Vir Singh | |
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| Born | (1872-12-05)5 December 1872[1] Amritsar, Punjab,British India |
| Died | 10 June 1957(1957-06-10) (aged 84)[1] Amritsar, Punjab, India |
| Occupation | Poet, short-story writer, song composer, novelist, playwright and essayist. |
| Language | Punjabi |
| Education | Matriculation[1] |
| Alma mater | Amritsar Church Mission School Bazar Kaserian,Amritsar[1] |
| Period | 1891 |
| Literary movement | Shiromani Akali Dal |
| Notable works | Sundari (1898),Bijay Singh (1899),Satwant Kaur,"Rana Surat Singh" (1905)[2] |
| Notable awards |
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| Spouse | Mata Chatar Kaur |
| Children | 2 daughters |
| Website | |
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Vir Singh (5 December 1872 – 10 June 1957) was a Sikh poet, scholar and theologist of the Sikh revival movement, playing an important part in the renewal ofPunjabi literary tradition.
Vir Singh developed the Punjabi historical fiction genre with his four novelsSundari (1898),Bijay Singh (1899),Satwant Kaur (1900), andBaba Naudh Singh (serialized from October 1917 to December 1921), with thenovel genre being imported from Europe.[5] Vir Singh's newfound Punjabi novel genre helped promote Sikh code of conduct in the background of the Singh Sabha movement, focusing on themes of Sikh sacrifice, martyrdom, symbolism, conversion, rites, resilience, and survival during the Mughal and British periods.[5]
Born in 1872, inAmritsar, Singh was the eldest of Charan Singh's three sons. Vir Singh's family could trace its ancestry as far back as to Diwan Kaura Mal, a vice-governor (Maharaja Bahadur) of the cityMultan. His grandfather, Kahn Singh (1788–1878), spent a great deal of his youth training and learning traditional Sikh lessons in monasteries. Fluent inSanskrit andBraj, as well as in the oriental systems of medicine (such asAyurveda,Siddha andYunani), Kahn Singh influenced his only son, Charan Singh (1853-1908), who later fathered Vir Singh, to become an active member of the Sikh community, often producing poetry, music, and writings in hopes of restoring the Sikh community. Vir Singh's maternal grandfather, Giani Hazara Singh (1828-1908), was a leading scholar of the Giāṇīā Bungā in Amritsar. A scholar of Persian and Sanskrit, Giani Hazara Singh wrote into Punjabi the Persian classics like of Saadi,Gulistan andBoston.[6] At seventeen, Vir Singh married Chatar Kaur and had two daughters with her. He died in Amritsar on 10 June 1957.[7]
Singh had both the traditional indigenous learning and modern English education. He learnt Sikh scripture as well as Persian,Urdu and Sanskrit. He then joined the Church Mission School, Amritsar and took his matriculation examination in 1891 and stood first all over in the district.[1] Singh received his secondary education at Church Mission High School, and it was while attending school that the conversion of some of his classmates from Sikhism to Christianity that Singh's own religious convictions toward Sikhism were fortified. Influenced by the Christian missionaries' use of and reference to literary sources, Singh got the idea to teach others the main dogmas of Sikhism through his own written resources. Using the skills and techniques in modern literary forms that he learned through his English courses, Singh produced stories, poems, and epics and recorded the history and philosophical ideas of Sikhism.[8]
Singh chose to become a writer. After passing his matriculation examination, he worked with a friend of his father's, Wazir Singh, and set up a lithography press. His first commission to write and print were geography textbooks for some schools.[8]
In 1893 at age 18,Dhani Ram Chatrik found employment at Wazir Singh's press and met Vir Singh, who advised him to learn lithograph engraving,[9]: 13 and who inspired him to write poetry in the Punjabi language.[10] The Wazir Hind Press was the main press publishing literature for the Singh Sabha movement, and Vir Singh would purchase it after Wazir Singh passed after illness. Thusly, he would begin a long association with Vir Singh, which would lead to contact with writers, an 11-year career with the Press, and subsequently writing for theKhalsa Samachar, in which Chatrik would hone his poetic skills.[9]: 13 His contact with Vir Singh turned him into an ardent admirer of the Sikh faith, influencing his syncretic poetic style[9]: 11 that reflected composite Punjabi culture.
