Bhai Vir Singh (5 December 1872 – 10 June 1957) was an Indian poet, scholar, and theologian of the Sikh revival movement, playing an important part in the renewal of Punjabi literary tradition. Singh's contributions were so important and influential that he became canonized as Bhai, an honorific often given to those who could be considered a saint of the Sikh faith.

Family and personal life

Born in 1872, in Amritsar, Bhai Vir Singh was the eldest of Dr. Charan Singh's three sons. Vir Singh's family could trace its ancestry as far back as to Diwan Kaura Mal, a vice-governor (Maharaja Bahadur) of the city

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the old ...

. His grandfather, Kahn Singh (1788–1878), spent a great deal of his youth training and learning traditional Sikh lessons in monasteries. Fluent in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Braj Braj, also known as Vraj, Vraja, Brij or Brijbhoomi, is a region in India on both sides of the Yamuna river with its centre at Mathura- Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh state encompassing the area which also includes Palwal and Ballabhgarh in Harya ...

, as well as in the oriental systems of medicine (such as

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

Siddha ''Siddha'' (Sanskrit: '; "perfected one") is a term that is used widely in Indian religions and culture. It means "one who is accomplished." It refers to perfected masters who have achieved a high degree of physical as well as spiritual ...

and Yunani), Kahn Singh influenced his only son, Dr. Charan Singh, who later fathered Vir Singh, to become an active member of the Sikh community, often producing poetry, music, and writings in hopes of restoring the Sikh community. At seventeen, Bhai Vir Singh himself married Chatar Kaur and had two daughters with her. He died in Amritsar on 10 June 1957.

Education

Bhai Vir Singh Ji had the benefit of both the traditional indigenous learning as well as of modern English education. He learnt Sikh scripture as well as Persian,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Dhani Ram Chatrik found employment at Wazir Singh's press and met Vir Singh, who advised him to learn lithograph engraving, and who inspired him to write poetry in the Punjabi language. The Wazir Hind Press was the main press publishing literature for the Singh Sabha movement, and Vir Singh would purchase it after Wazir Singh passed after illness. Thusly, he would begin a long association with Vir Singh, which would lead to contact with acclaimed writers, an 11-year career with the Press, and subsequently writing for the ''Khalsa Samachar'', in which Chatrik would hone his poetic skills. His contact with Vir Singh turned him into an ardent admirer of the Sikh faith, influencing his syncretic poetic style that reflected composite Punjabi culture.

Language politics

Singh argued that Sikhism was a unique religion which could be nourished and sustained by creating an awakening amongst the Sikhs of the awareness of their distinct theological and cultural identity. He aimed at reorienting the Sikhs' understanding of their faith in such a manner as to help them assimilate the different modernising influences to their historical memory and cultural heritage. At the time, Sikhs were often persecuted by the British, often being pressured or threatened into assimilating into mainstream culture. Acts such as publicly shaving off the heads and beards of religious Sikh officials were performed to humiliate and demean the Sikh religion. Amidst all this political discontent, Singh sought to revitalize the Sikh culture and religion through peaceful means, by writing a myriad of novels, epics, and poems. With the fall of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...

and the modernization of Christian, Muslim, and Hindu movements of

proselytism Proselytism () is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Proselytism is illegal in some countries. Some draw distinctions between ''evangelism'' or '' Da‘wah'' and proselytism regarding proselytism as invol ...

, the Sikh faith began to wane until scholars and theologians of the religions, Singh being a leading one, began revitalizing life into Sikhism through their works of literature.

Works

Bhai Vir Singh began taking an interest in the affairs of 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 ...

