TheSikhs.org


BHAGAT LAKHSHMAN SINGH


Bhagat Lakhshman Singh (8.6.1863 – 27.12.1944), son of Bhagat Kahan Chand, was born at Rawalpindi. At the age of 26, he joined the Sikh faith. He started his career as a clerk in the district courts. Later, he joined postal department as a cashier. Finally, he became a teacher. During this period, he started The Khalsa, a weekly paper in English language. This was the first-ever English paper of the Sikhs. This paper played a great role for promotion of the cause of the Singh Sabha movement. Due to financial crisis he stopped publication of this paper, in 1903. He served in the education department for 30 years as a teacher, as headmaster and as Inspector of Schools. He retired in 1927. In 1929, he re-started the publication of Khalsa. Bhagat Lakshman Singh contributed several articles to The Tribune also. He wrote four books: The Sikh Martyrs, Guru Gobind Singh, The Sikhs and His New Critic. The fourth one, his Autobiography, was published posthumously. He died in 1944.

(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)