Alphabetical Index

JAPU, BHAI, a Khatri of Vansi subcaste, was a devoted Sikh of Guru Nanak. See Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 19 BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Mani Singh, Bhai, Sikhdn di Bhagat Maid. Ainritsar, 1955 2. Santokli Singh, Bhai, Sri Cur Pratdp Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927-33 Gn.S. JAPU, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the lime of Guru Arjan. The Guru taught him to join the sangat and practise ndm, i.e. absorption in the Divine Name. Bhai Japu`s name is included among the Guru`s devotees in Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhdn di Bhagat Maid. See also Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 19

JAPUPARAMARATH, by Bhai Ram Kishan, is an unpublished manuscript of the exegesis of Guru Nanak`s Japu. The only manuscript copy is available at Ace. No. 612 in the Dashmesh Library, Anandpur the other two in the Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar, and the Khalsa College Library, Patiala, having since been destroyed or lost. The exegcte was a known Sevapanthi saint, and he completed the work, as per the internal evidence in Amritsar manuscript, on Maghar sudi 2, 1853 Bk/22 November 1796: the date given in the Anandpur manuscript (Jeth sudi 6,1856 Bk/27 May 1799) is obviously the one when the scribe copied it.

JARASANDHA Jarasandha and Kalayavana were killed. (Gauri M. l, p. 224) Jarasandha was a terrible king of Magadha. Asti and Prapti, the two wives of Kansa were daughters of Jarasandha. When Kansa was killed by Sri Krishna, the daughters went to their fatner and wailed and wept before him. Jarasandha was filled with great ire and with a mighty army besieged the city of Mathura. A fierce battle followed between Jarasandha and Sri Kristina.

JARG, village 19 km southwest of Khanna `(30°42`N, 76°13`E) in Ludhiana district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Hargobindpura Sahib, dedicated to Guru Hargobind, who, according to local tradition, made a brief halt here in a grove, about 400 metres southwest of the village. This grove lay along an old cart track wliich connected Rauni to Jandali but the track is no longer in existence. The place is now approached by JargSirthala link road.

JARNAIL SINGH BHINDRANVALE, SANT (1947-1984), a phenomenal figure of modern Sikhism who within his seven brief years of a total of 37, marked by a precipitous course, emerged as a man of extraordinary grit and charisma. Soon he came to be talked about in the farflung academe as well as in political forums. Born in the year of Indian independence (1947), the son of Baba Joginder Singh, a pious Brar Jatt farmer of moderate means, and Mata Nihal Kaur, of the village of Rode, in Faridkot district, lie burst upon the world consciousness with an urgent message unmistakably delivered.

JASODA (YASODA) O Lord! Thou of Lotus-eyes, of Sweet Words, with whom million of companions look elegant, whom the mother Jasoda asks to eat cunry and rice..... (Swayye Mahle Chauthe Ke, p. 1402) Jasoda (Yasoda) was the foster-mother of Krishna and wifé of the cowherd Nanda. See : Krishna

JASPAT RAI (d. 1746), a native of Kalanaur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, was during Mughal times the faujddr of Eminabad, now in Gujrariwala district of Pakistan. A weal thy ^fl^m/ar and an influential courtier of Zakanya Khan, the governor of Lahore, he once ransomed Lakhpat Rai, his elder brother, who had been imprisoned for failure to discharge the dues of the army, as a result of which he was reinstated by Zakariya Khan in his office of diwdn or revenue minister. Jaspat Rai was in turn entrusted with the additional responsibility of checking the accounts of all the court nobles.

JASSA MALL (d. 1836), son of Dhanpat, a Brahman shopkeeper, of the village of Dalval, in Jehlum district, joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service in 1809 as a clerk on five rupees a month. In 1816, he became a treasurer in the Bela To shakhana, the treasury for charitable purposes. The following year he was promoted ddroghd or custodian of the to shakhdnd. On the conquest of Kashmir in 1819, he became the treasurer of the new province. In 1832, he was given the contract for the revenues of Jehlum and Rohtas districts. He held this contract until his death in 1836. Misr Lal Singh, later known as Raja Lal Singh, was his son.

JASSA SINGH AHLUVALTA (1718-1783), founder of the misi or chicf ship of the Ahluvalias, remnants of which lasted until recent years in the form of the princely state of Kapurthala, and commander of the Dal Khalsa, who proclaimed in 1761 the sovereignty of the Sikhs, was born the son of Badar Singh at the village ofAhlu, near Lahore, on Baisakh .wrfl PuranmashT 1775 Bk/3 May 1718. Since his father had died when he was barely five years of age, he was taken by his mother and her brother Bagh Singh to Delhi where he grew up under the care of Mata Sundari, widow of Guru Gobind Singh.

