Giani Ditt Singh (ca. 1850–1901) was a historian, scholar, poet, editor and an eminent Singh Sabha reformer. [1] Singh wrote over 70 books on Sikhism, the most famous of which is Khalsa Akhbar. His Dayanand naal mera Samvaad and Durga Parbodh are considered major texts of Sikh philosophy.
There is little information regarding the early life of Singh, despite a resurgence of interest in him caused by the desire of some people to recast his life as that of a chamar hero. Anshu Malhotra has argued that such a recasting says more about the motives of the present-day researchers than it does about the effects of social status on Singh himself. [2]
While Singh's date of birth is generally recognised as being 21 April, the year is variously stated as 1850, 1852 and 1853. He father, Diwan Singh whose knowledge of the Nyaya and Vedanta religious philosophies was passed on to his son. The family origins lay in the Chamar caste, from which they had moved to self-identify as members of the relatively ritually clean Ravidasia weaving community, described by Malhotra as an "upwardly mobile section of the Chamar community". [2]
After initial schooling given by his father, Singh was sent at the age of 8 or 9 to be taught by Gurbakhsh Singh and Lala Dayanand in the village of Tiur, Ambala district. There he studied Gurmukhi, Urdu and Persian, as well as prosody, Niti Shastra and Vedanta, until aged around 16. Gurbakhsh Singh was an adherent of the Gulabdasi sect and his pupil's next move was to the Gulabdasi centre at Chathian Wala, near Lahore. [2]
Formally initiated into the sect of Sant Desa Singh, he became a Gulabdasi preacher. Not long afterwards, he came under the influence of Bhai Jawahar Singh, formerly a follower of Gulabdasi sect, who had joined the Arya Samaj.[ citation needed ]
Soon, Singh was drawn into the Sikh fold through Bhai Gurmukh Singh, then an active figure in the Singh Sabha movement. In 1886, he became a principal contributor to and subsequently the second editor of the weekly Khalsa Akhbar Lahore , a newspaper founded by Bhai Gurmukh Singh following the establishment of the Lahore Khalsa Diwan. [3]
Singh He had passed the Gyani examination the same year and was appointed a teacher at the Oriental College. He used the Khalsa Akhbar as a vehicle for the spread of Singh Sabha ideology. [4]
When the Amritsar Khalsa Diwan excommunicated Bhai Gurmukh Singh, Ditt Singh responded by publishing excerpts from his book Svapan Natak, a thinly veiled satire ridiculing the Amritsar leaders, in the Khalsa Akhbar. This resulted in a lawsuit filed by one of the targets of the satire, which, although eventually dismissed, cost the Khalsa Akhbar dearly in time and money to defend. The paper shut down in 1889. With support from the Maharaja of Nahba, the paper resumed publication in 1893, again under Ditt Singh as editor. This led to the eventual launch of an English-language weekly, titled simply Khalsa. [5]
Through all of his Sikh Sabha activities, Singh had maintained his ties to the Arya Samaj, but in 1888, the increasing discord between the Arya Samaj and Sikh leaders led to Singh's ultimate departure from the movement. After this, he threw himself entirely into the work of the Singh Sabha movement. [6]
As an educator, Singh helped in the setting up of Khalsa College, Amritsar, and wrote textbooks for the students of the college. [7]
Swami Dayanand was the founder of the Arya Samaj movement, but Singh found Dayanand's belief in the supremacy of the Vedas and the role of Hinduism as the sole true religion at odds with the multi-cultural and multi-religious world of the time. Singh planned to set things right. During a religious gathering in 1877 at Lahore, Singh visited Dayanand "to know his mind and to know his ideals". Singh published these dialogues in his book Sadhu Daya Nand Naal Mera Sambad. During the course of the discussion, Singh takes issue with Dayanand's beliefs, and attempts to expose the fallacies therein. [8] Malhotra describes the discussions with Dayanand as "putative" and the booklet as "controversial". [2]
Singh wrote prolifically, producing both prose and verse. He wrote books and pamphlets on Sikh theology and history and on current polemics.
Well-known among his works are:
He also published accounts of the martyrdoms of Tara Singh of Van, Subeg Singh, Matab Singh Mirankotia, Taru Singh and Bota Singh. [9]
Singh's married Bishan Kaur in a Sikh rite in Lahore in 1880. They had two children: a son, Baldev Singh, born in 1886, and a daughter, Vidyavant Kaur, born in 1890. [10]
The death of Singh's daughter on 17 June 1901 was a great blow to Singh, who was already suffering exhaustion from his workload as leader of the Singh Sabha movement. He continued to work, but his health deteriorated rapidly and he fell seriously ill. Singh died at Lahore on 6 September 1901.
After Singh's death, Bhai Vir Singh wrote a poem in his honor that was published in the Khalsa Akhbar . In addition, the Giani Ditt Singh Memorial International Society regularly organizes functions to keep Singh's memory alive. [11]
The following outline is provides an overview of Sikhism, or Sikhi.
Pratap Singh Giani was a Sikh academician, scholar and calligraphist.
Arora is a Punjabi caste, comprising both Hindus and Sikhs. The name is derived from their native place Aror. In 712, the Arora people are said to have left Aror and started to settle in the cities of Punjab, mainly in South Punjab. However, according to W. H. McLeod, many Aroras originally came from Pothohar area.
