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8th March |
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| 1644 | Patshahi Seventh, Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib Ji, ascended to Guruship. Guru Hargobind had five sons, three of whom had died during his life time. Of the two who had survived him, SUraj Mal, born in 1617, was a worldly man, with only a moderate interest in religion, and Tegh Bahadhur, born in 1621, was a recluse. So by the command of Guru hargobind, the young Har Rai, grandson of the Guru, who was fourteen years old, was anointed as the seventh Guru of the Sikhs. The ceremony was performed by Baba Bhana, son of Baba Budha. Just before his death, Guru Hargobind put five paisas and a coconut before Har Rai, bowed to him and Baba Bhana put on his forehead the saffron mark and declared him to be the seventh Guru of the Sikhs. -Ref. "The Sikh Religion and The Sikh People," by Dr. S.S. Kapor, Hemkunt Press, New Delhi, 1992 Today is actual date of Guru Gadhi, though it is observed on a different date by Guru Khalsa Panth. ==> Sri Guru HAR RAI (1630-1661) actual date of Awtar is 26th Feb. 1630 (20 Magh Sunmat 1686) in Baba Gurditaa Ji and Matta Nihal Kaur’s home at Kiratpur. On 12 Chaet Sanmat 1701 in City Anup, Jilla Bulandh, UP, Guru Sahib married the daughters of Daya Ram. Two sons, RamRai was born to Mahala Kotkalyani (in sunmat 1703) and Guru Har Krishan Ji were born to Krishan Kaur. On 8th March 1644 (12 chaet Sanmat 1701) Guru Sahib ascended to the Gur Gaddhi and devoted extensive effort towards preaching the message of Guru Nanak. Upon assuming Guruship, Guru Sahiban extended the tradition of Guru Ka Langar beyond where our Guru’s resided. Essentially, Guru asked all followers of Guru Nanak, no matter where they happen to be, to prepare and serve Guru Ka Langar for the needy and the destitute. During sanmat 1703, he traveled to meet with the Malwa Sangat. Aurangzeb accused Gur Sahib for helping DaraShikoah (Aurangzeb’s brother but arch-enemy) and sought his appearance in Delhi. Instead, Gur Sahib sent his eldest son, Ram Rai, to Delhi. Ram Rai was well received by Aurangzeb. He not only satisfactorily responsed to all charges but also impressed Aurangzeb with his cleverness. As a result, Ram Rai was asked to stay on as a state guest for some period. One day, Aurangzeb questioned (under influence from others), why Sri Guru Nanak had criticized Islam in salok "Mitti Musalman Ki"? Ram Rai satisfied the assembled muslims by saying that the actual writing is "Mitti Baimaan Ki" and not "musalman ki". Though Ram Rai was well-blessed with all powers and strictly instructed only to explain Guru’s position, he choose to change Sri Guru Nanak’s writings and further performed miracles for Aurangzeb’s pleasures. When Sri Guru Har Rai Sahib heard of this incident, he forbid Ram Rai from ever returning home. Guru’s word in GurSikhism is absolute divine revelation and not subject to any modificatoions by anyone. Miracles although recognized by Sikh faith, are actively discouraged. Their exposition or display is considered arrogance (competing with Vaaheguru’s order). Though Ram Rai managed to please Aurangzeb, Guru Sahib forbid all GurSikhs from ever associating with Ram Rai. As a consequence Ram Rai obtained some jagir from Aurangzeb and settled north of Harduwar in Duun. He died there in sunmat 1788. Because of Ram Rai’s Dehra, Duun came to be popularly known as Dehradun. A historical katha suggests that when Ram Rai was engrossed in meditation, the neighboring masands mistook him for dead and cremated his body. For this reason, Matta Punjab Kaur sought punishment of masands from Kalgidhur patshah. Today there is a small following of Ram Rai. However, by Sri Guru Har Rai’s hukam, all GurSikhs are forbidden any association with Ram Rai’s followers. On 6th Oct. 1661 (7 Katak Sanmat 1718), after bestowing the Guruship upon Gur Har Krishan, Guru Har Rai left our world in Kiratpur at the age of 31 years, 8 months and 17 days. Guru Har Rai served as the 7th Guru of GurSikhims, for a total period of 17 years, 5 months and 8 days.
