Lehal Library

50 The Punjab and the Birth of Sikhism Amar Das (1479-1574) Amar Das had been a devout Hindu enjoying a reputation for kindliness and piety long before his conversion .to Sikhism. He showed great devotion in forwarding the work that Nanak and Angad had begun. He made the langar an integral institution of the Sikh church by insisting that anyone who wanted to see him had first to accept his hospitality by eating with the disciples.9 The number of the Guru's visitors increased so much that Goindwal, where he lived, grew from an insignificant hamlet to a sizeable town. Among the people who visited him was Emperor Akbar, who was so impressed with the way of life at Goindwal that he assigned the revenues of several villages to the Guru's daughter, Bbani, as a marriage gift. Royal patronage gave further momentum to Nanak's movement. Amar Das felt that he alone could not minister to the needs of the thousands of converts who wanted guidance. He increased the number of parishes or manfis'° to twentrtwo and appointed agents ( masands) who were fully conversant with the doctrines of the faith, to organize worship and the collection of offerings. He had more copies made of the hymns of Nanak and Angad and added to them his own compositions11 and those of the Hindu Bhaklas whose teachings were in conformity with those of Nanak. Since this anthology was in Punjabi, it gained enormous popularity among the masses, who did not understand either the Sanskrit texts of the Hindus or the Arabic of the Muslims. It reduced the importance of the Brahmin priests, who had maintained a strict monopoly over the knowledge of the sacred texts, and that of the mullahs, who alone could interpret the Koran. 12 9 The mouo was p,hlL parigtu picht. sangnt-'First sit in a row in the kitchen, then seek the company of the Guru.· (Siimj PraJi.M, i, 30.) 10 Man:7i literally means a bedstead. IL was customary for the gurus to receive visitors while- sitting on their manjis. Their agents, masruids (from the Persian masnarl, meaning couch) did likewise. A parish under a masand came to be known as a r,uLilJi. 11 907 hymns of Amar Das are incorporated in the Adi Granth. For examples, see Appendix 5. 12 During one of his jom11eys Amar Das was asked why he had given