JIVAN SINGH, BHAI

JIVAN SINGH, BHAI (1649-1705), Bhai Jaila before he had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, was a Sikh belonging to the scavenger caste who was given by Guru Gobind Singh the epithet of `Rarigharcta Guru Ka Beta` (the young man of the Rarighar caste is the Guru`s own son) when he brought the severed head of Guru Tcgh Bahadur from Delhi where he was executed under the orders of the emperor. Bhai Jaita was born on 30 November 1649 to mother Karmo and father Sada Chand. At the time of his birth, he was named Jag Chand, shortened to Jagu or Jola.

He and his younger brother Bhag Chand, also called Bhagu, were the disciples of Guru Har Rai, Nanak VII. From Kiratpur, in the Sivalik hills, where the Guru then resided, they shifted, along with their parents, to the village of Jhanda Ramdas where they stayed with Bhai Gurditia (1625-1675), the great-great-grandson of BhaT Buddha. As Bhai Gurditta was detained in Delhi following the arrest of Guru Tcgh Bahadur, Jaita was sent by the family to bring news of him. He was in Delhi when Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded in a public thoroughfare (11 November 1675), and as no one came forward to claim the bodily remains for fear of reprisals, he succeeded in evading the guards and escaping with the severed head to Anandpur where he was received with much honour by Guru Gobind Singh.

He thereafter lived at Anandpur, becoming the first nagdrchi or beater of drum when the Gurii set up the Ranjit Nagara. In 1691, he was married to Raj Kaur daughter of Sujan Singh of the village of Riar, near Amritsar, and had four sons born of him. He received the rites of initiation when Guru Gobind Singh inaugurated the Khalsa on 30 March 1699. Jaita was now renamed Jivan Singh. He became famous as a marksman and trained the two elder sons of Guru Gobind Singh in the art of warfare. He himself took part in all of Guru Gobind Singh`s battles against the hill chiefs and the Mughals. Bhai Jivan Singh fell a martyr in the balllc of Chamkaur on 7 December 1705. A burjor a tower stands on the site as a monument to his memory.

References :

1. Senapati, Kavi, Sri Gur Sobhd. Patiala, 1980
2. Kuir Singh, Gurbilds Patshalii 10. Paliala, 1968
3. Santokti Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Praia? Suraj Granlh. AniriLsar, 1927-33
4. Gurmukh Sirigli, Bhmjaita: Jivan Ie Rachmi. Lndhiana, 1994
5. A Glossary of the Tribes and Cast.es of ihe Punjab. Paliala, 1970
6. Martians Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur. Delhi, 1982