Guru Nanak in Turkey
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:
- From Talwandi to Sultanpur to Benaras to Dhubri to Assam to Dacca to Ceylon to Ujain to Mathura
to Talwandi.
- From Talwandi to Kailash (Sumer) Parbat to Talwandi.
- 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 DepartmentandtheMunicipalityofIstanbulaboutthe future maintenance of this monumentand to discussthepossibilitiesto erectsimilar monuments withEnglishandPunjabitranslationsoftheoriginal inscription ofTurkish. ñ Todeliver a talk on ”TravelsofGuruNanak in India andMiddleEast‘tothefacultyandstudentsofthe DepartmentofArcheology,UniversityofAnkara. ñ Todiscover thereturn routefollowedbyGuru Nanak after visitingMecca andMedina in SaudiArabia. ñ Finally to publish a Reportaboutthe findings of researchconductedandthen writinga book,Travels ofGuruNanak,withspecialreferencetodiscoveryof thismonument
APPROACH Iam already in contactwith Mr.TugrulBiltekin,First Secretary in the Embassy of Republic of Turkey in Ottawa,Canada.He is ready to help me to conduct research on this projectand allow me to consultthe concerneddocumentsin theDepartmentofArcheologyin Ankara and its branch in Istanbul and also the municipality of Istanbul. Meeting with the religious leadersofshrinesofSufiRumiin Konya,Turkeywillalso bearrangedbyhim todiscover thepossibilityofvisiting thisshrinebyGuru NanakACHIEVEMENTS ñ Deciphering ofthewholeinscription on this new discovered monumentwillconfirm the visitofGuru Nanak toTurkey. ñ The confirmation of connection of this monument with Guru Nanak will further strengthen thepossibilitiesofvisitsofGuru Nanak to Cairo (Egypt),Jerusalem (Israel), Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey (dotted lines) coveringthewholeMiddleEastsincevisitto Mecca,Baghdad,Tehran,and Kabul(solid lines) hasalreadybeen confirmed(Fig.4). ñ Thelocation oftheMonumenton a publicpark on theshoreoftheStraitsofBosporustowards Istanbul, Turkey on European Continent enhancesitsimportancefor thetouristsofthe world(Fig.1). ñ Theaboveachievements,on completion ofthis researchprojectaregoingtoprovethetravelof Guru Nanak to the end of Middle East (Turkey) and beginning of the Europe (Istanbul) and establishmentofa new shrine (A place or structure esteemed for its importanceor centralityin Sikhhistoryandas a memorialto Guru Nanak) - - A pridefor everySikh
FUTUREPLAN Theoriginalmonumentistobepreservedassuchwith itsdamagedinscription.A similar monumentistobe constructedwiththeoriginalinscription,whichwould beclearlylegible.Stillanother suchmonumentistobe constructed on which the translation ofthe original inscription in Punjabitobeinscribedon onesideand Englishtranslation on theother side.Thiswillbecome an historicalpilgrimagefor theSikhsin Istanbulon the shoreofStraitsofBosporuson European Continent wheretheEastmeetstheW est. TheroleofUNESCO in maintainingthismonumentas WorldHeritagewillbeexploredafter decipheringthe inscription on thenewlydiscoveredmonumentofGuru Nanak. FUNDING Theestimated funding required to completethefirst phaseofthisresearch projectisabout$50,000.The devoutSikhsandtheGurdwarasarerequestedtomail their checks (in the name of ”Institute for Understanding Sikhism‘) to the Institute for Understanding Sikhism, 4418 Rue Martin-Plouffe, Laval,Quebec,Canada H7W 5L9. TheInstitutefor Understanding Sikhism is charitable organization federally incorporated in Canada. Receipts for donationsareissuedfor IncomeTaxdeductions.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Theauthor isgratefulto DrsAvtar Singh Dhaliwal, SarjeetSinghSidhu,BalbirSingh,BaldevSingh,Teja Singh,Kulbir Singh Thind and Dr (Mrs) Khushdev Thind for their helpfulsuggestions to improve its presentation. My special thanks are due to Dr Parminder SinghChahal,myson,for preparingFigures 1and4.ThebasicFigure1of”StraitsofBosporus‘ separatingEastandWestisfrom NASA taken from the space,mythanksareduetoNASA for thispicture.
Update(5th Jan 2007)
Since the ‘Discovery of Monument of Guru Nanak in Istanbul’ was announced and published in various magazines and newspapers in India and Canada, it has created a great curiosity among the Sikhs all over the world. Now every Sikh want to see this monument. In continuation of our further research, we are proud to inform that the Monument has been relocated in collaboration with Mr. T. Sibia of London, UK and Mr Jatinderpaul Singh of Ramtex Exports. Ludhiana. We are glad that the monument is still in very good conditions after 12 years when it was discovered in 1994. To my surprise the relocation has indicated that there is also some inscription on the back of this monument. The full size pictures of the monument with front side and back sides are shown as follows. Calligraphic writing at the top with gold is BISM ALLAH (Starting in the Name of Allah).
