Diwan Buta Singh
Diwan Buta Singh | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1826 Lahore |
| Known for | First person to print an edition of the Guru Granth Sahib |
Diwan Buta Singh (born 1826) was a Sikh official, journalist, writer, and printer.[1][2][3] He served as Maharani Jind Kaur's household minister (diwan) and was the vice-president of the Lahore Singh Sabha.[1] According to Kuka literature, he was the first man to print a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, the primary Sikh scripture.[3]
Biography[edit]
Early years[edit]
He was born in Lahore in 1826 into a Kalal family to a father named Gurdial Singh.[1][2] In his early vocation, he served as the household minister and retainer of Jind Kaur of the Sikh Empire.[1][3] Just prior to the Second Anglo-Sikh war, he tried to provoke anti-British feelings amongst the local people in the name of Jind Kaur.[1] He was one of the last employees of the ruling Sikh Empire.[1] After the Multan Rebellion, he was imprisoned by the British, who had already suspecting him of anti-British proclivities, such as the Prema Plot.[3] He was deported from Punjab and imprisoned in Allahabad prison for seven years.[3] He was released from incarceration in the mid-1850's and returned to Lahore after his release, where he quickly regained his lost prestige.[3]
Printing press and publishing[edit]
By the 1860s, journalism was a budding industry in Lahore, with the amount of local editors, journalists, calligraphists, printers, compositors, and binders increasing.[3] In 1866, Buta established the Aftab-i-Punjab Press in Lahore.[1] Buta was proficient in Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi (Gurmukhi), and he founded an Urdu law journal, the first one in the province, called the Anwar-ul-Shams, in 1866.[1][3] Later in 1872, he founded an Urdu weekly newspaper titled Aftab-i-Punjab.[note 1][1][2][3] One of the early editors who worked on the Aftab-i-Punjab was man named Sheikh Fakir Muhammad, who had worked years earlier as an apprentice editor of the Kohi-i-Nur, which had been the first Urdu newspaper in Punjab.[note 2][3] The Aftab-i-Punjab was overall critical of the British government's policies and actions against Duleep Singh, the deposed Sikh monarch.[1] Buta Singh, though not a Namdhari himself, had close ties with the Namdhari sect and praised them for their support of Duleep Singh.[1] Buta Singh also founded a Punjabi weekly newspaper titled Khalsa Prakash.[3]
As his publishing business grew, Buta established local branches in the cities of Peshawar and Ajmer.[3] The local Ajmer branch was responsible for publishing the Rajputana Government Gazette issues.[3] Eventually the Ajmer branch shut its operations yet the Peshawar branch continued.[2]
According to Namdhari Sikh literature, Buta Singh was the first person to print an edition of the Guru Granth Sahib, which was likely printed in 1868 or even earlier.[3][4] After Ram Singh, guru of the Namdharis, was exiled to Burma, Buta Singh kept in communication with his successor, Hari Singh, who was headquartered at Bhaini Sahib.[2] He exchanged secret information to the Namdharis and reported about their anti-British rebellious activities in his newspapers.[2]
Later life[edit]
He served as the vice-president for then newly established Lahore Singh Sabha.[1]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Thapar, K. S. (2002). Singh, Harbans (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Sikhism. Vol. 1: A–D (4th ed.). Punjabi University, Patiala. p. 420. ISBN 8173801002.
- ^ a b c d e f "Unsung Heroes Detail: Diwan Buta Singh". Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Government of India. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oberoi, Harjot (15 December 1994). The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition (Illustrated ed.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 274–5. ISBN 9780226615929.
- ^ Singh, Nahar (1955). Namdhari Itihas (in Punjabi). Delhi. p. 56.
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