Remembering The Legacy Of Bhai Jaita On The 350th Anniversary Of Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom

Bhai Jaita (Baba Jiwan Singh), upon whom Guru Gobind Singh bestowed the honorific title of ‘Rangrette Guru Ke Bete’ for bringing the severed head of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, to Anandpur Sahib, belonged to a Shudra Khokkar family of the devotees of Guru Sahiban. His forefathers were dedicated followers of the Guru Ghar from the time of the Guru Nanak – founder of the Sikh faith. Before deliberating on the glorious deeds of Bhai Jaita and his humble background, let me narrate two valorous feats exhibited by him during the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur on November 11, 1675.

A day before (November 10) the martyrdom of the Guru, Bhai Jaita, with the help of Bhai Nanu of Dilwali Gali in the city of Delhi and Bhai Uda of Ladwa in Karnal district, also of Shudra background, in a daredevil act gathered the remains of the deeply mutilated bodies of Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala Das who stoically attained martyrdom for endorsing the cause of Guru Tegh Bahadur, and immersed them in the waters of the Yamuna river nearby. Taking advantage of the dusty storm and darkness, Bhai Jaita again with the help of Bhai Nanu and Bhai Uda carried the severed head of Guru Tegh Bahadur from Delhi to Kiratpur covering 320 km long distance in a five day time.

From kiratpur the severed sacred head was taken to Anandpur Sahib under the command of Guru Govind Singh in the form of a religious procession for the proper cremation rites. According to a popular Sikh narrative, Bhai Jaita also made many trips before from Delhi to Anandpur and back on foot to deliver correspondence between Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh. He brought 57 Shaloks and 59 Shabads of Guru Tegh Bahadur from the prison as well as a coconut, 5 paisa and tilak to Anandpur sent by Guru Tegh Bahadur for Guruship ceremony of Gobind Rai.

Bhai Jaita, like his great-great grandfather Bhai Kalyana, dedicated his whole life for the cause of the Guru Ghar. His great-great grandfather was among the main sewadars of Guru Ghar from the time of Guru Nanak to the sixth Guru Hargobind. As a trusted disciple of Guru Hargobind, Bhai Kalyana was also a very close to Baba Budda, one of the most reputed names in Sikhism. His native village was Rai Nangal. But on the persuasion of Baba Budda, Bhai Kalyana first shifted to village ‘Gaggomahal’ and later to village Ramdaspur established by the former.

Bhai Kalyana had another property in Delhi, popularly called ‘Kalyane di Dharamshala’, which was frequented by Guru Sahiban from the time of Guru Hargobind. Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed there for some time during his persecution at the hands of Aurangzeb. Bhai Kalyana also undertook wood sewa for the building of Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. His son Bhai Sukhbhan was an accomplished scholar and a reputed musician after Tansen, the most celebrated personality in the court of Emperor Akbar.

Bhai Jasbhan, son of Bhai Sukhbhan, was also deeply dedicated to the Guru Ghar. He spent very long period of his life in the service of seventh and eighth Gurus so much so that his name figured in a Hukamnama of the eighth Guru Harkrishan. Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind also blessed him. He had two sons: Bhai Agya Ram and Bhai Sada Nand. Bhai Agya Ram lived in Delhi in the ‘Kalyane di Dharamshala’. He used to teach music and kirtan in his music school that was established by his grandfather Bhai Sukhbhan.

His expertise in the field of music brought him in close contact with the officials of the court of Aurangzeb, which facilitated him in meeting Guru Tegh Bahadur during his imprisonment in Delhi. It was Bhai Agya Ram who with the help of his younger brother Bhai Sada Nand, Lakhi Shah Banjara and his three sons Nagahia, Hema, and Hari salvaged the mutilated body of Guru Tegh Bahadur and cremated it with great respect. His ashes were collected in a bronze pot and buried exactly at the place where the Guru’s body was cremated.

The Mughal administration, after knowing about the valorous deeds of Bhai Agya Ram, ordered for his brutal killing and took the custody of the cremation spot and built a mosque over it. In 1783, Jathedar Bagel Singh salvaged the place and constructed Gurudwara Rakabganj.

Bhai Sada Nand , the younger brother of Bhai Agya Ram, was also an accomplished master of ‘sur’ and ‘rag’. He was one of the closest devotees of Guru Tegh Bahadur, who accompanied him during all of his journeys. Guru Tegh Bahadur ecognised him as his main Sikh in his five Hukamname. The Guru helped him getting married with Lajwanti, the daughter of reputed Pandit Shiv Narayan, which was then a revolutionary step toward inter-caste marriages.

The so-called low-caste status of Bhai Sada Nand and the upper caste affiliation of Bibi Lajwanti was the biggest hurdle in their marriage, which Guru Tegh Bahadur resolved amicably. After their marriage Bibi Lajwanti and Bhai Sada Nand came to Bakala and stayed with Bibi Nanaki and Mata Gujri. Bibi Lajwanti received her name ‘Premo’ from Mata Gujri for her sewa and devotion to Guru Ghar. The Guru was impressed with the dedicated service of Bhai Sada Nand and blessed him with two sons.

