Piri (Sikhism)

Last updated May 26, 2024

The Piri system (also known or spelt as Peerah^[1] or Peehri^[2]) was part of the Sikh missionary administrative organization founded by the third Sikh guru, Guru Amar Das, for the purpose of propagating Sikhism amongst women (especially women from Muslim backgrounds).^[3]^[1]^[2] The system was significantly expanded by the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai. Each Piri was a Sikh missionary seat and administrative unit. The Piris were sub-centres under the Manji sustem.^[2]

Etymology

A Piri is a very small wooden cot (taken as the seat of authority in this context) from which the Sikh Piris (female Sikh preachers, holders of seat of religious authority) would teach Sikhism specifically to other women. The word Manji also means a wooden cot, similarly used to denote a seat of Sikh religious authority for preaching Sikhism to the general public.

History

Founding

Guru Amar Das trained and appointed 52 women alongside 94 men as missionaries for the spread of Sikhism.^[4]^[5] For the Piri system, it involved an appointed preaching official and missionary for Sikh assemblies and congregations whom were all women and instructed to spread Sikhism amongst women (especially women belonging to Muslim backgrounds).^[1] According to W. Owen Cole, establishment of the manji and piri systems may have been motivated by the large amounts of new converts coming into the Sikh faith, especially in the Punjab.^[1] However, many of these converts brought in beliefs and practices of their original faith, so the preachers were appointed to instruct them on proper Sikh orthodoxy and orthopraxy, essentially motivating them to choose the Sikh faith and all that comes with it, even if it involves discarding their old ways of spirituality in the process.^[1] The head leaders of the Piri system were Mata Bhani, Bibi Dani, and Bibi Pal, all of whom had been appointed by Guru Amar Das himself and were intellectual types.^[6] Besides the dissemination of Sikhism, the piris also taught women about social and religious norms.^[6] According to Harish Jain, rather than being a separate system from the Manji system, the Piri system was rather a sub-centre of each Manji.^[2] The number of Piri centres was 52, which were under the purview of 22 Manjis.^[2]

Expansion

Guru Har Rai faced some serious difficulties during the period of his guruship. The corrupt masand Dhir Mal and heretical Mina sect always tried to preclude the advancement of the Sikh religion.

Earlier, the Piri system was founded by Guru Amar Das. To reform the corrupted Masand system, Guru Har Rai expanded the Piri system by establishing additional female Sikh missionary seats called Piris after the small cot (manji) used by the Guru's representatives. He also tried to improve the old corrupt Masand system and appointed pious and committed personalities, such as Suthre Shah, Sahiba, Sangtia, Mian Sahib, Bhagat Bhagwan, Bhagat Mal and Jeet Mal Bhagat (also known as Bairagi), as the heads of Manjis.^[5]

Related Research Articles

A gurdwara or gurudwara is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs but its normal meaning is place of guru or "Home of guru". Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as Gurdwara Sahib. People from all faiths and religions are welcomed in gurdwaras. Each gurdwara has a Darbar Sahib where the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a takht in a prominent central position. Any congregant may recite, sing, and explain the verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, in the presence of the rest of the congregation.

Guru Amar Das, sometimes spelled as Guru Amardas, was the third of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552 at age 73.

Khalsa refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith, as well as a special group of initiated Sikhs. The Khalsa tradition was initiated in 1699 by the Tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh. Its formation was a key event in the history of Sikhism. The founding of Khalsa is celebrated by Sikhs during the festival of Vaisakhi.

Guru Har Rai revered as the seventh Nanak, was the seventh of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He became the Sikh leader at age 14, on 3 March 1644, after the death of his grandfather and the sixth Sikh leader Guru Hargobind. He guided the Sikhs for about seventeen years, till his death at age 31.

Dasvandh is the one tenth part of one's income that one should donate, both financially and directly in the form of seva, according to Sikh principles.

Tarn Taran Sahib is a city in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, in northern India. It is the district headquarters and hosts the municipal council of Tarn Taran district. Gurdwara Sri Tarn Taran Sahib, a prominent Sikh shrine, is located in the central part of the city.

Goindwal, also known as Goindwal Sahib and alternatively transliterated as Goindval, is located in the Taran Taran district of the Majha region of Punjab, India about 23 km (14 mi) from Tarn Taran Sahib. In the 16th century it became an important center for the Sikh religion during the Guruship of the Guru Amar Das Ji. Goindwal is on the banks of the Beas River and is one of the focal points of small scale industries of Tarn Taran district.

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.

Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and opposed many traditional practices like fasting, Upanayana, idolatry, caste system, ascetism, azan, economic materialism, and gender discrimination.

