Nankana Sahib, also known as Raipur and Rai-Bhoi-di-Talwandi is a city in the state of Punjab in present-day Pakistan. It was given the status of a district in 2005. It is famous for being the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, founder of the Sikh religion.Nankana Sahib is a holy place where the founder of Sikh religion, Guru Nanak was born. The township of Nankana Sahib was earlier known as Rai-Bhoe-di-Talwandi but after the birth of Guru Nanak, it began to be known as Nankian Sahib or 'Nankana Sahib'. It is situated at a distance 48 miles on the west from Lahore. The Punjab/ پنجاب province of Pakistan is part of the larger Punjab region. ... Guru Nanak (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ, Devanagari: गुरु नानक) (20 October 1469 - 7 May 1539), the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Gurus of the Sikhs, was born in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore in present-day Pakistan. ... Sikh - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Guru Nanak passed his whole childhood and young age in Nankana Sahib. When he joined a school at Nankana Sahib, the Guru is said to have written fundamentals of education on the wooden 'Takhti' provided to him. He enlightened the people when he wrote simply the first alphabet of Persian script 'alaf' and conveyed the message of unity of Godhood.

To the Sikhs, Nanakana Sahib's status is equal to what the Vatican is to the Christians of the world and Mecca is to the Muslims of the world. Today, a mention of Nankana Sahib Gurdwara in the daily 'ardasa' or prayer has become a regular feature in the Sikh religions worship. The Sikh shrines in Nankana Sahib and the rest of Pakistan are managed by a 'Waqf' Board and every year, Sikh Jathas visit these shrines on four different occasions.

At present there are approx. 100 Sikh families residing in Nankana Sahib out of a total worldwide Sikh population of over 25 million. There is a daily service performed at the Gurdwara's in Nankana Sahib and 'Bani' is recited. Bhai Partap Singh is functioning as the Granthi. At the occasion of Guru Nanak's anniversary, about three thousand Sikh devotees from India visit Nankana Sahib and other Sikhs from all over the world visit Nankana Sahib throughout the year.

 Nankana Sahib is a district of Punjab in Pakistan. Situated about eighty (80) kilometres to the west of Lahore and thirty (30) kilometres from the river Ravi, to its north, it lies in most fertile verdant plains of the Punjab. Nankana Sahib is approx. 40 miles from Faisalabad, 30 miles from Sheikhupura and 50 miles from Gujranwala in the heart of Punjab. The city is highly revered as it is the birth place of Guru Nanak and the city is named 'Nankana Sahib' after Guru Nanak Sahib. 

The existence of a huge mound popularly known as Dhaular (Royal Palace) spreads over approximately half a million square yards at less than half a kilometer from Nankana Sahib. Dhaular has traces of ancient habitation and at its foot to its north is a very old drinking 'Water Well' called Sitawala. Sitawala has deep drawn out stairs built in heavy lime masonary leading to its spring level to provide cold spring water bath to the inmates of the palace. This bears testimony to the antiquity of the place and its having been a territory of a Hindu King, one of whose princesses was Sita, whose name the well bears to this day. The general rise in the spring's water level in these areas has now hidden the stairs. There is another equally old well to the east of the mound known as 'Bala Wala' well, which according to the revenue records of the place derived its name from Bala, a contemporary of Guru Nanak.

Any further excavation of the mound to trace its past history has not been possible so far, as almost the entire mound is covered with Muslim burial tombs and it would be considered a sacrilege to dig up the graves. It is believed that during ancient times, when Kurus and Pandvas fought the battle of Kurukshetra, Raja Varat of Multan had set up an habitation by the name of Kotli at this place. The Dhaular mound with the two wells at its foot are the remnants of Kotli.

