Prominent Women in Sikhi

MATA TRIPTA JI

Mata Tripta Ji was the mother of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. She was born in village Kardar in a Kashatriya family. She married Bhai Kalu Chand Ji of village Rai Bhoe Di Talwandi, district Lahore, now in Pakistan. She died in Kartarpur in 1522.

BIBI NANAKI JI

Bibi Nanaki Ji was the sister of Guru Nanak Ji and was born in 1464. She was utterly devoted to her brother and was the first person to recognise that her brother was a special enlightened soul and a messenger of God’s word. She married Bhai Jai Ram Uppal of Sultanpur Lodhi and persuaded Guru Nanak Dev Ji to move to Sultanpur with her. Later she arranged Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s marriage to Bibi Sulakhni Ji and helped to look after Guru Ji’s sons when Guru Ji went on the four journeys preaching Gods word. She died in 1518.

MATA SULAKHNI JI

Mata Sulakhni Ji was the daughter of Bhai Mool Chand Ji & Bibi Chando Ji of pind Chakho Ke (Gurdaspur). She married Guru Nanak Dev Ji in 1487 and had two children Sri Chand in 1494 and Lakhmi Dass Ji in 1497.

MATA KHIVI JI

Mata Khivi Ji was the daughter of Devi Chand of village Sangar (nr. Khadoor Sahib) and married Bhai Lehna Ji (Guru Angad Dev Ji) on 31st March 1519. She had a daughter Bibi Amro in 1522 and two sons; Dasu in 1524 and Datu in 1537 and another daughter Bibi Anokhi Ji. She took an active role in Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s sangat by serving in the Langar with exemplary humility and tireless effort. She was particularly renowned for preparing and serving the most delicious Kheer. She died in Khadur Sahib in 1582.

BIBI BHANI JI

Bibi Bhani Ji was born on 2nd February 1534, the youngest daughter of Guru Amar Das Ji and Mata Mansa Devi Ji. She married Bhai Jetha Ji (Guru Ram Das Ji) in March 1553 and had three sons; Prithi Chand (1558), Mahadev (1560) and Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1563).

Bibi Bhani served the sangat and her father with great devotion and humility, earning from him the blessing that the Gur-Gadhi would remain in her family. She is one of the most famous women in Sikhi and has a unique position - she was the daughter of a Guru, wife of a Guru and as prophesised, later became mother, grandmother, greatgrandmother and great- great- grandmother of a Guru. Thus, Bibi Bhani played a very important part in shaping the history of the Sikhs. Her devotion and lifetime of sewa earned this privilege for the Sodhi family. She passed away in 1598 in Tarn Taran.

Bibi Amro Ji

Bibi Amro Ji was the daughter of Guru Angad Dev Ji and was born in pind Sangar. She was married to Bhai Jassu Ji of village Basar Ke, the nephew of Guru Amar Das Ji.

It was upon hearing Bibi Amro recite the Gurbani of Guru Nanak Dev Ji her father Amar Das also became a devotee and started serving Guru Angad Dev Ji night and day for many years with humility and devotion. When the time came Guru Angad Dev Ji blessed Amar Das Ji and made him into Guru Amar Das Ji.

Mata Gujri Ji

Mata Gujri Ji was born in 1626 in Kartarpur, Jalandhar. Her father was Bhai Lal Chand Ji, and mother, Mata Bishen Ji. She married Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and bore a son on the 22nd December 1666, who later became the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs - Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

Mata Gujri Ji lived through the martyrdom of her husband and the seige of Anandpur. She saw many friends and devotees lose their lives in the battles against the Moghul forces. Mata Gujri left the seige of Anandpur Sahib with her two grandsons, Fateh Singh and Zorawar Singh. On reaching Sirhind, her servant Ganga betrayed them to Nawab Wazir Khan and they were imprisoned at the top of a tall tower with her grandsons. She looked after the two children until they too were executed by being bricked alive in Sirhind in 1704. Very soon after she too died in that cold tower. This place is now called “Jyoti Saroop” in memory of Mata Gujri Ji. Hers was a life of ultimate sacrifice and courage. She sacrificed her whole familyher husband, brother, son, four grandsons and herself for the freedom of the Sikhs.

Mata Ganga Ji

Mata Ganga Ji was the daughter of Bhai Kishen Chand and Bibi Dhanwanti Kaur Ji of village Meo, Jalandhar. She was married to Guru Arjan Dev Ji. For fifteen years after their marriage they had no child. Guru Ji advised her that she should go to seek the blessing of Baba Buddha Ji, the most respected servant of the Guru’s from the time of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The first time she went to Chherta to see Baba Buddha Ji, he refused to grant her wish, as he resented the way that she and her large entourage had come with a distinct lack of humility.

After seeking Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s advice a second time, she returned to Baba Buddha Ji, barefoot with a basket of food on her head and singing the hymns of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. This time he was deeply pleased with the humility of Mata Ganga Ji. While eating the food, he broke an onion with his fist and prophesied that a son will be born to her. A year later, she gave birth to a son who was named Hargobind. In 1606, Guru Arjan Dev Ji passed away leaving her the responsibility of bringing up the child Hargobind who became the next Guru. Throughout her life she served the sangat with great devotion.

Mata Sahib Kaur Ji

Guru Gobind Singh granted Mata Sahib Devan Ji the title of the “Mother Of The Khalsa”. On Vaisakhi 1699 at the first Amrit ceremony in Anandpur Sahib, when Guru Ji was preparing Amrit, Mata Sahib Devan Ji sweetened the Amrit by putting in Pataasay (sugar cakes). She too had Amrit that day and became known as Mata Sahib Kaur Ji. Mata Sahib Kaur continued to serve the Khalsa Panth until her death in 1745 and played a major role in the keeping the panth together in the years after the death of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

Bibi Rajni

Bibi Rajni was the seventh daughter of Maharaja Duni Chand. From a very young age she used to listen to Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s hymns and, against her fathers wishes, believed in God. She constantly disagreed with her father over this matter who believed that he himself was a god. In anger he married her off to a leper and told her to see if ‘her’ God would help her. Regardless of the fact that from a rich life-style she would now have to suffer a penniless existence looking after cripple, she was a dutiful wife. At meal times she would leave her husband under the shade of a tree and go and work or beg for food. On one such occasion, the cripple saw a black crow dive into a pool of water nearby and come out as a white dove. Seeing this miracle the leper dragged himself into the pool and became cured. When Rajni returned, she found a handsome man sitting under the tree. She was distraught and believing that her husband had been killed or kidnapped, she refused to listen to the handsome man. He showed her a finger of one hand which he had not dipped in the water as proof of his identity. Together they went to Guru Ram Das Ji who told them that this was no ordinary pond he had taken a dip in, it was holy-water (Amritsar) and this had cured him.

Mai Bhago

Mai Bhago was born in a well-respected Sikh family from the town of Baba Bakala. When Guru Gobind Singh Ji was beseiged by the Mughal army at Anandpur, forty of his very close followers deserted him. On reaching home, these deserters were not let in by their women. One of the women, Mai Bhago, spoke to the men about the importance of dying for a cause. It was with her encourgement and under her command that the men returned to Anandpur. Together they fought and defeated the Mughals at the battle of Mukhtsar. They were killed giving their lives for the Guru and for justice. To commemorate this sacrifice a gurdwara has been built at Mukhtsar where the festival of Maghi is celebrated in January.