Guru Nanak’s Gurdwara in Baghdad, Iraq: Its History and My Personal Visit in 1990
Guru Nanak Dev Ji was the founder of the Sikh religion and he had travelled throughout India and neighbouring countries, including distant places such as Baghdad, Iraq to spread the message of the Almighty Lord, preach unity, love and redeem the world of its suffering. According to Bhai Gurdas, in his Var 1, he gives a description of the Guru’s visit to Baghdad:
Verse 35
From Mecca, Baba went to Baghdad and stayed outside the city. Firstly, Baba himself was in the form of Timeless and secondly, he had his companion Mardana, the reebock player. For Namaz (in his own style), Baba gave a call, listening to which the whole world went into absolute silence. The entire city became quiet and lo! To behold it, the Pir (of the town) also got wonderstruck. Observing minutely he found (in the form of Baba Nanak) an exhilarated faquir. Pir Dasatgir asked him, which category of faquir you belong to and what is your parentage. (Mardana replied) He is Nanak, who has come into kalyug, and, he recognizes God and His farquirs as one. He is known in all the directions besides earth and sky.
Verse 36
The Pir debated and came to know that this faquir is much more powerful. Here in Baghdad he has shown a great miracle. Meanwhile he (Baba Nanak) talked about myriads of nether worlds and skies. Pir Dasatgir asked (the Baba) to show him whatever he had seen. Guru Nanak Dev talking along with him the son of the Pir, melted into thin air and in a wink of eye visualized him the upper and lower worlds. From the nether world he brought a bowl full of sacred food and handed it over to pir. This manifest power (of the Guru) cannot be made to hide.
The location where Guru Nanak had a discussion with Pir Bhalol was discovered by the Sikh soldiers of the Indian Army while they were stationed in Baghdad during the First World War and a small shrine was built at the vicinity by them. According to Wikipedia, “Kirpal Singh a captain in Indian Medical Service of World War I time, located this Gurdwara in west of town Baghdad between old graveyard to the north and present Baghdad Samara railway line to the south. To the Arabs this place is well known as tomb of Bahlol. Historic relics such as an old plaque with text inscribed in Arabic, existed in the Shrine till Iraq war in 2003, were looted by some miscreants after the war. Iraqi Government in 2007 expressed a desire to rebuild the shrine in 2007. According to a news report Abu Yusuf was caretaker of the shrine in 2011. Prior to the war a few Sikh pilgrims used to visit the shrine, rather reports of some regular interval congregations by Indian workers in Iraq and cooking and sharing a meal by them on the place are also there.”
According to the book ‘Janamsakhi Tradition: An Analytical Study’ by Dr. Kirpal Singh, there is a tribe of people in Iraq, who still follow the teachings of Guru Nanak. He states that, “The Subis of Iraq who keep flowing hair and hang around their necks the portrait of Guru Nanak call themselves the followers of the Guru.” This tribe existed in Iraq till the mid twentieth century.
Dr. Sangat Singh was a diplomat, First Secretary at the Indian Embassy from 1989 till 1990 and he has the following information on Guru Nanak’s visit to Baghdad in page 17 of his book ‘The Sikhs in History’:
“Besides an inscription in classical Turkoman language with an admixture of Arabic in Baghdad testifying to Guru Nanak’s visits to those parts. Guru Nanak’s taking the young son of the then successor of Abdul Qadir Gailani, also known as Ghaus-i-Pak and Pir Dastgir (whose mausoleum is in the heart of Baghdad) to the trans-region journey into the outer-wold, forms part of Baghdadi folklore.
There are three Baghdadi folk sayings about Baba Nanak. These being Inta Baba Nanak (Are you Baba Nanak?), A ‘balak Baba Nanak (As if, he is Baba Nanak, or he pretends to be Baba Nanak), and Ana Mu Baba Nanak (I am not Baba Nanak). These were the Baghdadi people’s common reaction to all those who till the Second World War in 20th century talked about or enquired of the visit of heavenly constellations, some at regular intervals from the outer world to this world. For Baghdadi common man, only Baba Nanak knew as he had demonstrated the truth during his visit in the early 16th century*.”
