JAGIASI, also Jagiasu orJijnasu is a religious sect cognate with the UdasT section of the NanakpanthTs of Sindh. The word jagidsd is derived from Sanskrit jijndsd (desire to know), jagidsi denoting one desirous of knowledge, of spiritual insight. T`.ic members of the Jagiasi sect are mostly sahajdhdns i.e. gradualists, believing
MAHANT, originally the superior of a math or any other similar religious establishment. In the Punjab of early Sikhism, its characteristic usage referred to the leaders of Nath deras. The term acquired a distinctive Sikh application during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, period during which many Sikh gurdwaras passed into
MELI, lit. attached or companion, appears in the Sikh Scripture in different connotations usually as a verb form, past indefinite of melana (to attach, join, bring together), in the feminine form (GG, 54, 63, 90, 243, 379, 389, 584 et al.); as an adjective meaning loving, attached (GG, 4243); and
NIRMAL PANCHAITI AKHARA is a seminary of the Nirmala sect of the Sikhs established in 1862 at Patiala. Akhdrd, lit. arena, signifies a monastery or seminary with facilities for board, lodging and education of sadhus of a particular sect or cult. Sannyasi and Bairagi sadhus had their respective akhdrds, also
SANT TRADITION comprises those medieval monotheistic and devout personalities belonging to different shades of Indian society who are supposed to have been quiet, tranquil nonsectarian, opposed to Brahmanical ritualism, piously tired of the duplicity of the world but otherwise deeply conscious and critical of the outrageous anamolies professed by certain
SIKH TRADITION (HISTORIOGRAPHY) begins with Janam Sakhis, the life stories of Guru Nanak (1469-1539). There is hardly any evidence of the tradition of history writing in ancient India, though in modern times attempts have been made at different levels to show the existence of somewhat vague historio graphic elements particularly
BHATRAS (the term bhatra appears to be a diminutive of the Sanskrit bhatta, a bard), an endogamous and tightly knit group among the Sikhs with peddling and fortunetelling as their principal occupations. More than one story is current about their origin. However, the Bhatras themselves trace it to Baba Changa
DERA, a word of Persian extraction, has several connotations. The original Persian word derah or dirah means a tent, camp, abode, house or habitation. In current usage in rural Punjab, a farmhouse or a group of farmhouses built away from the village proper is called dera. Even after such an
DHARAMSALA or dharamsala from Sanskrit dharmasala, lit. court of justice, tribunal, charitable asylum, religious asylum, stands in Punjabi for a place of worship or the village hospice. Dharamsala as a Sikh institution is the precursor of gurdwara (q.v.). According to janam sakhis, accounts of the life of Guru Nanak (1469-1539).
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