User:Sunamikapreeti/Daya Singh Bedi

Ambassador Lieutenant-Colonel Baba Daya Singh Bedi (1899-1975) was an Indian diplomat, Civil Servant and a Cavalry officer in the British Indian Army with the 6th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers (Watson's Horse) who after the partition of India served as India's First High Commissioner to Australia from 1948 to 1951 and Chief Commissioner of Coorg State from 1951 to 1956.

Personal life
Baba Daya Singh Bedi (1899-1975) was born to Baba Raja Sir Gurbaksh Singh Bedi K.B.E., Kt., CLE., (1862-1946) an extremely influential Sikh spiritual and political leader who was the direct descendant, in the fifteenth place of Sri Guru Nanak, a member of the Legislative Council of the Punjab Province (British India) and the Raja of Kallar (Jagir) who lived at Bedi Mahal   near Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). Baba is an honorific title that denotes very high respect, indicating the bearer's spiritual descent or mastery. The family Gurudwara Damdama Baba Sahib Singhji Bedi, although in ruins now, is a holy shrine beyond ethnicity where the belief continues that God fulfills every wish of those who light a lamp there. The Bedi family's patron saint is Baba Sri Chand,  the eldest son of Sri Guru Nanak, of whom it is believed since creation, to be the second individual after Karna in the Mahabharat to be born with the Kavacha and the Kundala, an invincible armor that protects against  all harm, physical or conceptual and renders the wearer immortal.

Baba Daya Singh Bedi was married to Anand Kaur Dhall and was succeeded by his son Tika Aridaman Singh Bedi, 'Dumi', who was married to Avinash Kaur Gill. Tika Aridaman Singh Bedi (1918-2011) is succeeded by his son Baba Prithvirajendar Singh Bedi, who has envisioned the revival of his family traditions and culture through the translation of the books Raja Jogi and Itihaas Baba Sri Chand Ji Sahib. He is also keen on the restoration of his ancestral home, Bedi Mahal which is famous for Baba Raja Sir Khem Singh Bedi and the role he played as the patriarch of the Bedi's of Kallar.

The notion of equating turbans with crowns was borrowed from an Islamic custom but is rooted in the Sikh tradition too. Baba Daya Singh Bedi attained the conspicuous privilege of wearing a distinguished style of turban and his succession maintained the tradition; a combination of a Sikh turban, safa and a pushtun chieftain’s headgear that conveys royalty and grace.

Career
Baba Daya Singh Bedi belonged to the first batch of Indian Army officers along with Isikander Mirza to graduate from the Royal Military College, Sandhurst in England. He was commissioned as a Second lieutenant in July 1921 as a King's Commissioned Indian Officer (KCIO) and rose to the rank of Lieutenant before he was transferred in September 1928 to the Indian Political Service. He was subsequently given the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1947 during his military assignment in Nepal. Isikander Mirza went on to become the President of Pakistan.

Both brilliant and indefatigable along with his directorial qualities and political engagements were key to his successful career and he scaled great heights with successive promotions from 1928 till 1937 as Political Agent (1931, Southern States and Central India) / Undersecretary (1932, States of Western India) / Assistant Commissioner in the Princely states of Rajputana (1933), Travancore (1935) and Orissa Province (1937). Col. Baba Daya Singh Bedi also had responsibilities inherited with his title in Pashtunistan and the Punjab region and he combined his professional and personal roles with finesse after the 1935 Balochistan earthquake. Along with his military discipline and an understanding of development and economics, he served with distinction as an officer of the Indian Civil Service (British India) in the regions where his family patronage existed and built an impressive record of reconstruction and administrative efficiency in the aftermath of the earthquake. Col. Baba Daya Singh Bedi inspired widespread adulation as the Political Resident in Quetta-Pishin District till 1938, Political Resident of Balochistan, Pakistan from 1939 to 1941, Political Resident and Deputy Commissioner of North-West Frontier Province from 1942 to 1947.

His unquestionable loyalty to India, at Indian independence in 1947, Col. Baba Daya Singh Bedi joined the newly formed Ministry of External Affairs and Commonwealth Relations which was later renamed Ministry of External Affairs (India) in the Indian Foreign Service department. His tactful negotiation was instrumental in the amicable division of weapons, equipment, regiments and rights of the Gurkhas in military service and he was a signatory to the Britain-India-Nepal Tripartite Agreement. The following year in 1948 he was appointed as the Indian High Commissioner (Commonwealth) and Plenipotentiary  to Australia and served till 1951. On his return to India, Ambassador Col. Baba Daya Singh Bedi was appointed under the gubernatorial title of Chief Commissioner of Coorg State where he served till 1956 when the province was dissolved and merged with the neighbouring Mysore State (later named as Karnataka in 1973).

