MAN SINGH. BHAI

MAN SINGH. BHAI (d. 1708), a warrior in Guru Gobind Singh`s retinue, was, according to Seva Singh, Shahid Bilas Bhai Mani Singh, the son of Mal Das of Alipur in Muzaffargarh district (now in Pakistan) and a brother of Bhai Mani Ram whose five sons were among the first few to be initiated at the time of the inauguration of the Khalsa on 30 March 1699. Man Singh took part in the battles of Anandpur both as an ensign and a fighting soldier. He also fought at Chamkaur and was one of the three Sikhs who survived that critically unequal battle and came out with Guru Gobind Singh unscathed.Man Singh constantly attended upon the Guru thereafter until his death in a chance skirmish with Mughal troops near Chittor during the Guru`s march to the Deccan along with Emperor Bahadur Shah.

A minor dispute between the foraging parties of the two camps had developed into a fierce encounter. Guru Gobind Singh sent Man Singh to the scene to intervene and settle the issue, but a chance bullet hit him and proved fatal. The exact place and date of the incident are not known. While Giani Garja Singh, editor of Shahta Bilas quoting Bhatt Vahis, places the event in Chittor in Rajasthan (3 April 1708), Kavi Sainapati, a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh, in his Sri Gur Sobha records that the skirmish took place near the River Narbada (Narmada), which was crossed a few weeks after the date metioned in the former work. The Niharig Sikhs trace the origin of their order from Bhai Man Singh.

References :

1. Sukha Singh, Gurbilas Patshahi Dasvin. Lahore, 1912
2. Santokh Singh, Sri Cur Pratap Suraj Cranth. Amritsar, 1927-35
3. Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa [Reprint]. Patiala, 1970
4. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909