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84-623: Guru Nanak along with Bhai Mardana reached Hasan Abdal in Baisakh Samwat 1578 B.K., corresponding to the summer of 1521 CE, when according to Sikh legend, Guru Nanak's handprint was imprinted onto a boulder. The Gurdwara was named Panja Sahib by Hari Singh Nalwa , the most famous general of the Sikh Empire . He is credited with having built the first gurdwara at the site. Under a shady cool tree, Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana started reciting Kirtan and their devotees gathered around. This annoyed

168-682: A Hindu festival held in the 19th century on Kartik Purnima in Amritsar attracted a large number of Sikhs. The Sikh community leader Giani Sant Singh did not like this, thus starting a festival at the Sikh shrine of the Golden Temple on the same day, presenting it as the birth anniversary celebration of Guru Nanak. Macauliffe also notes that Vaisakh (March–April) already saw a number of important festivals—such as Holi , Rama Navami , and Vaisakhi —therefore people would be busy in agricultural activities after

252-533: A Sikh rebellion against the Mughals in the early 1700s severely compromised the Khatri's ability to trade and forced them to take sides. Those who were primarily dependent on the Mughals went to significant lengths to assert that allegiance in the face of accusations that they were in fact favouring " Jat Sikh followers of the rebel leader, Banda ". The outcome of their assertions - which included providing financial support to

336-515: A competition. Another source of dispute has been the Baghdad stone, bearing an inscription in a Turkish script. Some interpret the inscription as saying Baba Nanak Fakir was there in 1511–1512; others read it as saying 1521–1522 (and that he lived in the Middle East for 11 years away from his family). Others, particularly Western scholars, argue that the stone inscription is from the 19th century and

420-606: A formative time for him, as the puratan janamsakhi suggests, and in his numerous allusions to governmental structure in his hymns, most likely gained at this time. Around the age of 55, Nanak settled in Kartarpur , living there until his death in September 1539. During this period, he went on short journeys to the Nath yogi centre of Achal, and the Sufi centres of Pakpattan and Multan . By

504-727: A group of martial caste members called Khati (Khatri) exist in North-India ". Michael Witzel , writing in his paper " Sanskritization of the Kuru State" states the Kathaiois were Kaṭha Brahmins . The Khatris played an important role in India's trans-regional trade during the period, being described by Levi as among the "most important merchant communities of early modern India." Levi writes: " Stephen Dale locates Khatris in Astrakhan , Russia during

588-419: A local saint, Shah Wali Qandhari . According to Sikh legend, Bhai Mardana was sent three times to Shah Wali Qandhari by Guru Nanak so that he would provide him with some water to quench his thirst. Wali Qandhari refused his request and was rude to him. In spite of this, Mardana still very politely stuck to his demand. The Wali remarked : "Why don't you ask your Master whom you serve?" Mardana went back to

672-631: A medieval Muslim dynasty founded by Zafar Khan Muzaffar , a member of the Tank caste of Punjabi Khatris according to the contemporary historian Shiekh Sikander or Rajputs. He started as a menial but rose to the level of a noble in the Delhi Sultan's family and became the Governor of Gujrat. After Timur attacked the city, people fled to Gujarat and it became independent. According to historians Roger Ballard and Harjot Oberoi , Afghan Hindus and Sikhs descend from

756-560: A standardised form of the Lāṇḍa script used by Khatri traders; the invention of the script is traditionally ascribed to Guru Angad . During the medieval period, with the rise of Persian as an elite vernacular due to Islamic rule, some of the traditional high status upper-caste literate elite such as the Khatris, Kashmiri Brahmins and Kayasthas took readily to learning Persian from the times of Sikandar Lodi onwards and found ready employment in

840-569: A sub-caste of Khatris by some scholars were concentrated in the districts of Bannu , Kohat and Dera Ismail Khan . The Aroras spoke Jatki language which is the 9th century version of Saraiki (Multani) according to Ibbetson . They were also found in Afghanistan at a population of 300,000 in 1880. According to an 1800s colonial source referred by Shah Hanifi , " Hindki is the name given to Hindus who live in Afghanistan. They are Hindus of Khatri class and are found all over Afghanistan even amongst

924-463: A subject of dispute, with modern scholarship questioning the details and authenticity of many claims. For example, Callewaert and Snell (1994) state that early Sikh texts do not contain such stories. From when the travel stories first appear in hagiographic accounts of Guru Nanak, centuries after his death, they continue to become more sophisticated as time goes on, with the late phase Puratan version describing four missionary journeys, which differ from