Another available historical reference to this place falls about the 15th century when the Lodhi Pathans ruled over northern India. At that time this place was called ' Rai Bhoe Ki Talwandi' and was owned by a Rajput Ruler whose name was Rai Bular Bhatti. Rai Bular was the descendant of Rai Bhoe, the head of the Rajput Bhatti clan, hence the name ' Rai Bhoe Ki Talwandi'. One of the tombs on the mound is that of Rai Bular Bhatti, and the existence of this tomb marked a grave-yard there as early as the fifteenth century for the Rajput Bhatti clan .

In the mid-15th century, Kalyan Dass popularly known as 'Kalu' lived in Rai Bhoe Ki Talwandi. Kalu owned some property in Talwandi and also worked for Rai Bular Bhatti as manager of Rai Sahib's Land records. On the 3rd of the moon-lit half of April 1469 Tripta, Kalu's wife gave birth to a male child who was named Nanak after his elder sister Nanki. Nanki was so named as she had been born at the house of her Nana (grandfather on mother's side) in village Dera Chahal in Lahore district. The divineness about her brother flared up all around when at the age of seven he astonished his teacher Pandit Gopal with his eloquence in explaining deeper truths about man and God and composed an aonstic on the Punjabi alphabet giving divinely inspired interpretation to each letter. He always spoke and sang of one God and his love for Him and being rich in music and melody he cast irresistible spell on all those who listened to him. It was here that at the age of nine he was called upon to put on the sacred thread according to the Hindu tradition by the family priest Hardyal which he refused to do saying that the thread could do him no good and would be burnt with the body on his death. If it was at all necessary to wear one let it be span out of the cotton of Mercy and yarn of Harmony with twists and knots of truthful and temperate living in-fact he discarded all traditional rituals and caste and creed distinctions so scrupulously observed then. His was a God-inspired soul and his magnanimity made all that came into his contact magnanimous.

Rai Bhoe Ki Talwandi, his birth town, came to be known as Nanak-ayan (home of Nanak or Nankana after him and since then it has been called Nankana Sahib (Sahib being a Persian epithet of respect). Nankana Sahib is a town of Gurdwaras (Sikh temples), the most important of these being the 'Nanak's Ayan' called Janam Asthan or Birth place of Nanak. It was earlier known as Kalu's Kotha (Room of Kalu). Pundit Gopal's school, where Nanak had his first lesson is at present known as Gurdwara Patti Sahib and is about 150 yards to the south east of Janam-Asthan; and approximately 50 yards beyond that is Gurdwara Bal Lila, that commemorates the place where the boy Nanak enjoyed the company of his playmates and cast on them a spell with his novel games and sweet and melodious talks. In-fact they felt a strange sort of light emanating from his eyes. These three Gurdwaras were originally constructed by Baba Gurbakhsh Singh under orders of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, when the Maharaja visited the place on his return from Multan after its conquest in the year 1818-1819.

Besides these there are three other Gurdwaras sacred to the memory of the boy Nanak which were built by Rai Bular Bhatti and his descendants. Two of these commemorate Nanak having worked as a herd boy to his father's cows. He would usually lead his cows to the nearby pasture grounds where they would continue grazing. One day while Nanak sat under a shady tree absorbed in meditation, his cattle strayed into a neighboring field and feasted on the luxuriant crop. Enraged beyond measure at his loss, the owner of the farmland complained to Rai Bular, the ruler of that land. Rai Bular sent for Kalu and deputed a man to appraise the loss, but the appraiser 's report on the loss was almost negligible. One of the Gurdwara's stands at that location where this incident happened. This Gurdwara is called Gurdwara Kiara Sahib ('Kiara' means a field).

On another day Guru Nanak let loose his cattle for grazing in the meadow and himself fell sleep under a shady 'Mal' tree. With the change of shade in the afternoon the hot sun rays fell on Nanak's face. A cobra appeared on the scene and shaded Nanak's face with its hood, By chance Rai Bular Bhatti was passing that way, when he saw this. On his arrival there, the cobra disappeared but to his great surprise he found the boy alive. The 'Mal' tree under which Nanak had slept stands to this day in Nankana Sahib. Several years later, a Gurdwara called Mal Sahib was constructed by Rai Bular to commemorate that incident. It is about one kilometer to the east of Gurdwara Janam Asthan while the Gurdwara Kiara Sahib is just at the place where the herd had damaged the crop and is situated four hundred yards further east.

