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{{Short description|Udasi saint (1687–1762)}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = [[Udasi]]
| sect =
| name = Bhumman Shah
| birth_place = [[Behlolpur (Okara)|Behlolpur]]
| parents = Hassa Ram (father) Rajo Bai (mother)
| birthname = Bhumia Hassa
| birth_date = 14 April 1687
| location = [[Dipalpur|Depalpur]]
| death_date = 1762
| honorific prefix = Baba
| honorific suffix = Udasin
| image = Mural depicting Baba Bhuman Shah, from Dera Baba Bhuman Shah, ca.1910.jpg
| caption = Mural depicting Baba Bhuman Shah, from Dera Baba Bhuman Shah, Depalpur, Okara district, Punjab, Pakistan, ca.1910
}}
{{Udasi}}
'''Bhumman Shah''' (14 April 1687 – 1762, also spelt as '''Bhuman Shah''', born '''Bhumia Hassa''') was an [[Udasi]] [[Sant (religion)|saint]].{{Efn|There are many spelling variations for his name, such as 'Bhuman', 'Bhoman', 'Bhumman', 'Bhomman', 'Boman', or 'Bomman'.|group=note}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Nawaz |first=Muhammad Asif |date=8 April 2022 |title=The Magnificence of Bhuman Shah |url=https://www.youlinmagazine.com/article/the-magnificence-of-bhuman-shah/MjIzMw== |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=Youlin Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Jacobsen |first=Knut A. |title=Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 volumes) |last2=Sardella |first2=Ferdinando |publisher=BRILL |year=2020 |isbn=9789004432284 |pages=615 |quote=Baba Bhuman Shah Udasin, a seventeenth-century ''baba'', was well-known for offering langar and was visited, it would seem characteristically, by people who variously followed Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh ritual practices but were collectively drawn by his power (Ballard 1996). The Sadhanakendra Ashram website describes such people as being "of different faiths," although this modern formulation imposes boundaries which would probably not have been recognised in Baba Bhuman Shah Udasin's time (Oberoi 1994).}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Jabeen |first=Asia |last2=Munir |first2=Mazhar |date=December 2021 |title=Refurbishment of Gurdwara Baba Bhuman Shah Dipalpur, District Okara |url=https://pjsr.com.pk/ojs/index.php/PJSR/article/download/279/105 |journal=Pakistan Journal of Social Research |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=52–66 |doi=10.52567/pjsr.v3i4.279 |issn=2710-3129 |eissn=2710-3137 |doi-access=free |archive-date=2023-05-22 |access-date=2023-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522035656/https://pjsr.com.pk/ojs/index.php/PJSR/article/download/279/105 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early life==
He was born in [[Behlolpur (Okara)|Behlolpur]] to Hassa Ram and Rajo Bai.<ref name=":0" /> His family revered [[Sri Chand]], the eldest son of the first [[Sikh gurus|Sikh guru]], [[Guru Nanak]].<ref name=":2" /> There are several [[legend]]s and [[mythology|myth]]s connected with Bhumia's early childhood. The story goes that once as a kid, when he was sleeping in his cradle, a [[cobra]] came and sat over his chest with his hood spread wide-apart. Mother Rajo was stunned at the scene but as she dared to approach the cradle, the cobra disappeared slowly with no harm to the sleeping kid. Another myth relates to the revival of the dead sparrows; and yet another one deals with restoring to health the lost crops of a poor farmer......so forth and so on. These were taken to be miracles and the peoples from far and wide started to crowd at Bhumia house to have his darshan.

