BHĀG SIṄGH, SANT (1766-1839), of Kurī, a holy man widely respected in his time, was born the son of Bhāī Haṅs Rāi in 1766 at Qādirābād, a village in Gujrāt district (now in Pakistan), where his grandfather, Gurbakhsh Siṅgh, said to have been in the retinue of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, settled after the Gurū's passing away at Nāndeḍ, in the Deccan. Bhāg Siṅgh learnt to read Gurmukhī letters and the Gurū Granth Sāhib at the village gurdwārā. As he grew up, he made a pilgrimage to Nāndeḍ. Returning to the north, he visited Ūnā, now in Himachal Pradesh, where he became a disciple of Bābā Sāhib Siṅgh Bedī, a descendant of Gurū Nānak in direct line. After a few years, he, at the bidding of Bābā Sāhib Siṅgh, went to preach in the Poṭhohār region. He established himself at Kurī, a village on the bank of a small stream, Gumrāh, 8 km from Rāwalpiṇḍī. Such was his repute for piety that Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh once came to visit him and seek his blessing. Bābā Bīr Siṅgh of Nauraṅgābād, who himself emerged as a figure of great sanctity in Sikh times, also sought advice from him. Sant Bhāg Siṅgh died on 20 January 1839.