There is another Gurdwara Tamboo Sahib ('Tamboo' means a tent) 380 yards to the east of Janam Asthan where stands a Mal tree which, with its branches, has covered, like a tent, the place beneath. It was under this tree that young Nanak took shelter when he returned from Chuharkana where he had been sent by his father with some cash to make a profitable bargain. Instead of using the money to purchase the goods, Guru Nanak spent the entire amount on feeding the hungry ascetics whom he had met on the way. When questioned Nanak had replied that there could not be a more profitable bargain than feeding the hungry and the poor.

There is still another Gurdwara of Guru Hargobind, the 6th in line from Guru Nanak, This is in memory of the Guru having visited and stayed at his place while returning from the Kashmir valley about the year 1621 A.D - 1622 A.D.. It is situated just near Gurdwara Tamboo Sahib to its east.

The entire present town of Nankana Sahib is situated between Janam Asthan and Kiara Sahib, a total length of almost two Kilometers with a width of one kilometer. The main center of its population are around twenty thousand now located all around and about Gurdwaras Janam Asthan, Bal Lila and Mal Sahib. Before the Partition of India in 1947, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims were almost equally represented in Nankana Sahib, but since partition it is entirely a Muslim town.

Very little is known about Talwandi for over three centuries after that, except that Guru Arjan - the fifth of the Sikh Guru's came here some time towards the end of the 16th century, when he gave location to the Kalu's Kotha, where Nanak was born and other places associated with his early life; and again when Guru Hargobind the sixth in line came to pay his homage to the place in 1621 A.D. -1622 A.D. At the time these places were mere small raised platforms or at best small huts which were kept clean and lighted at night by some devotees of the Guru. Later a class of people called Pujaris or Mahants took up the work as their regular profession utilizing the offerings made at the places for their sustenance.

The next historical reference to Nankana Sahib is in 1818 A.D - 1819 A.D. when Maharaja Ranjit Singh after his conquest of Multan came here. The Maharaja ordered the construction of several memorial buildings called Gurdwaras. The Maharaja stayed in Nankana Sahib as a guest of Rai Bulars descendants and learnt of the large land Grant given to Guru Nanak's followers by the Bhatti Rajput family. He added to this an additional land Grant for the maintenance and for Guru ka Langer (Guru's free Kitchen). This additional grant of land when added to the several thousand acres originally granted by Rai Bular Bhatti to Guru Nanak and his followers made the job of Mahants and Pujaris extremely lucrative and resulted in the Mahants firm hold of these Gurdwara's.

The sanctity and the un-assuming devotion of the Mahants noted here earlier turned materialistic. The Gurdwaras Janam Asthan & Mal sahib were at this time in the hands of Udasi Seet. Bal Lila and Kiara Sahib and the Gurdwara of the 6th Guru were run by Nihangs. All of them but more particularly the Udasis had Brahmanical propensities and in the Gurdwaras they had installed the Hindu idol gods along with the Holy Granth Sahib.

With the advent of British rule in the Punjab and the creation of irrigation canals in Nankana Sahib area, the agricultural income of the Mahants had skyrocketed, and they began leading luxuriant and in some cases immoral lives, so much so that Narain Dass the Mahant of Janam Asthan had publicly retained prostitutes. It was also alleged that some pilgrim ladies had been ill-treated in Janam Asthan. Besides, some Mahants had sold off and even otherwise transferred some of the Gurdwara lands to their families, which angered Rai Bular's descendents to the point of almost all-out war against the Mahants..

