AGYA KAUR. BIBI

AGYA KAUR. BIBI (d. 1918), wife of Bhai Takht Singh and his helpmate in promoting women\’s education among Sikhs to which cause he was passionately devoted, was the daughter of Sardar Tek Singh of the village of Sultanpur, near Rahim Yar Khan railway station in the princely state of Bahawalpur. She had been a resident student at the Sikh girls school, at Firozpur, founded in 1892 and nurtured by Bhai Takht Singh. Agya Kaur had studied at the Mahavidyala up to the high school level. Bhai Takht Singh\’s first wife Harnam Kaur who was a co-builder of the school died in 1906.

He approached Agya Kaur\’s father to ask for her hand to be his ally in the enterprise he had launched upon.The nuptials took place at Sultanpur on 17 September 1910. On 1617 February 1911, Bibi (lady) Agya Kaur left with her husband on a tour of some South Asian countries to raise funds for the school. At Sikh gatherings and at divans at the gurdwaras, she recited holy hymns, kirtan, and made fervent appeals for donations, for their nascent school.

Returning to Punjab on 3 March 1912, she resumed her duties at the Mahavidyala as a teacher and as a matron of the hostel. She was taken ill with influenza during the epidemic of 1918, aggravated in her case by an attack of pneumonia. She died on 27 October 1918. She left behind four children, one other daughters rising to the position of Director of Public Instruction in Punjab.

References :

1. PanjabiBhain. Firozpur, September 1910 and December 1918
2. Silver Jubilee Book. Amritsar, 1935