Amongst the many great gianis (scholars) who have propounded the ancient nihang way of life perhaps none is so worthy to be called the jewel of the path of the gurus than Akali Kaur Singh Nihang who was at once a zealous missionary of truth, humanist and esteemed scholar, theologian, religious preacher, teacher and philanthropist, cultural educator and social reformer.
Born in 1886 in the village of Padhar located in an area of Jumma and Kashmir now under Pakistani occupation, Akali Kaur Singh was the eldest son of Bhai Mahan Singh and Mai Karam Kaur. In fact, his family traced its lineal descent from one Triloki Nath who was amongst those persecuted Kashmiri Brahmins who appealed to Guru Teg Bahadur for divine intervention on their behalf against a tyrannical Mogul regime.
From his early youth, Akali Kaur Singh was educated in the Indian system of medicine and the literature of the Sikh Canon as well as the languages of Sanskrit and Braj all due to the kind tutelage of Bava Mahan Singh Bedi of Dupatta. In 1904 Akali Kaur Singh Ji had the great good fortune of adopting the famed and revered Giani Bagh Singh, a well-regarded Sikh scholar in the highest academic circles of Peshawar, as his teacher. Indeed it was under the auspicious guidance of Giani Bagh Singh that Akali Kaur Singh Ji blossomed into a well-rounded and thoughtful debater who rose quickly to defend his faith intellectually against a rhetorical onslaught of false propaganda advocated by the spokespeople of the Arya Samaj movement.
Baptism and Scholarly Endeavours
In 1906, Akali Kaur Singh embarked upon a pilgrimage to the Mausoleum of Guru Gobind Singh Maharaj at Hazur Sahib Abchalnagar, Nanded which was a towering stronghold of traditional Sikh values and practises. It was there that he was swept up by the ancient practices of the Nihang Singh Knights of God-the custodians of the Khalsa Warrior way of life. Thus pledged and resolved to follow this glorious path, Akali Kaur Singh proudly became a Nihang after being administered the initiatory rites of the double-edged sword in all their pristine purity. After this spiritual transformation, Akali Ji traveled farther abroad into the four corners of India and as far as Afghanistan-lucidly spreading the doctrine and path of the Sikh Gurus at every step and bound.
Being ever the fervent scholar, Akali Ji undertook the arduous task of compiling a line-wise alphabetical index for the whole Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji; this mission was begun in 1907 and was victoriously completed in 1920 when it was finally published as under the title Guru Shabd Rattan Prakash more popularly known as Tut-Tatkara in March of the year 1923. In 1929 he published a similar index referencing the complete works of Bhai Gurdas. Amongst his other publications were Kavi Sainapati’s Sri Gur Sobha (1925) and a standard breviary of the daily Sikh liturgical prayer entitled Gutka Pramanik Nitnem in 1927. His translation of Buddhibaridh Hitopadesh Ratnakar was a Gurmukhi form of that great Sanskrit classic. His own original works include Sukh Sagar Arthat Da Vaid-a treatise on Aryuvedic medicine and Istri Sankat Mochan which called for the uplifting of women in Indian society.
Post-Partition Social Reform
Being a native Kashmiri Sikh, Akali Kaur Singh Ji had a natural proclivity to see that the best interests of his indigenous population were championed at every juncture. And thus it has been made clear that Akali Ji was instrumental in preaching morality and religion to his native Kashmiri populace with sage and fatherly doting and discretion. In the post-partition period many disastrous hardships befell the Kashmiri Sikhs when they were brutally attacked from all sides by fanatic Muslim tribal hordes. It was under these harrowing circumstances that Akali Ji, acting as a true revolutionary, championed the people’s cause and led the procession of their exodus towards a safe haven free from calamitous persecution. And so it was that Akali Ji found the higher calling that he would answer and diligently serve until the last of his days: the secure resettling of the Kashmiri people in a foreign land. Amidst the rampant burning and looting of the Pakistani invaders, Akali Ji fought heroically and guided the allied troops through the rough terrain to quell the insurgency. In the aftermath of destruction it was Akali Ji who led the humanitarian effort of caring for widows and orphans in encampments of refugees, and it was he who arranged for food and shelter amidst continuing insurgency and the uncaring attitudes of high officials. Eventually he helped many Diasporas settle in enclaves in and around the Indian border states.
To accomplish this Akali Ji appealed to Shiekh Abdulla of Kashmir to provide relief for the great loss of life in the continuing conflict, he obliged by providing thousands upon thousands of rupees to acquire land and materials for constructing rehabilitation centers for the afflicted. In this way Akali Ji not only took care of the material needs of his cherished people, but for their spiritual wellbeing also, he did so by organizing Sikh missionary efforts which promoted Gurmukhi literacy and baptismal ceremonies which flourished through his tireless teaching of high ideals to the people. Unfortunately, during his second missionary tour Akali Ji fell ill and passed away January 23rd 1952, leaving behind a flawless legacy as an avid scholar of indefatigable humanitarian principles and ethics and who personified the ideal of divine service to humanity as expounded by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Sikh Unity ਸਿੱਖ ਏਕਤਾ 