Bhumia went for his schooling at the age of seven. He was very sharp and intelligent student and imbibed the essentials of [[Hinduism]], [[Sikhism]] and [[Islam]] at a very young age. Besides attending to his religious lessons, Bhumia also performed the worldly chores like grazing cows in the company of other boys of his village. He would take his cows to the forest where he would also carry plenty of food and Jal (water) to run a free-kitchen ([[Langar (Sikhism)|Langar]]) for the passers-by including the ascetics, saints, the poor and the orphans.<ref name=":1" />

Little later, the family would move from Behlolpur to [[Depalpur (Pakistan)|Deepalpur]].<ref name=":0" />

==Initiation==
By the age of fifteen, Bhumia had developed a strong aspiration to become a [[monk]]. With the permission of his parents he approached Baba Pritam Das of [[Pakpattan]], the prominent Saint of ''Udasin Panth'' who initiated him into a [[Guru]]-[[mantra]]. On being formally initiated and baptized by Baba Pritam Dass, Bhumia himself became ''Baba Bhumman Shah''. Soon afterwards, he started to preach the religious messages which were always accompanied by [[Kirtan]] and free-kitchen (Langar).

It is stated that Chaudhury Lakha [[Wattu]], a [[Muslim]] Rajput landlord of village Kutub Kot had been arrested for some reasons and was put behind the bars at [[Lahore]] by the orders of the [[Governor]] of [[Punjab region|Punjab]]. Bibi Bakhtawar, Lakha's mother, was a staunch devotee of the Baba. She solicited Baba's blessings for the release of her son and it so happened that Chaudhury Lakha was released from the jail within couple of days. As a result, Lakha and his numerous Muslim relatives from the Wattu [[tribe]] also became devoted followers of the Baba. In addition, the tribe also surrendered a village named Kutub-Kot to the Baba which the latter made the centre of his religious activities.

==Career==
[[File:Bhuuman.jpg|thumb|Modern painting of Baba Bhumman Shah]]
Baba Bhumman Shah travelled from village to village to preach his message of love, peaceful coexistence, universal brotherhood, religious-tolerance and equality. He had followers from many denominations including [[Hindu]]s, [[Sikhs]] and [[Muslims]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Baba also visited the [[Dargah]] of [[Sufi]] [[Saint]] [[Baba Farid]], [[Harmandir Sahib|Golden Temple]] at [[Amritsar]], and numerous other, [[Muslims|Muslim]], [[Sikh]] and [[Hindu]] [[shrine]]s during his religious itineraries. At village Kutub-Kot, which later became renowned as ''[[dera (organization)|Dera]] Baba Bhumman Shah'', Baba permanently established the maryada of Kirtan and free kitchen (Langar).

Baba was also a very dedicated Sikh of [[Guru]] [[Gobind Singh]]. It is told that once, Dashmesh Guru and his [[Sikh]] followers were going to Nili Bar when they visited Baba Bhumman Shah and took Langar at the Dera; pleased with Shah's noble mission, Gobind Singh blessed him that his Langar would continue to grow with no shortage of any kind.<ref name="Kosh">Kosh, Mahan. ''Encyclopaedia of Sikh Literature'' (1999), p. 920</ref><ref name=":0" />

Baba's life work can be seen to be around harmony and oneness. After carrying out his religious mission for well over 50 years, Baba died in 1762 CE. He was succeeded by Mahant Nirmal Chand, who continued his work.<ref name=":2" />

==Legacy==
During the times of sixth Mahant Baba Darshan Dass, a British Divisional Commissioner visited the Dera. Impressed by Mahant's personality as well as the Dera-complex and the free-kitchen service (Langar), the Commissioner attached 3000 acres (12 km2) of agricultural land as fief to the [[shrine]] (Baba Bhuman Shah by Sant Chandra Swami).

Total landed property in the name of Shrine grew well over 18,000 acres (73 km2) of agricultural land (cf: 18700 acres (76 km2) in the name of [[Gurudwara]] Sri [[Nankana Sahib]] in [[Sheikhupura]]). Besides landed property, there was other moveable/immoveable property in the name of the Dera.