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1008-547: A superstition prevailing in contemporary northern India , a child born in the Kattak month was believed to be weak and unlucky, hence why the work states that Nanak was born in that month. Bhai Gurdas , having written on a full-moon-day of the Kattak month several decades after Nanak's death, mentions that Nanak had "obtained omniscience" on the same day, and it was now the author's turn to "get divine light." According to eyewitness Sikh chronicles, known as Bhatt Vahis , Guru Nanak

1092-503: A young age. For instance, at the age of five, Nanak is said to have voiced interest in divine subjects. At age seven, his father enrolled him at the village school, as per custom. Notable lore recounts that, as a child, Nanak astonished his teacher by describing the implicit symbolism of the first letter of the alphabet , resembling the mathematical version of one, as denoting the unity or oneness of God. Other stories of his childhood refer to strange and miraculous events about Nanak, such as

1176-465: Is also seen, in the context of Hindi. Hence the change from kshatriya to khatri is in consonance with the Prakrit rule and Hindi usage. The same is also testified by scholars R. G. Bhandarkar and Shapurji Edalji . As per historian W. H. McLeod and Louis Fenech, Khatri is a Punjabi form of the word Kshatriya. Peter Hardy and A. R. Desai also agree that Khatri is derived from Kshatriya. Despite

1260-599: Is another sort of gentiles whom they call Catry, the town is properly their country and from thence they spread all over the Indies." According to Dr. Madhu Tyagi, Thevenot is referring to Hindu Khatri caste here. The last caste-based census was conducted by the British in 1931 which regarded Khatri and Arora as a different caste. During 1931, Khatris were prominent in the West Punjab and North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP), which

1344-658: Is now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). The Khatris spoke Hindko and Potohari language. Highest percentage concentration of Khatris (excluding Aroras) were in Potohar regions of Jhelum and Rawalpindi . In NWFP, the Khatris were found mainly in Peshawer and Hazara . Arora-Khatris were centered in Multan and Derajat regions of Punjab and NWFP . In the NWFP, the Aroras which are considered

1428-432: Is said to have travelled far and wide across Asia teaching people the message of Ik Onkar ( ੴ , 'One God'), who dwells in every one of his creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. With this concept, he would set up a unique spiritual , social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue. Nanak's words are registered in the form of 974 poetic hymns , or shabda , in

1512-631: Is supported by the Guru Granth Sahib. Bhai Gurdas says: ਗੁਰ ਪਰਮੇਸਰੁ ਇਕੁ ਹੈ ਸਚਾ ਸਾਹੁ ਜਗਤੁ ਵਣਜਾਰਾ। The Guru and God are one; He is the true master and the whole world craves for Him. Additionally, in the Guru Granth Sahib, it is stated: ਨਾਨਕ ਸੇਵਾ ਕਰਹੁ ਹਰਿ ਗੁਰ ਸਫਲ ਦਰਸਨ ਕੀ ਫਿਰਿ ਲੇਖਾ ਮੰਗੈ ਨ ਕੋਈ ॥੨॥ O Nanak, serve the Guru, the Lord Incarnate; the Blessed Vision of His Darshan is profitable, and in

1596-440: Is supposed to slice the thick branch or stem of a Jandi Tree (Prosopis cineraria) in one blow using a sword. During the pregnancy period of a female, a baby shower ceremony called "reetan" or "goadbharai" is carried out amongst Khatris and Aroras. During the event, gifts are showered to the pregnant mother from family and friends among other traditions. Harish Damodaran says the rise of Khatri industrialists in post-1947 India

1680-423: Is the janamsakhi attributed to Bhai Mani Singh , a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh who was approached by some Sikhs with a request that he should prepare an authentic account of Nanak's life. As such, it is said that Bhai Mani Singh wrote his story with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Nanak. One popular janamsakhi was allegedly written by Bhai Bala , a close companion of Nanak. However,

1764-604: Is to protect the oppressed from the aggression of the oppressors". According to scholars, the Khatri Hindus dominated the weaving industry in Benaras. When the first caravan of Muslim weavers arrived in Benaras , the Khatri, who were considered low-caste Hindus at the time, helped them. The Muslims had to depend on the Khatri weavers because the Muslims found it difficult to interact with

