CHARAN SINGH, BHAI

CHARAN SINGH, BHAI (1902-1921), son of Bhai Gurdit Singh and Mai Sada Kaur of the village of Kotla Santa Singh in Sheikhupura district, now in Pakistan, was born on 12 Maghar 1959 Bk/26 November 1902. His original name was Karnail Singh and he was renamed Charan Singh when he received the vows of the Khalsa. He attended the village primary school. He had a musical voice and got up a dhadi jatha (band of preachers singing heroic ballads from Sikh history to the accompaniment of small tambourines called dhads and a sarangi, a stringed instrument). He himself played the sarangi.

He was present at the historic Dharovali conference (13 October 1920) and at the time of the liberation of Darbar Sahib Tarn Taran (27 January 1921). Charan Singh was a member of Bhai Lachhman Singh Dharovali`s jatha doing duty as a correspondent writing letters to volunteers summoning them to the liberation of Gurdwara Janam Asthan at Nankana Sahib. He himself accompanied the jatha and fell a victim in the violence unleashed by the custodian Narain Das and his men (20 February 1921). See NANKANA SAHIB MASSACRE

References :

1. Shamsher, Gurbakhsh Singh, Shahidi Jivan. Nankana Sahib, 1938