Singh argued that Sikhism was a unique religion which could be nourished and sustained by creating an awakening amongst the Sikhs of the awareness of their distinct theological and cultural identity. He aimed at reorienting the Sikhs' understanding of their faith in such a manner as to help them assimilate the different modernising influences to their historical memory and cultural heritage. At the time, Sikhs were often persecuted by the British, often being pressured or threatened into assimilating into mainstream culture. Acts such as publicly shaving off the heads and beards of religious Sikh officials were performed to humiliate and demean the Sikh religion.[11] Amidst all this political discontent, Singh sought to revitalize the Sikh culture and religion through peaceful means, by writing a myriad of novels, epics, and poems. With the fall of theSikh Empire and the modernization of Christian, Muslim, and Hindu movements ofproselytism, the Sikh faith began to wane until scholars and theologians of the religions, Singh being a leading one, began revitalizing life into Sikhism through their works of literature.[8]
He began taking an interest in the affairs of theSingh sabha movement. To promote its aims and objects, he launched theKhalsa Tract Society in 1894. The tracts produced by the Khalsa Tract Society introduced a new style of literary Punjabi.
The Khalsa Tract Society periodically made available under the titleNirguniara, low-cost publications on Sikh theology, history and philosophy and on social and religious reform. Through this journal, Singh established contact with an ever-expanding circle of readers. He used the Nirguniara as a vehicle for his own self-expression. Some of his major creative works such asSri Guru Nanak Chamatkar andSri Guru Kalgidhar Chamatkar, were originally serialised in its columns.
In literature, Singh started as a writer of novels which are considered forerunners of the Punjabi novel. His writings in this genre –Sundari (1898),Bijay Singh (1899),Satwant Kaur (published in two parts, I in 1900 and II in 1927), were aimed at recreating the heroic period (eighteenth century) of Sikh history. Through these novels he made available to his readers, models of courage, fortitude and human dignity. Singh championed the Sikh identity in a way that did not devalue other religions. He even reprimanded the violation and destruction the Hindu idols in Kashmir in his book,Avantipur de Khandar. Singh also criticized and discouraged religious fanaticism, citing those as victims of their own fears brought on by a fervent and obsessive belief.[12]
The novelSubhagji da Sudhar Hathin Baba Naudh Singh, popularly known asBaba Naudh Singh (serialised in Nirguniara from 1907 onwards and published in book form in 1921), shares with the epicRana Surat Singh (which he had started serialising in 1905) Vir Singh's interest in the theme of a widow's desperate urge for a reunion with her dead husband.
Soon after the publication of Rana Surat Singh in book form in 1919, he turned to shorter poems and lyrics. These includedDil Tarang (1920),Tarel Tupke (1921),Lahiran de Har (1921),Matak Hulare (1922),Bijlian de Har (1927) andMere Sayian Jio (1953). Through these works, he paved the way for the emergence of the Punjabi poem.
In November 1899, he started a Punjabi weekly, theKhalsa Samachar. He revised and enlarged Giani Hazara Singh's dictionary,Sri Guru Granth Kosh, originally published in 1898. The revised version was published in 1927. He published critical editions of some of the old Sikh texts such asSikhan di Bhagat Mala (1912),Prachin Panth Prakash (1914),Puratan Janam Sakhi (1926) andSakhi Pothi (1950).
An important work was Singh's annotation ofKavi Santokh Singh'sSuraj Prakash, published from 1927 to 1935 in fourteen volumes. This publication ofSuraj Prakash would be Vir Singh's single most lengthy endeavor of his life.[6]
Sikhism stresses equality between men and women and that it is even sinful to consider either sex above the other.[13] Singh reflected this belief in his novels, and featured them in a number of strong female characters. In fact, his very first novel wasSundari, which featured Sunder Kaur, a woman who converted from Hinduism to Sikhism and then proceeded to lead a life of adventure in the jungles with a band of Sikh warriors.[14] It was the first novel penned in the Punjabi language.[14] Through Sundari, Singh hoped to embody all the ideals ofGuru Nanak’s lessons. The book was well received by the Sikh community and gained popularity almost immediately.[15] Other important female characters he wrote were Rani Raj Kaur, Satvant Kaur, Subhagji and Sushil Kaur. Even by today's modern standards, these female characters are still considered to be well rounded and an inspiration to both male and female Sikhs alike.[12] Singh often portrayed the women in his novels as more prone to spiritual enlightenment than her male counterpart.[15]
He was one of the founders of thePunjab & Sind Bank; he co-founded it withSir Sunder Singh Majitha, and Sardar Tarlochan Singh.[16]
He was honoured with theSahitya Akademi Award in 1955 and thePadma Bhushan Award in 1956.[3][17]
1972 Indian stamp commemorating his birth centenary.
His commentary on nearly half of theAdi Granth was published posthumously in seven large volumes.[18]
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