Diwan Buta Singh

Diwan Buta Singh (born 1826) was a Sikh official, journalist, writer, and printer.^[1][2][3] He served as Maharani Jind Kaur's household minister (diwan) and was the vice-president of the Lahore Singh Sabha.^[1] According to Kuka literature, he was the first man to print a copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, the primary Sikh scripture.^[3]

Biography

Early years

He was born in Lahore in 1826 into a Kalal family to a father named Gurdial Singh.^[1][2] In his early vocation, he served as the household minister and retainer of Jind Kaur of the Sikh Empire.^[1][3] Just prior to the Second Anglo-Sikh war, he tried to provoke anti-British feelings amongst the local people in the name of Jind Kaur.^[1] He was one of the last employees of the ruling Sikh Empire.^[1] After the Multan Rebellion, he was imprisoned by the British, who had already suspecting him of anti-British proclivities, such as the Prema Plot.^[3] He was deported from Punjab and imprisoned in Allahabad prison for seven years.^[3] He was released from incarceration in the mid-1850's and returned to Lahore after his release, where he quickly regained his lost prestige.^[3]

Printing press and publishing

By the 1860s, journalism was a budding industry in Lahore, with the amount of local editors, journalists, calligraphists, printers, compositors, and binders increasing.^[3] In 1866, Buta established the Aftab-i-Punjab Press in Lahore.^[1] Buta was proficient in Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi (Gurmukhi), and he founded an Urdu law journal, the first one in the province, called the Anwar-ul-Shams, in 1866.^[1][3] Later in 1872, he founded an Urdu weekly newspaper titled Aftab-i-Punjab.^{[note 1][1][2][3]} One of the early editors who worked on the Aftab-i-Punjab was man named Sheikh Fakir Muhammad, who had worked years earlier as an apprentice editor of the Kohi-i-Nur, which had been the first Urdu newspaper in Punjab.^{[note 2][3]} The Aftab-i-Punjab was overall critical of the British government's policies and actions against Duleep Singh, the deposed Sikh monarch.^[1] Buta Singh, though not a Namdhari himself, had close ties with the Namdhari sect and praised them for their support of Duleep Singh.^[1] Buta Singh also founded a Punjabi weekly newspaper titled Khalsa Prakash.^[3]

As his publishing business grew, Buta established local branches in the cities of Peshawar and Ajmer.^[3] The local Ajmer branch was responsible for publishing the Rajputana Government Gazette issues.^[3] Eventually the Ajmer branch shut its operations yet the Peshawar branch continued.^[2]

According to Namdhari Sikh literature, Buta Singh was the first person to print an edition of the Guru Granth Sahib, which was likely printed in 1868 or even earlier.^[3][4] After Ram Singh, guru of the Namdharis, was exiled to Burma, Buta Singh kept in communication with his successor, Hari Singh, who was headquartered at Bhaini Sahib.^[2] He exchanged secret information to the Namdharis and reported about their anti-British rebellious activities in his newspapers.^[2]

Later life

He served as the vice-president for then newly established Lahore Singh Sabha.^[1]

Notes

References