Baba Dayal (17 May 1783 – 30 January 1855), also spelt as Baba Dyal, was a non-Khalsa,

Sahajdhari A sahajdhari (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਸਹਜਧਾਰੀ ; Meaning "spiritual state of equilibrium adopter"; alternatively spelt as sehajdhari) Sikh is a person who believes in Sikhism but is not an Amritdhari. A Sahajdhari adheres to th ...

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

reformer whose main mission was to bring Sikhs back to the Adi Granth and Simran. He was the founder of the

Nirankari Nirankari (, ''lit.'' "formless one") is a Sects of Sikhism, sect of Sikhism.Harbans Singh, Editor-in-Chief (201Nirankaris Encyclopedia of Sikhism Volume III, Punjabi University, Patiala, pages 234–235 It was a reform movement founded by Bab ...

sect of Sikhism.

Biography

Early life

Dyal Singh was born in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

on 17 May 1783 and was the son of a banker named Ram Sahai and Ladikki, daughter of Vasakha Singh of Rohtas. His father died while he was a baby. Growing up, he was educated in

Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). Commonly regarded as a Sikh script, Gurmukhi is used in Punjab, India as the official scrip ...

, Persian, and

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

Religious career

After the death of his mother in 1802, he moved to

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, where he worked as a

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

. It is during this time that his religious preaching began to the local Sikh congregations at two gurdwaras. At the age of 18, it is claimed he heard a voice inside his head telling him to preach against ritualism, expel the darkness of ignorance, and that he was the true Nirankari. This event is taken as a sign of enlightenment. His message was that

ritualism A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

and practices, which had been firmly spurned by the

Sikh gurus The Sikh gurus (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ; Hindi: सिख गुरु) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established the religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year ...

, were seeping back into the religion again, much to his dismay. One of the things he spoke out against the most was the use of images as a means of worship, as he believed this was against the Sikh tenet of the Divine being ''Nirankar'' (meaning "formless" or "shapeless"). During the rise of the Sikh Empire, many Hindu practices had entered into Sikhism, which may have spurned his reaction against such practices. Thus, him and his growing group of followers became known as the ''Nirankaris''.'''' His own marriage in the year 1808 may have been the first recorded instance of the now-mainstream Sikh wedding tradition, known as the '' Lavan'' and '' Anand.'' This act was revolutionary as he did not invite a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

priest to the wedding and instead chose verses of the Sikh scripture,

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib (, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion. The Adi Granth (), its first rendition, w ...

, to be read out during the occasion.'''' Dyal was also against gross displays of personal wealth by the upper-classes of Sikh society, such as by royals.'''' He reiterated the Sikh teaching of '' Kirat Karo'', or honest living.'''' He also had aniconistic ideals as he was against the use of idols as a means of worship.'''' He was against the worship of Indic deities by Sikhs. He promoted filial piety, where children revered and respected their begetter.'''' He was anti-narcotics and was opposed to the use of intoxicants.'''' He preferred simple and humble religious ceremonies rather than profligate ones.'''' He promoted '' naam simran'' and ''naam japna'' as a vital practice for Sikhs. He preached about the centrality of the holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, as the focus and aim for Sikhs to direct themselves spiritually towards and the importance of its message. He did not preach nor practice

renunciation Renunciation (or renouncing) is the act of rejecting something, particularly something that the renunciant has previously enjoyed or endorsed. In religion, renunciation often indicates an abandonment of pursuit of material comforts, in the inte ...

. Most of his followers were shopkeepers and traders. After being refused entry to one of his local gurdwaras he was known to preach at due to his controversial teachings, he decided to establish his own '' durbar'' (court) by purchasing land and constructing a small structure there.'''' It is said that

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia M ...

of the

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

once visited him.'''' His sect was opposed by the Bedi descendents of Guru Nanak and the Brahmin caste.

Death and successor

Dyal died on 30 January 1855 and his eldest son, Darbara Singh, succeeded him as leader of the Nirankari sect and whom responsible for collecting and recording his father's teachings.'''' His successor spread the teachings of the sect outside of the Rawalpindi area.''''

References

External links