| Jivan Singh(Bhai Jaita) | |||
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JIVAN SINGH, BHAI (1649-1704), Bhai Jaita before he had received
the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh in
1699, was a Sikh belonging to the scavenger caste who was given
by Guru Gobind Singh the epithet of 'Ranghareta Guru Ka Beta’
(the young man of the Ranghar caste is the Guru's own son) when
he brought the severed head of Guru Tegh Bahadur from Delhi
where he was executed under the orders of the emperor, Bhai
Jaita was born on 30 November 1649 to mother Karmo and father
Sada Chand. At the time of his birth, he was named Jag Chand,
shortened to Jagu or Jota. He and his younger brother Bhag
Chand, also called Bhagu, were the disciples of Guru Har Rai,
Nanak VII. From Kiratpur, in the Sivalik hills, where the Guru
then resided, they shifted, along with their parents, to the
village of Jhanda Ramdas where they stayed with Bhai
Gurditta (1625-1675), the great-great-grandson of Bhai
Buddha. As Bhai Gurditta was detained in Delhi following
the arrest of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Jaita was sent by the
family to bring news of him. He was in Delhi when Guru Tegh
Bahadur was beheaded in a public thoroughfare (11 November
1675), and as no one came forward to claim the bodily
remains for fear of reprisals, he succeeded in evading the
guards and escaping with the severed head to Anandpur
where he was received with much honour by Guru Gobind
Singh. He thereafter lived at Anandpur, becoming the first
nagarchi or beater of drum when the Guru set up the Ranjit Nagara. |
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