This was the state of Gurdwara affairs all over the Punjab. It wasn't until the 15th of November 1920 A.D., that the intelligentsia of the Sikhs assembling at Amritsar constituted a committee to consider the Gurdwara problems as a whole. They decided to oust the Mahants and Pujaris from all the Gurdwaras and take the management in their own hands, but the parties doing so were to remain strictly non-violent and in case of aggression from the Mahants or any other party they were to passively resist their attack.

 In October 1920 A.D., a congregation was held at Dharowal, District Sheikhupura for reform in Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in which the leaders revealed to the gathering of devotees, the misdeeds being committed inside the Gurdwara. At meeting ,it was unanimously resolved that the Mahant be asked to mend his ways. When Mahant Narian Dass was asked to reform himself, he started making preparations to oppose the Panth (Sikh community) instead. He did not feel it necessary to pay heed to the suggestions of the Committee. He was the owner of the estate attached to the Gurdwara with an income of one hundred thousand rupees besides the offerings of the Gurdwara. 

The Mahant recruited hooligans and rogues as paid employees to oppose the Sikhs. With the help of the government, he collected from Lahore, guns, pistols and other arms and ammunition. He brought and stored fourteen tins of paraffin. He got the Gurdwara gate strengthened and had holes made in it so that bullets could be fired through them. The Government was using every available weapon to make Akali movement of Gurdwara reform, a failure. Mahant Narain Dass was one of the weapons in the hands of the British Government and the British Government wanted to make full use of him. As such, Mr King, the Commissioner of Lahore was extending every kind of help to the Mahant and had promised him rewards in the future as well. The Mahant was a puppet in the hands of the British Government.

In the meeting of Parbhandak Committee at Gurdwara Khara Sauda on 17th February, 1921 A.D., it was decided that two jathas (squads) one led by Bhai Lachhman Singh and the other by Bhai Kartar Singh Virk (alias Jhabbar) should meet at Chander Kot on the 19th of February. From there they were to reach Nankana Sahib early in the morning of the 20th of February to talk to the Mahant. Seeing the preparation of the Mahant, the Parbhandak Committee held a meeting in the office of Akali Patrika (News paper) on the 19th of February in which it was resolved that squads should not be taken to Nankana Sahib on the 20th February. Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar was present at the meeting. He was informed about the new decision and was told to inform Bhai Lachhman Singh which he took the responsibility to do so. Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar immediately dispatched Bhai Waryam Singh to Chanderkot so that other squad could be stopped.

Meanwhile in accordance with the original program, Bhai Lachchman Singh reached Chander Kot on the night of the 19th of February with his squad of one hundred and fifty (150) Singhs. He waited for the squad of Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar for some time and before the arrival of Bhai Waryama Singh with news to not to lead the squad to Gurdwara. Bhai Lachchman Singh said to the Singhs of his squad, "When we have started for a good cause, we should not waste time." All members of the squad agreed. Bhai Lachhman Singh got a promise from the squad not to strike and remain peaceful at all costs. After that the squad prayed for their success of their noble resolve. When, after, the prayer, the Squad was about to move forward, Bhai Waryam Singh arrived. He showed them the letter about the new decision of the Committee. Bhai Tehal Singh Said, "Dear Khalsa, we have taken our resolve at the prayer (Ardaas) and cannot turn back now. It is imperative for us to move forward." The squad as a whole moved forward following Bhai Tehal Singh.

The Squad arrived at Nankana Sahib on 20th of February, bathed in the pool by the Gurdwara and entered the Gurdwara at 6.00 A.M. Bhai Lachchma Singh Sat in 'Taabiya' (Behind Guru Granth Sahib). The Mahant had got the news of the squad's arrival at Chander kot on the 19th of February evening. He had gathered his men at night and briefed them about their duties. After the squad had sat down, the Mahant signaled his men to carry out the predetermined plan.

The Mahant's men closed the main gate and started firing from roof tops. Twenty-six Singhs became martyrs to those bullets in the courtyard while another sixty or so sitting inside the Durbar Sahib became targets of bullets. When the Mahant's men saw no one moving, they came down with swords and choppers. Any Singh they found breathing was cut to pieces.