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1848-771: The Dallewallia Misl , an independent 18th century Sikh sovereign state in Ludhiana and Jalandhar district that would later on join Maharaja Ranjit Singh's kingdom. In the Sikh Empire, Hari Singh Nalwa (1791–1837) an Uppal Khatri from Gujranwala , became the Commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army . He led the Sikh conquests of Kasur , Sialkot , Attock , Multan , Kashmir , Peshawar and Jamrud . He

1932-752: The Indian Armed Forces since 1947, with many heading it as the Chief of Army or Admiral of the Navy . Some such as Vikram Batra and Arun Khetarpal have won India's highest wartime gallantry award, the Param Vir Chakra . The word khatri , in the Hindi Language , comes from the Sanskrit " kshatriya ", according to the Śabdasāgara Lexicon by Shyamasundara Dasa. According to B. N. Puri , philologists agree that

2016-522: The Miharban version. Some of the stories about Guru Nanak's extensive travels first appear in the 19th-century Puratan janamsakhi, though even this version does not mention Nanak's travel to Baghdad. Such embellishments and insertion of new stories, according to Callewaert and Snell (1993), closely parallel claims of miracles by Islamic pirs found in Sufi tadhkirahs of the same era, giving reason to believe that these legends may have been written in

2100-750: The Sikh Empire , many Khatris formed the military vanguard of the Khalsa Army and its administrative class as Dewans of all the provinces. Hari Singh Nalwa , the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army, was an Uppal Khatri and responsible for most of the Sikh conquests up until the Khyber pass . Others such as Mokham Chand commanded the Sikh Army against the Durrani Empire at Attock while those such as Sawan Mal Chopra ruled Multan after wrestling it from

2184-502: The Vilayat Vali janamsakhi . Gurbilas Patashahi 6, written 1718, also attributed to Bhai Mani Singh contradicts Mani Singh’s Janamsakhi as it instead says Guru Nanak was born on the full moon of Katak. The Sikh records state that Nanak died on the 10th day of the Asauj month of Samvat 1596 (22 September 1539 CE), at the age of 70 years, 5 months, and 7 days. This further suggests that he

2268-601: The harvest festival of Baisakhi. Therefore, holding Nanak's birth anniversary celebrations immediately after Vaisakhi would have resulted in thin attendance, and therefore, smaller donations for the Sikh shrines. On the other hand, by the Kattak full moon day, the major Hindu festival of Diwali was already over, and the peasants—who had surplus cash from crop sales—were able to donate generously. Nanak's parents, father Kalyan Chand Das Bedi (commonly shortened to Mehta Kalu ) and mother Mata Tripta , were both Hindu Khatris and employed as merchants. His father, in particular,

2352-490: The 15th century. The second theory states that Nanak was a Guru , not a prophet. According to Singha (2009): Sikhism does not subscribe to the theory of incarnation or the concept of prophet hood. But it has a pivotal concept of Guru. He is not an incarnation of God, not even a prophet. He is an illumined soul. The third theory is that Guru Nanak is the incarnation of God. This has been supported by many Sikhs including Bhai Gurdas , Bhai Vir Singh , Santhok Singh and

2436-663: The 19th and 20th century, and exist in many versions. In 1508, Nanak visited the Sylhet region in Bengal . The janamsakhis suggest that Nanak visited the Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya in 1510–11 CE. The Baghdad inscription remains the basis of writing by Indian scholars that Guru Nanak journeyed in the Middle East, with some claiming he visited Jerusalem , Mecca , Vatican , Azerbaijan and Sudan . The hagiographic details are

2520-642: The Afghans. During the British colonial era, they also served as lawyers and engaged in administrative jobs in the colonial bureaucracy. Some of them served in the British Indian army after being raised as Sikhs. During the Partition of British India in 1947, Khatris migrated enmasse to India from the regions that comprise modern-day Pakistan. Hindu Afghans and Sikh Afghans are predominantly of Khatri and Arora origin. Khatris have played an active role in

2604-514: The Brahmin scribes who discontinued the use of Persian and started using Marathi in the Deccan. According to McLane, them being a trading group, had spread into many parts of India, possibly long before the 1700s and to Bengal, possibly even before the Mughals arrived. According to a 17th-century legend, Khatris continued their military service until the time of Aurangzeb , when their mass death during

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2688-502: The Guru in a miserable state and said "Oh lord! I prefer death to thirst but will not approach Wali the egoist." The Guru replied "Oh Bhai Mardana ji! Repeat the Name of God, the Almighty; and drink the water to your heart's content." The Guru put aside a big rock lying nearby and a pure fountain of water sprang up and began to flow endlessly. Bhai Mardana quenched his thirst and felt grateful to

