Bir Bhan

Bir Bhan (1543–?), also spelt Birbhan, was a Dalit religious leader who was the founder of the first Satnami movement.[1] He was a contemporary of Dadu and was influenced by Ravidas.[1][2] He was the disciple of Uda Das.

Biography

Bir Bhan was born in Bijesar near Narnaul in 1543.[1][3][4] Bir Bhan had been influenced by Kabirpanth.[5] According to an account of the Satnamis recorded by H. H. Wilson, Bir Bhan received a divine message from a satguru named Udaidas.[6] As per Madan Gopal Gupta, Udai was a disciple of Ravidas and Bir Bhan became a disciple of Udai.[3] Bir Bhan was a monotheist who used the moniker satnam for the divine, rejecting idolatry and casteism. He believed that meditation and living an honest-life was a way to experience unity with divinity.[1] Some sources claim Bir Bhan died in 1620.[3]

Bir Bhan founded the Satnampanth at Narnaul in present-day Haryana on 21 April 1657.[note 1][7][5] Most of the followers of his sect drew from the Chamar caste. Followers of the sect refused to observe caste, were anti-authoratarian, and against the rich. Mughal historian Khafi Khan estamated that the Satnamis consisted of four or five thousand agricultural and mercantile families in the Narnaul and Mewat regions.[5] In 1672, the movement rebelled against the Mughals in Punjab and Haryana (principally at Narnaul and Bairat) regarding taxation and were defeated, with the sect being nearly destroyed under Aurangzeb.[7][5] Survivors of the sect may have contributed to the formulation of the later Sadh sect.[8][9] Later Satnami revivalist leaders were Jagjivandas in Uttar Pradesh and Ghasidas in Chhattisgarh.[7]

Notes

  1. ^ The Bikrami date for the founding of the sect is V.S. 1714 Baisakh Sudi Dwadashi, Sukarwar.

References

  1. ^ a b c d Raychoudhry, S. C. (1978). Social, Cultural, and Economic History of India: Medieval Age. Surjeet Publications. p. 98.
  2. ^ Grierson, George Abraham (1908). "Sadhs". In Hastings, James (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. XI: Sacrifice-Sudra. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 46–47.
  3. ^ a b c Gupta, Madan Gopal (1993). Indian Mysticism: Rigveda to Radhasoami Faith. M.G. Publishers. p. 198. ISBN 9788185532158.
  4. ^ Prakasam, Gnana (1998). Social Separatism: Scheduled Castes and the Caste System. Rawat Publications. p. 63. ISBN 9788170334408.
  5. ^ a b c d Sengupta, Arjun (13 June 2024). "Who are the Satnamis, the Dalit religious community with a history of protests". Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  6. ^ Dube, Saurabh (19 March 1998). "2: The Making of Satnampanth, 1780–1850". Untouchable Pasts: Religion, Identity, and Power Among a Central Indian Community, 1780-1950. State University of New York Press. p. 37. ISBN 9780791436882.
  7. ^ a b c Duignan, Brian; Stefon, Matt; Doniger, Wendy; Lotha, Gloria (Apr 26, 2021). "Satnami sect". Britannica. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
  8. ^ "Satnami sect | History, Founder, Satnam Panth, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  9. ^ Lamb, Ramdas (2002-08-29). Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India. SUNY Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7914-5385-8.
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