| Kahn Singh Nabha | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 30, 1861 Sabaz Banera, Patiala State[1] |
| Died | November 24, 1938 (aged 77) Nabha, Nabha State |
Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha(ਭਾਈ ਕਾਨ੍ਹ ਸਿਂਘ ਨਾਭਾ )(August 30, 1861- November 24, 1938) was a Sikh lexicographer and encyclopedist. His most influential work, Mahan Kosh, inspired generations of scholars after him.[1] He also played a role in the Singh Sabha movement.
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He was born to Narain Singh and Har Kaur in a Dhillon Jatt family at the village of Sabaz Banera, located in what was then Patiala State.[1] His father, Narain Singh succeeded to the charge of Gurdwara Dera Baba Ajaypal Singh at Nabha, after the death of his grandfather Sarup Singh in 1861.[1] Kahn Singh was the eldest of three brothers (the other two being Meehan Singh and Bishan Singh) and one sister (Kahn Kaur).
He did not attend any school or college for formal education, but studied several branches of learning on his own. By the age of 10 he was able to quote freely from the Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth.[1] In Nabha, he studied sanskrit classics with local pandits and studied under the famous musicologist Mahant Gajja Singh.[1] In Delhi, he studied persian with Mawlawis.[1]
In 1883, he continued his study of persian for two years and assisted Bhai Gurmukh Singh, a leader in the Singh Sabha Movement, in publishing Sudhararak.[1] In 1887, he was appointed the tutor to Ripudaman Singh, heir apparent to Nabha State. He continued to serve Nabha State in several capacities, from the personal secretary of Maharaja Hira Singh to judge of the High Court.[1] From 1915-1917, He also served Patiala State.[1]
In 1885, he had a chance meeting with Max Arthur Macauliffe which led to a lifelong friendship as well as scholarly collaboration between the two. When Max Arthur Macauliffe was researching his six volume work entitled "The Sikh Religion", Kahn Singh helped Macauliffe in his study of Sikh scriptures and the history of early Sikhism.[1] When it was published by the Clarendon Press Kahn Singh was assigned the copyright of the work.[1]
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His books Gurmat Prabhakar and Gurmat Sudhakar are the standard guide books for understanding Sikhism. His work Mahan Kosh (known as the Sikh encyclopedia) is his magnum opus. He published magazine"Khalsa Gazzete" and is also regarded as one of the founders of the weekly newspaper Khalsa Akhbar. Some of his famous works which are believed to be have accomplished between the years 1882 and 1911 are as follows:
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