Sir Baba Khem Singh Beda (or Bedi) of Kullar (1830-1905)

Khem Singh Bedi KCIE (21 February 183210 April 1905) claims he was a direct descendant of

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...

, a leader, founder of the Singh Sabha in 1873. It instituted many charitable causes for Sikhs, was a landowner and politician in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprisin ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

Life

Bedi was born in Kallar Syedan in the

Rawalpindi District Rawalpindi District ( Punjabi and ur, ) is a district located in the northernmost part of the Punjab province of Pakistan. Parts of the district form part of the Islamabad Rawalpindi metropolitan area. Rawalpindi city is the district capita ...

in 1832. He claimed to be the thirteenth direct descendant of

Guru Nanak Dev Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan- Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

, the founder of

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

.Bobby Singh Bansal, Remnants of the Sikh Empire: Historical Sikh Monuments in India & Pakistan, Hay House, Inc, 1 Dec 2015 His father Baba Attar Singh was killed in a family feud on 25 November 1839 and Bedi and his elder brother Sampuran Singh inherited

jagir A jagir ( fa, , translit=Jāgir), also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar (Zamindar) system. It developed during the Islamic rule era of the Indian subcontinent, starti ...

s in the

Doaba Doaba also known as Bist Doab, is the region of Punjab, India that lies between the Beas River and the Sutlej River. People of this region are given the demonym "Doabia". The dialect of Punjabi spoken in Doaba is called "Doabi". Th ...

region along with 41 villages in

Depalpur Tehsil Depalpur Tehsil ( ur, ), is an administrative subdivision (tehsil) of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan, headquartered at the city of Depalpur. Famous Families Syed Bukhari (imam shah darbar tomb in shahi mosque complex), S ...

. Bedi held his

s in 4 villages of

Dipalpur Dipalpur ( pa, ; ur, ), also spelt Depalpur, is a city in the Okara District of Pakistani province of Punjab that served as headquarters of Depalpur Tehsil, the largest Tehsil of Pakistan. It is situated 25 kilometres from the district capit ...

tahsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, while his elder brother was given

s in 22 villages of the same tahsil. Following the annexation of the Punjab by the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in 1849, 14 of those villages were appropriated by the new administration.Harbans Singh, The Encyclopaedia of the Sikhism Volume, Punjabi University Patiala In 1855, the Punjab administration established the Department of Public Instruction with the aim to open 30 single-teacher primary schools across the Punjab. Bedi lent his full support to the scheme, additionally opening his own schools in Rawalpindi. At least fifty schools for boys and girls were opened in the Punjab with his assistance. During the

Indian Mutiny of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the for ...

, Bedi helped British troops quell an uprising in

Gugera Gogera ( ur, ), is a town and union council of Okara District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located at 30°58'4N 73°18'24E with an altitude of 166 metres (547 feet) and lies to the north-west and away from the district capital - ...

. He distinguished himself in a cavalry charge on 21 September 1857, and the following day narrowly escaped an ambush which killed the Extra Assistant Commissioner of Gogera, Leopold Fitzhardinge Berkeley. Following the rebellion, he was given a robe of honour and a double barrelled rifle. On 1 October 1873 he co-founded the

Singh Sabha Movement The Singh Sabha Movement was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements (Brahmo Samajis, Arya Samaj) and Muslims (Aligarh movement and Ahmadiyah). The mov ...

in response to growing Christian,

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj ( hi, आर्य समाज, lit=Noble Society, ) is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. The samaj was founded by the sann ...

and

Brahmo Samaj Brahmo Samaj ( bn, ব্রহ্ম সমাজ, Brahmô Sômaj, ) is the societal component of Brahmoism, which began as a monotheistic reformist movement of the Hindu religion that appeared during the Bengal Renaissance. It was one of t ...

proselytising in the Punjab region. They campaigned for an inclusive interpretation that accepted wide range of beliefs drawn from Hinduism and

. Bedi was a

Sanatan Sikh Sanatan Sikh (Gurmukhi: ਸਨਾਤਨ ਸਿੱਖ ''sanātana sikha''), a term and formulation coined by Harjot Oberoi, referred to Sikhs who formed a traditionalist faction during the Singh Sabha Movement in 1873. They campaigned for a Dharm ...

(lit. "Traditional Sikh"), who maintained that "there were no essential differences between Sikhs and Hindus". Instead of treating the scripture as the only guru, Sanatan Sikh campaigned for acceptability of living gurus to guide those Sikhs who seek one which resulted in Khem Singh Bedi considering himself the Guru. The main text of the Sanatan Sikh was

Dasam Granth The ''Dasam Granth'' (Gurmukhi: ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ''dasama gratha'') is a collection of various manuscripts in Sikhism containing compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh.

created in 19th century. The dispute intensified and by the early decades of the 20th century, the influence of panth was given to Tat Khalsa ("pure, true Khalsa") resulting in the decline of Sanatan Sikhs. He was appointed a magistrate in 1877 and made a

Companion of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

in 1879. On the occasion of his daughter's marriage in 1893, he donated Rs 3,00,000 for religious and charitable purposes. He was nominated to the

Imperial Legislative Council The Imperial Legislative Council (ILC) was the legislature of the British Raj from 1861 to 1947. It was established under the Charter Act of 1853 by providing for the addition of 6 additional members to the Governor General Council for legislativ ...

in 1893 and became a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire in 1898. Throughout his life he added to the land he inherited to become a substantial landholder in the Punjab. Towards the end of his life, his land possessions in the

Montgomery District Montgomery District was an administrative district of the former Punjab Province of British India, in what is now Pakistan. Named after Sir Robert Montgomery, it lay in the Bari Doab, or the tract between the Sutlej and the Ravi rivers, extendi ...

alone amounted to 28,272 acres. He died in Montgomery on 10 April 1905.

References

{{Reflist 1832 births 1905 deaths People from Rawalpindi Sikh politics Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire Members of the Imperial Legislative Council of India Indian landowners 19th-century landowners 20th-century landowners