2772-447: The Guru. On the other hand, the fountain of Shah Wali Qandhari dried up. On witnessing this, the Wali in his rage threw a part of a mountain towards the Guru from the top of the hill. The Guru stopped the hurled rock. Clear, fresh spring water gushes out from somewhere behind the rock and spills over into a very large pool. An imprint of a right hand was carved on the rock while it was built in

2856-510: The Imperial Services, specifically in the departments of accountancy (siyaq), draftsmanship (insha) and offices of the revenue minister (diwan). In the 15th century, the Sikh religion was founded by Guru Nanak , a Bedi Khatri. The second guru, Guru Angad was a Trehan Khatri. The third guru, Guru Amar Das was a Bhalla Khatri. The fourth through tenth gurus were all Sodhi Khatris. During

2940-409: The Kattak birth tradition. It is the only Janamsakhi that does. Bhai Bala is said to have obtained Nanak's horoscope from Nanak's uncle Lalu, according to which, Nanak was born on a date corresponding to 20 October 1469 CE. However, this janamsakhi was written by Handalis—a sect of Sikhs who followed a Sikh-convert known as Handal—attempting to depict the founder as superior to Nanak. According to

3024-651: The Kattak month in November. The earliest record of such a celebration in Nankana Sahib is from 1868 CE. There may be several reasons for the adoption of the Kattak birthdate by the Sikh community. For one, it may have been the date of Nanak's enlightenment or "spiritual birth" in 1496, as suggested by the Dabestan-e Mazaheb . Some of the sources that support the Katak birthday incident: The Bala Janamasakhi supports

3108-529: The Khatri men since the seventeenth century. In the early 19th century, the Khatris, Bhatias and Lohanas were the main trading castes in Rajasthan , Delhi , Agra , Sind and Punjab . Banking, trading and business were considered "traditional occupations of the Khatri in Rajasthan". According to Prakash Tandon , during Khatri weddings, a ritual is carried out to test the Khatri groom's strength. The groom

3192-624: The Khatri weavers in Gujarat trace their ancestry to either Champaner ( Panch Mahals District ) or Hinglaj (Sindh) and the community genealogists believe that the migration happened during the late sixteenth' century. Suraiya Faroqhi , writes that, in 1742 Gujarat, the Khatris had protested the immigration of Muslim weavers by refusing to deliver cloth to the East India Company. In another case Khatris taught weaving to Kunbis due to receiving excessive orders who soon became strong competitors to

3276-604: The Khatris much to their chagrin. In the mid-1770s, the Mughal governor granted the Kunbi rivals rights to manufacture saris . This licence was later revoked in 1800 due to pressure from the British, after a deal was struck between the Khatris and the East India Company , in which the Khatris would weave only for the EIC until certain quotas were met. The Gujarat Sultanate (1407–1523) was

3360-418: The Mughal style by Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839). Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi : ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: [gʊɾuː naːnəkᵊ] , pronunciation ), also known as Bābā Nānak ('Father Nānak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus . Nanak

3444-432: The Mughals and shaving their beards - was that the Khatris became still more important to the Mughal rulers as administrators at various levels, in particular because of their skills in financial management and their connections with bankers. Khatri standards of literacy and caste status were such during the early years of Sikhism that, according to W. H. McLeod , they dominated it. Historian Douglas E. Hanes states that

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3528-468: The Muslim and Kunbi weavers purchased imported yarn in the 1840s. In Mandvi , the silk products were highly valued and the Khatri dyers would work in the pits on the bank of the river Rukmavati because the water was supposed to have special properties to give steadfast colours. These products were often exported to east Africa. In Dhamadka, Kutch , "block printing cloth" was the traditional occupation of

3612-613: The Punjab plains. In the 1830s, Khatris were working as governors in the districts like Bardhaman , Lahore , Multan , Peshawar and Hazara , but independent from the Mughal rule. In Punjab, they were moneylenders, shopkeepers and grain-dealers among other professions. A Peshkari Khatri family in Hyderabad State would become part of the Hyderabadi nobility and occupy the post of Prime Minister of Hyderabad. Notable individuals of