Bhai Mani Singh was an 18th-century Sikh scholar and martyr. He was a childhood companion of Guru Gobind Singh and took the vows of Sikhism when the Guru inaugurated the Khalsa in March 1699. Soon after that, the Guru sent him to Amritsar to take charge of Harmandir Sahib, which had been without a custodian since 1696. He took control and steered the course of Sikh destiny at a critical stage in Sikh history. He was also a teacher of the Gianian Bunga, later becoming known as the "Amritsari Taksal", currently located in Sato Ki Gali.
The Tat Khalsa, also romanised as Tatt Khalsa, known as the Akal Purkhias during the 18th century, was a Sikh faction that arose from the schism following the passing of Guru Gobind Singh in 1708, led by his widow Mata Sundari, opposed to the religious innovations of Banda Singh Bahadur and his followers. The roots of the Tat Khalsa lies in the official formalization and sanctification of the Khalsa order by the tenth Guru in 1699.
Khalsa College is a historic educational institution in the northern Indian city of Amritsar in the state of Punjab, India. Founded in 1892, the sprawling 300-acre (1.2 km2) campus is located about eight kilometers from the city-center on the Amritsar-Lahore highway, adjoining Guru Nanak Dev University campus, to which Khalsa College is academically affiliated.
Bhai Vir Singh was an Indian poet, scholar and theologist of the Sikh revival movement, playing an important part in the renewal of Punjabi literary tradition. Singh's contributions were so important and influential that he became canonized as Bhai, an honorific often given to those who could be considered a saint of the Sikh faith.
Ravidassia or the Ravidas Panth is a religion based on the teachings of Guru Ravidas. It was considered a sect within Sikhism until 2009. However, some Ravidassias continue to maintain Sikh religious practices, including the reverence of the Guru Granth Sahib as their focal religious text, wearing Sikh articles of faith (5Ks), and appending Singh or Kaur to their names.
The Chief Khalsa Diwan is a 117-year-old Sikh organisation, which is the central Organization of various Singh Sabhas spread across Punjab, India. Unlike the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Diwan is an apolitical body and only concerns itself with religious, educational and cultural issues.
Giani Gurdit Singh was born in Mithewal village in the state of Punjab, India. He was considered one of the greatest contemporary writers in Punjabi, and his book Mera Pind is regarded as a classic. It is now in its 14th edition and has been in print continuously since 1961. He was also a pioneering journalist, the Owner-Editor of Parkash from 1947–1978. He was also the editor of Singh Sabha Patrika, a monthly magazine of Sikh history and divinity. Giani Gurdit Singh graduated as "Giani" from Punjab University, Lahore in 1945, and he specialised in literature, divinity, history and folklore. He was a member of the Punjab Legislative Council from 1956 to 1962. He contributed to the debates at that time and in the creation of Punjabi University, Patiala and the recognition of Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, as the 5th Takht of the Sikhs. He was General Secretary of the Singh Sabha Shatabadi Committee, Amritsar, renamed Kendriya Sri Guru Singh Sabha. As the editor of the magazine Singh Sabha Patrika, he focused on issues of importance to the Sikhs. He also established two Guru Granth Vidya Kendras, one in Chandigarh and another in Mehrauli, Delhi.
Gurmukh Singh Musafir was an Indian politician and Punjabi language writer. He was the 5th Chief Minister of Punjab from 1 November 1966 to 8 March 1967.
A jathedar is a leader of high regard chosen to head and ensure discipline within a jatha, a troop of Sikhs.
The Khalsa Akhbar, Lahore, was a weekly newspaper and the organ of the Lahore Khalsa Diwan, a Sikh society. Published from Lahore in the Punjabi language, the newspaper was established in 1886 and functioned sporadically till 1905. Founded by Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a professor of Punjabi at the Oriental College, Lahore, who also established the Khalsa Press in Lahore, the paper was taken over by Giani Ditt Singh, a scholar and a poet.
The Singh Sabhā Movement, also known as the Singh Sabhā Lehar, was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Reform movements and Muslims. The movement was founded in an era when the Sikh Empire had been dissolved and annexed by the British, the Khalsa had lost its prestige, and mainstream Sikhs were rapidly converting to other religions. The movement's aims were to "propagate the true Sikh religion and restore Sikhism to its pristine glory; to write and distribute historical and religious books of Sikhs; and to propagate Gurmukhi Punjabi through magazines and media." The movement sought to reform Sikhism and bring back into the Sikh fold the apostates who had converted to other religions; as well as to interest the influential British officials in furthering the Sikh community. At the time of its founding, the Singh Sabha policy was to avoid criticism of other religions and political matters.
The Amritsar Singh Sabha was the first faction of reformers of the Singh Sabha movement, founded in 1873, and was one of the major groups who competed to reform and define the Sikh identity in the late 19th century. It was "essentially original and bourgeoisie," and "arose because of a perceived dissolution of the Sikh faith, i.e., Sikhs were believed to be falling into the folds of Hindu thought and practice."
Balbir Singh born in 1896 at Katra Garba Singh, Amritsar, was a Sikh scholar and brother of Bhai Vir Singh.
The Jathedar of the Akal Takht is the head of the Akal Takht and head of the Sikhs worldwide. The jathedar has the de facto power as the supreme spokesperson of the Khalsa to summon, trial and sentence any person who identifies as a Sikh from the Akal Takht.