Gyani ji,
What is the source for that misinformation?
You are a revered member on the forum. You ought to be more careful with what you post as many people will readily believe it.
Khem Singh neither asked to be guru nor asked for special seat. His admirers did so out of love. Just as my family and I might give you a special seat and bed in my home if you ever visit. This was not a new thing, it was always done with revered members of the community.
All Singh Sabha were influenced by the British (European). Their writings indicate such an influence. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was the one to invite their influence. Only the Nihangs put up a strong opposition and remained traditional with their beliefs, martial arts, etc.
This article from the Sikh Cyber Museum paints a much more accurate picture of Khem Singh Bedi.
Khem Singh Bedi, Baba Sir
A founder of the Singh Sabha movement (1832-1905)
Was born on 21 February 1832 at Kallar, a small town in Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan. He was a direct descendant, in the thirteenth place, of Guru Nanak. He received the rites of amrit at the hands of the celebrated Baba Bir Singh of Naurangabad. His father Baba Atar Singh was killed in a family feud on 25 November 1839. Khem Singh and his elder brother Sampuran Singh inherited jagfirs in the Jalandhar Doab along with 41 villages in Dipalpur tahsil of Gugera, later Montgomery (Sahival), district. On the annexation of the Punjab to the British dominions in 1849, 14 of these villages were resumed by the new government.
During the uprising of 1857, Baba Khem Singh assisted the British in quelling a local revolt in Gugera district. He personally took part in a number of skirmishes, proving himself an excellent marksman with gun and rifle. While accompanying Extra-Assistant Commissioner Berkeley on a drive to reopen communications with Multan, Khem Singh distinguished himself in a cavalry charge on 21 September 1857. The following day He barely escaped death in an anbush in which Berkeley was killed.
The Government of India bestowed on him a khill'at or robe of honour of the value of 1,000 rupees and a double barrelled rifle. His jagirs were enhanced from time to time and, towards the end of his life, his possessions in land in Montgomery district alone amounted to 28,272 acres. He was appointed a magistrate in 1877 and an honorary munsif in 1878. He was made Companion of the Indian Empire (C.I.E.) in 1879, was nominated to the Viceroy's Legislative Council in 1893, and when the Indian Council Act was extended to the Punjab in 1897, he was among the first nonofficial members nominated to the Punjab legislature. He was knighted in 1898 (K.C.I.E.).
Baba Khem Singh was sensitive to the decline that had set in Sikh society after the occupation of the Punjab by the British and to the inroads being made by Christian proselytization. The gravity of the situation was brought home to the community dramatically when, at the beginning of 1873, four Sikh students of the Amritsar Mission School proclaimed their intention of renouncing their faith and embracing Christianity. The Sikhs convened a meeting at Amritsar on 30 July 1873, led by Baba Khem Singh Bedi, Sardar Thakur Singh Sandhanvalia and Kanvar Bikrama Singh of Kapurthala. As a result of their deliberations, a society called Sri Guru Singh Sabha was established at a largely attended gathering on the occasion of Dussehra, 1 October 1873.
Singh Sabhas began to spring up at other places as well. A co-ordinating Khalsa Diwan was formed at Amritsar on 12 April 1883, with Baba Khem Singh as president and Bhai Gurmukh Singh of Lahore as chief secretary. Serious differences, however, soon arose between the two. Baba Khem Singh, being a direct descendant of Guru Nanak, was glorified by his followers which was resented by many. At the Baisakhi divan at Amritsar in 1884, he was given the customary cushioned seat in the presence of the Guru Granth Sahib. The group led by Bhai Gurmukh Singh protested. A schism arose. Baba Khem Singh's supporters were commonly burlesqued as gadail party.