3696-559: The Punjabi word " khattrī ", meaning "warrior", derives from Sanskrit " kṣatriya ", whereas the Gujarati word " khātrī ", meaning "a caste of Hindu weavers", derives from Sanskrit " kṣattr̥ ", meaning "carver, distributor". John Stratton Hawley and Mann clarify that although the word "Khatri" derives from the word "Kshatriya", in Punjab's context Khatri refers to a "cluster of merchant castes including Bedis, Bhallas and Sodhis". Purnima Dhavan sees

3780-534: The age of 70. According to Sikh hagiography , his body was never found. When the quarreling Hindus and Muslims tugged at the sheet covering his body, they found instead a heap of flowers—and so Nanak’s simple faith would, in course of time, flower into a religion, beset by its own contradictions and customary practices. During first quarter of the 16th century, Nanak went on long udasiya ('journeys') for spiritual pursuits. A verse authored by him states that he visited several places in " nau-khand " ('the nine regions of

3864-507: The autobiography of the last Sikh Guru, Gobind Singh , but possibly not so, the Bedi sub-caste of the Khatris derives its lineage from Kush , the son of Rama (according to Hindu epic Ramayana ). Similarly, according to the same legend, the Sodhi sub-caste claims descent from Lav , the other son of Rama. In Guru Granth Sahib , the primary scripture of Sikhism , Khatri is mentioned as one among

3948-457: The city. Historian Stephen Dale states that most of the 10,000 (as estimated by Jean Chardin ) Indian merchants and money-lenders in Isfahan (Iran) in 1670, belonged to the Khatri caste of Punjab and north-west India. In Iran's Bazaar 's, Khatris sold cloth and various items and also practised money-lending. Dale believes that Khatris had possibly been travelling from Punjab via caravans since

4032-702: The claim as originating from a conflation of the phonetically similar words khatri and kshatriya, but refers to Khatris as a "trading caste" of the Sikh Gurus. Baij Nath Puri mentions that the modern descendants of these Kathaiois, Khathrois & Khatriaoi tribes mentioned by the Greeks in West Punjab are the Khatris of India. According to S. Sasikanta Sastri , Greek historians have mentioned that Alexander faced stiffed resistance from Indian army of "Kathiyo" warriors. Sastri further adds that "even in present day modern-India,

4116-432: The dominant commercial and financial administration class of late-medieval India. Some in Punjab often belonged to hereditary agriculturalist land-holding lineages, while others were engaged in artisanal occupations such as silk production and weaving. Khatris of Punjab, specifically, were scribes and traders during the medieval period, with the Gurumukhi script used in writing the Punjabi language deriving from

4200-479: The earth'), presumably the major Hindu and Muslim pilgrimage centres. Some modern accounts state that he visited Tibet , most of South Asia , and Arabia , starting in 1496 at age 27, when he left his family for a thirty-year period. These claims include Nanak's visit to Mount Sumeru of Indian mythology , as well as Mecca , Baghdad , Achal Batala , and Multan , where he would debate religious ideas with opposing groups. These stories became widely popular in

4284-404: The emperor's Deccan Campaign caused him to order their widows to be remarried . The order was made out of sympathy for the widows but when the Khatri community leaders refused to obey it, Aurangzeb terminated their military service and said that they should be shopkeepers and brokers. This legend is probably fanciful: McLane notes that a more likely explanation for their revised position was that

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4368-514: The end, you shall not be called to account. ||2|| Guru Ram Das says: ਗੁਰ ਗੋਵਿੰਦੁ ਗੋੁਵਿੰਦੁ ਗੁਰੂ ਹੈ ਨਾਨਕ ਭੇਦੁ ਨ ਭਾਈ ॥੪॥੧॥੮॥ Khatri Khatri is a caste originating from the Malwa and Majha areas of Punjab region of South Asia that is predominantly found in India , but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan . The Khatris claim they are warriors who took to trade. In the Indian subcontinent , they were mostly engaged in mercantile professions such as banking and trade. They were

4452-450: The era of Ziauddin Barani (around 1300 AD). Chardin specifically stereotyped and expressed disapproval of the money-lending techniques of the Khatri community. According to Dale, this racist criticism was ironic given Chardin's non-English background but adds that it was Chardin's way of giving an "ethnic explanation" to the economic disparity between Iran and India at that time. According to Bichitra Natak , traditionally said to be

4536-415: The etymology, Hardy says that Khatri is "a mercantile class" and Desai says the Khatris were "traditionally tradesmen and government officials". Dr. Dharamvir Bharati comments that in Punjabi language, Kshatriya is pronounced as Khatri. As per Dr. GS Mansukhani and RC Dogra, "Khatri appears to be unquestionably a Prakritised form of Sanskrit word Kshatriya." According to philologist Ralph Lilley Turner ,

