ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SO&#7692H&#298</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="SO H*"> <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">&#65279SO&#7692H&#298, a sub-division of Sar&#299n group of Khatr&#299s, has acquired an aura of exceptional honour among the Sikhs because seven of the ten Sikh Gur&#363s from Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s onwards were from among them. Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s' descendants are reverently called So&#7693h&#299 S&#257hibz&#257de. Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s appointed his younger son Arjan to succeed him as Gur&#363. His elder son Prith&#299 Chand, offended by what he considered an unjust confiscation of his right, declared himself as the rightful Gur&#363 and established a separate sect called by the mainstream Sikhs <i>m&#299&#7751&#257s</i> (lit. base, low). Thus the descendants of Gur&#363 Arjan came to be called So&#7693h&#299 S&#257hibz&#257de of <i>va&#7693&#7693e mel</i> (higher line) and those of Prith&#299 Chand So&#7693hi S&#257hibz&#257de of <i>chhote mel</i> (lower line). Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh ended the continuation of personal Gur&#363ship, but the members of the clan continued to enjoy popular esteem. The principal seats of So&#7693h&#299s of <i>va&#7693&#7693e mel</i> are at Anandpur S&#257hib in Ropa&#7771 district and Kart&#257rpur in Jalandhar districts and those of the <i>chhote mel</i> at Gur&#363 Har Sah&#257&#299, Ko&#7789h&#257 Gur&#363, &#7692hilv&#257&#7749 and Muktsar, all in the M&#257lv&#257 region.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Several legends are current about the origin of the So&#7693h&#299s. The most acceptable among the Sikhs is the one popularized by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's long composition, <i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i>, lit. the wondrous play. According to it, So&#7693h&#299s are linear descendants of Lava, one of the twin sons of &#346r&#299 R&#257ma Chandra, while the equally respected Bed&#299 clan, to which belonged Gur&#363 N&#257nak, the founder of Sikhism, of the other twin Ku&#347a. In the remote past, narrates the <i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i>, there was fierce fight betwen the descendants of Lava and Ku&#347a. The latter, badly defeated, migrated <i>en bloc</i> and found asylum in K&#257&#347&#299, where they studied the four Vedas and became well-known as Ved&#299s or Bed&#299s. Later, the descendants of Lava also migrated to Sanau&#7693h, a country which stretched from Mathur&#257-Bharatpur in the east to Amarko&#7789 in the west. The chief of the family married the only daughter of the King of Sanau&#7693h. Their son, known as So&#7693h&#299, and his progeny called the So&#7693h&#299s ruled over the Sanau&#7693h country for a long time. Generations later, the So&#7693h&#299s came to know that the renowned Bed&#299 scholars of K&#257s&#299 were their collaterals. They invited them to Sanau&#7693h and honoured them publicly. The learned Bed&#299s recited the Vedas and explained to the So&#7693h&#299s the mystical meanings of the holy <i>mantras</i>. The So&#7693h&#299s were so affected by the newly acquired spiritual knowledge that they lost charm for worldly possessions and decided to retire to forests to practise austerities. They handed over the kingdom to the Bed&#299s saying, "We shall take back the kingdom from you later." This is the reason, so goes the legend, that the true kingdom (sachch&#299 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299) of the Bed&#299 Gur&#363 N&#257nak devolved upon the Sodh&#299 Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s and his successors.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ibbetson, Denzil, <i>Panjab Castes</i>. Lahore, 1916<BR> <li class="C1"> Rose, H.A., <i>A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Provience</i>. Lahore, 1911-19<BR> <li class="C1"> K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Gur&#363shabad Ratan&#257kar Mah&#257n Kosh</i>. Patiala, 1981<BR> <li class="C1"> Vañj&#257r&#257 Bed&#299, S.S., <i>Pañj&#257b&#299 Lokdh&#257r&#257 Vishav Kosh</i>, vol. III. Delhi, 1978<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">S. S. Vañj&#257r&#257 Bed&#299<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>