Guru Nanak in Turkey: Difference between revisions

Smarak at Istanbul on which it is written 'khuda ka nek banda nanak' in arabic

Guru Nanak (1469-1539) promulgated a uniqueand universal philosophy of humanism in the Indian sub continentwhen renaissance wastaking place on European continent (14 th to 16th centuries) and scientists were challenging illogical religious concepts and beliefs.Guru Nanak Carried his message far and wide in South Asia and Middle East. He held discussions with religious leaders- Hindus (Brahmans,Sidhs andJogis), Muslims(Sufis,mullahsandQazis),Jains and Buddhistsin India, Middle East, Tibetand Ceylon.During his travels(odysseys,Udasis) Guru Nanak challenged the ancient mythology, wrong religious concepts and ritual swith which the peoples of South Asia and Middle East were shackled for centuries.People were unable to express their freewill in any aspect of their lives because their lives were controlled by their religious and political authorities. Guru Nanak launched his movement to liberate the masses form ignorance and religious and political tyranny. His philosophy, termed as ”Nanakian Philosophy‘,isembodied in his Bani(Word),which has been incorporated in the Aad Guru Granth Sahib (AGGS).Nanakian Philosophy was further explained and strengthened by the Sikh Gurus who succeeded to the ”House of Nanak‘in their Bani,which is also incorporated in the AGGS.A critical study of Nanakian Philosophy demonstrates all characteristics of universal acceptability and compatibility with the current Age of Science. Although there are many gapsin the travels of Guru Nanak,Fauja Singh and Kirpal Singh,Sikhhistorians, have collated the information from various sources into three major travels as follows:

1. From Talwandi to Sultanpur to Benaras to Dhubri to Assam to Dacca to Ceylon to Ujain to Mathura

to Talwandi.

1. From Talwandi to Kailash (Sumer) Parbat to Talwandi.
2. From Talwandi to Hinglaj to Mecca to Baghdad to Kabul to(Talwandi) Kartarpur.

Besides the above travels there are many short ones in Punjab and adjoining areas.Fauja Singh and Kirpal Singh have also mentioned that according to ”Janam Sakhis‘ (biographies of Guru Nanak) by Meharban and Bhai Mani Singh Guru Nanak had also travelled to Palestine, Syria and Turkey,although there is no definite supporting evidence.Some writers of Janam Sakhis have extended his travels even to some countries in CentralAsia. Nonetheless,it is evident from the information collected by Fauja Singh and Kirpal Singh that the complete travels of Guru Nanak are still to be discovered. Moreover,research on the discourses held between Guru Nanak and the heads of various religious centers also need to be described, although some discourses,e.g.Sidh Gosht,Arti,and Onkar Bani are found in the AGGS and some isolated verses of Guru Nanak arelinked to some travels in some Janam Sakhis.

NEW DISCOVERY

Iwasattendingan InternationalConferenceon Bio- energy in Istanbul,Turkey in 1994 where I also presented my research work on the ”Production of Ethanolas aSourceofEnergyfrom Wood‘.On thelast day oftheconferencealltheparticipantswenton acruise in the Straits of Bosporus (Bosphorus), connecting the Black Sea and the Sea ofMarmora (about32 km) long. TheStraitsofBosporusisan importantplacewhereEastEnds(MainlandofTurkey in Asian Continent) and theW eststarts(Istanbulin European Continent)(Fig.1). On my return from thecruise,when Iwaswalking towardsthe buswaiting for us,Idiscovered a big monument.Thismonumentisabout15 fthigh and about6ftwideconstructedin mortar.Itissituatedin a public park atthe shore ofthe StraitsofBosporus towardsIstanbul,Turkey.Ithassomeinscription in Arabic/Persian Alphabet. When I looked at the inscription on this monumentIfound very clearly ”Nanak‘inscribed attheend ofthefirstlineofits inscription.The bulk of inscription is not legible becauseoftheeffectofweatheringagenciesandthere aresomesmallandbigcrackswhichwerefilledwith cement.Moreover,itisin old Turkish language in Arabicalphabetthatisdifficulttoread.However,Iwas ableto read —Nanak“ for suresinceIknow Arabic alphabet and I decided to take a picture of the monumentwithitsinscription for further investigation later (Fig.2).Nextmorning Icame back home to Canada. On my return Iconsulted a studentofmine from Turkey to decipher the inscription.She showed her inabilitytodecipher becauseitwasnotlegible.Then I tried a coupleofmorepersonsfrom Turkeywithout anysuccess.Further researchtodecipher itsinscription remained dormantfor 12 yearstillIvisited Lahore, Pakistan toparticipatein an InternationalConference on Guru Nanak Heritagefor Peaceon February 18, 200