On the passing away of Raja Baba Sir Gurbaksh Singh Bedi, Col. Baba Daya Singh Bedi became the Raja of Kallar but was forced to relinquish his inheritance and migrate to India during the instability and turmoil at the Partition of India. The family lost the villages of Kallar Syedan Tehsil, Jullandar Doab and in Montgomery (Sahiwal) where the possessions in land alone amounted to 28,272 acres. All Khalsa schools in Punjab were built and paid for by the Bedi's and their descendants. After Britain’s 1895 war with Afghans a peace treaty was signed by Baba Gurbaksh Singh Bedi on behalf of the British government in Kabul. In appreciation he was given substantial amount of land in Montgomery that covered about 44 villages. Folklore tells us the Bedi's belonging to the lineage of the Suryavansha had forsaken the tremendous spiritual power and wisdom accorded to them in the form of traditions and worship of Baba Sri Chand and as a result they lost their following, status, prestige and healing powers.

Death
Having served his country in every capacity during the most momentous developments in recent history and witnessed communal strife between Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, Baba Daya Singh Bedi finally settled in the aromatic world of coffee plantations in the valleys overlooking the majestic Baba Budangiri mountain range. There he lived in quiet dignity as a testimony to the changes in history, religion, his inheritance and spent his time immersed in the elegant simplicity of Sufi poetry.

The Bedi’s made their home there and continue to be respected members of the community. Tika A.S. Bedi was the Chairman of the Karnataka a Planters Association (KPA) in 1969-70. President of United Planters Association of Southern India (UPASI) 1973-74 and Baba P.S. Bedi is the present Chairman of the Karnataka Planters Association (KPA ).

Ambassador Col. Baba Raja Daya Singh Bedi died in 1975.

Bedi Family Tree
1. Shri Guru Nanak Devji 2. Baba Lakshmi Dasji 3. Baba Dharam Chand 4. Baba Manik Chand 5. Baba Datar Singh 6. Baba Pahar Singh 7. Baba Harkaran Chand 8. Baba Nihal Chand 9. Baba Kaladhari 10. Baba Ajit Singh 11. Baba Sahib Singh Bedi 12. Baba Bishan Singh Bedi 13. Baba Attar Singh Bedi 14. Baba Raja Sir Khem Singh Bedi 15. Baba Raja Sir Gurbaksh Singh 16. Baba Raja Daya Singh Bedi 17. Tika Aridaman Singh Bedi 18. Baba Prithvirajendar Singh Bedi

Intangible Cultural Heritage
The descendants of Guru Nanak (Nanakputras) were revered for their lineage and piety. They came to be known as the Sikh aristocrats, the embodiment of the Khalsa discipline and held considerable influence as intellectuals and scholars primarily at the time of the Sikh rulers and British colonial rule in India. In time they adopted a tendency to deviate from the traditions associated with the Bedi family that promote the philosophy of oneness of God and all mankind and followed the popular form of Sikhism since they had acquired a more western approach and lifestyle. They lost their innate knowledge, spiritual wisdom and influence because faith has always provided a foundation from which social norms develop, leaders motivate, persuade and enable followers. Study of the scriptures brings one closer to ones origins. The relocation from their ancestral stronghold was another important reason for their decline.

The Bedi’s form part of the Sanatan Sikh's who in addition to the Guru Granth Sahib, rely on many of their beliefs (yogic/meditative and scriptural recitation and study) on the Vedas, Shastras, Puranas and Epic literature. In order for the Bedi’s to regain and preserve at least a measure of that earlier respect accorded to them, it is believed the first step is to reinstate a practice of tithe (daswandh), Langar (Sikhism) on celebratory occasions within the family that represent. the feeding of the body, the spirit and sharing of good fortune; alongside the recitation of the Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib and Hanuman Chalisa seven times daily as an oath of allegiance and gratitude to their legacy. The festival of Vaisakhi came to acquire even greater significance for the Bedi's after the celebrated ancestor, Baba Sahib Singh Bedi was acknowledged as the leader of the Daya Singh Samprada. It is reiterated that even one as exalted of birth and status, of integrity and generosity as Karan blundered because of a resentful temperament and disingenuous camaraderie which resulted in an ordinary mortals life/death.

It is interesting to note that although western discourse has come to prioritize the written word as the dominant form of record keeping, oral commentaries too are of communities with history and they greatly value the oral transmission of knowledge as an important aspect of their culture. It must be added that some of the sources of oral beliefs / traditions are reminiscences, hearsay.