At the sound of the gun-fire, Bhai Dalip Singh and Bhai Waryam Singh who were sitting in the factory of Bhai Uttam Singh, got up and rushed towards the Gurdwara. When the Mahant saw them coming, he shot Bhai Dalip Singh with his pistol while his men cut Bhai Waryam Singh to pieces. They threw their bodies into kils where other bodies were also burning. When no Singh with hair could be seen up to the railway line, the Mahant asked his men to collect all the dead bodies, pour paraffin and burn them. The body of one alive Singh was tied to a tree and burnt.

At 9.15 a.m., Sardar Uttam Singh conveyed the news by telegram through Sardar Karam Singh Station Master at Nankana Sahib Railway station to the Governor of Punjab, commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of police and Sikh centers. Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Curry reached at 12:30 P.M. while Commissioner, Mr. King arrived at 9.30 P.M. They arrested twenty Pathans and locked the Gurdwara. The city was handed over to Army which cordoned it to restrict any Akali movement to take over the Gurdwara. Sardar Kartar Singh Jhabbar arrived with his Squad on 21st of February. The Commissioner informed him that if he tried to enter city with his squad army will open fire. Kartar Singh Jhabbar and his jatha of twenty two hundred Singhs did not listed to commissioner and kept on moving towards city. In the end, Commissioner Mr. Curry handed over the keys of Gurdwara to Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabbar. At 7.30 P.M. on the 22nd February, the dead bodies were cremated according to Sikh tradition.

The Mahant, 20 of his Pathans and several others of his group were sentenced by the British. Only the Mahant and couple of Pathans got the death sentence for this crime of committing more than 50 murders.

"Accordingly a party of about 130 Sikhs led by Bhai Lachhman Singh entered the Gurdwara Janam Asthan on the morning of the 20th Feb.1921. The Mahant had hired some Pathans and others, who fired at and butchered the non-resisting Sikhs within the Gurdwara precincts & then collecting the dead as well as the wounded into various heaps and sprinkling oil burnt them all. The news spread like wild fire all over and another party of 2,200 men led by Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabber arrived at Nankana Sahib on 21st afternoon. But meanwhile the British Govt. had arrested Naraindass and cordoned Janam Asthan with a huge military force."

 Kartar Singh Jhabhar insisted on proceeding further, but the commissioner of Lahore Division on behalf of the Punjab Govt., handed over the premises of Janam Asthan to a committee of seven Sikhs headed by Sardar Harbans Singh a descendant of General Sham Singh of Attari, the hero of the battle of Sabraon fought by the Sikhs against the British in 1846. Thus Janam Asthan passed into the hands of the Sikh community on the whole. The Mahant's of the other five Gurdwara at Nankana Sahib peacefully made over the control of their respective shrines to the Sikh committee, and some of them arrived at some settlement over regarding the properties held by them. But others remained adamant on that issue till the enforcement of the Punjab Sikh Gurdwaras Act in 1926 under which a specially constituted Gurdwara Tribunal heard the claims & counter claims of the parties and barring four or five of about 50 property cases all were decided in favor of the committee. The total area of the estate including the non-agricultural land under the town of the Nankana Sahib, various habitations of the Gurdwara tenants, approach roads irrigation Channels and the railway line comprising 17,675 acres was declared to be originally Gurdwara property though some of it had been acquired by the government for public purposes. The actual agricultural area that finally passed into the hands of the Sikh Community was about 15,927 acres. 

