ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>S&#256HIB SI&#7748GH PROFESSOR (1892-1977)</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="SHIB,SIDGH,PROFESSOR,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">&#65279S&#256HIB SI&#7748GH, PROFESSOR (1892-1977), grammarian and theologian, was born on 16 February 1892 in a Hindu family of the village of Phattev&#257l&#299 in Si&#257lko&#7789 district of undivided Punjab. He was originally named Natth&#363 R&#257m by his father, H&#299r&#257nand, who kept a small shop in the village. Soon the family shifted to Tharp&#257l, another village in the same district. As a youth, Natth&#363 R&#257m was apprenticed to the village Maulaw&#299, Hay&#257t Sh&#257h, son of the famous Punjabi poet, H&#257sham, upon whom his royal patron, Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of the Punjab, had settled a permanent <i>j&#257g&#299r</i>. Winning a scholarship at his middle standard examination, Natth&#363 R&#257m joined the high school at Pasr&#363r where he received in 1906 the rites of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 and his new name S&#257hib Si&#7749gh. The untimely death of his father made the situation hard for him, yet he managed to plough through first Dy&#257l Si&#7749gh College, Lahore, and then the Government College, Lahore. At the latter, he obtained his bachelor's degree. In 1917, he joined as a lecturer in Sanskrit at Gur&#363 N&#257nak <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, now commonly known as Professor S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, took part in the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Reform movement in the twenties of the century. He was appointed joint secretary of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee in 1921. During this period he suffered jail twice---once during the Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> agitation (1922) and then in the Jaito <i>morch&#257</i> (1924). In 1927 he returned briefly to his college in Gujr&#257&#7749w&#257l&#257 which he soon quit to join the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College at Amritsar. From 1929 to 1952 he remained at <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College producing a succession of learned works and commentaries on the Sikh sacred texts. Retiring from the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, after, many a long year of unbroken and luminous scholarly work, he became principal of the Shah&#299d Sikh missionary College. He also worked as principal at the Gurmat College, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Professor S&#257hib Si&#7749gh was known for his erudition and assiduous pursuit of scholarship. Nearly 50 of his works were published between 1927 and 1977. These included exposition of several of the Sikh sacred texts and his monumental 10-volume commentary on Sikh Scripture, <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib Darpan</i>, published during 1962-64. A most original and earlier work was his <i>Gurb&#257&#7751&#299 Vi&#257karan</i>, a textual grammar of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. No exegetical work since the publication of this book in 1932 has been possible without resort to the fundamental principles enunciated in it, especially those concerning the interpretation of vowel endings in inflexions of nouns and verbs. S&#257hib Si&#7749gh made a notable contribution to Punjabi prose through his essays on moral and spiritual themes, religious philosophy and issues in history and biography.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;S&#257hib Si&#7749gh's contribution to Sikh studies and Punjabi letters received wide recognition in his own lifetime. The Punjabi S&#257hitya Akadem&#299, Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, honoured him in 1970 with a life fellowship, and Punjabi University, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, conferred upon him, in 1971, the degree of Doctor of Literature (<i>honoris causa</i>). Earlier, the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee had made award to him for his <i>Gurb&#257&#7751&#299 Vi&#257karan</i>, and the Government of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and East Punjab States Union had honoured him in 1952 marking his services to Punjabi literature.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Professor S&#257hib Si&#7749gh died of Parkinson's disease at Amritsar on 29 October 1977.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Punjab&#299 S&#257hit de Pañj Ratan</i>. Patiala,1952<BR> <li class="C1"> Abin&#257sh Kaur, <i>Professor S&#257hib Si&#7749gh : J&#299van te Rachn&#257</i>. Patiala,1983<BR> <li class="C1"> S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib Darpan</i>. Jalandhar, 1962-64<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Wazir Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>