S.Banda Singh Bahadur (1670~1716 A.D.)

Salute to great Sikh Warrior Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur who gave all but not his beliefs

S.Banda Singh Bahadur was the First Sikh Ruler of Undivided Punjab (India)

A great warrior,true sikh,able administrator & a GREAT MARTYR. In a short span of EIGHT years has acheived many milestones.

Born in 1670 as Lachman Dass and later when he becomes BAIRAGI & was called Madho Das Bairagi, because of his detachment from family life.

He met GURU GOBIND SINGH Ji in 1708 when GURU Ji visited his Dera in Nanded (Maharastra,India).

Bairagi tried his many tricks and magic to impress the Guru, but failed. He soon realized that the visitor to his 'dera' was no ordinary person, but a great master. He fell to the feet of the Guru and felt solace in his mind. When the Guru asked him who he was, he answered, "Master, this is your Banda (slave)."

He gets the Baptism from Panj Pyara's in the presence of Guru Gobind Singh Ji (in 1708AD) and becomes "A SIKH" & thus called Sardar Banda Singh Bahadur.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Singh is King)

Maharaja Ranjit Singh ( 13th November 1780 – 27th June 1839) also called "Sher-e-Punjab" ("The Lion of Punjab") was the principle Sikh ruler of the sovereign country of Punjab and the Sikh Empire.He was the second Sikh King after the First Banda Singh Bahadur.
His sons were, in rapid succession, the others rulers but their rule was short lived. The Maharaja was born on 13th November 1780 in Gujranwala now in modern day Pakistan,into the Sansi-Sandhawalia family. At the time, much of Punjab was ruled by the Sikhs , who had divided the territory among factions known as misls.
Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh was the misaldar ("commander", "misl leader") of the Sukerchakia misl and controlled a territory in west Punjab based around his headquarters at Gujranwala. Ranjit Singh succeeded his father as the misaldar, at the young age of 12. The name of his mother was Mai Raj Kaur who was the daughter of the king of Jind. She was also known by the name of ‘Malwain’.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Empire extended from the Khyber Pass in the west, to Kashmir in the north (touching) the border's of Tibet, to the Sind River in the south and in the east to Himachal Pradesh.
The main geographical footprint of the empire was Punjab (historical Punjab region including present days Himachal Pradesh,Haryana).

The religious population demography of the Sikh Empire was Muslim (60%),Hindu (25%) and Sikh (15%).

This great warrior, fearless soldier, able administrator, clement ruler, statesman and liberator of Punjab died on 27th June 1839. His Samadhi (memorial) is located in Lahore now in Pakistan.

I pay my tribute to this GREAT KING of Sikh (Punjab,India) history.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh is included in the list of "Undefeated Military Commanders", [1] at Wikibin - a list of known military commanders who did not lose any significant engagement against the enemy as the commander-in-chief of a significant portion of a country's military forces.

History of Punjab

History of Punjab
647 - 1192: Rajput Period
713 - 1300: Muslim Invaders (Turks and Arabs) infamous invaders like Mahmud Gori and Mahmud Ghazni
8th Century: Arabs capture Sind and Multan
1450 - 1700: Mughal Rule
1469 - 1539: Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1st Sikh Guru)
1539 - 1675: Period of 8 Sikh Gurus from Guru Angad Dev Ji to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
1675 - 1708: Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji (10th Sikh Guru)
1699: Birth of the Khalsa
1708 - 1715: Conquests of Banda Bahadur
1716 - 1759: Sikh struggle against Moghul Governors
1739: - Nadir Shah of Persia invades
1748 -1769: Ahmed Shah Abdali's nine invasions
1762: 2nd Ghalughara (Holocaust) during Ahmed Shah's 6th invasion
1764 - 1799: The Sikh Misls fight each other for control of territories
1799 - 1839: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Rules Punjab and J and K

Bhai Vir Singh Ji

Bhai Vir Singh (December 5, 1872 - June 10, 1957) was a poet, scholar and theologian who was a major figure in the movement for the revival and renewal of Punjabi (Language) literary tradition. His identification with all the important concerns of modern Sikhism was so complete that he came to be canonized as Bhai, the Brother of the Sikh Order, very early in his career. For his pioneering work in its several different genres, he is acknowledged as the creator of modern Punjabi literature.
Born on 5 December 1872, in Amritsar (Punjab,India), Bhai Vir Singh was the eldest of Dr.Charan Singh’s three sons. The family traces its ancestry back to Diwan Kaura Mall (d. 1752), who rose to the position of vice-governor of Multan, under Nawab Mir Mu'ln ul-Mulk, With the title of Maharaja Bahadur.
Baba Kahn Singh (1788-1878) was, perhaps, the first in the family to become a Sikh. He became a recluse when he was still in his early teens and spent his entire youth in monasteries at Haridvar and then at Amritsar acquiring training in traditional Sikh learning. His mother's affection ultimately reclaimed him to the life of a householder at the age of 40, when he got married. Adept in versification in Sanskrit and Braj as well as in the oriental system of medicine, Baba Kahn Singh passed on his interests to his only son, Dr Charan Singh.
Apart from his sustained involvement in literary and scholarly pursuits, mainly as a Braj poet, Punjabi prose-writer, musicologist, prosodist and lexicographer, Dr Charan Singh took active interest in the affairs of the Sikh community, then experiencing a new urge for restoration as well as for change.