. To promote its aims and objects, he launched the Khalsa Tract Society in 1894. The tracts produced by the Khalsa Tract Society introduced a new style of literary Punjabi. The Khalsa Tract Society periodically made available under the title ''Nirguniara'', low-cost publications on Sikh theology, history and philosophy and on social and religious reform. Through this journal, Singh established contact with an ever-expanding circle of readers. He used the Nirguniara as a vehicle for his own self-expression. Some of his major creative works such as ''Sri Guru Nanak Chamatkar'' and ''Sri Guru Kalgidhar Chamatkar'', were originally serialised in its columns. In literature, Singh started as a writer of novels which are considered forerunners of the Punjabi novel. His writings in this genre – ''Sundari'' (1898), ''Bijay Singh'' (1899), ''Satwant Kaur'' (published in two parts, I in 1900 and II in 1927), were aimed at recreating the heroic period (eighteenth century) of Sikh history. Through these novels he made available to his readers, models of courage, fortitude and human dignity. Singh championed the Sikh identity in a way that did not devalue other religions. He even reprimanded the violation and destruction the Hindu idols in Kashmir in his book, ''Avantipur de Khandar''. Singh also criticized and discouraged religious fanaticism, citing those as victims of their own fears brought on by a fervent and obsessive belief. The novel ''Subhagji da Sudhar Hathin Baba Naudh Singh'', popularly known as ''Baba Naudh Singh'' (serialised in Nirguniara from 1907 onwards and published in book form in 1921), shares with the epic ''Rana Surat Singh'' (which he had started serialising in 1905) Vir Singh's interest in the theme of a widow's desperate urge for a reunion with her dead husband. BHAI VIR SINGH MEMORIAL ENTRANCE VIEW

Soon after the publication of Rana Surat Singh in book form in 1919, he turned to shorter poems and lyrics. These included ''Dil Tarang'' (1920), ''Tarel Tupke'' (1921), ''Lahiran de Har'' (1921), ''Matak Hulare'' (1922), ''Bijlian de Har'' (1927) and ''Mere Sayian Jio'' (1953). Through these works, he paved the way for the emergence of the Punjabi poem. In November 1899, he started a Punjabi weekly, the ''Khalsa Samachar''. He revised and enlarged Giani Hazara Singh's dictionary, ''Sri Guru Granth Kosh'', originally published in 1898. The revised version was published in 1927. He published critical editions of some of the old Sikh texts such as ''Sikhan di Bhagat Mala'' (1912), ''Prachin Panth Prakash'' (1914), ''Puratan Janam Sakhi'' (1926) and ''Sakhi Pothi'' (1950). An important work was Singh's annotation of Santokh Singh's ''Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth'', published from 1927 to 1935 in fourteen volumes.

Role of women in writings

Unlike most of the popular religions, Sikhism stresses the equality between men and women and that it is even sinful to consider either sex above the other. Singh reflected this belief in his novels, and featured them in a number of strong female characters. In fact, his very first novel was ''Sundari'', which featured Sunder Kaur, a woman who converted from Hinduism to Sikhism and then proceeded to lead a life of adventure in the jungles with a band of Sikh warriors. It was the first novel penned in the Punjabi language. Through Sundari, Singh hoped to embody all the ideals 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 w ...

’s lessons. The book was well received by the Sikh community and gained popularity almost immediately. Other important female characters he wrote were Rani Raj Kaur, Satvant Kaur, Subhagji and Sushil Kaur. Even by today's modern standards, these female characters are still considered to be well rounded and an inspiration to both male and female Sikhs alike. Bhai Vir Singh went even as far as often portraying the women in his novels as more prone to spiritual enlightenment than her male counterpart.

Punjab & Sind Bank

Bhai Vir Singh was one of the founders of the Punjab & Sind Bank. He co-found Punjab & Sind bank with his friends.

Awards

He was honoured with the

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 1955 and the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

Award in 1956. Vir Singh 1972 stamp of India

The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

released a stamp to commemorate Bhai sahib's birth centenary in 1972.

Posthumous Recognition

The portion of his commentary on the

Adi Granth The Guru Granth Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the re ...

– nearly one half of the Holy Book – he had completed was published posthumously in seven large volumes.

Family and personal life

Education

Language politics

Works

Role of women in writings

Punjab & Sind Bank

Awards

Posthumous Recognition

Bibliography

See also

References

Further reading