<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SANT SI&#7748GH GI&#256N&#298 BH&#256&#298 (1768-1832)</TITLE>
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<p class="C1">&#65279SANT SI&#7748GH GI&#256N&#298, BH&#256&#298 (1768-1832), renowned man of letters and custodian of Sr&#299 Darb&#257r S&#257hib at Amritsar in Sikh times, came of a devout family of Chinio&#7789, in present-day Jha&#7749g district of Pakistan. His grandfather, Bh&#257&#299 R&#257m Si&#7749gh had spent his life preaching Sikhism in those parts. His father, Bh&#257&#299 S&#363rat Si&#7749gh, made home in Amritsar to which place he had migrated in 1750. S&#363rat Si&#7749gh was a scholar of Persian and Punjabi and enjoyed high reputation as an exponent of the Gur&#363s' teaching. For his lucid discourses on the Sikh sacred texts, he was popularly known as <i>gi&#257n&#299</i>, i.e. a man of spiritual insight and knowledge. After the occupation of the Punjab by Sikh <i>misls</i>, Bh&#257&#299 S&#363rat Si&#7749gh was appointed manager of the Darb&#257r S&#257hib at Amritsar and of the <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> earmarked for its maintenance. For himself, he was granted a landed estate near Jalandhar where he built a small fortress. Sant Si&#7749gh was born in this house in 1768. He trained in Sikh religious lore at Amritsar under the care of his father. Soon he and his younger brother, Gurd&#257s Si&#7749gh, were assigned to reciting the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib in the Harimandar. Later, Sant Si&#7749gh studied Braj and Sanskrit under Pa&#7751&#7693it Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh of Thoh&#257, now in R&#257walpi&#7751&#7693&#299 district of Pakistan. When Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh occupied the Jalandhar Do&#257b in 1806-07, he allowed Bh&#257&#299 Sant Si&#7749gh to retain the family estate and appointed him to succeed his father in the superintendence of repair and decoration work at Sr&#299 Darb&#257r S&#257hib at Amritsar. Sant Si&#7749gh also began to attend the court at Lahore. In 1821, he accompanied Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh on an expedition to Manker&#257 in the Sind S&#257gar Do&#257b in Western Punjab. Saddened by the untimely death of his younger brother, Bh&#257&#299 Gurd&#257s Si&#7749gh, Sant Si&#7749gh forsook court life and retired to Amritsar to devote himself to reading and expound&#299ng the Scripture at Sr&#299 Darb&#257r S&#257hib, his son, Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, replacing him at the court. In Amritsar, Sant Si&#7749gh was also entrusted by Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh with the task of having art and filigree work carried out in the interior of the Harimandar and having the upper portion of the exterior covered with gold-leaf. An inscription at the main entrance of the inner sanctuary commemorates the services of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 "whom the Gur&#363 by his own favour had assigned to the <i>sev&#257</i>" and of Gi&#257n&#299 Sant Si&#7749gh who supervised execution. In addition to his administrative responsibilities, Sant Si&#7749gh continued his scholarly study of and discourse on Scripture. A very fortunate circumstance was his acceptance of Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh as a pupil who was given lodging in his own house, Burj Gi&#257n&#299&#257&#7749. Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh produced in Braj verse that inimitable and immortal work on the lives of the Gur&#363s and Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>. Among Bh&#257&#299 Sant Si&#7749gh's own extant works is the famous <i>Suras Prad&#299pak&#257</i>, a translation in prose of Tuls&#299d&#257sa's <i>R&#257m&#257ya&#7751a</i>, which was published in the Devan&#257gar&#299 script in 1897. <i>Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Charitra Prabh&#257kar</i>, published at Chashm&#257-i-N&#363r Press, Amritsar; in 1877, contains short biographical accounts of the Gur&#363s. Another work by him was on <i>p&#257hul</i> or the rites of initiation among the Sikhs.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Bh&#257&#299 Sant Si&#7749gh died at Amritsar in 1832. His work at Sr&#299 Darb&#257r S&#257hib was taken over by his son, Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> S&#363r&#299, Sohan L&#257l, <i>'Umd&#257t ut-Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u></i>. Lahore, 1885-89<BR>
<li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel and C.F Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>. Lahore, 1909<BR>
<li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Sr&#299 Amritsar</i> [Reprint]. Amritsar, 1877<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Sarmukh Si&#7749gh Amole<br></p><BR>
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