A separate Khalsa Diwan was set up at Lahore in April 1886. Baba Khem Singh, supported by the Patron of the Amritsar Diwan, Raja Bikram Singh of Faridkot, secured the excommunication of Bhai Gurmukh Singh under the seal of the Golden Temple. This, however, did not help him retain his position among the Sikh masses; henceforth, his influence was restricted to the Pothohar region and to some areas in Western Punjab. There he preached among the Sahajdharis, and brought a large number into the Sikh fold.
Besides the propagation of Sikh faith, Baba Khem Singh's important contribution lies in the spread of education among the Sikh masses, especially women. In 1855, the dispatch of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, which initiated a new era in Indian education, was received at Lahore. The following year the Punjab Government established the Department of Public Instruction and planned to open 30 singleteacher primary schools in each district. Baba Khem Singh lent his full support to the scheme. He also opened schools on his own in the Rawalpindi division. Out of his immense wealth he gave away liberally for this purpose and at least fifty schools for boys and girls were opened in the Punjab through his help. On the occasion of the marriage of his daughter in 1893, he donated Ks 300,000 for religious and charitable purposes. Half of this amount was for setting up a college at Rawalpindi. As a beginning, a vocational school was opened there, in early 1894, with provision for training in dyeing, photography, carpentry, tailoring, etc. Provision was made for subsidized board and lodging for poor students.
Baba Khem Singh lived in princely style and enjoyed the reverence of hundreds of thousands of followers in Western Punjab and what later became the North-West Frontier Province. He was on a tour of the latter in the spring of 1905 when he suddenly fell ill. On 8 April 1905, he left Peshawar by rail in a state of serious sickness and feebleness, and died at Montgomery on 10 April 1905. http://www.sikhcybermuseum.org.uk/Pe...mSinghBedi.htm
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An excerpt from Bachittar Natak (pages 129-130). How could Nanak X forget Nanak II and Nanak III?
ਦੋਹਰਾ ॥
दोहरा ॥
DOHRA
ਤਿਨ ਬੇਦੀਅਨ ਕੀ ਕੁਲ ਬਿਖੈ ਪ੍ਰਗਟੇ ਨਾਨਕ ਰਾਇ ॥
तिन बेदीअन की कुल बिखै प्रगटे नानक राइ ॥
Nanak Rai took birth in the Bedi clan.
ਸਭ ਸਿੱਖਨ ਕੋ ਸੁਖ ਦਏ ਜਹ ਤਹ ਭਏ ਸਹਾਇ ॥੪॥
सभ सि्खन को सुख दए जह तह भए सहाइ ॥४॥
He brought comfort to all his disciples and helped them at all times.4.
ਚੌਪਈ ॥
चौपई ॥
CHAUPAI
ਤਿਨ ਇਹ ਕਲ ਮੋ ਧਰਮੁ ਚਲਾਯੋ ॥ ਸਭ ਸਾਧਨ ਕੋ ਰਾਹੁ ਬਤਾਯੋ ॥
तिन इह कल मो धरमु चलायो ॥ सभ साधन को राहु बतायो ॥
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/questions-and-answers/37879-what-sri-guru-nanak-dev-jis.html
Guru Nanak spread Dharma in the Iron age and put the seekers on the path.
ਜੋ ਤਾਂ ਕੇ ਮਾਰਗ ਮਹਿ ਆਏ ॥ ਤੇ ਕਬਹੂੰ ਨਹਿ ਪਾਪ ਸੰਤਾਏ ॥੫॥
जो तां के मारग महि आए ॥ ते कबहूं नहि पाप संताए ॥५॥
Those who followed the path propagated by him, were never harmed by the vices.5.
ਜੇ ਜੇ ਪੰਥ ਤਵਨ ਕੇ ਪਰੇ ॥ ਪਾਪ ਤਾਪ ਤਿਨ ਕੇ ਪ੍ਰਭ ਹਰੇ ॥
जे जे पंथ तवन के परे ॥ पाप ताप तिन के प्रभ हरे ॥
All those who came within his fold, they were absolved of all their sins and troubles,
ਦੂਖ ਭੂਖ ਕਬਹੂੰ ਨ ਸੰਤਾਏ ॥ ਜਾਲ ਕਾਲ ਕੇ ਬੀਚ ਨ ਆਏ ॥੬॥
दूख भूख कबहूं न संताए ॥ जाल काल के बीच न आए ॥६॥
Their sorrows, their wants were vanished and even their transmigration came to and end.6.
