The Multifarious Faces of Sikhism
throughout Sikh History
Page 4 of 4
Sodhis
cont'd
The descendents of Shyam Singh also possessed
the original Khanda with which Akali Nihang
Guru had initiated the Khalsa. The Sanatan Sikhs
of the 18th and 19th century treated the Sodhis
like the Bedis as living Gurus.
Khanda
The original Khanda utilized by the tenth Sikh
Guru to initiate the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib
The Sodhis that descended from Dhirmal
were treated with exceptional reverence as they
possessed the sacred text considered to be the
original Adi Guru Durbar:
‘Sadhu Singh,
an ancestor of the present guru, took the
volume to Lahore at Ranjit Singh’s
request in 1830, and received the highest
honour as its guardian. A daily
offering was made of Rs. 86: and special
doles of Rs 600 were received at each festival
of the amawas (end of a moon) and sankrant
(beginning of a calendar month): while once
a year a valuable shawl and a horse were
presented in the Maharaja’s name.
The Granth was always taken into camp whenever
a military expedition of importance was
to be undertaken……This
sacred volume was similarly taken to Patiala
in 1860 to be shown to Maharaja Narendra
Singh, who in vain tried to acquire it.
He fixed for its guardians a daily allowance
Rs 51, and made them stay in their precious
charge for Three whole years. The book now
rests at Kartarpur. It is exposed
every sankrant day to the public gaze in
the shishmahal of the Guru’s house:
and the charawa or money, cast before it
by the faithful: forms an important item
in the owner’s income.’ ‘Chiefs and Families
of Note in the Punjab’, by Lepel.
H. Griffin, Vol. 1, Pa. 167
Sodhi
Photograph of a Sodhi Sikh in Jullander, circa
1863
The descendants of Dhirmal to this day posses
the Adi Guru Durbar which is considered the
original by majority of Sikhs. The Bedis
the Sodhi clans lost their
traditional importance in the Sikh world with
coming of the Tat Khalsa Singh Sabhias in the
late 19th century.
