ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PART&#256P SI&#7748GH GI&#256N&#298 (1855-1920)</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="PARTP,SIDGH,GIN*,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">&#65279PART&#256P SI&#7748GH, GI&#256N&#298 (1855-1920), Sikh schoolman and calligraphist, was born in 1855, the son of Bh&#257&#299 Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh Gi&#257n&#299 of Lahore. As a young boy, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh learnt Punjabi, Urdu and Sanskrit and studied Sikh Scriptures. In 1884, he accompanied &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 to England to read the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib to the deposed Sikh ruler of the Punjab, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh. Part&#257p Si&#7749gh remained in England for six months. On return to India, he worked as a <i>granth&#299</i>, scripture-reader, at Gurdw&#257r&#257 Kaulsar in Amritsar. When Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh was due to come back to India, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh accompanied &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh and his sons to Delhi with the intention of going to Bombay to receive the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257. On hearing the news of Duleep Si&#7749gh's detention at Aden, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh returned to Amritsar while &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh proceeded to Pondicherry. At Amritsar, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh worked secretly for &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh distributing his pro-Duleep Singh letters among his confidants and friends. Towards the close of 1887, he was arrested at Amritsar and sent to Lahore jail. He escaped from prison and, turning a <i>s&#257dhu</i>, travelled to different parts of the country in the company of holy men. During one such journey he happened to meet Max Arthur Macauliffe, then engaged in translating the Sikh Scripture into English. Macauliffe was impressed by his learning and wished that he would assist him in his work. Part&#257p Si&#7749gh, who had introduced himself under the assumed name of B&#257v&#257 &#298shar D&#257s, revealed thereupon his identity to him. Macauliffe interceded with the government on his behalf and had the warrants of his arrest withdrawn in January 1889.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Part&#257p Si&#7749gh settled down in a house near B&#257b&#257 A&#7789&#257l, in Amritsar, and for several years performed <i>kath&#257</i> expounding the Holy Writ in front of the Ak&#257l Bu&#7749g&#257. A fine calligraphist, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh transcribed volumes of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, the most famous of them being the one still preserved in the Golden Temple. This copy, completed in 1908, is written in very bold Gurmukh&#299 characters on large sized 25" X 23" sheets of Kashm&#299ri paper and is installed on the first floor of the Golden Temple where it is used for the recital of <i>akha&#7751&#7693</i> p&#257&#7789hs or unbroken readings of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. The entire volume, 1527 leaves, i.e. 3054 pages, with double borders in red, blue and yellow, is written in Gi&#257n&#299 Part&#257p Si&#7749gh's hand and is known as Va&#7693&#7693e B&#257b&#257 J&#299 (large-sized Holy Volume). The name of the scribe is mentioned at the end of the text, on a separate sheet. Volumes of the Holy Books transcribed by Gi&#257n&#299 Part&#257p Si&#7749gh are also preserved at B&#257b&#257 A&#7789al and Ta<u>kh</u>t Sr&#299 Haz&#363r S&#257hib, N&#257nde&#7693.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; About 1901, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh joined the Aitchison (Chiefs) College, Lahore, as <i>granth&#299</i> and instructor. According to <i>Pañjab&#299 Bhai&#7751</i>, August 1916 issue, he was the first secretary of the Amritsar Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. He was also editor of the earliest published Sikh newspaper <i>Ak&#257l Prak&#257sh</i>, which made its first appearance on 21 H&#257&#7771, 407 N&#257naksh&#257h&#299 AD 1876. He is also said to have translated into Punjabi Major Evans Bell's book, <i>The Annexation of the Punjab and Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Part&#257p Si&#7749gh died at Lahore on 20 July 1920.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Pañj&#257b&#299 Bhai&#7751</i>. August 1916<BR> <li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>. Lahore, 1909<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sarmukh Si&#7749gh Amole<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>