Bhagat Lakshman Singh

Bhagat Lakshman Singh (1863–1944) was a Sikh writer, journalist, and reformer active during the Singh Sabha movement. He wrote books on Guru Gobind Singh and Sikh martyrs. He was the founder of The Khalsa newspaper.

Early life Lakshman Singh was born in 1863 in Rawalpindi, Punjab in a Hindu family to parents Bhagat Kahan Chand and Bhagatani Gurditti. He became initiated as a Sikh in 1895 under Khem Singh Bedi, a direct descendant of Guru Nanak.

Career Bhagat Lakshman Singh met Max Arthur MacAuliffe while he was at the Rawalpindi Mission College when Macauliffe was still preparing his seminal treatise The Sikh Religion. In 1899, he founded a pro-Singh Sabhaist English newspaper titled simply as The Khalsa, which had a lifespan of two years, after which its production ceased due to financial issues. In his 1909 work on Guru Gobind Singh, Lakshman summarized the works of the tenth guru as being the culmination of the works of the preceding nine gurus. Lakshman Singh's analyses and conclusions on Sikh history was akin to those of Joseph Davey Cunningham and Max Arthur MacAuliffe and differed from the perspective of Ernest Trumpp. Lakshman Singh also authored a biographical book covering Sikh martyrs in 1919.