JASSA SINGH NAUSHEHRA NANGLI (b. 1793), son of Kahn Singh was born to Shergil Sikh family of Naushehra Narigal, a village in Amritsar district. One Chaudhari Sarvani, a descendant of Sher, founder of the tribe, built the village of Naushehra, also called Raipur Sarvani, during the reign of Emperor ShahJahari. The emperor allowed him to hold it free of rent as a remuneration for the collection of revenue from the districts around it. The family retained the office of chmidhanat for several generations and continued collecting revenue and depositing it into the imperial treasury till at last Mir/.a Singh, grandfather of Jassa Singh, joined tlic Kanhaiya Sardars about 1752.

JASSA SINGH RAMGARHIA (1723-1803), founder of the Ramgarhia chief ship and one of the prominent military leaders of the Sikhs in the second half of the eighteenth century, was born in 1723 at Tchogill, a village 20 km cast of Lahore. His grandfather, Hardas Singh (d. 1716) had received pdhul, the vows of the Khalsa, at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh and had fought in the campaigns of Banda Singh Bahadur. His father, Bhagvan Singh was killed in a fight against Nadir Shah during his invasion of India in 1739. Young Jassa Singh then joined the jathd of Nand Singh Sarighania and learnt the art of warfare at an early age.

JASST, also called JassI Bagvali to distinguish it from anotlier village of the same name, is an old village 23 km from Bathinda (30°14`N, 74°59`E). It claims an historical shrine commemorating the visit of Guru Gobind Singh who broke journey here while travelling from Muktsar through Lakkhi Jungle to Talvandl Sabo in 1706. According to legend popularixed by an anonymous and undated old chronicle, Sdkhi Potht, Guru Gobind Singh, on approachingJassi, waded through the village pond on horseback. As he came out at the other bank, the black coat of the horse and the blue robes of the Guru turned white. The pond, since developed into a 70metre square sarovar`w`\ bricklined embankment and steps, is called Baggsar, or the White Tank {baggd in Punjabi means white), and the shrine constructed near its southern bank is known as Gurdwara Sri Baggsar Sahib Patshahi Dasvlri. The Gurdwara is affiliated to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, but is managed by Niharigs of the Buddha Dal.

Jasuja, Gurcharan Singh made his name as a playwright when his play entitled Gaumukha Shermukha won in a competition organised by All India Radio since then he has contributed eleven full-length plays notable among which are Makri da Jal (the Cobweb), 1957; Kandhan Ret Dian (Walls of Sand), 1963; Ik Hero di Talash (Search for a Hero), 1977; Umra Lambi Daur (Lifelong Race), 1981; and Jungle, 1986. He also has six collections of one-act plays to his credit Gaumukha Shermukha (Cow-face Lion-face), 1955; Char Diwari (The Four Walls), 1964; Pachhtawa (Regret), 1965; Aap Biti Jag Biti As It Happened), 1975; Sikhar Dupehr Ate Hanera (Mid-day and Darkness), and Paras di Chhoh (The Touch of Alchemy). Jasuja\'s main concern is the projection of the contemporary social reality highlighting its oddities. While he conforms to the traditional mould generally, he has also experimented with technique in plays like Jungle. He is the recipient of several awards including the Punjabi Academy Delhi Award (1983), Delhi Natya Sangh Award (1986), and the Sahitya Kala Parishad Award (1988).

JASVANT SINGH, RAJA (1775-1840), succeeded his father, Raja Hamir Singh, to the throne of Nabha in 1783 at the age of eight, under the guardianship of his stepmother, Mai Deso, a very resourceful and energetic woman. In 1790, after the death of Mal Deso, he assumed the reins of government into his own hands. Jasvant Singh conducted protracted campaigns, first against Jmd and then against Patiala, to regain disputed territory for his state. His feud with Jind ended in 1789 with the death of the Jind chief, Gajpat Singh. With the help of General Perron of the Maratha service, he succeeded in checking the advance of the Irish adventurer, George Thomas.

JASWANT SINGH (1896-1964), the youngest of the trinity of Jhabal brothers who were all active in the Gurdwara Reform movement, was born on 17 June 1896 at the village of Jhabal, in Amritsar district of the Punjab. After matriculating from Khalsa High School, Lahore, in 1916, Jaswant Singh joined Khalsa Gollcge, Amritsar, but had to discontinue his studies owing to his father`s death in 1918. Like his elder brothers,. Amar Sirigli and Sarmukh Singh, Jaswant Singh began to devote his time to religious and social work while still very young. At the age of 23, he was elected president of the village Sri Guru Singh Sabha.

JASWANT SINGH, BHAGAT (1881-1967), prominent in the Gurdwara Reform movement of 1920-25, was born at Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 15 Poh 1938 Bk/27 December 1881, the son of Chaudhari Sayan Singh. After matriculating from Mission School, Rawalpindi, he passed his B.A. examination from Gordon College, Rawalpindi. In 1921, he became a member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and was elected its general secretary on 16 July 1922.