KHUDA SINGH, BABA, alias JASVANT SINGH

KHUDA SINGH, BABA, alias JASVANT SINGH (1777-1861), a policeman turned saint, son of Bhai Nattha Singh, who cultivated a small piece of land in the village of Syamgarh, near Kurukshetra, was born in August 1777. The child was barely four days old when the village was attacked by dacoits, an occurrence not uncommon in those uncertain days. The villagers abandoned their homes and took shelter in a neighbouring town. Natlha Singh also fled, leaving the new born babe and its mother, Sukh DcvT, locked in his house. The 

dacoits ransacked the entire village but Bhai Nattha Singh`s house remained untouched.Jasvant Singh was brought up in the true Sikh tradition, and administered pahul, Khalsa initiation, at the age of six. He received weapon training and learnt horse riding. He was married to Chand Kaur wlien 17, and had a son born to him wlien 25.

Jasvant Singh was serving as a thanedar (police subinspector) at Kuran, in Karnal district, when in an encounter with a party of dacoits, lie was badly wounded. The period of recovery induced a mood of introspection. A meeting with Sam Baba BriSingh, who visited Kuran and held Hjvdns in tlie village Gurudwara for two months, finally changed his life. He became a disciple.As Baba Btr Singh was once travelling to Una to do homage to Baba Sahib Singh Bcdi, Jasvant Singh followed him, his wife and son riding a horse and he himself on foot carrying the Guru Granth Sahib on Ins head.

At Naurarigabad (district Amriisar), headquarters of Baba Bir Singh, Jasvant Singh served in the langar with devotion. He made a pilgrimage to Sikh places of worship such as Amritsar and Tarn Taran. Accompanied by a pious Sikh, Tahal Singh, he proceeded to the northwest to preach the Sikh teaching. The journey took him to Peshawar and thence beyond the Khaibar Pass to Jalalabad and Kabul.

In Kabul, he recruited as a disciple a Sikh called Gulab Singh, employed in the Afghan cavalry as a horseman.It was in the Afghan capital that he acquired the name Khuda Singh. In 1834, Baba Khuda Singh selllcd in Multan where he stayed for eight years. DTwan Savan Mall, governor of Multan, used to attend his sermons.

After the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, Baba Khuda Singh was confined at Wazirabad and later at Gujrariwala by the British. He was arrested a second time on the suspicion of being in possession of arms. He was sent to Lahore for trial before Sir John Lawrence and was sentenced to three years in jail. Baba Khuda Singh spent the last twelve years of his life in Lahore near Gurdwara Janam Asthan (birthplace of Guru Ram Das). The place where he stayed came to be known as Dharamsala of Baba Khuda Singh. He died in Lahore in September 1861. In popular memory he lives as Sant Baba Khuda Singh of Lahore.

References :

1. Pratap Singh, Giani, Jivan Baba Khuda Singh ji Lahore Vale. Amritsar, 1962