4620-457: The exact limits of Khatri occupation to the West, but certainly in all Eastern Afghanistan they seem to be just as much part of the community as they are in the Punjab. They find their way into Central Asia." The Khatris took on a prominent role in the emerging Sikh milieu of post-Mughal Punjab. According to the Khalsa Durbar Records, Maharaja Ranjit Singh 's army was composed of majorly Jats followed by Khatris. Sardar Gulab Singh Khatri founded

4704-439: The family include Maharaja Kishen Prasad , GCIE who would serve as Prime Minister of the State twice. In Hyderabad , around the mid-20th century, Khatris and Padmasalis were the leading "Hindu weaving castes" who owned 43% of the looms . The Khatris specialised in silk, while the Padmasalis in cotton weaving. In Gujarat , during the colonial rule, Khatris contributed greatly to the weaving industry there. They as well as

4788-549: The four varnas . ਖਤ੍ਰੀ ਬ੍ਰਾਹਮਣ ਸੂਦ ਵੈਸ ਉਪਦੇਸੁ ਚਹੁ ਵਰਨਾ ਕਉ ਸਾਝਾ ॥ (SGGS, ang 747) Khatri brahman sud vais updesu cahu varna ku sanjha Kshatriyas , Brahmins , Shudras and Vaishyas all have the same mandate Guru Gobind Singh , said the following in a swayya : Chattri ko poot ho, Baman ko naheen kayee tap aavat ha jo karon; Ar aur janjaar jito greh ko tohe tyaag, kahan chit taan mai dharon, Ab reejh ke deh vahey humko jo-oo, hau binti kar jor karoon ; Jab aao ki audh nidaan bane, att hi ran main tab jujh maroon. I am

4872-401: The full moon of Katak. Nanak Chandrodaya Sanskrit Janamsakhi from 1797 and Janam Sakhi Baba Nanak by Sant Das Chibber from the 18th century both mention Guru Nanak being born on the full moon of katak. Gurpur Parkash Granth written by Sant Ren Singh based on a granth written by Binod Singh states Guru Nanak was born on the full moon of Katak. According to Max Arthur Macauliffe (1909),

4956-480: The groups of Ranbaxy , Hero , Mahindra , Ballarpur Industries , Apollo Tyres and Oberoi respectively. They have also co-founded companies like Snapdeal , Hotmail , YesBank , IndiaToday , AajTak , IndiGo Airlines , Sun Microsystems , Max Group etc. Punjabi Khatris and others, together with the traditionally "urban and professional" castes, formed a part of the elite middle class immediately after independence in 1947. According to P. K. Verma, "Education

5040-424: The high-caste Hindus directly at the time. Since these new immigrant Muslims were cheap labour, the Khatris took over marketing and thus transited from weavers to traders over time. The Muslims, who learned the technique of weaving from them, soon came to be known as Chira-i-Baaf or 'fine cloth weavers'. In Bengal, Burdwan Raj (1657–1955) was a Khatri dynasty, which gained a high social position for Khatris in

5124-442: The holy religious scripture of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib , with some of the major prayers being the Japji Sahib ( jap , 'to recite'; ji and sahib are suffixes signifying respect); the Asa di Var ('Ballad of Hope'); and the Sidh Gosht ('Discussion with the Siddhas '). It is part of Sikh religious belief that the spirit of Nanak's sanctity , divinity, and religious authority had descended upon each of

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5208-465: The janamsakhis. Nanak's teachings can be found in the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib , as a collection of verses recorded in Gurmukhi . There are three competing theories on Nanak's teachings. The first, according to Cole and Sambhi (1995, 1997), based on the hagiographical Janamsakhis , states that Nanak's teachings and Sikhism were revelations from God, and not a social protest movement, nor an attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam in

5292-480: The land Khatris originally belonged to had very little industry and rail infrastructure until the 20th century and hence were not comparable to merchant groups like Banias in terms of scale and spread of operation. Before independence they were only regional players and their rise in phenomenal proportions was a post-independence feature. Since then, they have produced leading entities in fields of pharmaceuticals, two-wheelers, tractors, paper, tyre-making and hotels with

