Balak Singh (1784/1785/1797–1862), was an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

religious leader Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

who founded the

Namdhari The Namdharis (Gurmukhi: ਨਾਮਧਾਰੀ; ''nāmadhārī'', meaning "bearers of the name"), also known as Kuka (Gurmukhi: ਕੂਕਾ; ''kūkā'' g ਕੂਕੇ; ''kūkē'' l from Punjabi ''kuk'', “scream” or “cry”), are a Sik ...

(Kuka)

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religious, political, or philosophical belief system, usually an offshoot of a larger group. Although the term was originally a classification for religious separated groups, it can now refer to any organization that b ...

. He was a Batra Arora, who invoked the authority of Sikh scriptures and emphasized the importance of the

name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...

(''nam'') for salvation. Namdhari Sikhs believe he was the successor of

Guru Gobind Singh Guru Gobind Singh (; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708), born Gobind Das or Gobind Rai the tenth Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. When his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was executed by Aurangzeb, Guru Gobind Sing ...

, a stance that differs them from mainstream Sikhism. Namdharis believe Guru Gobind Singh lived to the ripe-old age of 146 when he died in the year 1812, long enough to be contemporary with Balak Singh and pass on the Guruship to him.

References

External links

Sri Guru Balak Singh Ji - Patshahi 11
*https://web.archive.org/web/20060510111130/http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/namdhari.html 1797 births 1862 deaths Indian Sikh religious leaders {{Sikh-bio-stub