Harbans Singh

Harbans Singh (6 March 1921 – 30 May 1998) was an educationist, administrator, scholar and the editor-in-chief of the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. He was respected for his contributions to Sikh scholarship and Punjabi literary studies and had a vital and pervasive influence in the field of religious studies, with special reference to Sikhism.[1]
Biography
Harbans Singh was born on 6 March 1921 in the village of Kotha Guru in the
Early career
In 1944 he joined the Brijindra College at
Creation of the Punjabi University
In 1960 he became the Member-Secretary of the Punjabi University Commission with Maharaja Yadvindra Singh of Patiala as the president. The commission was instrumental for creating the Punjabi University to advance Punjabi language, literature, and culture. The Hebrew University in Israel is the only other University founded on language. Though extremely busy with the administrative demands of the growing University, he kept up with his scholarship, writing important books, including Guru Gobind Singh (which was translated into 14 Indian languages)[4] and The Heritage of the Sikhs (one of the most popular of his titles, which went to several editions with significant additions and revisions). In 1964 he was invited by the United States Government to study the administrative functioning and educational system of universities in the US. He compiled his impressions of this visit in the form of a book Higher Education in America (1966), which has been appreciated for its informative and educative value and its insights on continuing education – this last became the cornerstone of the Evening Studies program at the Punjabi University.
Pioneer for the academic study of religion
Harbans Singh spent the 1968–69 academic year at the Center for World Religions at Harvard. It was here that he prepared a biography of Guru Nanak entitled Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith (1969) to mark the five hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Guru.[5] Upon his return to the Punjabi University, he played a vital role in the establishment of a full-fledged department of the academic study of religion. He became the founder chair of the first department of religious studies in India that offered courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It reflected the best modalities of this kind of study in American and European universities. Called the Guru Gobind Singh Department of Religious Studies, it was established by the Punjabi University to commemorate the quincentenary of the Guru's birth.[1]
For the celebrations Harbans Singh arranged an international seminar on Guru Nanak (September 1969). He then published the proceedings of the seminar in a volume entitled Perspectives on Guru Nanak (1975). In collaboration with Dr. L.M. Joshi he published An Introduction to Indian Religions (1973) to serve as a textbook for the first-year undergraduate students. In 1969 he also launched a biannual Journal of Religious Studies and became its founder-Editor.
During his tenure as Professor of Sikh Studies and Head of the Department of Religious Studies, he hosted many international conferences and brought distinguished scholars to the Punjabi University. He also travelled extensively, lecturing on different facets of Sikhism in Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands, England, Ireland, and the US. The series of lectures that he delivered at Berkeley at the invitation of its university in May 1984 were published in a book, The Berkeley Lectures on Sikhism. He was an active member of the
Finale
The culmination of his life was the momentous Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, the first in the English language. This comprehensive work covers different aspects of Sikh history, literature, and philosophy.[8] The four-volume set was released by the Prime Minister of India on 5 March 1999 at New Delhi in a special function.[9] Though Harbans Singh suffered a paralytic stroke, he received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Guru Nanak Dev University, and continued working on his project until his death on 30 May 1998. He was also honored by the Shiromani Gurdwara Committee on 17 August 1992, at a function at his residence in Punjabi University where the SGPC president, Jathedar Gurcharan Singh Tohra, bestowed a siropa on him in the presence of Mr Parkash Singh Badal.[10] During the Khalsa Tercentenary Celebrations in 1999, he was posthumously invested with the "Order of the Khalsa." The Punjabi University honored him by prefixing his name "Professor Harbans Singh" to the Department of the Encyclopedia of Sikhism to which he had totally dedicated himself during the last decades of his life. This full-fledged Department will continue to ensure that the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism is made available in Punjabi and is constantly revised and updated. An online version is published on the internet by Punjabi University.[8] Essays in Honour of Professor Harbans Singh were published by Dr. Dharam Singh entitled Sikhism and Secularism.[11] Harbans Singh was a sage-like figure who worked away from the limelight, selflessly pursuing his literary and scholarly interests.
Publications
- Maharaja Ranjit Singh
- Aspects of Punjabi Literature
- Heritage of the Sikhs
- Higher Education in America
- Guru Gobind Singh (translated into 14 Indian languages)
- Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith
- Perspectives on Guru Nanak
- Punjab Past and Present: Essays in Honour of Dr. Ganda Singh (with N.G. Barrier)
- Approaches to the Study of Religion
- Bhai Vir Singh (Makers of Indian Literature Series) (also translated into Punjabi)
- An Introduction to Indian Religions (with Dr. L.M. Joshi)
- Guru Tegh Bahadur
- Mahindi and Other Short Stories
- Sada Virsa
- Four Volume Encyclopedia of Sikhism
References
- ^ a b c Singh, Dharam (1992). Souvenir Professor Harbans Singh. Amritsar: Shromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee.
- ^ "Nikky Singh". www.colby.edu/. Colby College. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
- ^ Singh, Roopinder (1994). "Prof. Harbans Singh: A Gentleman Scholar". The Tribune. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ^ Talib, G. S. (3 July 1967). "book review of Harbans Singh's biography of Guru Gobind Singh". The Spokesman.
- ^ Singh, Harbans (1969). Guru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh Faith. Bombay: Asia Publishing House.
- ^ Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur (2005). Birth of the Khalsa: A Feminist Re-Memory of Sikh Identity. Albany: SUNY. p. xii-xv.
- ^ Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur (2008). "Remembering Professor Harbans Singh". The Tribune.
- ^ a b "Encyclopaedia of Sikhism". Punjabi University, Patiala. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "Professor Harbans Singh Department". Punjabi University, Patiala. 1999. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ Singh, Roopinder. "Prof. Harbans Singh: A Gentleman Scholar". The Tribune. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ^ Singh, Dharam (1994). Sikhism and Secularism: Essays in Honour of Professor Harbans Singh. New Delhi: Harman Publishing.