ਨਾਨਕ ਅੰਗਦ ਕੋ ਬਪੁ ਧਰਾ ॥ ਧਰਮ ਪ੍ਰਚੁਰ ਇਹ ਜਗ ਮੋ ਕਰਾ ॥
नानक अंगद को बपु धरा ॥ धरम प्रचुर इह जग मो करा ॥
Nanak transformed himself to Angad and spread Dharma in the world.
Reference:: Sikh Philosophy Network http://www.sikhphilosophy.net/showthread.php?t=37879
ਅਮਰਦਾਸ ਪੁਨਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਹਾਯੋ ॥ ਜਨੁ ਦੀਪਕ ਤੇ ਦੀਪ ਜਗਾਯੋ ॥੭॥
अमरदास पुनि नामु कहायो ॥ जनु दीपक ते दीप जगायो ॥७॥
He was called Amar Das in the next transformation, a lamp was lit from the lamp.7.
ਜਬ ਬਰਦਾਨਿ ਸਮੈ ਵੁਹ ਆਵਾ ॥ ਰਾਮਦਾਸ ਤਬ ਗੁਰੂ ਕਹਾਵਾ ॥
जब बरदानि समै वुह आवा ॥ रामदास तब गुरू कहावा ॥
When the opportune time came for the boon, then the Guru was called Ram Das.
ਤਿਹ ਬਰਦਾਨਿ ਪੁਰਾਤਨਿ ਦੀਆ ॥ ਅਮਰਦਾਸਿ ਸੁਰਪੁਰਿ ਮਗੁ ਲੀਆ ॥੮॥
तिह बरदानि पुरातनि दीआ ॥ अमरदासि सुरपुरि मगु लीआ ॥८॥
The old boon was bestowed upon him, when Amar Das departed for the heavens.8.
ਸ੍ਰੀ ਨਾਨਕ ਅੰਗਦਿ ਕਰਿ ਮਾਨਾ ॥ ਅਮਰਦਾਸ ਅੰਗਦ ਪਹਿਚਾਨਾ ॥
स्री नानक अंगदि करि माना ॥ अमरदास अंगद पहिचाना ॥
Sri Nanak was recognized in Angad, and Angad in Amar Das.
ਅਮਰਦਾਸ ਰਾਮਦਾਸ ਕਹਾਯੋ ॥ ਸਾਧਨ ਲਖਾ ਮੂੜ੍ਹ ਨਹਿ ਪਾਯੋ ॥੯॥
अमरदास रामदास कहायो ॥ साधन लखा मूड़्ह नहि पायो ॥९॥
Amar Das was called Ram Das, only the saints know it and the fools did not.9.
ਭਿੰਨ ਭਿੰਨ ਸਭਹੂੰ ਕਰ ਜਾਨਾ ॥ ਏਕ ਰੂਪ ਕਿਨਹੂੰ ਪਹਿਚਾਨਾ ॥
भिंन भिंन सभहूं कर जाना ॥ एक रूप किनहूं पहिचाना ॥
The people on the whole considered them as separate ones, but there were few who recognized them as one and the same.
ਜਿਨ ਜਾਨਾ ਤਿਨ ਹੀ ਸਿਧ ਪਾਈ ॥ ਬਿਨ ਸਮਝੇ ਸਿਧਿ ਹਾਥਿ ਨ ਆਈ ॥੧੦॥
जिन जाना तिन ही सिध पाई ॥ बिन समझे सिधि हाथि न आई ॥१०॥
Those who recognized them as One, they were successful on the spiritual plane. Without recognition there was no success.10.
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