THEINSCRIPTION Ifoundtheimportanceofthemonumentonlywhen Mr. IqbalKaiser,theauthor ofa book,”Sikh Shrines in Pakistan‘,andMr.SyedAfzalHaider,Senior Advocate ofSupremeCourtofPakistan,andtheauthor ofa book, ”BabaNanak‘,helpedmetodecipher thefirstlineof theinscription,whichisin Turkishlanguage(Fig.3).It clearly indicated thatitisdedicated to Guru Nanak. Thefirstlinedecipheredbythem isasfollows: In Turkishlanguage (Transliteratedin Gurmukhi Script): jhWgIr jmW ihMd lq Abd Al mwjId nwnk [ (Jehangirjamanhind latabd almajid Nanak.) Meaningsin Punjabi: jmwnydw mwlk,ihMd dw bMdw,rb dw nwnk [ (jamanaydamalik,hind dabanda,rabdaNanak)Fig.1:StraitsofBosporus(Bosphorus):LeftsideisIs- tanbulon European Continent,wherethemonumentof Guru Nanak issituated.RightsideistheendofTurkey on Asian Continent. Astronautphotograph ISS008-E-21752was takenbythe crew ofthe InternationalSpace Station on April16, 2004. TheInternationalSpaceStationProgram supports thelaboratorytohelpastronauts takepictures ofEarth thatwillbeofthegreatestvaluetoscientists and the public,and tomakethoseimages freelyavailableonthe Internet.Additionalimages takenbyastronautsand cos- monauts can beviewed attheNASA/JSC Gatewayto AstronautPhotographyofEarth.

Meaningsin English: TheLordofthetime,residentofIndia,Nanak œ the man ofGod. Therestofthelonginscription isnotlegibleandisstill tobedeciphered

THETRAVELS The above new discovery ofa monumentofGuru Nanak may connectthetravelofGuru Nanak from Mecca toIsrael,Palestine,Syria,andTurkeyandthen toBaghdadrather than directlytoBaghdadfrom Mecca asisgenerallyaccepted.Thegeneralacceptedtravelof Guru Nanak,entirelybasedon theinformation given by Fauja Singh and KirpalSingh,isdrawn in solid linesin Accordingtothem Guru Nanak startedhistravelfrom Talwandi to Sultanpur to meet his sister before proceedingtoa longtravel.From Sultanpur hewentto Pakpattan (Ajodhan) to renew hisold contactswith SheikhIbrahim FaridII.From thereheproceededto Multan to meet Baha-ud-Din, a descendant and successor of famous Sheikh Baha-ud-Din Zakria, founder ofSuhrawardhySufi Silslah in India.From Multan Guru Nanak proceededtoUch(Deogarh).Here Guru Nanak hada meetingwithSheikhHajiAbdulla Bukhari(d.1526 CE),a successor ofKalal-ud-Din Bhukhari. From Uch to Sukkur to Lakhpat (Basta Bander) probably by boat(in river Sind?).There isan old Gurdwara in thememoryofGuru Nanak‘svisit.From hereheproceededtotheseashorewhereatKurianihe visitedoldtemplesofKoteshwar andNarayna Swami. From there he proceeded further to Sonmiani(or simply Miani).Beforeboarding a boatto Mecca he visiteda Hindu templein Hinglaj.Thereisa Nanak Dharamsala (inn) in thistown.

