Janamsakhi painting depicting the birth of Guru Nanak

Mehta Kalu, formally Kalyan Chand, (1440–1522) was the father of

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also known as ('Father Nanak'), was an Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is t ...

, the founder of

Sikhism Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...

Names

Various names are used to refer to Guru Nanak's father, some of which are: 'Mehta Kalu', 'Kalu Rai', 'Kalu Chand', 'Kalian Rai', and 'Kalian Chand'.

Biography

Early life

Kalu was born in 1440 as 'Kalyan Das' to Shiv Ram Bedi (b. 1418) and Mata Banarasi in a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Khatri Khatri () is a caste system in India, caste originating from the Malwa (Punjab), 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 war ...

family of the Bedi ''

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

''. Kalu's paternal grandfather was Ram Narayan Bedi. Mehta Kalu was born in the village of Patthe Vind (now extinct, was formerly located at the present-day site of Gurdwara Dera Sahib, approximately six miles east of Naushahra Pannuan). Mehta Kalu's family later moved to the village of Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib) where Shiv Ram Bedi found employment as the village '' patwari'' (revenue official). Kalu was the eldest of two sons, his younger brother was named Baba Lalu (1444–1542). Lalu was born in Talwandi rather than in Patthe Vind. Kalu would take over the role of village patwari from his father after his father died. Thus, he served as the '' patwari'' (accountant) of crop revenue for the village of Talwandi in the employment of the

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

(landlord), Rai Bular Bhatti.

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, reading view

Marriage

He married a girl named Tripta in 1460. Two offspring were born from the couple, a daughter named Nanaki and a son named Nanak.

Death

Kalu died at the age of 82 at Kartarpur, a locality that had been established by his son.

Notes

References

Punjabi Sikhs Family members of the Sikh gurus People from Tarn Taran district 1440 births 1522 deaths 15th-century Indian people 16th-century Indian people {{sikh-bio-stub