Prithi Chand

From Bharatpedia, an open encyclopedia


Prithi Chand (1558-1618) was the eldest son of Guru Ram Das – the fourth Guru of Sikhism, and the eldest brother of Guru Arjan – the fifth Guru.[1][2] He wanted to inherit the Sikh Guruship from his father, who instead favored and appointed his youngest son the 18-year old Arjan Dev as the next Guru. Chand was embittered and notably started one of the major subsects of early Sikhism. This subsect came to be labelled as the Minas, literally "unscrupulous scoundrels", by his competition.[1][2] According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Prithi Chand was "distinctly hostile" of his brother's appointment as Guru. His unscrupulous means and support for atrocities committed by the Mughal empire, did not find favour with Guru Ram Das, who bestowed the Guruship on Guru Arjan.[3] Modern scholars have called his movement as one of the unorthodox sects that emerged in the history of Sikhism.[4]

Chand was an accomplished devotional poet, however, he did not use his talents to good means.[4] He created a parallel scripture which included the hymns of earlier Gurus and his own poetry. His spiritual discourses used teachings of Sikh Gurus but were aimed to attract his own following and the official support of the Mughal Empire. His followers forcibly and by covert means, gained control of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar and neighboring region, while Guru Hargobind – the sixth Guru of Sikhism, had to relocate his Guruship to the Himalayan Shivalik foothills.[5] Chand and his followers tried to establish his own Guruship opposing Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind as the official followers of Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism.[1] His poetic abilities and use of hymns of Guru Nanak for his ulterior motives is believed to have likely triggered Guru Arjan to compose the official first manuscript of the Adi Granth.[4]

There was a bitter attempt by Prithi Chand and his followers to oppose Guru Arjan for three generations. In contemporary Sikhism, the followers and movement led by Prithi Chand are considered as "dissenters".[2] In the hagiographies and Sikh history, Chand is accused of attempting to poison Hargobind when he was a young boy. He and his descendants – his son, Manohar Das (Meharban) and Mehrban's son, Harji (Hariji) conspired with the Muslim leaders such as Sulahi Khan to hurt and end the later Sikh Gurus, as well prevent them from entering Amritsar.[1][2][4] However, Minas' literature does not support these allegations, on the contrary presenting Chand as a devout supporter of Guru Arjan and suggesting a likely "bias" against Chand.[4]

Prithi Chand established his Guruship in Kotha Guru (about 35 kilometers northeast of Bathinda). He died there in 1618.[4] His son Manohar Das, popularly known as Meharban, was attached to both his father Prithi Chand and his uncle Guru Arjan. Meharban succeeded Chand-led Sikh sect's fellowship. He was also a literary talent and a "luminary among medieval Sikh and Panjabi litterateurs" states Syan, and he composed hymns under the pen name of Prithi Chand.[4] Prithi Chand and his early Sikh sect claimed to have the Guru Harsahai pothi, the earliest compiled Sikh scripture from the time of Guru Nanak.[6] According to the literature of the Miharvan Sikhs, the pothi was given to Prithi Chand by Guru Arjan and this was in part the reason they claimed authenticity of their hymns and movement.[7]

The wars of Guru Gobind Singh against the Muslim commanders and the rise of the Khalsa brotherhood ultimately ended the control of Amritsar by the followers of Prithi Chand. His movement and the "Minas" sect thereafter became largely extinct.[2] According to Gurinder Singh Mann, the Sodhis of Guru Harsahai (35 kilometers west of Faridkot) and of Malwa region are the descendants of the Prithi Chand and Miharvan movement.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hardip Singh Syan (2014). Pashaura Singh and Louis E. Fenech (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Minas, Masands, Dhir Malias, Ram Raiyas, Overview of World Religions, PHILTAR, University of Cumbria (2011)
  3. ↑ Prithi Chand: Sikh Rebel Leader, Encyclopaedia Britannica
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Hardip Singh Syan (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India. I.B.Tauris. pp. 49–55. ISBN 978-1-78076-250-0.
  5. ↑ Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 638–639. ISBN 978-0-19-100411-7.
  6. ↑ Arvind-Pal S. Mandair; Christopher Shackle; Gurharpal Singh (2013). Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity. Taylor & Francis. pp. 20–22. ISBN 978-1-136-84634-2.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Gurinder Singh Mann (2001). The Making of Sikh Scripture. Oxford University Press. pp. 33–35. ISBN 978-0-19-513024-9.
Information red.svg
Scan the QR code to donate via UPI
Dear reader, We kindly request your support in maintaining the independence of Bharatpedia. As a non-profit organization, we rely heavily on small donations to sustain our operations and provide free access to reliable information to the world. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to consider donating to our cause, as it would greatly aid us in our mission. Your contribution would demonstrate the importance of reliable and trustworthy knowledge to you and the world. Thank you.

Please select an option below or scan the QR code to donate
₹150 ₹500 ₹1,000 ₹2,000 ₹5,000 ₹10,000 Other


Retrieved from "https://en.bharatpedia.org/index.php?title=Prithi_Chand&oldid=339487"