Sikh who carried the sacred head of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji to the young Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji; later Bhai Jiwan Singh
Bhai Jaita
Bhai Jaita carried the sacred head of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji out of Delhi in November 1675. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji honoured him as Guru Ji's own son. He took the name Bhai Jiwan Singh when he received the rites of the Khalsa, and he is said to have been martyred in December 1705.
Sources disagree
- 1704: Gupta dates the battle of Chamkaur to 1704.[Gupta]
- December 1705, at the Sarsa: Macauliffe has a Jiwan Singh fall near the Sarsa.[Macauliffe]
Who he was
That Bhai Jaita and Bhai Jiwan Singh are one person is stated in both the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and Gupta. The Encyclopaedia's life is headed under the later name, and spells it Jiwan Singh. It keeps separate two other men called Bhai Jaita from the time of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji.
The Encyclopaedia says he was born on 30 November 1649, named Jag Chand, to Sada Chand and Karmo, and that his family were followers of Sri Guru Har Rai Ji. They moved from Kiratpur to Jhanda Ramdas to stay with Bhai Gurditta, a descendant of Baba Buddha. He came from a community that others of his day looked down on, and he was sent to Delhi for news of Bhai Gurditta after the arrests of 1675.[EoS][Gupta]
November 1675
When Guru Ji was martyred on 11 November 1675, no one dared to claim the body. Bhai Jaita got past the guards with the sacred head. Gupta names two companions, Nanu and Uda, who kept him in sight on the road, and gives a walk of 320 km in five days. On 16 November Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, then aged nine, performed the rites.
His words on receiving Bhai Jaita are remembered in the phrase Ranghreta Guru ka Beta, which declares such a man Guru Ji's own son.[EoS][EoS][Gupta]
Later life
He stayed at Anandpur and became the first to beat the Ranjit Nagara. The Encyclopaedia says he married Raj Kaur in 1691 and had four sons, and that he received the rites of the Khalsa on 30 March 1699. He became known as a marksman and helped train the two elder Sahibzade. It says he fought in all of Guru Ji's battles, and was martyred at Chamkaur on 7 December 1705, where a burj marks his memory.[EoS]
What the sources disagree on
- Where and when he was martyred
The Encyclopaedia says Chamkaur on 7 December 1705, and Gupta says Chamkaur in 1704. Macauliffe has a Jiwan Singh fall at the Sarsa while seeking Sahibzada Ajit Singh.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]
- His father and origins
The Encyclopaedia names his father as Sada Chand. The Bhatt Vahi entry quoted by Gupta says Agya Ram, and Gupta describes him as living in Delhi.[EoS][Gupta]
- Where he brought the sacred head
The Encyclopaedia says Anandpur. The Bhatt Vahi entry quoted by Gupta says Kiratpur, with the cremation at Makhowal the next day, so Gupta gives 17 November for the rites.[EoS][Gupta]
- Who carried it
Macauliffe's narrative does not name Bhai Jaita. It has a Sikh present at the martyrdom take the head to Anandpur in the storm that followed.[Macauliffe]