An Udasi ''[[Akhara]]'' attached to his name, named Dera Baba Bhuman Shah,<ref name=":2" /> was established at his ''[[haveli]]'' in [[Dipalpur|Depalpur]], [[Okara District|Okara]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] but it now lies in ruins in modern-day [[Pakistan]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kalra |first=Virinder S. |title=Beyond Religion in India and Pakistan: Gender and Caste, Borders and Boundaries |last2=Purewal |first2=Navtej K. |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2019 |isbn=9781350041769 |series=Bloomsbury Studies in Religion, Gender, and Sexuality |pages=59 |quote=Some members of the Watu family, large landholders in the area, told of how their elders would visit the haveli of Bhuman Shah, which was a large Udaasi Akhara (though now in a state of ruin) again perhaps 40 kilometres from Daud Bandegi.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Qaiṣar |first=Iqbāl |title=پاكستان وچ سكھاں دياں تواريخى پوتر تھاواں |publisher=Punjabi History Board |year=1998 |pages=310 |language=ur}}</ref> The site contains many historical [[Sikh architecture|structures]] and [[Sikh art|murals]], now in a dilapitated, vandalized, and neglected state.<ref name=":0" />

=== List of successors ===
Below is a list of the successive ''[[mahant]]s'' of the ''[[Dera (organization)|dera]]'' of Bhuman Shah:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Successors of Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Ji |url=https://bababhumanshahji.org/about/ |website=Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Ji, Sangar Sadha (Sirsa)}}</ref>

1. Bhuman Shah (1702–1747)

2. Nirmal Chand (1747–1772)

3. Bhawani Das (1772–1820)

4. Lal Chand (1820–1822)

5. Lodeen Chand (1824–1836)

6. Darshan Das (1836–1868)

7. Santokh Das (1868–1893)

8. Narayan Das (1893–1899)

9. Harbhajan Das (1899–1925)

10. Girdhari Das (1925–1977)

11. Amar Das (1977–2003)

12. Chandar Swami (1977-present)

13. Sewa Das (1995-2016)

14. Braham Das (2003–present)

15. Harinam Das (2016-present)

==Post-Partition scenario==
[[File:Tomb of Bhuman Shah.jpg|thumb|Samadh of Bhumman Shah in Depalpur, Okara district, Punjab, Pakistan, photographed on 7 December 2018.]]
After partition, due to compulsions of politics, Mahant Girdhari Dass, the Mukh Sewadar of the Dera, shifted his religious headquarters from [[Pakistan]] to [[India]].<ref name=":2" /> A new Shrine and Dera was established in Sangar Sadan in [[Sirsa District]] in [[Haryana]]. The total land transferred to the Dera from [[Pakistan]] was a meagre 1600 acres (6.5 km2) compared to over 18000 acres (73 km2) in Montgomery. After Mahant Girdhari Dass's death, Baba Mahant Amar Nath Bawa was the mahant of the shrine in Sangar Sadan. After Amar Nath's Death, simultaneously Baba Sewa Das Ji was honoured with tilak rasam(Gaddinasheen) in Dera Mallewala Sirsa The 12th Mahant of Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Ji and The Mahant Saran Dass applying tilak rasam(Gaddinasheen) to Baba Braham Dass. After that Baba Brahm Dass ji into Mahant Baba Braham Dass Ji is the
14th Mahant of Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Ji Sangar Sarista (Sirsa).

Besides Sangar Sadan, the [[Hindu]] devotees of the Baba have also built several [[temple]]s in his memory in a number of states of northern [[India]] as well, where daily worship unto Babaji is offered with faith and love (Baba Bhuman Shah by Sant Chandra Swami).

In [[Pakistan]], this Dera was considered the richest with huge property attached to it in pre-partition times.<ref name="Kosh" />

The [[spirituality|spiritual]] and pragmatic teachings of Baba Bhuman Shah
have been presented in the form of [[aphorism]]s in a booklet by his ardent devotee, Sage Chandra Swami, with a focus on true goal of life as well as the right means for its achievement. These teachings are in complete concordance with Baba's own divine life.

==See also==
*[[Bhoman Shah]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [http://bababhumanshahji.org/ Dera Baba Bhuman Shah Ji (Sangar Sadha)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Bhumman}}
[[Category:Sant Mat]]
[[Category:People from Okara District]]
[[Category:18th-century Hindu religious leaders]]
[[Category:1687 births]]
[[Category:1762 deaths]]

Bhumman Shah - Revision history

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