Though there are various accounts about the time and place of the birth of Bhai Jaita, a large number of scholars of Sikh studies mentioned September 2, 1661 as the date of his birth and Patna city as a place of his birth where he and his younger brother Bhai Sangta used to play with Gobind Rai during their childhood days. Bhai Jaita was elder to Gobind Rai and his brother, Bhai Sangta, was one day junior to him.

Bhai Jaita gained proficiency in various languages, warrior skills, horse riding, hunting, swimming, sailor, music, Gurbani from his own father Bhai Sada Nand and various other scholars associated with the Guru Ghar. He was also greatly inclined towards spiritual knowledge for that Guru Tegh Bahadur bestowed on him the title: Biri Muratba – a great soul destined to complete a special task. His vast scholarship and spiritual state-of-mind captured the essence of the most turbulent period of his life span in his seminal literary work entitled Shri Gur Katha.

After winning the battle of Bhangani, in 1688, Bhai Jaita was honoured with the title of Shiromani Jarnail (Chief General) by Guru Gobind Singh who on the request of Mata Premo married him with Bibi Raj Rani (later Raj Kaur), the daughter of Bhai Khajaan Singh Riar. They had four sons naming Bhai Sukha Singh, Bhai Sewa Singh, Bhai Gulzar Singh, and Bhai Gurdial Singh. All of them were born in Anandpur at their home situated on the west side of the fort Anandgarh, which is still preserved in its original form unlike rest of the historic Gurdwaras. Baba Tirath Singh, the eighth descendent of the illustrious clan of Bhai Jaita, who is also the current head of the Gurdwara Sri Tapo Asthan Sahib built on the place where Bhai Jaita used to meditate, lives with his family in the meticulously preserved historic residence and Toshakhana (weapon house) of Bhai Jaita.

Bhai Jaita was among those brave Sikhs, who crossed the Sirsa River and reached Chamkaur Di Garhi. All of his four sons and their mother were also with Guru Gobind when he left Anandpur. The forces of the Mughal Emperor and mountain kings deceptively attacked Guru Gobind Singh and his accompanied entourage from behind while they were crossing the swollen Sirsa river. Bhai Sukha Singh and Bhai Sewa Singh, the two elder sons of Bhai Jaita, fought valorously in this battle at the shore of Sirsa river. However, Mata Raj Kaur and her two younger sons were martyred.

Bhai Sukha Singh and Bhai Sewa Singh, the elder sons of Bhai Jaita, were among those brave Sikhs who crossed the Sirsa River and reached Chamkaur Di Garhi. Both of them bravely fought in the historic battle of Chamkaur Di Garhi and achieved martyrdom. Bhai Jaita himself attained martyrdom in the battle of Chamkaur Di Gari. Thus, Bhai Jaita, his wife and their four sons, father, uncle, and brother Sangata, all achieved martyrdom while moving on the path shown by the Gurus. Bhai Nanu, who accompanied Bhai Jaita from Delhi to Kiratpur carrying the severed head of the ninth Guru, also attained martyrdom in the battle of Chamkaur Di Gari. And Bhai Uda, another valorous Sikh of the Guru, who also provided escort to Bhai Jaita attained martyrdom in the battle of Bhangani.

On the basis of above discussion, it will not be out of place to highlight that Bhai Jaita gallantly carried forward the golden legacy of his forefathers’ dedicated service at the altar of the Guru Ghar. Bhai Kalyana, his great-great grandfather, along with Baba Budda, rendered selfless service in the Guru Ghar from the guruship period of the first Guru Baba Nanak to Sixth Guru Hargobind. In a similar vein, the illustrious names of Bhai Jasbhan, Bhai Agya Ram, Bhai Sada Nand’s (grandfather, uncle and father of Bhai Jaita respectively) are found in the Hukamnamas of seventh, eighth and ninth Gurus.

Bhai Agya Ram, Bhai Sada Nand and Bhai Jaita were inseparably attached with Guru Tegh Bahadur, who unsurpassably retrieved the severed head and mutilated body of Guru Tegh Bahadur safely before it was quartered to be displayed publicly as ordered by Aurangzeb. The valiant act of Bhai Jaita that he performed during the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur became unparallel in the history of religions.

However, beyond the extraordinary feat of Bhai Jaita in bringing the severed head of the Guru to Anandpur Sahib, one hardly finds any reference about him in the vast scholarly literature depicting his life, family background and valorous deeds he displayed in the various battles fought by Guru Gobind Singh. The space that the heroic deeds of Bhai Jaita deserve in the pages of history is yet to be reclaimed. It is in this crucial context that remembering the glorious legacy of Bhai Jaita on the eve of the 350th year of the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur being organised within India and abroad deserves special attention.

Ronki Ram, Professor Emeritus, IDC, Chandigarh. Formerly: Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chair Professor & Dean Arts Faculty, Panjab University.