Alphabetical Index

JAIDEV (JAYADEVA), saint and poet, two of whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, is chiefly known to the literary world as the author of the Gita Govinda, a lyrical poem in which the love of Radha (soul or devotee) for Govinda (the Supreme Being) is described symbolically and mystically. Jaidcv was born at Kindu Bilva which, according to some, is now Kcnduli, in BTrbhum district of West Bengal, on the river Ajay and, according to others, KcnduliSasan, on Prachi river, near Jagannath Purl in Orissa. At the end of Ins poem, he has given his father`s name as Bhojadcva and mother`s as Radhadcvi, deciphered also as Ramadevi, or Vamadcvl.

JAIMAL SINGH BHURFVALE, SANT (d. 1976), known for his austere living and dedication to send or holy service, was the son of Bhai Sher Singh, a shopkeeper of Chakval, a lahsil town in Jchlum district of the Punjab, now in Pakistan. Born in theearly years of the twentieth century, Jaimal Singh came under the influence of Sant Gopal Singh of Chakval who taught him to read Gurmukhi and the sacred texts. As he came of age, he left his native place and came to live at Amritsar sometime during 1930-31. He lived in a small hut near Gurdwara Ramsar, and worked as a porter.

JAIMAL SINGH RANDHAVA (1803-1870), son of Prcm Singh of the village of Khunda in Gurdaspur district, served the Lahore Darbar and thereafter the British. Jaimal Singh entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1836. He received a command in the RamgarhTa brigade from Lahina Singh Majithia in place of his father in law Fateh Singh Chahal who had died. Jaimal Singh proceeded to Peshawar in the company of Lahina Singh to relieve the Sikh army after the battle of Jamrud in April 1837.

JAITA, BHAI. See JIVAN SINGH, BHAI JAITA SETH, BHAI, a devout Sikh of Guru Hargobind`s time, was a brave warrior. He stood guard at the Guru`s door and humbly served the visiting Sikhs. According to Bhai Man! Singh, Sikhdn di Bhagat Maid, he once said to Guru Hargobind, "0 sovereign true! some say that he who possesses gidn (knowledge) has little use for bhakti (devotion). Is that true? "The Guru explained, "Gwm without bhakti is lame and ungainly.

JAITA, BHAI, and his brother Bhai Sirigaru, both brave warriors, accepted the Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Arjan. The Guru directed them to be in attendance upon his young son, Hargobind. In the time of Guru Hargobind, Bhai Jai ta took part in the battle of Lohgarh against the imperial troops. &?cBhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 28.

JAITA, BHAT, was a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He had received initiation at the hands of the Guru at Amritsar. Returning home, he, along with his companions, Bhai Nanda and Bhai Piraga, had ceased observing the caste rites and rituals. Their family priests chided them for their departing from the customs of their forefathers.

JAITO (30°26`N, 74°53`E), now a flourishing market town in Faridkot district, became in 1923 the scene of a longdrawn agitation launched by the Shiromani Akali Dal roused by the forced abdication of the Sikh Maharaja of Nabha. The campaign followed the interruption by the Nabha state authorities of the akhand path or continuous recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib started atJaito, which lay in the deposed Maharaja`s territory, to express sympathy for him.Jaito now has three gurudwaras of historical importance.

JAITO MORCHA, the name given to the Akali agitation for the restoration to his throne of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha, a Sikh princely state in the Punjab. The Maharaja had strong pro-Akali sympathies and had overtly supported the Guru ka Bagh Morcha and donned a black turban as a mark of protest against the massacre of the reformists at Nankana Sahib. His contacts with the Indian nationalist leaders and involvement in popular causes had irked the British government. On 9 July 1923, he was forced to abdicate in favour of his minor son, Partap Singh. 

JAITSAIILMAHALA 5 VARSLOKANNALI, by GuruArjan, is one of the twenty-two Vdrs, i.e. compositions in this folk form but moulded to a spiritual theme, included in the Guru Granth Sahib. It has been named Jaitsari because of the musical measure it belongs to. While the philosophical standpoint in the entire system of teaching and belief in gurbdm is the same, as flowing from the revelation embodied in Guru Nanak`s vision, in the compositions of the Gurus certain individual characteristics arc perceptible. These might be in those points of spiritual experience or imagery that most appealed to each or in the dominant nuance or emphasis of a particular composition.

JALALABAD (34°26`N, 70°28`E), a prominent town in Eastern Afghanistan, has a historical Sikh shrine, Gurdwara Choha Sahib Patshahl Pehli, honouring the memory of Guru Nanak, who visited here during his travels in these parts in the first quarter of the. sixteenth century.

Origin of the Name The district is named after Jalandhar, a demon king, who finds a mention in...

JALLA. PANDIT (d. 1844), a Brahman priest of Jammu, who, assigned tutor to Hira Singh Dogra when he was a small boy, remained his lifelong companion and became his adviser and deputy as he assumed the office of prime minister of the Sikh kingdom in September 1843. Jalla completely dominated over the young minister and the power he enjoyed made him very arrogant. He began to treat the Sikh nobility in an overbearing manner. A man of peevish disposition, the upstart Jalla soon came to be disliked by everyone.

JALLIANVALA BAGH MASSACRE, involving the killing of hundreds of unarmed, defenceless Indians by a senior British military officer, took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa. Jalliarivala Bagh, lit. a garden belonging to the Jallas, derives its name from that of the owners of the place in Sikh times. It was then the property of the family of Sardar Himmat Singh (d. 1829), a noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), who originally came from the village of Jalla, now in Fatehgarh Sahib district of the Punjab.

JALLO, BHAI, a Sikh officiant in the time of Guru Arjan, was reputed for his probity. Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 22, applauds him for his qualities of uprightness, integrity and simplicity.

JAMADAGNI Parasrama, the son of Jamadagni, who was divested to his hand\'s axe and powers by Kaghuvira, sings the divine praises of Guru Nanak Dev. (Swayye M. Pahle Ke, p. 1389) Because of the wickednéss of Kshatriya kings, the mother Earth made representation to Brahma. She was tåken to Mahavishnu, who promised to take an incamation as the son of Jamadagni and punish the wicked kings. Jamadagni, the son of Richika, was a pious sage, and one of the Saptarishis.

JAMAL UDDIN, SAYYID (1838-1897), a name mentioned in connection with the campaign in the 80`s of the nineteenth century for the restoration of Maharaja Duleep Singh to the throne of the Punjab. Born near Kabul in 1838,Jamal udDin entered the service of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan after whose death he got involved in the dynastic wars of succession in Afghanistan, eventually fleeing to India and thence to Cairo. He was a staunch exponent of PanIslamism which he declared was the only security for Muslim countries against Western dominance.