Bebe Nanaki

Bebe Nanaki was the daughter of Kalian Chand and Mata Tripta. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says she was born in 1464 at her mother's family home in Chahal, five years before her brother. It dates her marriage to Jai Ram to 1475. Jai Ram served Nawab Daulat Khan Lodhi at Sultanpur. Macauliffe says he first saw her while he was at Talwandi to assess its revenue.

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji went to Sultanpur to join the couple and took up service under the Nawab. The Encyclopaedia credits Bebe Nanaki with arranging his marriage, and says that she loved his two sons as her own. Harbans Singh, working from the Janamsakhis, adds that Mata Sulakhni found support in her affection, and that she interceded for her brother when their father was angry with him.[EoS][Macauliffe][Singh]

According to the Encyclopaedia, Guru Ji came to Sultanpur in 1518, and she asked him to stay because she felt her end was near. She passed away in his presence. Jai Ram passed away three days later, and Guru Ji performed the rites for them both. These details rest on later works, and no early source for them has been confirmed.[EoS]

McLeod accepts that Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji had a sister married to a man named Jai Ram. He treats her name as probable and not certain, because the oldest Janamsakhis leave her unnamed. The dates 1464, 1475 and 1518 come from later tradition as reported in the Encyclopaedia.

Gurdwara Bebe Nanaki Ji at Sultanpur Lodhi honours her. A trust laid its cornerstone on 13 November 1970. The house where she is believed to have lived stands in the old town, in private hands.[McLeod][EoS][EoS]