Guru Har Sahai

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Guru Har Sahai had a population of 14,528. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Guru Har Sahai has an average literacy rate of 61%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 65%, and female literacy is 57%. In Guru Har Sahai, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History of Guru Harsahai

This place was a waste tract between the territories occupied by the Brars and Dogars, who were constantly quarrelling over its possession. About two centuries ago, one Jiwan Mal came and pitched his tent upon this waste. He was a Sodhi, seventh in descent from the celebrated Guru Ram Das. He had been driven from his home in Mohammadpur near Chunian in the Lahore district ( now in Pakistan), by the Kardar who represented Ahmed Shahs Government. No doubt he had made himself obnoxious by showing fanaticism towards the religion.

The Dogar Chief Sultan gave him protection and encouragement to remain in the place, believing that his presence would be a measure to stop the incursions of the Brars, and put an end to the disputes between the tribes. The Brars also favored him, knowing him to be a priest of their own religion. He was therefore permitted to establish a number of villages in the plain, and he fixed his boundaries by marking down the tracks of his horses hooves as he made a long circuit one morning around the boundary of the land he fancied. He named the ilaqa Guru Har Sahai after his eldest son, who eventually took his fathers place as head of the family.

Jiwan Mal appears to have made friends later on with Ahmed Shah, because he was allowed to hold his land free of revenue, and the grant was renewed by Ranjit Singh when the Mohammedans authority disappeared from this part of the Punjab.The religious influence of the family was very great throughout the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and many of the Sodhis of Guru Har Sahai were employed at the court of Lahore, and they accompanied the army on expeditions along the frontier, when it was necessary to keep up the enthusiasm of the men at a high pitch.

In making these journeys, they seized the opportunity of bringing the followers under their own religious banner from among the scattered Hindu families of western Punjab, and up to the historic partition of the country in 1947,continued to be revered by a large number of Sikhs, not only in their immediate neighborhood but also in Rawalpindi,Pashawar,Kohat and the Derajat. On the death of Guru Gulab Singh in 1867,only two-thirds of the Jagir was continued to his successor Fateh Singh on a life tenure.

It was unfortunate that he became involved in quarrels with his own son, and in his time much of the old influence of the family melted away. He was moreover on bad terms with Bishan Singh his eldest son and to despise him, made a gift of the property and Guruship to his younger son Kabul Singh. A lawsuit followed, and that Guru Bishan Singh was successful, but the expenses of litigation seriously crippled the property. On the death of Fateh Singh in 1879,the Jagir was temporarily resumed, and it was regretted to Guru Bishan Singh in 1885 under a sanad from the supreme Government.

Both Guru Gulab Singh and guru Fateh Singh exercised magisterial powers within the limits of their jagirs but these privileges were not continued to Guru Bishan Singh, who in 1896 was declared, at his own request, unfit to manage his estates, which were placed under the Court of Wards. The expenses occurred by the Guru in his case against his brother Kabul Singh, amounted to about one lakh of rupees, and these and other debts were later cleared off and many improvements were affected, so that in 1909,the income from the estate was over Rs 50,000 a year.

The family then owned nearly 25,000 acres in nine villages in the Muktsar tehsil. The Guru was a provincial Darbari. He died in 1910 and was succeeded by his eldest son Jaswant Singh. He had given away to his brother Auttar Singh half of the property, except the Abadi lands, for his lifetime and the two brothers jointly gifted a village to Hira Singh, the son of their sister in perpetuity,As head of the family, Guru Jaswant Singh continued to be the Guardian of the sacred book and the rosary which originally belonged to Guru Nanak Dev. These objects are held in high reverence by the people who travel long distances for the privilege of seeing them.

One Pothi was lost in 1970 when Guru Jaswant Singh was traveling from Delhi to Firozpur by train. Guru Jaswant Singh died on 18 March 1971 and was succeeded by his eldest son Guru Atamjit Singh who died in 1979.Guru Rustom Sher Sodhi & Guru Shamsher Sodhi are 17th direct descendant of Guru Ram Das, the 4th Sikh Guru and are the present Gaddi Nashin of Gurudwara Shri Pothimala Sahib.

The original village of Guru Har Sahai is contiguous to the town where in the Pothi Mala Temple a Pothi (book) and a Mala (Rosary) of Guru Nanak Dev, and a stone in which the image of Guru Nanak Dev is stated to be visible, is shown to the public by the family of the local descendants of the Gurus. Out of these objects, the Pothi is said to have been lost in 1970.When my ancestor Jiwan Mal was driven from his home in Mamdipur Chunian in the Lahore District, he arrived in Guru Har Sahai in the year 1705 and laid the foundation of the PothiMala Building., and took a long time to complete all the succeeding Gurus kept adding something or the other. Since the time of Jiwan Mal who was 7th in descent from Guru Ram Das Ji all our Ancestors have being living in Guru Har Sahai. For your reference I am mentioning my Family tree.

1---Guru Ram Das Ji The Fourth Sikh Guru. 2---Baba Prithi Chand Ji 3---Baba Meharban ji 4 ---Baba Har Ji 5---Baba Har Gopal Ji 6---Baba Gurditta Ji 7---Baba Jiwan Mal Ji Founder of Guru Har Sahai 8---Guru Har Sahai 9---Guru Ajit Singh 10---Guru Hamir Singh 11---Guru Gulab Singh 12---Guru Fateh Singh 13---Guru Bishan Singh 14---Guru Jaswant Singh 15---Guru Atamjit Singh 16---Guru Karan Sher Sodhi 17— Yuvraj sodhi is present Gaddi Nashin of Gurudwara Shri Pothimala Sahib.

Both Baba Rustom Sher Sodhi & Baba Shamsher sodhi supervising the development of Gurudwara Sahib in a very nice and systematic way. The efforts of both of them are really appreciable and worth praise

Education

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