guru

DEVA SINGH, BHAI. and Bhai Ishar Singh were among the Five Muktas, who formed the first batch after the Parij Piare to receive baptism of the Khalsa on the Baisakhi day of AD 1699. According to Rahitnama Hazuri Bhai Chaupa Singh Chhibbar, the draft of a rahitnama was prepared by these Muktas which later received Guru Gobind Singh`s approval. Bhai Deva Singh and Bhai Ishar Singh fell fighting in the battle of Chamkaur (7 December 1705).

DHESI, BHAI, and Bhai Jodh, both Brahmans converted to Sikhism, once came to Guru Arjan and complained, "0 True King ! other Brahmans treat us as out castes, for they tell us that by taking a Khatri as a guru, by discarding Sanskrit, the language of the gods, and singing hymns of gurbani composed in the common dialect, and by the nonobservance of fasts and other rituals and prayers, we are no longer fit to sit and dine with them. They are especially sore because in preference to the traditional places of pilgrimage like the Gariga and Kashi, we come to Amritsar. Pray, tell us how should we answer them." "Caste," said Guru Arjan, "has no meaning.

DILAWAR KHAN, a Mughal chief, who during the closing years of seventeenth century sent his son, referred to as Khanzada in Guru Gobind Singh`s Bachitra Natak, as head of an imperial expedition to exact tribute from the Guru. The young commander, marching with alacrity, reached the vicinity of Anandpur at midnight and intended to surprise the town. But the Guru was alerted by his chamberlain, Alam Chand, and the Sikhs, putting on their armour, rushed out to meet the invaders. The beating of the Ranjit Nagara and the warcries of the Sikhs echoed widely in the stillness of the dark winter`s night, giving an exaggerated estimate of their numbers. 

DUNI CHAND, grandson of the well known Bhai Salho (d. 1628), a Dhalival Jatt of Majitha in Amritsar district in the Punjab, was a masand of the Guru`s nominee in the Majha area. A hefty man of immense bulk, Duni Chand led out a band of 500 warriors to Anandpur in 1700 when the Rajput hill chiefs had laid siege to the town. One day it was reported to Guru Gobind Singh that the besiegers were planning to use a drugged elephant the following morning to force open the gate of the Lohgarh Fort. To quote Kuir Singh, Gur Bilas Patshahi X, the Guru said, "I too have an intoxicated elephant, Duni Chand.

DAYA CHAND, a devotee of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who has been counted by Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, among warriors who fell fighting for the Guru in the battle of Amritsar (1629).

FATEHNAMAH, or Namah-i-Guru Gobind Singh, a letter (namah in Persian) that Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) is believed to have addressed to Emperor Aurangzib prior to his better known Zafarnamah included in the Dasam Granth. The first reference to the existence of Fatehndmah dates to 1922 when Babu Jagan Nath Das published in the Nagari Pracharini Patrika, Savan 1979 / July-August 1922, a letter supposed to have been sent by Chhatrapati Shivaji to Mirza Raja Jai Singh. In his introduction, Babu Jagan Nath Das had mentioned that he had copied around 1890 two letters from manuscripts in the possession of Baba Sumer Singh, mahant of Takht Sri Harimandar Sahib at Patna from 1882 to 1902 one, Shivaji`s which he was publishing in the Patrika and the other. Guru Gobind Singh`s which, he added, he had lost and of which he could not procure another copy owing to the death of the owner of the original document.

GANGA RAM, an affluent Brahman merchant of Bathinda (30°14`N, 74°59`E) now a district town in Malva region of the Punjab, accepted Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Arjan. He, according to Bhai Santokh Singh,Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, once crossed the Sutlej with a large stock of bdjard, a variety of millets. Learning that a vast body of men was at work digging a large tank at Guru Chakk (presentday Amritsar), he proceeded in that direction hoping to sell his merchandise profitably. At Amritsar, he saw large number of Sikhs engaged in voluntary sevd, digging and shovelling and carrying basketfuls of earth on their heads, and, although they had had little to eat owing to Guru ka Larigar or community kitchen having run short of rations, their pace had not slackened.

GHARUAN, a village 8 km east of Morinda (30°47`N, 76°29`E), is sacred to Guru Har Rai. He visited the place during his travels in these parts. Several people accepted" his teachings. They established a dharamsald in the village. This was replaced by a doublestoreyed building with a high gateway during the nineteenth century. A part of this building is being used for residential purposes. The other portion has been demolished and a new hall, with prakdsh aslhdn in the centre, has been built. The Gurdwara is managed by a village committee.

GOBINDPURA, village 7 km west of Bareta (29°52`N, 75°42`E) in Mansa district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Tcgh Bahadur as well as to Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Tcgh Bahadur, says the Sdkhi Polhi, arrived here from Bachchhoana on his way to Gaga and further east. Guru Gobind Singh passed through it on his way back from Akbarpur Khudal to Sirsa in 1706. Separate Mariji Sahibs in the form of platforms dedicated one each to them were built in a single hall.

GOPI MAHITA, BHAI, accompanied by Bhai Tirath, Bhai Nattha, Bhai Bhau Mokal and Bhai Dhilli Mandal, once visited Guru Arjan. One of them, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhdn d~i Bhagat Maid, said: "Lord, Prithi Mall and Mahadev [the Guru`s brothers] are also composing verses using the name of (Guru) Nanak as nom de plume which makes it difficult to know the genuine from the counterfeit." The Guru, addressing himself to Bhai Gurdas, spoke: "Today there are many Sikhs who know which are the true compositions of the Gurus, but tomorrow there may be none. The hymns of the Gurus should therefore be collected and compiled into a single volume.