Bhai Nand Lal ( fa, ; pa, ਭਾਈ ਨੰਦ ਲਾਲ; 1633–1713), also known by his pen name Goya ( fa, ; pa, ਗੋਯਾ), was a 17th-century
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 ...
poet in the
Punjab region. He was born in Ghazni Afghanistan . His father Diwan Chajju Ram was chief secretary( Diwan) of
Dara Shikoh
Dara Shikoh ( fa, ), also known as Dara Shukoh, (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title ''Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba'' ("Prince of High Rank" ...
eldest son of Aurangazeb who was living there by the and moved there after living in Multan west Punjab now Pakistan.
.He was one of the fifty-two poets 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 ...
's
darbar (court). Bhai Sahib lived in
Multan and later became a courtier in darbar 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 ...
; the tenth
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 ...
Guru.
Life
He was provided education in
Arabic,
Persian, and
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
during his early years. At the age of 12 he started writing poetry in
Persian under the pen name Goya. At the age of 17 he lost his mother, and two years later his father. In 1652, he went to
Multan and settled over there, and was married to a
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 ...
girl. Thereafter, he became inclined towards
Sikhism, met
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 ...
in 1682 and later became
Amritdhari
Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,[Kha ...]
. After few months at Anandpur Sahib he joined prince Muazzam as secretary and later rose to post of chief secretary.When Aurangzeb on hearing about his knowledge about Quran expressed to get him converted to Islam religion , he finally left his job with Prince Muazzam in 1687 and appeared before
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 ...
in Anandpur Sahib, where he stayed upto 1704 . When Guru Gobind Singh left Anandpur Sahib in 1704 he went to Multan again . In 1707 he joined again his previous master prince Muazzam at his call and became a source to invite Guru Gobind Singh for inviting him to help Bahadur Shah in gaining Delhi Throne.Prince Moazzam later became king of Delhi as King Bahadur Shah. He came to
Multan again in 1712 after the death of
Bahadur Shah I and started a school of
Arabic and
Persian there. He died in 1713 when in
Multan.This school was found functioning in 1849 when the British annexed Punjab from Sikh empire.
Works
Some of his major works include:
# Diwan-i-Goya
# Zindaginama
# Ganjnama
# Tankhahnama
# Jot Bigaas
# Arz-ul-Alfaz
# Tausif-O-Sana
# Khatimat (poetry)
# Dastoor-ul-Insha
# Faiz-i-Nur
Translations of Works
His works original in Persian have been translated in punjabi and English very often .Translation of Diwan-i-Goya , titled as The Pilgrim’s Way
by B P L Bedi in English has foreword from Dr Saravpalli Radhakrishnan and published by Punjabi University Patiala can be read at archive.org at following adress https://archive.org/details/the-pilgrims-way/mode/2up?view=theater . Original persian verse for the same Diwan-I-Goya can be read at this link https://bnlgfarsipathshala.org/diwan-e-goya/.
See also
*
Bhai Gurdas
*
Giani Sant Singh Maskeen
References
External links
Bhai Nand Lal WebsiteGhazals of Bhai Nand Lal with ExplanationBhai Nand Lal's Ghazals - Giani Sant Singh Maskeen (live)
Indian Sikhs
History of Sikhism
History of Punjab
Persian-language poets
People from Ghazni Province
1633 births
1713 deaths
{{India-poet-stub