Bibi Harnam Kaur(1862-1902)

Bibi Harnam Kaur ji were a pioneer in the field of women's education, was born on 10
April 1882 in a Siddhu Jatt family of Chand Purana, a village in Firozpur district of
the Punjab. Here original name was Jiuni Bhagvan Das. Her father's name was
Bhagvan Das and mother's Ram Dei. Bhagvan Das was a religious minded person,
had become a disciple of an Udasi sadhu, Ram Das, of Firozpur, after whose death he
became the head of his dera or seminary. Here Jiuni and her mother joined him when
the former was only an infant. She was a precocious child and had read Panj Granths,
Dasam Granth and Hanuman Natak before she was six years of age. She then joined
the local Arya Pathshala and learnt Hindi, but left off after six months because tlae
Pathshala had no facilities to teach Gurmukhi. Later she was sent to the village of
Daudhar, now in Faridkot district, where she studied for several years under Bhai
Dula Singh. Meanwhile, Bhal Takht Singh, who had started a Gurmukhi school at
Firozpur under the auspices of the local Singh Sabha, offered to open a school
exclusively for girls. The Singh Sabha welcomed the proposal but was reluctant to let
it be run by a bachelor. To overcome the difficulty, Jiuni's parents promised Takht
Singh the hand of their daughter- The Kanya Pathshala, lit girls' school, was opened
in Firozpur on 5 November l902, and Jiuni joined it both to learn and to teach as an
employee of the Singh Sabha. Her betrothal to Takht Singh took place on 11 October
1893 and they were married on 8 May 1894. She received the new name of Harnam
Kaur when she was administred on 15 July 1901 pahul or the rites of the Khalsa.
The couple threw themselves and their heart and soul into their work . Harnam Kaur's
monthly salary was Rs 6 and her husband's Rs 8. On 1 September 1900, tired of
internal dissensions in the managemaent of the Singh Sabha, they quit service, but
continued to teach privately. Early in 1903, Bibi Harnam Kaur persuaded her husband
to open a boarding school for girls at Firozpur. A number of parents offered to send
their daughter's to the boarding school which was named Sikh Kanya Maha Vidyala
and which started functioning from March 1905. Harnam Kaur worked hard to make
the Vidyala success. In addition to helping her husband at teaching, she looked after
catering and lodging arrangements for their wards . She had also set up Istri Satsang, a
women's religious society, which held meetings in the afternoon of every Wednesday,
and a parcharak jatha or missionary group. But she did not live long to serve the cause
to which she had dedicated herself, and died on 1 October 1906.