Bebe Nanaki, elder sister of Guru Nanak,was born in 1464 CE in her mother's parental village of Chahal, in the Lahore district of West Punjab province of present-day Pakistan. The Guru's affection for his sister is referred to in most touching terms in some of the Sakhis. A sister's love for her brother is a perennial theme of Punjabi folklore. There are many stories of Nanaki's deep and devoted affection for her brother, Nanak. Five years older than Guru Nanak, she was the first to recognize his spiritual eminence and to become his disciple. She protected Nanak from their father's wrath, when repeatedly he disappointed and angered him. She was with him throughout the early years of his childhood. When Guru Nanak was only six years old in 1475, Nanaki was married to Jai Ram, a revenue official of very good reputation at Sultanpur, which is in the present day Punjab district of Kapurthala, and was then the capital of the Jalandhar Doab. Nanak continued to live at home. He rebelled against any norms that were imposed without reason. He loved to be in the company of saints who were the wise men of the day, and gave money away to the poor and the hungry. His father despaired of never being able to make him conform and take on a responsible position in the society. And so it was that his father gave up, and at the age of fifteen, Nanak was sent to live with his sister, and to work on a position in the local Nawab’s granary, arranged by her husband.

It was Jai Ram who arranged the wedding of Nanak to Sulakhani, daughter of Moolchand and Bibi Chando of the village Pakhoke, District Gurdaspur. Herself childless, Bebe Nanaki adored her brother, Nanak, and felt herself blessed when he came to join the Nawab's service and put up with her at Sultanpur. She arranged Guru Nanak's marriage and she loved his sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Das, like her own. Guru Nanak reciprocated her affection and after he had quit the Nawab's service to go out to preach his message, he did not fail to visit Sultanpur and meet his sister between whiles. When he visited her in 1518, Bebe Nanaki sensing her end near, requested him to spend more time with her. As she had wished, she departed this life in the presence of her brother, The Guru. Three days later, her husband, Jai Ram, also expired. Guru Nanak himself performed their obsequies. There is no doubt that the first Sikh was none other than Bebe Nanaki.