(* Foot Note: Shaikh Jalal al Hanafi, Imam, Juma-e Khulfa (Caliph’s Mosque), the oldest mosque in Baghdad, held several conversations with the author (Dr. Sangat Singh), who was First Secretary in the Indian Embassy in Baghdad during 1989–90. The 76 year old Shaikh Hannafi who sometimes was Imam of Juma Mosque in Shanghai in China, is a renowned authority on Baghdadi folklore. According to the testimony of Bhai Gurdas, Guru Nanak at Baghdad had not only talked about hundreds of thousands of upper and neither regions, but also taken the young son of Pir Dastgir (the then successor of the Dastgir’s shrine) to a heavenly voyage through his cosmic powers and shown him the regions. In one of the regions, the young boy, probably Zainuddin, successor to the shrine and First Ashraf who died in 981 A.H at a ripe old age, was served Prasad which he had with him on coming back from the voyage, as an evidence of what he had experienced.
Guru Nanak at Baghdad blessed the wife of the Governor with a son. Soon she got pregnant. The Governor, in thanksgiving conferred on Guru Nanak a Baghdadi Choga (flowing dress), with verses from Qoran on it (also known as Qoranic Choga) on Guru Nanak. This Choga is presently at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab.
The Qoranic verses have since been tampered with because of the impetuous actions of Bedi custodians of the shrine. They have got these rewritten by some Qadianis who contend that Guru Nanak was as Muslim.
It was customary for Baghdadi rulers to confer Qoranic Chogas in high appreciation. Another such Qoranic Choga conferred by the ruler of Iraq on Shaikh Badiuddin Shahmadari is available at Manakpur near Kanpur.)
Dr. Sangat has shared his personal experience of visiting and eventually preserving Guru Nanak’s Gurdwara in Baghdad while he was working with the Indian Embassy. The following extract is from his book ‘The Sikhs in History’, pages 722–723:
“Of relevance is a personal experience of 1989–90, when I was posted with Indian Mission at Baghdad. Guru Nanak’s shrine there was amidst a graveyard. Every Friday (public holiday) there was kirtan, recitation of gurbani, when guru ka langar was served freely. The employees of numerous Indian companies, would use the huge gathering for social interaction and were supplemented by Pakistani pilgrims to shrines in Iraq.
All of them enjoyed the Indian dal, roti, vegetables and sweet pudding (khir) that was administered regularly. For services of langar, the space had been widened to cover more area. In the autumn of 1989, some people met President Saddam Hussain of Iraq and complained that the graves of their ancestors, which were there, had been removed. In Islam grave has a different connotation. Consequently, the regular weekly kirtan was stopped and so was the langar. There was general ban for Indians to go over there. The move for restoration of graves restarted and the complex which consisted of the main room of about 14’ * 8’, and the outside hall were also subjected to some changes. Feeling disturbed, without prior consultations with the Ambassador, I took my diplomatic car three weeks later, and walked amidst the considerable staff doing reconstructive work. I thought that the maximum they could do was to object to my visit, prevent me from going any further, and declare me persona non grata, to leave the country in a week’s time. I was willing for that. Our Ambassador was a Punjabi Mohyal Brahmin who traced his background to Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das. I briefed him about the undesirable changes wrought. He took up the matter with the Iraqi authorities immediately before the Iraqi authorities could move in the matter. So, I continued my forays into the shrine almost every three weeks. They knew that I was an Indian Diplomat but the worst did not happen.’
This brave and noble action by Dr. Sangat Singh saved the Gurdwara from being destroyed in 1989. The Indian Ambassador mentioned above was Mr. Kamal Nayan Bakshi, whom I had known personally and had met on a few occasions. He was very strict, however, one of the nicest persons I had known as a teenager and he had given me advice on life and discipline which I follow till this day, when I am in my 50s. I personally visited the historical Gurdwara in Baghdad later on in the summer of 1990.
