Mata Chando Rani
Mata Chando or Mata Chando Rani was the mother of Mata Sulakhni and the mother-in-law of Guru Nanak. She was the wife of Baba Mool Chand who was a Chona Khatri, resident of Batala and they looked after the lands of the Randhava Jatts of the village of Pakkhokc in present-day Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. They had a daughter of marriageable age named Sulakhani whom they betrothed to (Guru) Nanak, who was then working as a modi or storeholder for the Nawab Daulat Khan of Sultanpur Lodhi. The match was arranged through Bhai Jai Ram, husband of the Guru’s sister, Bibi Nanaki, and the marriage was solemnized at Batala on 24 September 1487. Gurdwara Dehra Sahib, also known as Viah Asthan Guru Nanak Dev Ji, now marks the place where Mata Chando Rani and Bhai Mool Chand lived. The Nanak family sometimes moved to Pakkhoke Randhave where Mata Sulakhni came with her two sons to stay with her parents during Guru Nanak’s mission abroad when he was away from home. She would rejoin later him at Kartarpur, opposite Pakkhoke across the River Ravi, where he had settled after his prolonged travels.
References
1. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-35
2. Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970
3. Macauliffc, M.A., The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
4. Harbans Singh, Guru Nanak and the Origins of Sikh Faith. Delhi, 1969
5. McLeod, W.IL, Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1968