The descendants of Guru Nanak are known to have physical markings that trace their lineage to Baba Sri Chand, the bachelor primogenitor of the Bedi family! The men are said to walk with a slight indiscernible limp / gait suggestive of the wooden paduka worn by their saintly ancestors. Their right earlobes are circular and embedded indicating the Kundala worn by Baba Sri Chand. The Bedi women are known to have larger earlobes! Baba Sri Chand's wide acceptance and popularity, which transcend sectarian and territorial limits, are indeed amazing even though the stories surrounding Baba Sri Chand concentrate on an unexpectedly limited number of incidents and stress his spiritual wisdom and love of intelligence. His rise to prominence in the Sikh pantheon was codified by the Udasin sect and the adoration of successive Guru's, who turned to him for advise and guidance. This tradition was preserved by the Bedi's in the recent past.

It was considered impure to eat non-vegetarian food on a Tuesday and inauspicious by the Bedi's to embark on long distance journeys on a Tuesday, the reason for which is uncertain. Harming or killing a deer is known to result in unexpected misfortune and if the act was not atoned for sincerely, an untimely death in the family is believed to occur. The deer is considered sacred by several communities and may have its origin in the Puranic story of Jadabharata. It is known that all Bedi men are born with an intuitive insight and perceptiveness which remains dormant unless they decide to participate in their heritage and revere Baba Sri Chand at all family, religious and ceremonial rites within the family. It is considered unpropitious to blow out the diya (lamp) with ones breath. Fire is considered a great purifier and thus accorded respect but not worshiped and must never put out fire with drunk water. Incense is lit in the kitchen at the start and end of day and nothing impure is added to kindle the flame or ignited with fire - therefore intoxicant's are strictly forbidden. Eating food in the company/place/kitchen where there is no respect for food and the divine is avoided to maintain harmony within the family and well meaning people.

A high turban is a privilege as a crest and as a symbol of leadership and honour. The turban implied strength and symbolized the responsibility that goes with the honor: every disrespect/offense committed by the member of the family/clan was figuratively fastened to his turban; he was responsible for the irresponsible, base and evil deeds of his family. The patriarch is affected by transitions in the family life course and as the head of the family, he presides over all religious and ceremonial rites; to solemnize and as the guardian of the clan. Bedi men are forbidden to take favours and be indebted in form, kind or deed; their actions and demeanour to constantly reflect the legacy of the Great Guru Nanak. The respect accorded to Nanakputras was so sincere that they were often made to accompany valuables for safe transport. Several communities included visiting the Bedi's as a pilgrimage and Nanakputras were mindful and humble not to consider it a privilege because it was an honor to have custodians of the family traditions. It has been observed that alternate generations nurture fame in the proceeding bloodline. Bedi men are not allowed to marry outside the Sikh faith, divorce, marry a divorcee or a widow and once married he always stays faithful; his loyalty to his Guru unfaltering. Once Baba Sri Chand approves of the choice of partner and is welcomed and worshiped daily, it is believed that Baba Sri Chand himself gives signs as guidance and the blessings bestowed are immeasurable in the form of tremendous healing abilities and grand success in life. There are several examples of such blessings bestowed upon the Bedi family.

The Bedi's were held in esteem by people from all faiths and the prayer service singing included the use of ragas and folk tunes along with a blend of bhajan, kirtan and qwaali, a mesmerizing, hypnotic art form rarely heard today. The musical accompaniments by harmonium, taus (instrument), rubab (instrument), sarinda, jori(tabla) and dilruba(esraj) with the laity involvement with the use of chimta, khartal, and dholak,  add musical ornamentation to further enhance the experience and realization of the Shabda, taking the listeners to a state where one can feel the warmth of the universe. At seven in the evening, the grand finale of the aarti commences with a chorus composed of the worshipers. The aarti is performed simultaneously for Guru Nanak, Baba Sri Chand and the Guru Granth Sahib with twenty one lamps each, incense and rose petals in three separate trays which are swayed clockwise in a slow, circular, rhythmic motion and mindfully kept above the waist. This is usually done with four circles to the feet, two to the waist, four to the head, and seven to the whole body. The devotees warm their palms over the flame, the act which completes the worship as Sri Guru Nanak describes, “The best way to worship God is to blend the divine Word with sacred music"

Note: Even though Baba Daya Singh Bedi's genealogy traditionally followed a blend of ‘Bedi’, Nirmala and Nihang Sikhism, he is not to be confused with the Baba Daya Singh Samparda. The leadership of Baba Daya Singh Samparda was a recognition given to his forefather Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, the eleventh descendant of Guru Nanak, who was extremely saintly and blended the 'Bedi' family traditions with each spiritual mantle accorded to him. The succession of this tradition is as follows: 1- Bhai Daya Singhji of Anandpur Sahib, 2- Baba Shobha Singhji of Anandpur Sahib, 3- Baba Sahib Singhji Bedi and then the mantle was passed on to the deserving devotees 4- Baba Bhag Singhji of Khuri, Rawalpindi and 5- Baba Bir Singhji of Nurangabad. (There is more on the devotion and respect shared in the book Raja Jogi by Giani Ishar Singh Nara)