In 1926 a local committee of Management of the Sikh Gurdwara of Nankana Sahib was duly constituted under section 85 of the Sikh Gurdwaras Act. It consisted of 13 members elected by the districts Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Lyallpur, Lahore and the town of Nankana Sahib and five nominated by the central Sikh committee, known as Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee with its head office at Amritsar. An amendment made in the Act in 1943 placed the central committee in charge of these Gurdwaras retaining the Local committee as a mere advisory body. The local committee during its 17 years regime renovated some of the Gurdwara buildings, raised marble memorial within the Janam Asthan compound in honor of the Sikhs killed and burnt there in 1921. They have been included among the Sikh martyrs and their memory preserved in the daily set congregational prayer of the Sikhs. Besides, the committee raised two high schools for boys and girls and a fine hospital and dispensary at Nankana Sahib and a Science and Technical college in Bombay, a Sikh Missionary college at Amritsar and several schools in Meerut, Moradabad and Buland Shaher districts of the U.P. Two Sikh Missions were also established and run at Hapur in U.P. and at Kangra in the Punjab.

An annual fair attended by about 150,000 people was held at Nankana Sahib in November 1926 and another a smaller one on the 20th of February 1927 in memory of the martyrs of the day.

Since the Partition of India Nankana Sahib forms a Pakistan territory in the revenue records and as Pakistan was committed to be entirely a Muslim country, the Sikhs had to vacate it leaving the very birth place of theirs to be looked after by the Pakistan Govt. The 750 Morabbas of land granted to Guru Nanak by Rai Bular for the welfare of Guru and his followers were taken over by Auqaf, a Government agency formed to look after public lands. At the time of partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, Nankana Sahib could very well be given the status similar to that of the Vatican city, but neither the British rulers of India nor the major parties partitioning the country that is the Indian National congress and the Muslim league bothered about it. The Sikhs being a very small minority at that time and that too in the one state of the Punjab had but to rely on the good faith of both their governments. They are no doubt given casually visitation rights and provided facilities for pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib by Pakistan. The visits to Nankana Sahib on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak is a major celebration and festival in Nankana Sahib every year. To this day, the family of Rai Bular Bhatti carries on the tradition to host and look after the proper performance of the Sikh ceremonies in the Gurdwaras. It is rather reported that the shrines including the Janam Asthan which very often remain closed for months together were made active due to the efforts of Rai Bashir Bhatti, the eldest living kin and leader of the Rajput Bhatti clan.

It sits heavy on the Sikh hearts that the holy place, for free access to which they had spilled their blood and lost as many as one hundred & thirty lives, still lies out of their reach. It is very encouraging that the place from where once went off every morning and evening a call of mutual love and service to mankind is now again being opened with free access for performance of Sikh visitation rites. Pakistan Government has been very hospitable to the Sikhs and understands their sacred rights. Each years thousands of Sikhs from all over the world visit the scared Gurdwara's of Nankana Sahib, particularly the Birth Place and the Place of Guru Nanak's death and burial.

The Sikhs, though small in number, have required almost an international status and the formation of the Nankana Sahib Foundation comprising of the Sikh nationals of Malaysia, Indonesia, England, United States of America (USA), Canada, Iran, Japan and other East Asiatic and European countries with the object of securing through negotiations religious rights of theirs to visit, manage and run the Sikh temples in Pakistan. Most Sikhs today feel that the bitterness in Sikh Moslem relations, created by Brahmanism at the time of partition in 1947 has been demisted for ever at the auspicious occasion of Great Guru Nanak's 531st birth anniversary. For Sikhs today it is a matter of extreme delight and they express sincere gratitude to the people and Government of Pakistan for unrestricted care of and visits to the Gurdwaras, especially permission of visits to Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara without any need for a visa and the welcome accorded to the Sikh Community as a whole.

The impact of Guru Nanak's universal teachings on humanity in general, the roll of service that his followers have played in the world history more particularly in that of India, the significance of the Passive resistance displayed by them at Nankana Sahib and several other place in India and their reputation as a hard-working community of approx. 23 million Sikhs in the world call for acknowledgement that Sikhs as a whole are brave, honest and kind people. The Nankana Sahib Estate consists of 16,962 acres. Most of this estate is leased to the farmers and residents of Nankana Sahib but remains the property of the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara (Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji). About 48,000 people are presently living in this town.