Bawa Prem Singh Hoti
Bawa Prem Singh Hoti (1882-1954) grandson of Bawa Kahan Singh who had shifted from Goindwal (Amritsar) to the North West Frontier Province after it was annexed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Raised in the NWFP he grew up speaking Pashto but from the indigenous institutions he gained proficiency in Punjabi, Persian and even attained a working knowledge of English. His surroundings reverberated with the heroic deeds of the Sikhs, men like Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Hari Singh Nalwa, Akali Phula Singh were by then legendary heroes whose feats had grown to almost mythical proportions in the area.
This attracted Bawa Prem Singh towards Sikh history and he started research in it. He migrated to Patiala at the time of the Partition of Punjab in 1947 along with his library which is now a proud acquisition of the Punjabi University Library's research section. His first historical biography — Akali Phula Singh (1914) was well received by readers. Encouraged by this he wrote detailed biographies, Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1918), Kanwar Naunihal Singh (1927), Hari Singh Nalwa (1937), Khalsa Raj de Badeshi Karinde (1945), Khalsa Raj de Usraiye (Part I), Maharaja Sher Singh (1951) and Nawab Kapur Singh (1952).
Unfisnished writing of his was edited by Fauja Singh and published by the Punjabi University, at Patiala under the title Punjab da Samajak Itihas (Social History of Punjab) (1979).
Basically Bawa Prem Singh can be termed as the product of the Singh Sabha movement of the later part of the 19th century. Inspired by its ideology, he wanted to make the glorious period of Sikh history known to his countrymen. He collected a lot of basic historical material in these biographies which are more documentary than literary.
His contribution to the historical literature of Punjab pertaining to the 19th century is monumental. Although his style is descriptive and engrossing yet at some places his attitude has become subjective and his descriptions of events are often charged with emotion.
References
1. Amarjit Singh, Punjabi sahit da itihas—Qissa kal, Amritsar, 1981.
2. Kohli, S.S., Punjabi Sahit da Itihas, Ludhiana, 1955.
3. Mohan Singh, A History of Punjabi Literature, Amritsar, 1956.
4. Ramdev, Jaginder Singh (ed.), Punjabi Likhari Kosh,Jullundur,1964.
5. Sekhon, S.S. and K.S. Duggal, A History of Punjabi Literature, Delhi, 1992.
