KALIAN CHAND, BABA (1440-1522), variously mentioned by chroniclers as Mahita Kalu, Kalu Rai, Kalu Chand, Kalian Rai and Kalian Chand, was the father of Guru Nanak, founder of Sikh faith. He was the elder of the two sons of Baba Shiv Ram, a Bedi Khatri, and Mata Banarasi of the village of Patthevind (no longer in existence). The village fell in what is now the Amritsar district of the Punjab. The family later shifted to Talvandi Rai Bhoi Ki, now known as Nankana Sahib, in present day Sheikliupura district of Pakistan, where Shiv Ram became the village patvdn or keeper of revenue records, a post occupied by Baba Kalian Chand after his father`s death.
Baba Kalian Chand was married to Tripta, daughter of Rama of Chahal, a village near Lahore. A daughter, Nanaki, and a son, (Guru) Nanak, were born to the couple the former in 1464 and the latter in 1469. Baba Kalian Chand died in 1522 at Kartarpur, founded by Guru Nanak on the right bank of the River Ravi.
References :
- Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth. Amritsar, 1927–33
- Vir Singh, Bhai, ed., Puratan Janamsakhi. Amritsar, 1971
- Kohli, Surinder Singh, ed., Janamsakhi Bhai Bala. Chandigarh, 1975
- McLeod, W.H., Early Sikh Tradition. Oxford, 1980
- Harbans Singh, Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith. Bombay, 1969
- Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