The principles of Sikhism state that women have the same souls as men and thus possess an equal right to cultivate their spirituality with equal chances of achieving salvation. Women in Sikhism participate in all religious, cultural, social, and secular activities including lead religious congregations, take part in the Akhand Path, perform Kirtan, perform Gatka and work as a Granthis.

Bibi Bhani, also known as Mata Bhani, was the daughter of Guru Amar Das, the third Sikh Guru. She played a central role in the history of Sikhism and is one of the four consorts bestowed with the title of Guru-Mahal.

Guru Ram Das was the fourth of the ten Sikh gurus. He was born in a family based in Lahore. His birth name was Jetha, and he was orphaned at age seven; he thereafter grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village.

A dharamshala, also written as dharmashala, is a public resthouse or shelter in the Indian subcontinent. It also refers to Sikh places of worship before the introduction of Gurdwaras. Just as sarai are for travellers and caravans, dharamshalas are built for religious travellers at pilgrimage sites. In Nepal there are dharamshalas especially built for pilgrims as well as dharamshalas for locals.

Events from the year 1535 in India.

Guru Arjan was the fifth of the ten total Sikh Gurus. He compiled the first official edition of the Sikh scripture called the Adi Granth, which later expanded into the Guru Granth Sahib. He is regarded as the first of the two Gurus martyred in the Sikh faith.

Amrit Sanskar also called Amrit Parchar, Amrit Sanchar, Khande di Pahul, or Khande Batte di Pahul is one of the four Sikh Sanskaars. The Amrit Sanskar is the initiation rite introduced by Guru Gobind Singh when he founded the Khalsa in 1699.

A masand was a representative, religious preacher, and tithe collector in Sikhism. They were an officially appointed missionary minister representing the Sikh Guru, who baptized conversions to Sikhism, and collected dasvandh (tithe) as an offering to the Sikh community and religious establishment. A masand forwarded the collected amount to the Sikh guru.

A Manji was a Sikh religious administrative unit, similar to a parish or diocese, for the propagation of Sikhism. It was part of the Sikh missionary administrative organization founded by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of Sikhism.

Sikh sects, denominations, traditions, movements, sub-traditions, also known as sampardai in the Punjabi language, are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in different approaches to practicing the religion. All sampradas believe in the One Creator God typically rejecting both idol worship and caste systems. Different interpretations have emerged over time, some of which have a living teacher as the leader. The major historic traditions in Sikhism, states Harjot Oberoi, have included Udasi, Nirmala, Nanakpanthi, Khalsa, Sahajdhari, Namdhari Kuka, Nirankari and Sarvaria.

