Manjis

The origins of this sect goes back to the time of the third Guru, Guru Amar Das,(1552-1574) aho became Guru at the age of seventy-three. The Sikhs community were spread all over India and scattered over a large area. Due to the young age of the previous Gurus, they moved about freely preaching and meeting their disciples over a large part of norther India. However, Guru Amar Das being old could not visit distant places and it was his wish to in contact with every Sikh.

Guru Amar Das, felt it necessary to organize different geographic areas under several Manjees and Peerhis, or ‘Dioceses’ – to be headed by noble and devoted men and women. They were to spread Guru Nanak’s message and provide spiritual guidance to the Sikhs in their areas. Whatever offerings the Sikhs made were to be used for langar, (the community kitchen), and after meeting the expenses of the local chapters, the surplus was meant for the Guru’s golak (the community chest).

Also, his headquarters at [[Goindwal] was becoming a very busy place as it was frequently visited by a high volume of Sikhs, and his presence there had become necessary. Guru ji wanted that their normal routine life should be preserved and that they should be trained in a certain discipline. For this purpose he established separate centers called manjis or cots "parishes" on which a preacher sat to sing Shabads (hymns) to be followed in chorus by the congregation. The congregation were called sangat and the preacher sangatia. The Guru divided the whole area inhabited by the Sikhs into twenty-two manjis or districts.

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