ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>NIH&#256L SI&#7748GH &#7788H&#256KUR (1808-1895)</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="NIHL,SIDGH,lHKUR,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">&#65279NIH&#256L SI&#7748GH &#7788H&#256KUR (1808-1895), Sikh theologian and musician, was born at Amritsar on 7 Phagun 1864 Bk/17 February 1808 to Bh&#257&#299 Mahal Si&#7749gh and M&#257t&#257 Bas&#299. Bh&#257&#299 Mahal Si&#7749gh lived in the village of Sayyid-k&#299-Sar&#257i in Gujjar<u>kh</u>&#257n <i>tahs&#299l</i> of R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299 district, now in Pakistan, and had come to Amritsar only as a pilgrim, but settled here for good after the birth of Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh. The family could scarcely make both ends meet, and Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh, then a small boy, had to work in order to augment their meagre income. At the age of ten, he entered the <i>&#7693er&#257</i>, or seminary, of &#7788h&#257kur Day&#257l Si&#7749gh, a Sikh luminary, as a pupil. There he was admitted to the rites of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. During the next fifteen years, he studied Sikh scriptures, grammar, poetics, history and Sanskrit literature. Being the most prominent of the pupils of &#7788h&#257kur Day&#257l Si&#7749gh, Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh also came to be distinguished by the epithet &#8216&#7788h&#257kur' or &#8216master.'</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &#7788h&#257kur Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh had the gift of a sweet voice, and he learnt vocal and instrumental music from Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh Po&#7789hoh&#257r&#299, a noted musician of his time, and accompanied him at <i>tabl&#257</i>, or Indian-drum-pair, during <i>k&#299rtan</i>, or singing of hymns, over a long period of time, in the Harimandar at Amritsar. He also learnt and practised the &#256yurvedic system of medicine.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Around 1870 &#7788h&#257kur Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh set out on a pilgrimage to various Hindu and Sikh holy places, where he preached the Sikh faith through <i>k&#299rtan</i> and discourse. His longest stay during this period was at Ta<u>kh</u>t Sachkha&#7751&#7693 Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib, Abchalnagar, at N&#257nde&#7693, where he sojourned for nine months. He also stayed for a considerable time, in 1872, at Gurdw&#257r&#257 Charan P&#257duk&#257 at Niz&#257m&#257b&#257d in Uttar Pradesh. There he prepared, at the instance of Mahant S&#257dho Si&#7749gh, an exegesis of the <i>J&#257p S&#257hib</i>. It was given the sonorous and alliterative title of <i>Chakradhar Charitra Ch&#257ru Chandrik&#257</i>. Another work he wrote there was entitled <i>Chint&#257man&#299</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On his return from the pilgrimage, &#7788h&#257kur Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh stayed at Sukkho, a village in R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299 district. In 1874 he moved to Thoh&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257, where he established a <i>&#7693er&#257</i> called Dukh Bhañjan&#299. He continued his <i>k&#299rtan</i> recitals and missionary work till the end. Sant Atar Si&#7749gh is said to have frequently attended these recitals at Thoh&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257. B&#257b&#257 Khem Si&#7749gh Bed&#299 once took him on a preaching tour of his estates. In 1895, he was on a similar visit to Har&#299pur in Haz&#257r&#257 district, when he died suddenly on Je&#7789h <i>vad&#299</i> 14, 1952 Bk/22 May 1895.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>