5376-498: The late 17th century and, in the 1830s, Elphinstone , was informed that Khatris were still highly involved in northwest India's trade and that they maintained communities throughout Afghanistan and as far away as Astrakhan ". According to Kiran Datar, they often married Tatar local women in Astrakhan and the children from these marriages were known as Agrijan . As per Stephen Dale, the children born out of Indo-Turkic alliance were in sufficient number to form an Agrizhan suburb in

5460-451: The majority of Khatris and were deemed superior. This was followed by Sareen Khatris who formed a minority. Another sub-group of Khatris include Khukhrain which had split up from the bunjayees . (Bunjahis) Emperor Jahangir in his autobiography Jahangirnama while talking about the castes, he observed "The second highest caste (after Brahmins in the caste system) is the Chhatri which is also known as Khattri. The Chhatri caste's purpose

5544-410: The members of the country's indigenous Khatri population who resisted the conversion from Buddhism to Islam between 9th and 13th centuries. Later, they aligned themselves to the teachings of Guru Nanak, himself a Khatri and converted to Sikhism. Hence, Khatris of Afghanistan are in no way of "Indian origin" but are components of the original population of the region. George Campbell says "I do not know

5628-433: The miracle stories in Sufi literature about their pirs . Other direct and indirect borrowings in the Sikh janamsakhis relating to legends around his journeys are from Hindu epics and puranas , and Buddhist Jataka stories . The earliest biographical sources on Nanak's life recognised today are the janamsakhis ('birth stories'), which recount the circumstances of his birth in extended detail. Gyan-ratanavali

5712-444: The nine subsequent Gurus when the Guruship was devolved on to them. His birthday is celebrated as Guru Nanak Gurpurab , annually across India. Nanak was born on 15 April 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Dī Talvaṇḍī village (present-day Nankana Sahib , Punjab , Pakistan) in the Lahore province of the Delhi Sultanate , although according to one tradition, he was born in the Indian month of Kārtik or November, known as Kattak in Punjabi . He

5796-425: The one witnessed by Rai Bular , in which the sleeping child's head was shaded from the harsh sunlight by, in one account, by the stationary shadow of a tree or, in another, by a venomous cobra. Nanaki , Nanak's only sister, was five years older than him. In 1475, she married and moved to Sultanpur . Jai Ram, Nanaki's husband, was employed at a modikhana (a storehouse for revenues collected in non-cash form), in

5880-507: The region while his son Diwan Mulraj Chopra , (1814-1851) the last Punjabi ruler of Multan led a Sikh rebellion against British suzerainty over Multan after the fall of the Sikh Empire in the Anglo-Sikh Wars . He was arrested after the Siege of Multan and put to death. Purnima Dhawan described that together with Jat community, the Khatris gained considerably from the expansion of the Mughal empire, although both groups supported Guru Hargobind in his campaign for Sikh self-government in

5964-492: The region resulting in greater migration of Khatris from North to Bengal. When Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Bengal in 1666, he was welcomed by the local Khatris, thereby supporting earlier waves of migration of Khatris to Bengal as well. Historian Muzaffar Alam describes the Khatris of Punjab as a "scribe and trading caste". They occupied positions in revenue collection and record keeping and learnt Persian during Mughal era. However, this profession often created conflicts with

6048-614: The service of the Delhi Sultanate 's Lahore governor Daulat Khan , at which Ram would help Nanak get a job. Nanak moved to Sultanpur, and started working at the modikhana around the age of 16. As a young man, Nanak married Sulakhani , daughter of Mūl Chand (aka Mula) and Chando Raṇi. They were married on 24 September 1487, in the town of Batala , and would go on to have two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand (or Lakhmi Das). Nanak lived in Sultanpur until c. 1500, which would be

6132-432: The son of a Chhatri (Khatri), not of a Brahmin and I will live according to my Dharma . All other complications of life are meaningless for me, and I set my heart on the path of righteousness. I humbly beseech thee God Almighty that when the time comes for me to fulfill my Dharma, may I die with honour in the field of battle. French traveller Thevenot visited India during the 1600s where he commented "At Multan , there

6216-512: The stone is not a reliable evidence that Nanak visited Baghdad in early 16th century. Moreover, beyond the stone, no evidence or mention of his journey in the Middle East has been found in any other Middle Eastern textual or epigraphical records. Claims have been asserted of additional inscriptions, but no one has been able to locate and verify them. Novel claims about his travels, as well as claims such as his body vanishing after his death, are also found in later versions and these are similar to

