ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SUTHR&#256SH&#256H&#298S</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="SUTHRSHH*S"> <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">&#65279SUTHR&#256SH&#256H&#298S, a mendicant order which owes its origin to Suthr&#257 Sh&#257h (1625-82), a disciple of Gur&#363 Hargobind. Not much is known about the life of Suthr&#257 Sh&#257h. The legend goes that he was born in a Nand&#257 Khatr&#299 family of Bahr&#257mpur, now in Gurd&#257spur district, with a black mark on his forehead and with his teeth cut, on which account he was pronounced to be unlucky. His parents neglected him, but Gur&#363 Hargobind, sixth in the spiritual line from Gur&#363 N&#257nak, took him under his care. He named the child then called Kuthr&#257, i.e, dirty or ugly, Suthr&#257 which means pure or spotless. Among the Sikhs he came to be known as Suthr&#257 Sh&#257h, the suffix 'Sh&#257h', in Punjabi being the equivalent of the English word 'esquire.' Suthr&#257 Sh&#257h was reputed for his devotion to Gur&#363 Hargobind and his humorous manner. He was appointed by Gur&#363 Har R&#257i, Gur&#363 Hargobind's successor, to preach Sikh faith.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As time passed, Suthr&#257 Sh&#257h's followers, drawn from among both Hindus and Muslims, turned into a separate sect. They sang mystic songs in honour of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, but they had taken to mendicancy and forsworn all established social norms. They received novices into their order after a rigorous testing. They were made to take a pledge to abide by the rules of the order. According to the testimony of a contemporary historian, a candidate seeking admission into the sect was at first dissuaded from the course and warned of the hard and austere life ahead where he was to "subsist by begging, remain celibate and not to quarrel even if abused."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The initiates were required to remain celibate and break off all family ties. They were to live on alms and to avoid liquor and flesh. Coloured clothes being forbidden for a Suthr&#257, he wore white, with a <i>sehl&#299</i> (necklet of black wool) round his neck and a <i>kullah</i> (high peaked cap on head, and such other garments as gave him a funny look. He applied a black mark on his forehead in imitation of the saffron frontal mark of the upper-edge Hindu. He invariably carried two small sticks (&#7693a&#7751&#7693&#257s) each about half a yard in length, which they clashed rhythmically together or struck against their iron bracelets while soliciting alms. These sticks served as a sort of license certifying the holder to be a Suthr&#257 sent by the <i>mahant</i> of a <i>&#7693er&#257</i> to beg alms for himself as well as for those who happened to lodge in the <i>dharams&#257l&#257</i> attached to the <i>&#7693er&#257</i>. This practice of playing of the <i>&#7693a&#7751&#7693&#257s</i> was introduced by Jhanga&#7771 Sh&#257h who came to this order from the aristocratic family of a near relative of Lakhpat R&#257i, the minister of Naw&#257b Zakar&#299y&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257n, governor of Lahore (1726-45) under the Mu<u>gh</u>als. The Suthr&#257sh&#257h&#299s venerated the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib and recited hymns from it they had remembered by heart. But when they visited Hindu homes for alms, they sang praise of the Dev&#299, the goddess. They shared popular Hindu beliefs and observed Hindu customs and rites like burning their dead and consigning the remains to the River Ga&#7749g&#257.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Suthr&#257sh&#257h&#299s owed allegiance to their living <i>gur&#363</i> and had their <i>mahants</i> or priests to manage their <i>&#7693er&#257s</i> and <i>dharams&#257l&#257s</i> in different places. They roamed around extensively and established their centres in distant parts. Besides several in the Punjab in towns such as San&#257var&#299, Behr&#257mpur, Ba&#7789&#257l&#257 (all in Gurd&#257spur district), N&#363r Mahal (Jalandhar), Amritsar and Lahore, their <i>&#7693er&#257s</i> were known to exist in Jaunpur, in South India and in Qandah&#257r, in Afghanistan. A <i>dharams&#257l&#257</i> built by Jhanga&#7771 Sh&#257h outside the walled city of Lahore, between the Mast&#299 Darw&#257z&#257 and the Raushn&#257&#299 Darw&#257z&#257, enjoyed the patronage of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and was endowed by him.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Some of the Suthr&#257sh&#257h&#299 saints wrote religious verse, Vedantic in tone. Suthr&#257 Sh&#257h himself is credited with having written a <i>b&#257r&#257m&#257s&#257</i>, a calendar poem after the twelve (<i>b&#257r&#257</i>) months (<i>m&#257sa</i>).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The sect flourished considerably during the reign of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, but gradually its members became lax and lost their original religious fervour. They took to gambling and drinking and paid scant regard to moral and ethical values or the opinion of Sikhs and Hindus. On the other hand, they evolved their own norms of behaviour attractive more for idlers and escapists. This deterioration in their moral standards resulted in the decline of the sect and ultimately in its virtual extinction.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Rose, H.A.,ed., <i>A Glossary of Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province</i>. Lahore, 1911-19<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, Max Arthur, <i>The Sikh Religion : Its Gur&#363s, Sacred Writings and Authors</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> <li class="C1"> Latif, Syad Muhammad, <i>History of the Punjab</i>. Calcutta, 1891<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gur&#363 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257</i> [Reprint]. Patiala,1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Santokh Si&#7749gh, Bh&#257&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>. Amritsar, 1927-35<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">B. S. Nijjar<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>