According to Fauja Singh and KirpalSingh Guru Nanak boarded a boatwhich sailed from Sonmiani through GulfofEden and Red Sea to Jeddah (Al Aswad),a portnear Mecca.Theysaythatafter visiting Mecca and Medina Guru Nanak traveled directly to Baghdadin Iraqthen toTehran andKabulandfinally back to(Talwandi) Kartarpur.TheyarguedthatGuru Nanak followeddirectandshortestroutetoBaghdad than thatoflong routethrough Palestine,Syria,and Turkeyasmentionedin someJanam Sakhis. However,Dr Trilochan Singh [3]hasreported that there are some indicationsthatGuru Nanak visited Cairo(Egypt)whereduringthewar Sikhsoldierswere shown a placeon theoutskirtsofthetown wherethere wasa stonememorial(Captain BhagSingh,Founding ManagingEditor oftheSikhReview,wastoldabout theexistenceofthismonumentwhen hewasatCairo duringWorldWar II.Unfortunatelyhecouldnotgo there and see.).Dr Trilochan Singh [3] has also reportedfrom thework ofSydneyNettleton Fisher [1] thatin Egyptor in Istanbul(Turkey) Guru Nanak hadmettheEmperor ofRum,Salim (1511-1520CA).Dr Trilochan Singhfurther saysthatGuru Nanak might havevisitedJerusalem. Becauseofa lack ofanysolidevidence,Fauja Singh andKirpalSingh[2]further strengthenedtheir views thattheshortestroutefrom BaghdadtoMecca wasfirst markedandpreparedfor Khalifa Harun Rashid‘swife, Zubaida Begum,for Hajj(thepilgrimage) toMecca. Andthen during14 th centuryIbn Batula adoptedthe sameroutefor hisjourneyfrom BaghdadtoMecca. They have ignored the fact that the passage to Palestine,Syria,and Turkey and then to Baghdad mightbeeasier than thatofdirectrouteproposedby them.Theyhavealsoignoredanother factthatwhilein Mecca Guru Nanak wasvery closeto thecenter of ancientcivilization in Cairo (Egypt) and center of Jews,Jerusalem (Israel),anda Suficenter established by Hazrat Moulana Jallaluddin Rumi in Konya (Turkey),whose philosophy wasvery prevalentnot onlyin theMiddleEastbutalsoin India andnow in the West.Since Guru Nanak has not left any place connected with Sufism, and religious centers, therefore,thereisevery possibility thatGuru Nanak mighthave visited the ancientcivilization in Cairo (Egypt), Wailing Wall of Herod”s Temple in Jerusalem,Suficenter startedbySufiRumiin Konya (Turkey) and mighthavemettheEmperor ofRum, Salim,in Istanbul(Turkey). Iftheinscription on thenewlydiscoveredmonument confirmsthatitisa memorialtoGuru Nanak then it willconfirm thatGuru Nanak did notproceed from Mecca directly to Baghdad but went to Cairo, Jerusalem, Syria,andKonya andIstanbulin Turkey andthen toBaghdadasshown in dottedlinesin

OBJECTIVE Dr Trilochan Singh [3]hasreported thatQazisand Hajjisaddressed Guru Nanak as”Nanak Hindvi‘or ”NanakHindki‘.Thefirstlineoftheinscription clearly indicatesthatitisrelatedtoGuru Nanak whohasbeen addressed as —hind da banda, rab da Nanak.“ Therefore,itbecomesimperativefor scholarsandthe Sikhsatlargetodecipher restoftheinscription tofind out: Isthisinscription aboutGuru Nanak‘svisittoTurkey? Iftheinscription isaboutGuru Nanak then whatisthe completemessage? Isita memorialconstructedin commemoration ofGuru Nanak?Andsoon. TheInstituteforUnderstandingSikhism hastaken up this research project to study the history of this discoveredmonumentdedicatedtoGuru Nanak on the followinglines: ñ To relocate the site ofthe monumentand the importance of thatsite to the tourists visiting Istanbul. ñ To discover the original inscription of that monumentand deciphering itinto English and Punjabi. ñ Todiscover anyinformation relatedtothevisitof Guru Nanak in Turkey. ñ To visit various shrines of Hazrat Moulana Jallaluddin Rumito discover the possibilitiesof discourseofGuru Nanak with thethen religious leadersofthoseshrineofthattime. ñ Tosearchfor evidenceofmeetingofGuru Nanak withEmperor ofRum,Salim,in Istanbul. ñ To discuss the matter with the Archeology DepartmentandtheMunicipalityofIstanbulabout