Bhai Bala

 ( 1466 Births ) 

Bhai Bala (; 1466–1544) was a companion of Guru Nanak. Born in Nankana Sahib into a Sandhu Jat family, Bala was also a close associate of Bhai Mardana.

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Biography According to the , he traveled with Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana on all of their great journeys around the world including China, Mecca, and around India. He supposedly died in Khadur Sahib, in his late 70s, in 1544.McLeod, W.H., Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1968.Max Arthur Macauliffe, 1909

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Historicity There has been considerable discussion as regards to Bhai Bala's existence, particularly within the Sikh Studies. Bhai Gurdas, who has listed all Guru Nanak's prominent disciples (in his 11th Var), does not mention the name of Bhai Bala (this may be an oversight, for he does not mention Rai Bular either). However Bhai Mani Singh's Bhagat Ratanwali, which contains essentially the same list as that by Bhai Gurdas, but with more detail, also does not mention Bhai Bala.

Bhupender Singh (2022). 9789357046602, Blue Rose Publishers. ISBN 9789357046602

There are a number of other anomalies, which Dr. Kirpal Singh has explicated in his Punjabi work tradition.Singh, Dr Kirpal, Janamsakhi Tradition (An Analytical Study). Singh Brothers, 2004.(page 10)

Trilochan Singh counters some of the points raised by stating that Mehma Parkash and Mani Singh both mention Bhai Bala. Bala is further mentioned in Suchak Prasang Guru Ka by Bhai Behlo written during Guru Arjan time. Bhai Behlo says, “Bala discarded his body there, At the holy city of Khadur Sahib, Angad, the master, performed the rites, Graciously with his own two hands.” He also raises the point that Bhai Bala’s family is still living in Nankana Sahib

A Gateway to Sikhism | Early Gursikhs: Bhai Bala Ji - A Gateway to Sikhism and that Bala’s samadhi exists in Khadur Sahib. According to H.S. Singha, some scholars argue that Bhai Bala was a genuine person, however his Hagiography had been corrupted by heretical sects such as the Minas, Handaliyas, and others.

H.S. Singha (2025). 9788170103011, Hemkunt Press. . ISBN 9788170103011

The earliest extant Bala version rendition of the itself claims to date to 1525 but this has been rejected by New Zealand historian W.H. McLeod.

W. H. McLeod (1980). 9780198265320, Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780198265320

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External links

• Sikh history (archived)

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