ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PR&#256CH&#298N PANTH PRAK&#256SH</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 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">&#65279<i>PR&#256CH&#298N PANTH PRAK&#256SH</i>, by Ratan Si&#7749gh Bha&#7749g&#363, a chronicle in homely Punjabi verse relating to the history of the Sikhs from the time of the founder, Gur&#363 N&#257nak (AD 1469-1539), to the establishment in the eighteenth century of principalities in the Pu&#7749jab under Misl <i>sard&#257rs</i>. The work, which was completed in 1998 Bk/AD 1841 in the <i>bu&#7749g&#257</i> of Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh near the Golden Temple at Amritsar, is owed to the Britishers' curiosity about the Sikhs and about their emergence as a political power. Captain Murray, then stationed on the Anglo-Sikh frontier at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, had been charged with preparing a history of the Sikhs. He sought the help of a Persian scholar, Maulaw&#299 B&#363&#7789e Sh&#257h. Ratan Si&#7749gh volunteered his own services as well to undo, as he says, the bias that might crop up in the narration of a Muslim. He verbally traced for Murray the origin of the faith of the Sikhs and their rise to sovereignty in the Punjab. What he narrated to Captain Murray during the day, Ratan Si&#7749gh reduced to writing by night. For this recital and for the account that he finally composed in Amritsar, Ratan Si&#7749gh drew upon available Sikh sources such as Janam S&#257kh&#299s and Gurbil&#257ses and on the oral tradition that had come down to him from his parents and grandparents: the famous Sikh martyr, Mat&#257b Si&#7749gh of M&#299ra&#7749ko&#7789, was his paternal grandfather, and Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh of Karo&#7771asi&#7749gh&#299&#257 <i>misl</i>, his maternal grandfather. The latter material he utilized in his account of the career of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur and of the troubled times following his execution. This in fact is the most significant part of the work. The details and sequence of events here provided have been generally accepted in later Sikh historiography. The earlier period has been dealt with sketchily. The descripton of Gur&#363 N&#257nak's life is relatively more detailed, but with the miraculous element predominating as in the Janam S&#257kh&#299s. The succeeding seven Gur&#363s have been barely mentioned, except Gur&#363 Hargobind whose battles against the Mu<u>gh</u>al forces are briefly touched upon : In his account of Gur&#363 Te<u>gh</u> Bah&#257dur's martyrdom, Ratan Si&#7749gh follows Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's <i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i>. He attributes the fall of the Mu<u>gh</u>al empire to the Emperor's sinful act of beheading the Gur&#363. From among the events from Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's life, the manifestation of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 on the Bais&#257kh&#299 day of AD 1699, abolishing the <i>masand</i> system, the intrigues of the hill chiefs, and the siege of the Anandpur Fort, Gur&#363 Gobind Singh's escape from the mud fort of Chamkaur, his south ward journey and meeting at N&#257nde&#7693 with Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur whom he charged to come to the Punjab to ransom righteousness are described in considerable detail.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Then follows the account of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh's entry into the Punjab with a few of the Sikhs who were in the Gur&#363's train at N&#257nde&#7693 (among names mentioned are those of Binod Si&#7749gh and K&#257hn Si&#7749gh,Day&#257 Si&#7749gh and Au&#7751in Si&#7749gh and B&#257j Si&#7749gh Bal of M&#299rpur), the rallying of Sikhs from M&#257lv&#257 and M&#257jh&#257 to his standard (the poet makes no secret of his partiality towards the latter), the occupation of Sam&#257&#7751&#257 and Sirhind, and inroads into the Jalandhar Do&#257b. The Sikhs had established their power right up to Pa&#7789&#7789&#299, near Lahore. Sovereignty, sang the poet, had been promised the Sikhs by the Gur&#363 himself. Band&#257 Si&#7749gh's own victories were ascribed by Ratan Si&#7749gh to the occult powers Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh had bestowed upon him. His final defeat was attributed to his resiling from the teachings of the Gur&#363. The split of the Panth into two rival camps &#8212 Tatt S&#257r <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 (both <i>tatt</i> and <i>s&#257r</i> meaning the essence) and Banda&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 is described in dramatic detail. The account of the fierce persecution which overtakes Sikhs after the death of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh reaches its climax in the martyrdom of Bh&#257&#299 M&#257ni Si&#7749gh which, according to Ratan Si&#7749gh, takes place in 1738. The narrative henceforward loses its continuity and becomes more episodic in character. Among the events described are the chastisement of Masse <u>Kh</u>&#257n Ra&#7749gha&#7771 who had desecrated the Harimandar, the martyrdoms of Bot&#257 Si&#7749gh, Subeg Si&#7749gh, T&#257r&#363 Si&#7749gh and Mahit&#257b Si&#7749gh, Chhot&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 (the minor carnage), Va&#7693&#7693&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 (the major carnage), the third assault of the Sikhs on Sirhind in which Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n, the governor, was killed , and the Sikhs' foray into the country around Delhi. In simple verse, the poet captures the spirit of the Sikhs in those difficult times : "Sikhs had a fondness for death. To court death they had now found an opportunity. Their lives they held not dear. They did not feel the pain if their bodies were slashed. They took to arms vowed to death."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The <i>Prach&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i> was for the first time purblished in1914. Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh, famed scholar and poet, came across an old manuscript which he edited and had printed at the Waz&#299r-i-Hind Press at Amritsar in that year. Bh&#257&#299 V&#299r Si&#7749gh added the word "Pr&#257ch&#299n" (old or older) to the title of the book to distinguish it from the more recent <i>Panth Prak&#257sh</i> by Gi&#257n&#299 Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh. Another edition of the work, as annotated by J&#299t Si&#7749gh S&#299tal, was published by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee in 1984.</p> </ol><p class="CONT">Sant Si&#7749gh Sekho&#7749<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>