Written History of the Khalsa

The Khalsa has no equal, its history and glory can not be matched. Each page of its grand history is lined with greatness. The only misfortune has been the way this history has been recorded. The Khalsa’s constant fight for survival meant that this recording of history was not deemed a priority. This neglect left a vacuum for those who were not completely adverse to the Rehat of the Khalsa to record some of its history. It was not until the Khalsa started to govern the plains of Punjab that some significant material could be gathered and recorded, the elapse of time meant that even this recording was prone to distortion because of weaknesses in Rehat that had crept in.

I don’t think that the vast majority of what has been recorded was written mischievously to distort the facts rather I think the distortion has been down to human error and perception. An author will tend to write what he deems to be correct or what he practices. So if any writer was not to follow the Khalsa Rehat then his writings would be subject to inaccuracies.

Things have not changed much we still find people writing on the subject of modern Sikh History who have given a distorted picture. You tend to feel that maybe this is way it is supposed to be with us, with only the few real seekers discovering the Tath-truth. There has however been the odd writer that has left a mark of Tath for others to grasp.


Finding the Neglected Evidence

At a personal level I have tried to look our written history at source and may be try to bridge the missing gaps that our modern historians have neglected. I’ve tried to focus on the subject of Rehat and have tried to find evidence that has not been presented. In my limited search I have come across a few discoveries. One of the most significant being the one related to Sarbloh Rehat, which I am presenting below.

Although there have been many references to Sarbloh Rehat in many languages, people have still tried to make the excuse for the limited mention of Sarbloh for utensils/cooking. However the mention of dietary Bibek in historical writings has been abundant.

I came across the mention of this specific Sarbloh Rehat in Singh Sagar Granth written by Vir Singh Bal completed in 1827. This Granth is older than Pracheen Panth Prakash and Gurpartap Suraj Granth written in 1841 and 1843 respectively. Although being older than these two granths it rarely gets a mention and very little is quoted from it. From my limited observation I have found Singh Sagar Granth to be more in tune with Gurmat values than the other two not to say that Pracheen Panth Prakash and Gurpartap Suraj Granth have nothing to offer.


Vir Singh Bal – The Author

The author Vir Singh Bal was born in Sathiala (near Baba Bakala), Amritsar around 1785. He was the grandson of Sabha Singh Bal and was the son of Bakhat Singh Bal. There is not much detail known about the life of Vir Singh Bal other than he went to serve in the Patiala Darbar as a Kavi where he wrote most of his writings including Singh Sagar Granth and Gurkirat Prakash Granth. Some have said he went to many deras before his service at the Patiala Darbar but was not satisfied, this might indicate where he attained the art of various languages. One thing is for sure that he must have had the opportunity to see and hear from GurSikhs who might have been contemporaries of Guru Gobind Singh Jee or his close associates making his writings very valuable.

There is something however very distinctive from the writings of Vir Singh Bal and that is his love for Guru Gobind Singh Jee. It seems to be more than some literally love, he seems to be a devout believer in Guru Gobind Singh Jee specifically. This affection is engraved in his literature even in the non religious literature. Below is an example from his Ranjha Heer poetry:

- ਮੇਰੀ ਬੰਦਨਾ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਨੂੰ, ਜਿਹੜਾ ਮਾਲਕ ਸਰਬ ਸਰੀਰ ਦਾ ਜੀ II
ਜਾਨਮਾਲ ਕੁਰਬਾਨ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਤੇ, ਸਾਨੂੰ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਪੀਰ ਦਾ ਜੀ II
ਸਦਾ ਆਸਰਾ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ ਦਾ, ਜਿਕੂੰ ਮੀਨ ਨੂੰ ਆਸਰਾ ਨੀਰ ਦਾ ਜੀ II


- ਸੋਢੀ ਪਾਤਸ਼ਾਹ ਜੀ ਜਾਣੀ ਜਾਣ ਹੈ ਤੂੰ, ਕੋਰੋ ਆਸ ਪਰੀ ਮਾਹਰਾਜ ਮੇਰੀ I
ਵੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੂੰ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਤੁਸਾਡੜਾ ਹੈ, ਰਖ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਲਾਜ ਮੇਰੀ I


Then in his Baramah this emotion is extensively presented in paragraph after paragraph, some examples are given below :

- ਪਲ ਪਲ ਵੀ ਤੇ ਸੈ ਵਰਿਆ ਦਾ, ਬਿਨਾਂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਮੈ ਮਰ ਜਾਂਦਾ, ਘੜੀ ਨ ਜੀਂਵਦਾ I

- ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇ ਬੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਲਿਹਾਰ, ਗੁਰ ਪਰ ਵਾਰਿਆ ਸਭ ਪਰਿਵਾਰ, ਮੈਨੂੰ ਦੇਈ ਸਦਾ ਦਿਦਾਰ, ਮੈਂ ਵਿਚ ਔਗੁਣ ਲਖ ਹਜ਼ਾਰ, ਤੈਂ ਬਿਨ ਕੋ ਨਾ ਬਖਸਨਹਾਰ, ਗੁਰੂ ਜੀ I ਜਯੋਂ ਭਾਵੈ ਤਯੋਂ ਤਾਰ, ਬਿਰਦ ਬਿਚਾਰ ਕਰ I

Having conveyed such sentiments in his literature I have no doubt that he must have either been a follower of Guru Gobind Singh Jee’s Rehat or close to sangat following such Rehat.

Vir Singh Bal wrote two Granths exclusively on Gursikhee the first being GurKirat Prakash based on the 10 Gurus that was completed in 1824 and the other being Singh Sagar based on the life of Guru Gobind Singh Jee completed in 1827. He has written many other non-GurSikhee literature while serving as a Kavi in the Patiala Darbar, the first most notable one being Kiasaa Ranjha Heer Daa written in 1812.

The Evidence - Sarbloh Rehat Bachan

Singh Sagar Granth is solely based on the life of Guru Gobind Singh Jee written in Brij language following on from the ‘Bilas’ parampara of writings. A copy of this Granth is kept at Moti Bagh Library Patiala ref no 102 it has 250 pages of content.

The evidence of Sarbloh Rehat appears in the 12th chapter of Chamkaur Judh. The Bachan of Sarbloh Rehat is given after meeting Pir Muhammad. Guru Gobind Singh Jee has been recorded to have said the following Vaach-Bachan





Here Guru Gobind Singh Jee starts off by illustrating the role of a Farmer in his fields explaining that Sarbloh is the tool to employ for his Khalsa to carry out his routine in the same way a Farmer would use his tool to cut his fields. Guru Jee further explains that food needs to placed in Loh (Iron) and that Loh (Iron) is the medium in which negativity is crushed. Guru Jee also mentions the need to do Kripan Bhet in order to make the food worthy for consumption.