6300-596: The terms "khatri" and "kshatriya" are synonymous. The Sanskrit conjunct ksha (क्ष) turns into the Prakrit kha (ख), as per the grammarian Vararuchi . This change is not only accepted in Prakrit, but in all Indian vernaculars derived by it, such as Gujarati , Urdu , Gurumukhi as well as Farsi or Persian . Certain Sanskrit words have very close counterparts, such as: kshetra (kheta), kshama (khama), laksha (lakha), and iksha (ikha). The substituition of ri (ऋ) from riya

6384-562: The time of his death, Nanak had acquired several followers in the Punjab region , although it is hard to estimate their number based on the extant historical evidence. The followers of Nanak were called Kartārīs (meaning 'the people who belonged to the village of Kartarpur') by others. Nanak appointed Bhai Lehna as the successor Guru , renaming him as Guru Angad , meaning "one's very own" or "part of you". Shortly after proclaiming his successor, Nanak died on 22 September 1539 in Kartarpur , at

6468-662: The wildest tribes. They are wholly occupied in trade and form numerous portion of the population of all the cities and towns, and are also to be found in the majority of large villages." Apart from Punjab , Khatris arrived in Delhi and Haryana among other regions after the partition where they make up 9% and 8.0% of the population respectively. Historically, Khatris were divided into various hierarchal endogamous sections. This includes u rhai/dhai ghar , char ghar , barah ghar/bahri and bunjayee or bavanjah ghar which translated to House of 2.5, 4, 12 and 52 respectively. They formed

6552-555: The writing style and language employed have left scholars, such as Max Arthur Macauliffe , certain that they were composed after his death. According to such scholars, there are good reasons to doubt the claim that the author was a close companion of Guru Nanak and accompanied him on many of his travels. Bhai Gurdas , a scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib , also wrote about Nanak's life in his vars ('odes'), which were compiled some time after Nanak's life, though are less detailed than

6636-419: Was a consequence initially of the cataclysmic Partition , which pushed them in droves towards Delhi and its neighbourhoods. This exodus opened new opportunities for them. A combination of enterprise, articulation, and strategic closeness to the national capital— which, in itself, was becoming a major growth hub - created conditions for Khatri capital to flourish in the post-Partition period. Damodaran adds that

6720-511: Was born in the month of Vaisakh (April), not Kattak (November). In as late as 1815, during the reign of Ranjit Singh , the festival commemorating Nanak's birthday was held in April at the place of his birth, known by then as Nankana Sahib . However, the anniversary of Nanak's birth—the Gurpurab ( gur + purab , 'celebration')—subsequently came to be celebrated on the full moon day of

6804-642: Was born into the Khatri Punjabi clan like all of the Sikh gurus . Specifically, Guru Nanak was a Bedi Khatri . Most janamsakhis ( ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ , 'birth stories'), or traditional biographies of Nanak, mention that he was born on the third day of the bright lunar fortnight , in the Baisakh month (April) of Samvat 1526. These include the Puratan ('traditional' or 'ancient') janamsakhi , Miharban janamsakhi , Gyan-ratanavali by Bhai Mani Singh , and

6888-543: Was born on the full moon of Katak. Gurbilas Patashahi 6 written 1718 attributed to Bhai Mani Singh says Guru Nanak was born on the full moon of Katak. Meham Parkash written in 1776 also says Guru Nanak was born on the full moon of Katak. Kesar Singh Chibber’s Bansavalinama Dasan Patashahia Ka meaning genealogy of the ten emperors, written in 1769, says Guru Nanak was born on the full moon of Katak as well. Gurpurnali written in 1727 and Guru Tegh Bahadur Malwe da Safar written in 1716 both mention Guru Nanank being born on

6972-756: Was responsible for expanding the frontier of Sikh Empire to beyond the Indus River , up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass . At the time of his death, the western boundary of the empire was Jamrud. Dewan Mokham Chand (1750-1814) became one of the most distinguished leaders of the Khalsa Army. He was the commander in chief of armies in Battle of Attock which defeated Durrani Empire Wazir Fateh Khan and Dost Mohammad Khan Other Khatris like Diwan Sawan Mal Chopra served as governors of Lahore and Multan , after helping conquer

7056-432: Was the local patwari (accountant) for crop revenue in the village of Talwandi . Nanak's paternal grandfather was named Shiv Ram Bedi and his great-grandfather was Ram Narayan Bedi. According to Sikh traditions, the birth and early years of Nanak's life were marked with many events that demonstrated that Nanak had been blessed with divine grace. Commentaries on his life give details of his blossoming awareness from

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