Dr. Ganda Singh: Historian and Institution Builder

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Dr. Ganda Singh's life is an exciting saga of how a 19-year-old 'hardened soldier', inspired by his commander Sir Arnold Wilson's interest in history, returned to academia at the age of 30 and completed his MA in History at the age of 42 from Aligarh Muslim University. At the age of 54, he received his Ph.D. from Panjab University, Chandigarh. A book titled Ahmad Shah Durrani: Father of Modern Afghanistan placed him in the forefront of historians of medieval India. He has to his credit more than 70 books and about 350 research papers on Sikh history. Dr. Ganda Singh was not only an eminent historian but also the founder of many great institutions. He established the Sikh History Research Department in Khalsa College, Amritsar in 1930, a valuable research centre of historical materials collected from the libraries of India and abroad. Serving as Director of Archives and Museums at the invitation of PEPSU Government and then as Director of Punjab Historical Studies, Department at Punjabi University, Patiala, he brought the royal city of Patiala on the world map.

Dr. Mohinder Singh, Professor-Director, National Institute of Punjab Studies, New Delhi is an eminent scholar in the field of historical studies. He has been the Director of Guru Nanak Foun- dation and Member of National Commission for Minority Educa- tional Institutions, Government of India. He has been a Visiting Professor at Center for Global Studies, University of California. In 1974, he was awarded a fellowship by the ICHR for research on the Akali Movement in England. He is the author of over 30books related to Sikh history and religion and several research papers.

When we were the students of Government Primary School in Patiala, we often used to hear stories about the three legendary figures of the city- Dr. Ganda Singh, a historian; Dr. Khushdeva Singh, a chest diseases specialist, and Dasondhi Ram, a social worker, popularly known as Birji. Naturally, we were keen to meet these historic figures of the city. One day, we mustered courage and asked our Social Science teacher whether he could help us meet these three noble souls. His quick answer was, "it was simply impossible". Lo and behold! We met the legendary figure Birji under rather strange circumstances. During school break in a sunny afternoon when we were playing marbles, suddenly someone rather ill clad, unshaved and wearing slippers appeared on the scene and started slapping us without any reason. Before we could recover from the shock of this sudden development, our Headmaster appeared on the scene and touched the feet of this 'stranger'. This scene made us rather nervous. The man pulled our ears and told us "playing marbles was not a good habit". The gentleman advised us that we should better utilise our school break by picking up trash and putting the same in a tin box hanging on the wall with bold letters USE ME written on it. And the angel suddenly disappeared. Our teacher told us that he was the noble soul Dasondhi Ram Birji. Later we learnt that Birji was a high official of the Patiala State who decided to give up his position to serve the poor and destitute and earned the respect which Bhagat Puran Singh and Mother Teresa have earned.