Mansa Devi was the wife of the third Sikh guru, Guru Amar Das.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Cole, W. Owen (2004). Understanding Sikhism. Understanding Faith. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. ISBN 9781906716912. Guru Amar Das appointed twenty-two manjis, women and men, whose primary function was to preach and teach the practice of Nam simran. This decision is indicative of the expansion of the still young movement and the consequent need to respond to the proliferation of sangats. In addition, some women, known as peerahs, were appointed to preach among women, Muslims in particular. The appointment of manjis and peerahs may be taken as a sign that the still young Panth was expanding steadily, and possibly spectacularly, in the area where Punjabi was the major regional language. The assemblies were intended to wean Sikhs away from major Hindu events, possibly challenging them to decide which of the two paths they would follow. At first, the baoli sahib seems contrary to the teachings of Guru Nanak that pilgrimage and bathing at tiraths to remove ritual pollution, in which he did not believe, were futile. It must be explained in terms of the third Guru's recognition that there were already people joining the Panth who did not necessarily share the beliefs of its founder in the essential inwardness of spirituality, the realisation of liberation through Nam simran and not outward religious forms. Even though Guru Nanak's death lay only a generation in the past or less, and there were many of his early followers still living, it was necessary to adjust to the changing circumstances that Guru Amar Das faced. That he did so is a sign of wisdom.
1 2 3 4 5 Jain, Harish (2003). The Making of Punjab. Unistar Books. p. 273. After attaining the Guru's mantle, he [Guru Amar Das] visited various places to propagate the message of the faith. He reorganised the Sikh faith and established 22 centres, each called a 'manji', and 52 sub-centres, each called a 'peehri' for this purpose.
↑ Saith, Ashwani (2019). Ajit Singh of Cambridge and Chandigarh: An Intellectual Biography of the Radical Sikh Economist. Cham: Springer International Publishing. p. 317. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12422-9. ISBN 978-3-030-12421-2. S2CID 194267065. Guru Amar Das is known and respected for several edicts and progressive practices within the Sikh faith, but above all, he was a powerful proponent of gender equality which was one of his principal teaching planks; he initiated the piri system whereby there could be female preachers in the faith, and with his practice following his preaching, he passed on the mantle of Guru not to his son but on merit to his son-in-law; maybe there was an inherited gender gene at work!
↑ Chawla, A.S.; Singh, Dharminder; Kaur, Jasleen. "7.2 - Established the Sikh Administration System". Management Perspectives of Sikh Religion. Guru Amar Das established the Manji System to propagate Sikhism in a logical and planned way. He divided Sikh congregation areas into 22 Manjis and a local preacher was made in-charge of each Manji. He trained the group of 146 followers, out of which 52 were women, to attend to the spiritual needs of the people. He also appointed preachers called Masands, who went across the country to spread the gospel of Sikhism.
1 2 Piri system
1 2 Iftikhar, Rukhsana (2016). Indian Feminism: Class, Gender & Identity in Medieval Ages (1st ed.). Notion Press. ISBN 9789386073730. Guru Amar Das started Pin [sic] system for the regeneration of the society, which was entrusted with the task of educating women in religious and social norms. The whole organization was handled by intellectual women; Bibi Bhani, Bibi Dabi [sic] and Bibi Pal (these women were devotees of Guru Amar Das and helped him in educating women) were those who contributed in this system.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 5 Cole, W. Owen (2004). Understanding Sikhism. Understanding Faith. Dunedin Academic Press Ltd. ISBN 9781906716912. Guru Amar Das appointed twenty-two manjis, women and men, whose primary function was to preach and teach the practice of Nam simran. This decision is indicative of the expansion of the still young movement and the consequent need to respond to the proliferation of sangats. In addition, some women, known as peerahs, were appointed to preach among women, Muslims in particular. The appointment of manjis and peerahs may be taken as a sign that the still young Panth was expanding steadily, and possibly spectacularly, in the area where Punjabi was the major regional language. The assemblies were intended to wean Sikhs away from major Hindu events, possibly challenging them to decide which of the two paths they would follow. At first, the baoli sahib seems contrary to the teachings of Guru Nanak that pilgrimage and bathing at tiraths to remove ritual pollution, in which he did not believe, were futile. It must be explained in terms of the third Guru's recognition that there were already people joining the Panth who did not necessarily share the beliefs of its founder in the essential inwardness of spirituality, the realisation of liberation through Nam simran and not outward religious forms. Even though Guru Nanak's death lay only a generation in the past or less, and there were many of his early followers still living, it was necessary to adjust to the changing circumstances that Guru Amar Das faced. That he did so is a sign of wisdom.

[:1-2] 1 2 3 4 5 Jain, Harish (2003). The Making of Punjab. Unistar Books. p. 273. After attaining the Guru's mantle, he [Guru Amar Das] visited various places to propagate the message of the faith. He reorganised the Sikh faith and established 22 centres, each called a 'manji', and 52 sub-centres, each called a 'peehri' for this purpose.

[3] Saith, Ashwani (2019). Ajit Singh of Cambridge and Chandigarh: An Intellectual Biography of the Radical Sikh Economist. Cham: Springer International Publishing. p. 317. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12422-9. ISBN 978-3-030-12421-2. S2CID 194267065. Guru Amar Das is known and respected for several edicts and progressive practices within the Sikh faith, but above all, he was a powerful proponent of gender equality which was one of his principal teaching planks; he initiated the piri system whereby there could be female preachers in the faith, and with his practice following his preaching, he passed on the mantle of Guru not to his son but on merit to his son-in-law; maybe there was an inherited gender gene at work!

[4] Chawla, A.S.; Singh, Dharminder; Kaur, Jasleen. "7.2 - Established the Sikh Administration System". Management Perspectives of Sikh Religion. Guru Amar Das established the Manji System to propagate Sikhism in a logical and planned way. He divided Sikh congregation areas into 22 Manjis and a local preacher was made in-charge of each Manji. He trained the group of 146 followers, out of which 52 were women, to attend to the spiritual needs of the people. He also appointed preachers called Masands, who went across the country to spread the gospel of Sikhism.

[Piri_system_at_Sikh_Wiki-5] 1 2 Piri system

[:3-6] 1 2 Iftikhar, Rukhsana (2016). Indian Feminism: Class, Gender & Identity in Medieval Ages (1st ed.). Notion Press. ISBN 9789386073730. Guru Amar Das started Pin [sic] system for the regeneration of the society, which was entrusted with the task of educating women in religious and social norms. The whole organization was handled by intellectual women; Bibi Bhani, Bibi Dabi [sic] and Bibi Pal (these women were devotees of Guru Amar Das and helped him in educating women) were those who contributed in this system.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]