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Bhai Jivan Singh(1649-1705),
was the name given to Bhai Jaita after
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. Ranghar caste
was the people whose one of the ancestors
was born out of mixed parentage of couple
following Hindu and Muslim religion,
and thus were outcasted out of Hindu
religion)., 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 Kanno 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 kiratput,
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-greatgrandson
of Bhai Buddha As Bhat 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 Raniit Nagara.
In 1691, he was married to Raj Kaur
daughter of Sujan Singh of the viliage
of Riar, near Amritsar, and had four
sons born of him. He received the rites
of initiation When Guru Gobind Singh
inauguarated the Khalsa on 30 March
1699. Jaita was now renamed Jivan Singh.
He became famous as a marksman and trained
the two elder sons of Guru Gobind Singh
in the art of warfare. He himself took
part in all of Guru Cobind Singh's battles
against the hill chiefs and the Mughals.
Bhai Jivan Singh fell a martyr in the
battle of Chamkaur on 7 December 1705.
A burj or a tower stands on the site
as a monument to his memory.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Copyright © Harbans Singh "The
encyclopedia of Sikhism."
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