BHAGAT BHAGVAN, recipient of one of the bakhshi`shs or seats of the Udasi sect, was a contemporary of Guru Har Rai (1630-61). His original name was Bhagvan Gir. Little is known about his early life except that, according to Udasi sources, he was born in a Brahman family at Bodh Gaya and that he was a Sannyasi sadhu roving in search of spiritual solace. Having heard about Guru Nanak, Bhagvan Gir came to Kiratpur to meet his living successor.
BHIKHAN SHAH OR SHAH BHIKH, PIR, a seventeenth century Sufi saint, was born the son of Sayyid Muhammad Yusaf of Siana Sayyidari, a village 5 km from Pehova, now in Kurukshetra district of Haryana. For a time, he lived at Ghuram in present day Patiala district of the Punjab and finally settled at Thaska, again in Kurukshetra district. He was tlie disciple of Abul Mu`ali Shah, a Sufi divine residing at Ambhita, near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, and soon became a pfr or saint of much repute and piety in his own right. According to tradition preserved in Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, Pir Bhikhan Shah, as he learnt through intuition of the birth of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) at Patna, made obeisance that day to the east instead of to the west.
Explore Ramananda's impact on Northern India, his liberal approach to caste, and the spread of Vishnav Bhakti and Ramaworship.
Explore the life of Sri Chand, son of Guru Nanak, founder of the Udasi sect, and revered ascetic who carried Guru Nanak's teachings far and wide.
