Bhai Jiwan Singh

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Bhai Jivan Singh returns the Head of Guru Tegh Bahadur

Bhai Jivan Singh (1649-1705) was the name given to Bhai Jaita after he had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh on the day - 30 March 1699 when the Khalsa was inauguarated. He was a Sikh who had belonged to the Majhabi (scavenger) caste who was given by Guru Gobind Singh the special epithet of 'Ranghareta Guru Ka Beta (the young man of the Ranghar caste is the Guru's own son. The Ranghar caste was a caste created for those born of a union between a Hindu and a Muslim. Both the children and their decendants were considered outcasts by the Hindus. It was Bhai Jaita who had risked his life to recover and return the severed head of Guru Tegh Bahadur to his family for cremation. He had been sent to Delhi where he witnessed Guru Tegh Bahadur's beheading in Chandni Chowk on 11 November 1675. He succeeded in evading the guards and escaping with the severed head to Anandpur where he was received with much honour by Guru Gobind Singh. In the ensuing storm others were able to secure and cremate the Guru's body, though it took burning down their own home to accomplish this.

Bhai Jaita's History


Bhai Jaita was born on 30 November 1649 to mother Kanno and father Sada Chand At the time of his birth, he was named Jag Chand, shortened to Jagu or Jota . He and his younger brother Bhag Chand, also Called Bhagu, were disciples of Guru Har Rai, Nanak VII from Kiratput, in the Sivalik hills, Where the Guru then resided. They shifted along with their parents, to the village of Jhanda Ramdas where they stayed with Bhai Gurditta (1625-1675), the great-greatgrandson of Bhai Buddha

As Bhai Gurditta was detained in Delhi following the arrest of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Jaita was sent by the family to bring news of him. He thereafter lived at Anandpur, becoming the first nagarchi or beater of the Guru Gobind Singh's awesome Raniit Nagara.

The Ranjit Nagara's first drummer, Trainer of the Sahibzadas of Chamkaur in the Art of Warfare, Martyre of Chamkkaur


In 1691, he was married to Raj Kaur daughter of Sujan Singh of the village of Riar near Amritsar. Waheguru blessed the couple with four sons. He became famous as a marksman and trained the two elder sons of Guru Gobind Singh in the art of warfare. He himself took part in all of Guru Cobind Singh's battles against the hill chiefs and the Mughals.

Bhai Jivan Singh fell, a martyr, in the Battle of Chamkaur on 7 December 1705. Gurdwara-Shahid-Burj a (tower) now a Gurdwara stands on the site as a monument to his memory.