DARGĀH MALL, DĪWĀN (d. 1695), son of Dvārkā Dās Chhibbar, was, according to Shāhīd Bilās Bhāī Manī Siṅgh, and Gurū kīāṅ Sākhīāṅ, a dīwān or minister in the time of Gurū Hargobind and his successors and managed, as such, their households. He was the great grandfather of Kesar Siṅgh Chhibbar, the author of Baṅsāvalīnāmā. He was in attendance upon Gurū Har Rāi when summons arrived from Auraṅgzīb asking the Gurū to meet him in Delhi. The Gurū sent instead his son, Rām Rāi, to call on the emperor. Dīwān Dargāh Mall was deputed to escort him to the imperial capital. It was Dīwān Dargāh Mall who wrote to Gurū Har Rāi from Delhi informing him about Bābā Rām Rāi's arbitrary distortion, in Auraṅgzīb's court, of one of Gurū Nānak's hymns in the Gurū Granth Sāhib. He was also in the train of Gurū Har Rāi's successor, Gurū Har Krishan, who too had been summoned to Delhi by the emperor. After the sudden death of Gurū Har Krishan, Dīwān Dargāh Mall travelled with Mātā Sulakkhaṇī, the mother of the late Gurū, to Bakālā carrying the emblems of succession for the investiture of Gurū Tegh Bahādur.

         As says Baṅsāvalīnāmā, Gurū Tegh Bahādur bestowed on Dargāh Mall a robe of honour and asked him to continue as dīwān, but the latter excused himself on the grounds of old age, and recommended to him his nephew, Matī Dās, for the position. He, however, did not leave the Gurū's presence. According to Gurū kīāṅ Sākhīāṅ, Dargāh Mall was among those who accompanied the Gurū on his journey through the eastern parts in 1665-70. He was present at the accession ceremony for Gurū Gobind Siṅgh on the eve of Gurū Tegh Bahādur's departure, in 1675, from Anandpur to make the supreme sacrifice. Dīwān Matī Dās and his brother Bhāī Satī Dās, also accompanied Gurū Tegh Bahādur to Delhi and embraced martyrdom on 11 November 1675. The duties of the dīwān of the holy household thus fell once again on the shoulders of Dargāh Mall. On the next Baisākhī day, 29 March 1676, however, he was finally relieved and his son, Dharam Chand, was appointed dīwān in his place.

         Dargāh Mall continued to stay at Anandpur where he died on 10 February 1695.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Chibbar, Kesar Siṅgh, Baṅsāvalīnāmā Dasāṅ Pātshāhīāṅ Kā. Chandigarh, 1972
  2. Garjā Siṅgh, Giānī, ed. , Shahīd Bilās. Ludhiana, 1961
  3. Padam, Piārā Singh, and Giānī Garjā Siṅgh, eds. , Gurū kīāṅ Sākhīāṅ. Patiala, 1986
  4. Trilochan Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur : Prophet and Martyr. Delhi, 196'7
  5. Harbans Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur. Delhi, 1982

A. C. Banerjee