Alphabetical Index

GOPAL, SETH, a rich businessman, received instruction at the hands of Guru Hargobind and became a devoted Sikh {Varan, XI. 31).

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.

GOPI, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He lived at the village of Dalla, in present day Kapurthala district of the Punjab, and received initiation at the hands of Guru Amar Das, (Varan, XI. 16) BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhan di Bhagat Main. Aimitsar, 1955 2. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sn Gur Pratap Silrnj Cranlii. Amritsar, 1927-33 B.S.D. GOPI, BHAI, a Bhardvaj Brahman, received initiation at the hands of Guru Arjan. Once he, accompanied by Bhai Vcsa and Bhai Tulsia, also Bhardvaj Brahmans, and Bhai Bhiara, who had been initiated along with him, waited upon the Guru.

GORDON (d. 1837), often miscalled Canon, an Anglo Indian, entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1820 as an infantry instructor on a salary of Rs 500 per month. Later, he was put in command of a battalion of artillery. In July 1822, his battalion received approbation from Allard and Ventura and was ultimately incorporated in the FaujiKhas. Gordon was now charged with raising a new cavalry regiment to be called Akal Regiment.

GOSHTAN MIHARVAN JI KIAN, by Sodhi Hariji (d. 1696), is a biography of the author`s father, Sodhi Miharban, written in anecdotal style of the janam sdkhis. Biographical details, however, are sparse; the work mainly contains theological discourses of Sodhi Miharban and his interpretations of gurbdm, the sacred utterances of the Gurus. The author describes Miharban as an incarnation of Shukdeva, a mythological Hindu sage, who was reborn (as Miharban) with the sole aim of explaining the gurbdm. The exposition presented is however Hariji`s own and does not always conform to Sikh principles and beliefs.

GOSHTI, from Sanskrit gostha (go = cow + stha = place, i.e. cowpen) means, secondarily, an assembly of people engaged in a discourse or debate on some metaphysical, theological or ethical point, thereby seeking to expound their respective views or tenets and revealing in the process their dialectical prowess and learning. The first recorded goshti in Punjabi literature is Guru Nanak`s Sidha Gosti ("A Dialogue with the Siddhas"), included in the Guru Granth Sahib in rdga Ramkall, a musical measure favourite of the yogis.This dialogue in verse brings out the quintessence of Guru Nanak`s teaching, vix.

GOSTI BABA NANAK, lit. the discourses of Baba [Guru] Nanak dictated by Hariji, son of Sodhi Miharban, is an unpublished and incomplete work (MS. No. 2306) preserved in the Sikh History Research Department at the Khalsa College at Amritsar, comprising 235 folios and 23 complete and two, one in the beginning and the other at the end, incomplete gostis.

GOUGH, SIR HUGH (1779-1869), commander of the British armies in the first and second Sikh wars, was born on 3 November 1779, at Wood town, Limerick, Ireland. He joined British army service in 1793 and served at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Peninsular wars under the Duke of Wellington. He came to India in 1837, and, after serving in the army in various capacities, became the Commanderin Chief in 1843. In spite of his experience as a soldier and his qualities of courage and resolution, Lord Gough did not prove the favourite of any of the three Governors General under whom he served.

GOULD, JOHN (d. 1842), an English soldier of fortune who arrived at Lahore with his brother in law Colonel Van Cortlandt. He took up service under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1834. He commanded a battalion of the Sikh army and remained in servk :e for eight years till his death in 1842 at Firoxpur.

GOVARDHANA Through the Guru\'s discipline, Krishna lifted the Govardhana (mountain). (Maru M. l, p. 1041) Govardhan-dhari (One who holds up the mountain Govardhana)... (Maru M. 5, p. 1082) Govardhana is the name of a mountain in Vrindavana near Mathura. Once Krishna induced the cowherds and Gopis to worship this mountain instead of the god Indra. On this Indra was greatly enraged and caused a heavy rain to deluge the area. In order to remove the distress of the inhabitants, Krishna held up the mountain as an umbrella to shelter them ane their cattle, on his little finger for seven days. The baffled Indra paid homage to Krishna.

GOVIND, BHAI, a Bhandari Khatri, embraced the Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Angad Dev. Bhai Gurdas, in Varan XI. 15, calls him gungdhak, i.e. buyer of virtue alone. See KHANU, BHAI

GRANTH GURBILAS PATSHAHI 6 (granth volume, book; gurbilas = life story of the Guru; patshahi 6 = the spiritual preceptor, sixth in the order of succession), is a versified account, in Punjabi, of the life of Guru Hargobind, Nanak VI. The manuscript, preserved in the Punjab University Library, Chandigarh, under accession No. 1176, is of anonymous authorship. The dale of its composition is also not known. The condition of the paper, the formation of the letters and the style of writing point to a comparatively recent date. The manuscript comprises 135 folios, each folio having 30 (fifteen + fifteen) lines.

GRANTH SRI GURMAT NIRNAYA SAGAR by Pandit Tara Singh Narolam is a pioneer work on Sikh theology and...

GRANTHI, from the Sanskrit granthika (a relaier or narrator), is a person who reads the granih, Sanskrit grantha (composition, treatise, book, text). The terms are derived from the Sanskrit grath which means "to fasten, tie or string together, to compose (a literary work)." In Sikh usage, granih refers especially to the Guru Granth Sahib, the Scripture, and the term granihl is used for the officiant whose main duty it is to read the Holy Book in public. The granth`i`s, the principal religious official of Sikhism, but should not be thought of as a "priest" in the usual sense.

GUAL DAS, BHAI, son of Chhote Mall and grandson of Bhai Paira, belonged to the family of Chhibbar Brahmans, originally of the village of Kariala, Jehlum district, now in Pakistan, who served successive Gurus from Guru Arjan (1563-1606) onwards. According to Bhatt Vahi records, he accompanied Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75) on his journey to the eastern parts in 1665-70.

GUISE, WALTER (d. 1857), tutor to Maharaja Duleep Singh from 1850 to 1853 at Fatehgarh in present day Uttar Pradesh to which place the young prince had been taken by the British after the occupation of the Punjab. In contemporary records,he has been described as "a very good fellow, patient and attentive, of mild manners and gentlemanly appearance and demeanour." Before Duleep Singh was to convert to Christianity, Guise was assigned to instruct him in the gospel as well, and he was one of those who signed the register of witnesses to the baptism of Maharaja Duleep Singh. In 1853, Walter Guise received an offer from an indigo planter near Fatehgarh to take charge of his plantation as a partner. When in 1857 the Maharaja`s house at Fatehgarh was pillaged and most inmates killed by mutineers, Walter Guise was among the Europeans who lost their lives.