Sikh Guru - The Meaning of GURU

The word "Guru" is a Sanskrit word meaning teacher, honored person, religious person or saint. Sikhism though has a very specific definition of the word Guru. It means the descent of divine guidance to mankind provided through ten Enlightened Masters. This honour of being called a Sikh Guru applies only to the ten Gurus who founded the religion starting with Guru Nanak in 1469 and ending with Guru Gobind Singh in 1708.

Thereafter it refers to the Sikh Holy Scriptures the Guru Granth Sahib. The divine spirit was passed from one Guru to the next as "The light of a lamp which lights another does not abate. Similarly a spiritual leader and his disciple become equal, Nanak says the truth."

"They distinguish and separate one Guru from the other. And rare is the one who knows that they, indeed, were one. They who realised this in their hearts, attained Realisation of God." (Guru Gobind Singh, Dohira, Vachitra Natak)

Martyrdom of Guru Arjan dev ji (5th Guru of sikhs)

16th June 2009 is the 403rd Anniversary of martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev ji

On the 16 June of every year since 1606, the Sikhs have commemorated the martyrdom of their first martyr, the fifth Guru,Guru Arjan Dev.Sikh history until then had been peaceful and non-violent. All the Sikh Guru had taught the message of compassion, love, dedication, hard work, worship of one God and the commitment to peace and harmony for all the peoples of the world.

By the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev was tortured to death in Lahore (now in Pakistan) (1606 A.D.)

The Guru was much respected religious steward of the Sikhs who gave them the holy Guru Granth Sahib in A.D. 1604.

He got built Santokhsar in A.D. 1588; Sri Harimander Sahib in 1589; Sarowar and the Darbar Sahib Tarn Taran in 1590.

The city of Kartarpur (Punjab) was built and populated in 1594.

The Muslim bigots could not tolerate the spread of universal message of peace and brotherhood of mankind as preached by Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji.

Guru Arjan dev ji is also called "Shaheedon Ke Sartaaj" The King of Martyrs as he is the First Sikh to achieve martyrdom.

Sri Hargobind Sahib succeeded to Gurgaddi after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji.

sikhism spreading wings across the globe

Today I was searching for "Amitab Bachchan's Hindi blog" wherein he shared his financial situation with his fans.That at his college days sometimes he didn't had 25 paisa for buying a coca cola.I successfully found that blog.
But in this process I watched this 9:56 min video on sikhism on YouTube.
I request you to watch this video as I watched with full intrest

Singh is Kinng

We welcome Dr.S.Manmohan Singh Ji as the Prime Minister of India yet again.

The King (S.Manmohan Singh ji) would be sworn in as PRIME MINISTER on Friday, May 22, 2009 at 6:30 PM (IST) in the RASTRAPATI BHAWAN, New Delhi, INDIA.

Big Thanks to the Visitors of this Blog

I would like to take the opportunity to THANKS all the visitors who has visited my blog time to time and made my Blog a BIG HIT.

It is clearly visible from the fact that 1000 visitor has visited my blog since it's inception's on Monday, February 16, 2009 when I posted my first Article on Guru Nanak Sahib Ji.

In a short period of 86 days,visit of 1,000 visitor is an encouraging thing.

But I request all of you to make my BLOG a SUPER HIT BLOG.

Till now I have received visitors from Singapore,Spain,U.K.,USA,besides India.A humble THANKS to all of them once again.

As our GURU taught us the message of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.Therefore,I invite all my brothers/sisters.....of 200+ countries of this UNIVERSE to visit my blog again & again and make it a SUPER HIT BLOG.

Chhota Ghallughara (lesser holocaust)

17th May 2009 is the 264th Anniversary of Chhota Ghallughara (lesser holocaust) I pay my TRIBUTE to the GREAT MARTYRS of Chhota Ghallughara.
In Brief :-
In order to avenge the death of his brother, Diwan Lakhpat Rai, again launched an all-out campaign and set forth with a large army. The Sikhs were brought to bay in a dense bush near Kahnuwan, in the Gurdaspur district. They put up determined fight, but were overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the enemy and scattered with heavy losses. They were chased into hills. More than 7000 sikhs attained martyrdom in Two & Half Month long fighting in 1746AD. "To complete revenge" says Syed Mohammad Latif, another historian of the Punjab, "Lakhpat Rai brought 1000 Sikhs in irons to Lahore, having compelled them to ride on donkeys, bare-backed, paraded them in the bazars. They were, then taken to the horse-market outside Delhi Gate, and there beheaded one after another without mercy." So indiscriminate and extensive was the killing that the campaign is known in Sikh history as the Chhota Ghalughara or the lesser holocaust. The Wadda Ghalughara or the greater holocaust was to come later.

Ghallughara (Bloody Carnage)

With the creation of Khalsa on March 30,1699AD, the Khalsa created history and since the birth of Khalsa, the history of Punjab has been the history of Sikhs.
Baisakhi played a significant role in this regard. In 1762, Ahmed Shah Abdali, with the sole purpose to destroy the entire Sikh nation, declared 'Jehad'(holy-war) against the Sikhs and all the Muslims of the Punjab rallied under this slogan.
The Sikhs were surrounded near the village Kup in Ludhiana District. Chronicles mention that about twenty thousand Sikhs were martyred in a single day. This event is known in the history of the Sikhs as "Ghallughara" (Bloody Carnage).
After this, Ahmed Shah Abdali thought that he had crushed the entire Sikh nation, but was greatly disillusioned when after a few months heard that the Sikhs in large number are celebrating Baisakhi at Golden Temple Amritsar.
In due course of time Baisakhi reminds every Sikh of his cultural and religious heritage. On Baisakhi day all the Sikhs used to assemble at Amritsar and decide their problems relating to politics and religion. This convention still goes on.