Gurbachan Singh Talib

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Sardar Gurbachan Singh (Punjabi: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Lang/ISO 639 synonyms' not found. (Gurmukhi) a Sikh scholar and author (1911–1986), was born in Moonak, Sangrur district. He was a lecturer at the Sikh National College at Lahore. At the Banaras Hindu University he held the prestigious Guru Nanak Chair of Sikh Studies. He received the Padma Bhushan in 1985.[1] He received in 1985 the National fellowship by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi.

Gurbachan Singh Talib (1911 - 1986), scholar, author and teacher, famous for his command of the English language. He was master equally of the written as well as of the spoken word. He was born in a small town, Munak, in the present Sarigrur district, on 7 April 1911, the son of Sardar Kartar Singh and MataJai Kaur. His father was an employee of the princely state of Sarigrur. He passed his matriculation examination from the Raj High School, Sarigrur, in 1927, securing a merit scholarship, and went up to the Khalsa College, Amritsar, where he received his Master's degree in English literature in 1933 topping the Panjab University. Soon after receiving his Master's degree he became a lecturer in his own college, starting a very spectacular scholastic career. His first class first in the M.A. examination was an unprecedented event in the annals of the University for never before had the distinction been claimed by a mofussil college. This halo won him the instant esteem of his colleagues and pupils. He took to the academic groove like fish to water. Much mythology accrued to his name. Soon he became a legendary figure in the college. Many stories became current about his exceptional diligence, his spontaneity in the English language and the diversity of his scholarship.

He left the Khalsa College in 1940 to join the newly started Sikh National College at Lahore where he served in the Department of English as a lecturer for several years. From 1949 to 1962 he worked as principal, successively, at Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, Delhi, Khalsa College, Bombay, Guru Gobind Singh College, Palna, and National College, Sirsa. He was Reader in English at Kurukshetra University from 1962 to 1969, and Professor of Sikh Studies in the Guru Nanak Chair, Panjab University, Chandigarh, from 1969 to 1973. In 1973, he translated himself to the Punjabi University, Patiala, where he began the most productive years of his career. He took over at Banaras Hindu University the Guru Nanak Chair of Sikh Studies, but had to leave soon for reasons of health. Back at Patiala, he was made a fellow of the Punjabi University in 1976 and he launched upon the stupendous project of rendering the entire Guru Granth Sahib into English. In 1985, he received the Government of India award Padma Bhushan. He resigned the Punjabi University fellowship in 1985 to take up the National fellowship offered by the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. He suffered a massive heart attack in July 1976 which he survived; the second one on the morning of 9 April 1986 however proved fatal.

Bibliography[edit]

Professor Gurbachan Singh Talib was a prolific writer both in English and Punjabi, though he knew Persian and Urdu very well, too. Among his bestknown books in Punjabi are: Anapachhdte Rah (1952); Adhunik Punjabi Sdhit (Punjabi Kav) (1955); Pavittar jivan Kathdvdn (1971); Bdbd Shaikh F and (1975), and in English Muslim League Attack on the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab, 1947 (1950); The Impact of Guru Gobind Singh on Indian Society (1966), Guru Nanak: His Personality and Vi sion (1969), Bhai Vir Singh: Life, Times and Works (1973); Baba Shaikh Farid (1974); Guru Tegh Bahadur: Background and Supreme Sacrifice (1976); Japuji: The Immortal Prayerchant (1977); and his classical translation in English of the Adi Granth (four volumes). Besides these books, he kept up an unending flow of articles and papers contributed to different learned journals.

  • Anapachhate Rah (1952)
  • Adhunik Punjabi Sahit (Punjabi Kav) (1955)
  • Pavittar Jivan Kathavan (1971)
  • Baba Shaikh Farid (1975)
  • Muslim League Attack on the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab, 1947 (1950)
  • The Impact of Guru Gobind Singh on Indian Society (1966),
  • Guru Nanak: His Personality and Vision (1969)
  • Guru Tegh Bahadur : martyr and teacher
  • Bhai Vir Singh: Life, Times and Works (1973)
  • Baba Sheikh Farid (1974)
  • Guru Tegh Bahadur: Background and the Supreme Sacrifice (1976)
  • Japuji: The immortal Prayer-chant (1977); and his classical
  • Translation in English of the Guru Granth Sahib (Four Volumes), Sri Guru Granth Sahib in English translation by Ãdi Granth
  • An Introduction to Guru Granth Sahib by Gurbachan Singh Talib
  • Commentary on Japuji, Guru Nanak's great composition
  • Japuji, the immortal prayer-chant : with a new English rendering, notes, and commentary, along with the original text in roman transliteration

Quotes[edit]

  • In the history of the Muslim League War on the Hindus and Sikhs of the Punjab in 1947, Amritsar occupies an outstanding position. It was in this city, along with Lahore, though with an intensity even greater than in the latter town, that the most sustained war, lasting for over five months was waged on the Hindus and Sikhs, especially the latter, by the Amritsar Muslims. In the scheme of the Muslim League, Amritsar appears to have been Theatre of War No. 1.
    • Muslim League Attack on the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab, 1947 (1950)
  • The details of atrocities committed on Sikhs and Hindus given in these pages are not full or even a fairly large proportion of what actually befell. They are only representative episodes of what happened in a few villages and towns all over West Punjab and other West Pakistan areas. Imagine such things happening in thousands upon thousands of villages and hundreds of towns, and you will then be able to take in the proportions somewhat close to what the reality was-which, in the last analysis must, however, remain inexpressible in its full horror. The facts drawn upon are statements of sufferers of these horrors, recorded from complaints made to the authorities, from reliable press reports and from statements recorded with scrupulous fidelity and signed by those who made them, in the refugee camps in East Punjab.
    • Muslim League Attack on the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab, 1947 (1950)
  • All these happenings occurred at a time when in India, Mahatma Gandhi undertook his last fast to get better treatment for the Indian Muslims. That was the response in Pakistan to the Mahatma's gesture, and the faithfully carrying out of the Mahatma's instructions by Hindus and Sikhs. Exactly when Delhi was being made safe for Muslims, in Karachi 800 Sikhs were massacred, and all Hindus looted and despoiled, had to move into refugee camps.
    • Muslim League Attack on the Sikhs and Hindus in Punjab, 1947 (1950)

References[edit]

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  1. ↑ "Padma Awards" [archive] (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2015.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  • Encyclopedia of Sikhism by Harbans Singh ji. Published by Punjabi university, Patiala

External links[edit]



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