of the accurst pretender were called "the shameless sect of carrioneaters" (<i>V&#257r&#257&#7749</i>, XXXVI. 3). With the help of the Mu<u>gh</u>al officials the M&#299&#7751&#257s acquired control of the Harimandar, the Golden Temple of modern day, after Gur&#363 Hargobind had left Amritsar in AD 1629. They retained charge of the shrine until 1699 when Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh sent Bh&#257&#299 M&#257n&#299 Si&#7749gh from Anandpur to take over the management after the death of So&#7693h&#299 Har&#299j&#299, grandson of Prith&#299 Chand. Once dislodged from the Harimandar S&#257hib, the <i>m&#299&#7751&#257s</i> left Amritsar for the M&#257lv&#257 region where they settled in scattered villages to live in oblivion and ultimately to get absorbed into the Sikh mainstream.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had forbidden his <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 to have anything to do with the M&#299&#7751&#257s.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Rose, H.A., ed., <i>A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province</i>. Lahore, 1911-19<BR> <li class="C1"> K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Gurushabad Ratn&#257kar Mah&#257n Kosh</i> [Reprint]. Patiala, 1981.<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>