| Honorific Prefix: | Bhai |
| Giani Gurmukh Singh | |
| Birth Place: | Amritsar, Bhangi Misl |
| Death Date: | September 1843 |
| Death Place: | Amritsar, Sikh Empire |
| Death Cause: | Torture |
| Known For: | Scholar Preacher Religious Activist |
| Relatives: | Giani Sant Singh (father) Giani Parduman Singh (son) Giani Lehna Singh (son) |
| Family: | Giani family |
Giani Gurmukh Singh was a leading Sikh religious leader and Chief Giani of the Giani Samparda. He was very well known and followed in the Sikh community and played a heavy role during the end of the Sikh Empire by trying to make the Sikhs gain power in the Dogra-dominated Lahore Durbar.[1]
He was the son of Giani Sant Singh of Amritsar who had plated the Golden Temple with gold and with the help of Naqqashi artists from Chiniot made frescoes in the Golden Temple. Gurmukh Singh learnt Sikh texts from his father and was made the Chief Giani of the Giani Samparda in 1832, after his father's death.[2]
He had taught many Sikh scholars including his sons Giani Parduman Singh, Giani Lehna Singh and others like Maharaja Sher Singh, Giani Hazara Singh, Ragi Sham Singh and Kavi Nihal Singh. He received lots of patronage from Maharaja Ranjit Singh and was appointed as the Lahore Durbar's court Granthi.[3] Maharaja Ranjit Singh honored him with a Jagir in Jalandhar (where he built a fort) and 80,000 rupees per month.[4] He had published the famous Sikh text and magnum opus of Mahakavi Santokh Singh; the Suraj Prakash Granth.[5] He constructed many Bungas for Sikh aristocrats around the area, and during this time the Giani Samparda was in charge of daily maintenance of the Golden Temple, only the Giani family was allowed to do Katha (discourse/speeches) in the Golden Temple, and he used to do Katha every day in the Katha-Wala Bunga after midday. He also procured marble from Jaipur to cover the Parikrama of the Golden Temple as well as a 'Qalandari' in green, yellow and red colour for the Guru Granth Sahib.[6]
His religiosity was appreciated throughout Sikh society, during his father's and his time as head of the Giani Samparda, the religious order went through a golden era in terms of production of Sikh texts. He had written a scholarly work known as Gurbilas Padshahi Chhevin along with Darbara Singh Chaunkiwale in 1830.[7] [8] During Lord Auckland's visit to Amritsar in 1838, Giani Gurmukh Singh had introduced him to the Sikh religion, belief and psyche.[9] He and another court Granthi Ram Singh had a feud between each other, Ram Singh supported the Dogras in the Lahore Durbar and Gurmukh Singh supported the Sikhs including Bhai Bir Singh of Naurangabad. Diwan Dina Nath, Misr Beli Ram, Lehna Singh Majithia and the Sandhanwalias all formed a group to support Bhai Bir Singh of Naurangabad and start a resurgence in Sikh principles and power in the Durbar.[10] After the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he fell in disfavor, Chand Kaur seized his Jagirs and arrested him, after leaving jail he went to the Katha-Wala Bunga and made a speech comparing Chand Kaur to a prostitute and was jailed once more.[11] For a short time he gained favor from Maharaja Sher Singh once he came into power as he was Sher Singh's teacher, and there was a scandal between one of Sher Singh's wives and Bhai Ram Singh.[12] Gurmukh Singh's Jagirs were restored and he was set free from jail which he had been in for three months. He was also chosen by Maharaja Sher Singh to curb a revolt that killed Governor Mehan Singh of Kashmir, as he was a known Anti-Dogra face which irked the top echelons of the Jammu polity.[13] A Hungarian artist August Schoefft drew him in three paintings, two with Maharaja Ranjit Singh and one with Maharaja Sher Singh; Maharaja Sher Singh also commissioned a portrait was of Giani Gurmukh Singh which is currently lost.[14] This time was chaotic as Sher Singh was assassinated soon later and the Dogras became the de facto rulers of the state. Giani Gurmukh Singh (a representative of the Sikhs) and Dhian Singh Dogra (a representative of the Dogras) were in a struggle on who was going to become the next Vazir of the Sikh Empire, Rani Jindan had selected the latter as she had good relations with the Dogra aristocracy.[15] The contest between the statesman and the priest was unequal. Hira Singh Dogra, Dhian Singh Dogra and Pandit Jalla were against the Sikhs in every manner, and had set out to destroy Sikh power starting with the Giani Samparda.[16] In early 1843, he had shot dead Dhian Singh Dogra for acting against Sikhism.[17] Hira Singh Dogra, the son of Dhian Singh, had arrested Giani Gurmukh Singh and kept Giani Parduman Singh under house arrest.[18] Jathedar Akali Hanuman Singh Nihang and Bhai Des Raj had arrived and took care of the shrine while the Giani family was being persecuted, and gave it back once they were set free.[19] [20]
After few months of torture in 1843, Pandit Jalla and Hira Singh Dogra handed Giani Gurkmukh Singh over to Muslims who tortured him to death, they cut his wounds and inserted tobacco into them.[21] He has been immortalized in of Sikh consciousness due to his martyrdom for the Sikh cause during the turbulent times of the Sikh Empire.[22]
The Sikh Khalsa Army had enough of Hira Singh Dogra who killed Bir Singh of Naurangabad, a year after the death of Giani Gurmukh Singh the Sikhs chased Hira Singh Dogra and Pandit Jalla down in Sialkot and murdered them both along with 1,000 other Dogras.[23] Their heads were impaled on spears and paraded through Lahore, and Bhai Ram Singh ended up being a traitor to the Sikh Empire by following the policy of Lal Singh and leaving the Sikh soldiery leaderless in the middle of battle.[23] [23]
The religious Sikhs and aristocracy of Amritsar cooperated and paid Rani Jindan seven lakhs (a very large amount at the time) so that the sons of Giani Gurmukh Singh would be returned.