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| 1758 | Sikhs attacked Lahore. Taemur escaped to Kabul. Adina Begh became the new Governor and initiated atrocities against Sikhs.
-Ref. Amritsar Ji Dae Darshan Eshnan Utay 500 Sala Di Ethasak Directory, Satnam Singh Khalsa Advocate, pp 82.
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| 1783 | 40,000 strong Sikh forces arrived at Baradhi harbour. Shahijada Mirza Shikoh wanted to engage Sikh forces in a battle, but turned away instead of facing them. |
| 1853 | Maharaja Dalip Singh coverted to Christianity. Christian missionaries had spread their network to Lahore, Amritsar and other parts of the Punjab after its annexation. They saw hopeful signs of conversion of the Sikhs and made them a special target.
Maharaja Dalip Singh was formally admitted into the Christian Church with water brought from Ganges nearby at his own private dwelling house. The service was conducted by the Rev. M.W. Jay, with Dr. John S. Login, Mrs. Login, Colonel Alexander and Mr. Guise signing the Baptism register as witnesses. The conversion of Maharaja Dalip Singh and the invitation extended to missionaries by the Sikh Raja of Kapurthala in 1862, the first ever such invitation by an Indian ruler to the missionaries, gave them a promising start. NOTE:- Maharaja Dalip Singh reentered the Sikh faith in 1886. He received Khande Di Pahul (Amrit) on May 26, 1886 at Aden. ==> Maharaja DALIP SINGH, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was born in Lahore, on Feb. 1837, to mother Maharani Jind Kaur. His date of birth is disputed by some and alternately suggested as Sept. 4, 1838. Many foreign journalists have wrongly named him as Dhalip Singh and Duleep Singh. However, it should be noted that his correct name is Maharaja Dalip Singh. He assumed the Punjab throne as a child, after Maharaja Sher Singh, on Sept. 18, 1843. During his reign several wars were fought with the British. Unfortunately, he was surrounded by corrupt advisors as illustrated by the following quote.
The agreement of March 9, 1846, after the first Sikh war with the British, included the following conditions:
However, towards the end of this year, another set of arrangements were made, under which a council was established to run the Punjab affairs. This council was headed by a British Resident. Further, British forces were brought in to maintain peace in the country. Lahore darbar was charged 22 lakh annually for the maintenance and upkeep of such forces. However, this arrangement did not last for too long. As in April of 1848, a war erupted among the Sikhs and British. At the end of this war, Sikh kingdom was annexed and Maharaja Dalip Singh was sent out of Punjab to FatehGadh (Uttar Pradesh, dist. Karrukhsbad) under the care of Sir John Spencer Login. Maharaja Dalip Singh was still a child at the time of the annexation of Punjab and there was no one to dispense any religious education to him. His companions (AudiyaPrasad, Purohit GulabRai, Fakir Jahurudeen) had absolutely no interest or sympathy with GurSikh Dharam. As a result, BhajanLal, a local resident brahmin who had converted to christianity, was given the responsibilities of Dalip Singh’s education. Under his influence, Maharaja Dalip Singh adopted christianity on March 8, 1853. A few days prior to adopting christianity, Dalip Singh had presented his hair as a gift to lady Login. On April 19, 1858, Dalip Singh left for England and started residing at Elveden resident in Norfolk. Dalip Singh married a German lady, Bamba Muller (educated form Cairo missionary school) on June 7, 1864. This marriage resulted in three sons (Victor Dalip Singh, Frederick D.S., and Edward D.S.) and three daughters. Two of his sons were brought up as english gentlemen. The elder, Prince Victor, held a commission in the 1st Royal Dragoons and married a daughter of the Earl of Coventry. He died in 1918 at the age of 58. The younger brother, Prince Frederick was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he took history Tripos and later took his M.A. He held a commission in the Suffolk Yeomanry and then transferred to the Norfolk Yeomanry. He resigned his commission in 1909 but rejoined the corps in 1914 and was two years on active service in France. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration. Prince Frederick was deeply interested in archaeology and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and contributed articles to various periodicals on this subject. He died in August 1926, at the age of 58. One of Maharaja’s daughters married Dr. Sutherland, lived in Lahore, and was popularly known after her parents as Princess Bamba Sutherland. Maharani Bamba died in 1890. Later, Maharaja Dalip Singh married an english lady, A.D. Etherill, who lived after Maharaja’s death. Maharaja’s later years were extremely difficult. He was barred from returning to Punjab, and his pension severed. He died pretty much as an orphan, in Oct. 22, 1893 in Grand Hotel of Paris. The Anglo-Sikh wars resulted in ultimate liquidation of the Sikh power, and on 30th March, 1849, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s short lived kingdom was annexed by the British. Maharaja Dalip Singh was taken away to Fatehgarh in the U.P., and put under the tutelage of Sir John Login of the Bengal Army., with the result that after two years the young Maharaja expressed desire to renounce his faith and embrace Christianity. He was baptised, granted a pension, sent to England and given an estate in Suffolk. The married Bamba Muller, daughter of a European merchant and an Abyssinian mother. Maharani Bamba spoke and understood only Arabic, and in the beginning the Maharaja had amusing difficulties when attempting to converse with his fiancee. She bore him Prince Victor Dalip Singh, (b. 1866, d. 1918), Prince Fredrick Dalip Singh (b. 1886, d. 1926), Princess Bamba Jindan (b. 1869, d. 1957), Princess Katherine, Prince Albert Edward Dalip Singh (b. 1879, d. 1893), and Princess Sophia Alexandria (b. 1874, d. 1948). The children of Maharaja Dalip Singh died issueless. Dalip Singh came to India twice and was reconverted to his paternal faith. In 1886 he made an attempt to leave England for good and settle down in Punjab, but his attempt failed and he was not allowed to proceed beyond Aden. He did not return to England and died in Paris in 1893. Princess Bamba Dalip Singh, who later married an English gentleman Dr. Sutherland, continued to keep in her custody the collection of paintings and objects of arts, belonging to her father. She died in Lahore on March 10, 1957, without having any issue, and thus her death ended the line of the Sikh ruling dynasty. She bequeathed the collections to Pir Karim Bakhsh Supra of Lahore who sold it recently to the Government of Pakistan. The collection consists of 18 oil paintings, 14 water colours, 22 ivory paintings, 17 photographs, 10 metallic objects and 7 miscellaneous articles. Maharaja Dalip Singh’s life is a tragedy in the true sense of the word. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but died very poor in a hotel in Paris. Most people do not know that he wanted to reclaim his kingdom by launching a war against the British. Although he had become Chritain at one time, yet he re-entered Khalsa Panth by taking Khade di Pahul (amrit). Maharaja wrote the following letter to Sardar Sant Singh who was his relative from his mother’s side. Here is the text of the letter:
Note: Maharaja Dalip Singh stayed sometime in Aden. During his stay at Aden, the Maharaja Dalip Singh was baptised and re-entered the Sikh faith. He was baptised on May 26, 1886. There is a photograph of Maharaja with full beard (which is tied back) and beutiful uniform and turban. In this picture he looks very handsome and a true Maharaja. This picture must have taken when he was around 35-40. This picture is not the one that most of us have seen where the handsome Maharaja is standing with a sword in his right hand. |
| 1967 | The Akalis, who had never enjoyed power before, formed their government after the first elections in the new state. This was in fact the first non-Congress government in Punjab. Gurnam Singh’s government formed with the support of some willing political partners, fell on November 24, 1967, owing to intra-party intrigue. |
| 1971 | The SGPC issued a letter to Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Yogi, authorizing him to establish an ordained Sikhism ministry in the West, to perform marriages, final rites and to adminsiter Amrit according to the Sikh traditions. |