Mehta Kalu

{{Short description|Father of the first Sikh guru (1440–1522)}} {{use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox person | name = Mehta Kalu | image = Guru Nanak With Parents.jpg | caption = Guru Nanak visiting his parents, Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, after returning home from an Udasi (travels). Mardana's in the foreground playing the rabab. | native_name = ਮਹਿਤਾ ਕਾਲੂ<br>ਕਲਿਆਣ ਚੰਦ ਦਾਸ ਬੇਦੀ | native_name_lang = pa | birth_name = Kalyan Chand Das Bedi | birth_date = 4 May 1440 | birth_place = Dehra Sahib Lohar, Tarn Taran, Punjab | death_date = 24 December 1522 (Aged 82) | death_place = Kartarpur Sahib or Talwandi, Lodi Empire (Present day Pakistan) | spouse = Mata Tripta | children = Guru Nanak<br>Bebe Nanaki | parents = | mother = Mata Banarasi | father = Shiv Ram Bedi | relatives = Lal Chand (brother) }} thumb|Janamsakhi painting Mehta Kalu holding baby Nanak. '''Mehta Kalu''', formally Kalyan Das, (1440–1522) was the father of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guru Nanak Sahib, Guru Nanak Ji, First Sikh Guru, First Guru Of Sikhs, Sahib Shri Guru Nanak Ji, India |url=http://www.sgpc.net/gurus/gurunanak.asp |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218023855/http://www.sgpc.net/gurus/gurunanak.asp |archivedate=18 February 2012 |accessdate=9 August 2009 |publisher=Sgpc.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Mehta Kalu |url=https://punjabipedia.org/topic.aspx?txt=%u0a15%u0a3e%u0a32%u0a42+%u0a2c%u0a3e%u0a2c%u0a3e |access-date=2022-08-20 |website=punjabipedia.org |language=Punjabi}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Singh |first=Bhupinder |date=October–December 2019 |title=Genealogy of Guru Nanak |url=https://sikhinstitute.org/oc_2019/colbhupindersingh.html |journal=Abstracts of Sikh Studies |publisher=Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh |volume=21 |issue=4}}</ref>

== Names == Various names are used to refer to Guru Nanak's father, some of which are: 'Mehta Kalu', 'Kalu Rai', 'Kalu Chand', 'Kalian Rai', and 'Kalian Chand'.<ref name=":0" />

== Biography ==

=== Early life === Kalu was born in 1440 as 'Kalyan Das' to Shiv Ram Bedi (b. 1418) and Mata Banarasi in a Hindu Khatri family of the Bedi ''gotra''.<ref name=":0" /> Kalu's paternal grandfather was Ram Narayan Bedi.{{Efn|Mehta Kalu's grandfather's name is alternatively spelt as 'Ram Narain'.|group=note}}<ref name=":0" /> Mehta Kalu was born in the village of Patthe Vind (now extinct, was formerly located at the present-day site of Gurdwara Dera Sahib, approximately six miles east of Naushahra Pannuan).<ref name=":0" />

Mehta Kalu's family later moved to the village of Rai-Bhoi-Di-Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib) where Shiv Ram Bedi found employment as the village ''patwari'' (revenue official).<ref name=":0" /> Kalu was the eldest of two sons, his younger brother was named Baba Lalu (1444–1542).<ref name=":0" /> Lalu was born in Talwandi rather than in Patthe Vind.<ref name=":0" /> Kalu would take over the role of village patwari from his father after his father died.<ref name=":0" />

Thus, he served as the ''patwari'' (accountant) of crop revenue for the village of Talwandi in the employment of the zamindar (landlord), Rai Bular Bhatti.<ref name="Macauliffe-lxx">{{cite book |last1=Macauliffe |first1=Max Arthur |title=The Sikh Religion, its gurus, sacred writings and authors |date=1909 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |page=lxx |chapter=Introduction, Chapter VI |quote=Guru Nanak's father was Kalu of the Bedi section of the Khatri caste. He was by profession a village accountant, but added the practice of agriculture to this vocation. Kalu's father was Shiv Ram and his mother Banarasi. Kalu had one brother called Lalu, of whom little is known besides his name.}} page view, reading view</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://nankana.com/AboutRaiBular1.html |title=The Bhatti's of Guru Nanak's Order |publisher=Nankana.com |accessdate=9 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616151332/http://nankana.com/AboutRaiBular1.html |archivedate=16 June 2013 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

=== Marriage === He married a girl named Tripta in 1460.<ref name=":0" /> Two offspring were born from the couple, a daughter named Nanaki and a son named Nanak.<ref name=":0" />

=== Death === Kalu died at the age of 82 at Kartarpur, a locality that had been established by his son.<ref name=":0" />

== Notes == {{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalu, Mehta}} Category:Punjabi Sikhs Category:Family members of the Sikh gurus Category:People from Tarn Taran district Category:1440 births Category:1522 deaths Category:15th-century Indian people Category:16th-century Indian people