My Dad, Mr. Sadhu Singh Sandhu was working with the Indian Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and he had been posted to the mission in 1989 as a Consular Officer. During my Dad’s posting, I was studying Electronics Engineering in Delhi and lived with my maternal grandparents. On the morning of 6th June, 1990 I was woken up and informed that my Dad had suffered a massive heart attack and that he was at a hospital in Baghdad. I immediately rushed over to the Ministry of External Affairs office located at Akbar Bhawan in Delhi and vividly remember meeting Mr. Trehan, a Joint Secretary with the Ministry. He had personally known my Dad when both of them worked at the Indian High Commission, London, UK. When he learnt about the criticality of my Dad’s ailment, he immediately arranged and took care of the formalities for my departure to Baghdad. He had arranged for an immediate Air ticket via Iraqi Airways and I was on my way to Baghdad the next day. Meanwhile, after I got home from the Ministry, Dr. Sangat Singh, who had returned from Baghdad the same day contacted me and informed me about my Dad. Before leaving, he had seen him and wanted to give me a first-hand account of his condition. I went over to his home and there he and his wife comforted me and told me that my Dad’s condition was serious, however, he asked me to have faith in the Almighty and strongly advised me to visit Guru Nanak’s Gurdwara in Baghdad and pray from my Dad’s recovery. I thanked Sangat Singh uncleji and after obtaining his blessings came back home.
My flight to Baghdad was next evening and I quickly packed my luggage and left for the airport with my relative who had come over to see me off. This was a direct flight between Delhi and Baghdad by Iraqi Airways (a year earlier, it took us 2 days and three flights to reach Baghdad by Air India). I reached Baghdad city and went over to see my father at the hospital. He had been in a stable, but critical condition for the past 48 hours and I was optimistic that he would feel better. As advised by Sangat Singh uncleji, I visited Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Gurdwara on Friday. I was accompanied to the place by one of my Dad’s friends who drove us to the site. We lived in the district of Adamiyah in Baghdad and the Gurdwara was located at a desolated location, near the old railway line. It took us close to half an hour (or more) to reach the holy site. We walked towards the Gurdwara, which was surrounded by a graveyard and we entered the compound, with high walls and a metal doorway led us inside. Once we entered the building, there was a Dargah of a Pir on the right hand side and a person was waiving a Fly Whisk over the mausoleum, which was draped with a silk green cloth. At that time, I didn’t realize that this was Pir Bhalol’s shrine and was a bit surprised to see a Muslim Dargah in the vicinity of our Sikh Gurdwara. We however, went a few paces further and there were people sitting in the open compound including men and women, who were listening to the kirtan that was being performed.
We entered the small room of the Gurdwara, there was a raised platform, with a picture of the stone inscription that mentioned the visit of Guru Nanak along with a photo of our first Guru. There was a small Palki placed in the centre and a Granthi (who was probably a worker with an Indian construction company) was reverently sitting behind it and waving the Chaur Sahib over the Guru Granth Sahib. Kirtan was being recited by a couple of Sikhs, there was however no loudspeaker as we were in the vicinity of the Muslim shrine, surrounded by graves. I meanwhile stood in supplication, closed my eyes and prayed to the almighty for my Dad’s recovery and prostrated before our Holy Granth. After praying from the bottom of my heart and seeking His blessings, I came out of the small room and sat outside with the other sangat and listened to the holy reciting. After conclusion of the Kirtan, the Granthi read the Anand Sahib Paath followed by Ardas. We were given ‘Patashas’ in the form of Prasad and while departing, I looked back at our holy shrine and payed my final respects to the place where the founder of our religion stayed more than 500 years ago.
During my stay at the Gurdwara, I somehow felt peace as my anxiety seemed to have reduced and I had a feeling that my Dad would get better. As the days went by, my Dad’s condition started to improve and he came back home after staying at the hospital for about three weeks. He went on to serve the beleaguered Indian community after Saddam Hussain attacked Kuwait in August 1990 and helped in the largest relief effort and evacuation of Indians, who were stranded in Kuwait and Baghdad before the start of the Gulf War in February 1991.
Guru Nanak, had listened to my prayers and bestowed my Dad with satisfactory health so that he could serve humanity. My Dad finally came back to India after his fellow countrymen were evacuated from the region by the end of February 1991. My visit to Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s Gurdwara is still fresh in my memory and whenever I close my eyes, I can envision the building, with the graveyard, dargah and the small room containing our Guru Granth Sahib. In the years that followed the first Gulf War, the site survived, however there were hardly any visitors there. During the second Gulf War in 2003, the holy shrine was destroyed and as of today the tomb of Pir Bhalol still exists; however, the place is devoid of the historical Gurdwara.
Written By: Gurmeet Singh Sandhu
References:
The Sikhs in History by Dr. Sangat Singh
Janamsakhi Tradition: An Analytical Study by Dr. Kirpal Singh
Translation of Bhai Gurdas Var 1 provided by Mr. Swarnjit Singh, USA
Wikipedia
Images: Google
