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| Impression of Makhan Shah Lohana |
Before his untimely death in Delhi, Guru Harkrishan Rai had named 'Baba Bakala" as his successor to be the next Guru. No one understood who 'Baba Bakala" was and left the Sikhs leaderless for some time The Sikh community elders discussed the possibilities but no conclusive decision could be made on who was the eighth guru was referring to. Among the Sikh elders searching for the 9th Guru was Bhai Makhan Shah, a wealthy merchant from Kathiawad in Gujarat.
Bakala Town
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| Map of Bakala, Punjab |
Bakala is a small historic town in Majha region of Punjab located at 31°33′18″N 75°15′56″E, on Batala Road, near Amritsar, Punjab, India. The town is located about 26 miles) away from Amritsar, 29 miles northwest of Jalandhar and 120 miles northwest of the state's capital of Chandigarh.
The region was famous for the cultivation of 'Bakala' or Buckwheat. The buckwheat Common was domesticated and first cultivated in inland Southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BC. Its flour is also known as 'Kuttu: Flour commonly used in medieval Punjab.
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| Bakala - The Buckwheat Seeds |
Search for the 9th Guru
It was determined that the elders of the community will visit Bakala to identify who 'Baba Bakala' is. When this news reached the small town of Bakala, many false claimants emerged to proclaim themselves as 'Baba Bakala'. These claimants set up a room in their homes and established themselves as the Guru. Among them were several cousins and relatives of the 8th Guru from the 'Sodhi' clan. Prominent among them was Dhir Mal, Guru Harkishan’s cousin and grandson of 6th Guru Hargobind Rai. Dhirmal went to Bakala and tried to pose as the Guru. He looked like a Guru and he had in possession the sacred "Pothi Sahib", earlier collection of hyms by the Gurus. The other imposters were equally convincing but the Sikh elders were not convinced. None of the claimants radiated the spirituality of a 'True Guru'.
Bhai Makhan Shah
Bhai Makhan Shah (1619-1674) belonged to the 'Lohana' merchant community from Gujarat. He had a fleet of ships and was operating from the ports of Gujarat. He traded of goods via sea routes, including spices, silk, gold, and Kashmir shawls from India. He used to bring valuable merchandise by sea and sell it wholesale in parts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab in Mughal India.
Makhan Shah remembered once his ship was stuck in a massive sea storm. He prayed to Gods to save him but the storm was relentless. He then prayed to Guru pledging 500 coins if his ship survives the storm. Eventually the storm subsided and his ship docked safely at a Gujarat port. He proposed a smart way to identify the 'True Guru' to the Sikh elders. He would pay respect to all claimants with a single coin and only the 'True Guru; would know that he had pledged 500 coins.
The Sikh elders watched as Makhan Shah went door-to-door to each claimant offering a coin in homage. Each claimant took the coin and blessed Makhan Shah but they failed to impress the Sikh elders. At the end, they decided to depart from Bakala when someone mentioned one lase descendant of Guru Harbobind Rai, who is a recluse and meditates all day in in underground cell. The group decided to give it a last try.
Guru Teg Bahadur
Tyagmal was the youngest son of 6th Guru Hargobind Rai. He demonstrated skills in swords during a battle against the Mughals and the Guru called him 'Teg Bahadur'. Since then, he was called by this name. He was married to Mata Gujri and decided to live a quiet and peaceful living in the small town of Bakala. Makhan Shah gave respect to the meditating Guru with a single coin but received no response from the Guru. After waiting for sometime, Makhan Shah decided to leave when he heard the Guru say, "Makhan Shah, where is the rest of your pledge?"
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| Makhan Shah announcing "Guru Ladho re" |
Makhan Shah Lohana realized that he had found the 'True Guru". He went to the roof of the house and announced, "Guru Ladho Re ...Guru Ladho Re." His announcement was in his native language - Gujarati "ગુરુ લાધો રે" and it us translated as 'The Guru is Found".
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| Google Translation Gujarat to English |
The Sikh elders and the villagers rejoiced and paid respect to the 9th Guru. This enraged Dhir Mal who ordered his servant Shihan to go and shoot Guru Ji with a Tordar, matchlock gun of that period. When Guru Ji survived this attack but Dhir Mal stole Guru Ji’s belongings. Makhan Shah raided Dhirmal and brought back Guru Ji’s belongings. However, Guru Ji told Makhan Shah to return everything back to Dhir Mal. Guru Ji explained, anger is a dangerous poison which causes people to lose all sense of right and wrong:
ਕਠਨ ਕਰੋਧ ਘਟ ਹੀ ਕੇ à¨ੀਤਰਿ ਜਿਹ ਸੁਧਿ ਸਠਬਿਸਰਾਈ ॥
The heart is filled with anger and violence, which cause all sense to be forgotten.
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| 9th Guru Teg Bhadur ji |
Makhan Shah Lohana and his descendants remained loyal to the Sikh Gurus. Here is some more details on Makhan Shah's personals life:
- Makhan Shah belonged to Lohana merchant community from Kathiawar, Gujarat
- Bhatta Vehi: he was son of Bhai Dasa, grandson of Binai, maternal grandson of Beheru
- He was was married to Sital Devi (also known as Suljai). the daughter of Naik Puroshotam Das
- They had a son Lal Das, baptized by Guru Gobind Singh as Naik Jawahar Singh who was martyred in the Battle of Chamkaur
There are different views of scholars regarding the origin of Bhai Makhan Shah. Giani Gian Singh believes that he was born to 'Lubana' clan in Tanda, Punjab. Scholars like Max Arthur Macauliffe, GS Chhabra, Sukha Singh believe that he was a native of Kathiawad in Gujarat.
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| Lohana Merchants from Kathiawar, Gujarat |
I have tried to share evidence linguistically, geographically, and from folklore to validate the origin of Bhai Makhan Shah Lohana. The Lohanas are a mercantile community from Kathiwar with sharing common last names with Sindhis and Punjabis - Vohra, Gandhi, Lakhi, Thakker, Madhwani, Ambani, Dattani, and Badiani. The folklore of his ship stuck in a sea storm confirms the location to be close to a port in Kathiawar, Gujarat.
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