CONTINUATION OF RESEARCH
Our research for deciphering the inscription and to find out the background history of this monument is going on. Here is an update on the discovery of monument of Guru Nanak:
UPDATING
Our initial research after consulting a number scholars indicates that there is need of hard and serious efforts to work with scholars not only experts in Arabic and Per-sian but also in Turkish, and who are familiar with the status of these languages of that time. Whatsoever, we have discovered through the help of scholars from Mont-real and from Istanbul in coordination with Mr. T. Sibia is as follows:
First Deciphering Attempt
I found the importance of the monument only when Mr. Iqbal Kaiser, the author of a book, ‘Sikh Shrines in Paki-stan’, and Mr. Syed Afzal Haider, Senior Advocate of Supreme Court of Pakistan, and the author of a book, ‘Baba Nanak’, helped me to decipher the first line of the inscription, which is in Arabic/Persian/Turkish language (Fig. 1. Front view). It clearly indicates that it is dedi- cated to Guru Nanak. The first line deciphered by them is as follows:
In Arabic/Persian/Turkish languages (Transliterated in Gurmukhi Script):
jhWgIr jmW ihMd lq Abd Al mwjId nwnk [
(Jehangir jaman hind lat abd al majid Nanak.)
Meanings in Punjabi:
jmwny dw mwlk, ihMd dw bMdw, r~b dw nwnk [
(jamanay da malik, hind da banda, rab da Nanak)
Meanings in English:
The Lord of the time, resident of India, Nanak – the man of God.
The rest of the long inscription is not legible and is still to be deciphered. However, the date, 1267 Hijri (1850 CE), in the crown and at the bottom line of the monu-ment is quite legible
When we examined the inscription on the other side of the monument (Fig. 2. Back side) it appears that inscrip-tion was engraved either in 1217 or 1267 Hijri, which is equivalent to 1802 or 1850 CE. The later date (1850 CE) appears to be correct since the Emperor of Ottoman Empire (1839-61 CE) was Abd-al-Majid (1823-61 CE). It is also assumed that the name of the inscriber is also Abd-al-Majid, which appears above that date. Abd-al-Majid is very common name among Muslims. And ‘Abd-al-Majid’ is also written before ‘Nanak’ at the end of the first line on the front side of the monument. Then ‘Abd-al-Majid’ is also appearing at the end of the first line on the back side of the monument. Now the question is:
Who is ‘Abd-al-Majid Nanak’?
Although the word ‘Nanak’ was not found in common Arabic and Persian Dictionaries, however, it cannot be ignored that ‘Nanak’ is the family or last name of some persons. On the other hand we have also noticed that ‘Hazrat Rab Majid Baba Nanak Faqir’ is found in an inscription on a stone in Baghdad dated 917 Hijri which is equivalent to 1511 CE. This further forces us to look into these inscriptions seriously and also along with other related writings to find the truth that:
Who is this ‘Nanak’ in the inscription on monument discovered in Istanbul?
Further study on its history indicates that this monument was built in the name of Ottoman Empire Sultan Abd-al-Majid in 1267 Hijri (1850 CE). A port was established in that area (Kabata) in order to save the boats of Sultan from heavy winds and this stone monument was put there at that time. On back side of the monument the benefits of the port are written and on front side facing the Straits of Bosporus there is prayer for the Sultan. If it is so then: Is this prayer connected to Guru Nanak?
The place of the monument was changed from it's origi-nal place when there was road construction and on 1987-1988 it was restored by government, now it is located in the same area which is called Kabata (near dolmabahçe palace)
At present it looks like that until the whole inscription on both sides of the monument is deciphered it is difficult to draw any inference to relate it to Guru Nanak.
Since the date (1850) on the monument indicates that it was constructed more than 300 years after Guru Nanak (1469-1539 CE), it creates another curiosity that how come somebody will raise a monument with inscription containing the name of Guru Nanak after that long time?
It also needs a serious research to look into the history of Sufism in Middle East and their interaction with the Suf-ism in India since in the Muslim world Nanak is known a Sufi named as ‘Baba Nanak’, Baba Nanak Fakir, and even as ‘Hazrat Rab Majid Baba Nanak Faqir’ on the stone at Baghdad.
Besides a new line of research, “To study the interaction of the philosophy of Guru Nanak from an angle of his Sufism with that of Middle East Sufism” has also become an important research project for the IUS.
REFERENCES
1. Fisher,SydenyNettleton.Year?TheMiddleEast:
A History.p20639.J.M.S.(LI)281.
2. Singh,Fauja,and Singh,Kirpal.1976.Atlas:
Travels of Guru Nanak. Punjabi University,
Patiala.
3. Singh,Trilochan.1969.Guru Nanak:Founder of
Sikhism.Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,Sis
Ganj,ChandiniChowk,Delhi.
