Prithi Chand

Prithi Chand (Gurmukhi: ਪ੍ਰਿਥੀ ਚੰਦ; 1558–April 1618), also spelt as Prithia, was the eldest son of Guru Ram Das – the fourth Guru of Sikhism, and the eldest brother of Guru Arjan – the fifth Guru. He founded the heretical Mina sect of Sikhism.

Spiritual career

Attempt at inheriting the Sikh guruship Prithia wanted to inherit the Sikh guruship from his father, Guru Ram Das, who instead favored and appointed his youngest son Arjan Dev as the next Sikh guru. According to The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Prithi Chand was "distinctly hostile" of his brother's appointment as Guru. His unscrupulous means and support for atrocities committed by the Mughal empire, did not find favour with Guru Ram Das, who bestowed the guruship on Guru Arjan. Modern scholars have called his movement as one of the unorthodox sects that emerged in the history of Sikhism.

In his antics to have the guruship be inherited by him, Prithia had concealed letters that his brother Arjan Dev had written from Lahore while attending a wedding so that the letters could not reach Guru Ram Das. Chand and his followers tried to establish his own Guruship opposing Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind as the official followers of Guru Nanak – the founder of Sikhism. In contemporary Sikhism, the followers and movement led by Prithi Chand are considered as "dissenters". According to the literature of the Miharvan Sikhs, the pothi was given to Prithi Chand by Guru Arjan and this was in part the reason they claimed authenticity of their hymns and movement.

The Minas continued to oppose the mainstream Sikh gurus until the guruship of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The samadh of Prithi Chand can still be found at Heir village off of Bedian road in Lahore district. However, it now exists in a decaying and neglected condition, consisting of a pavilion standing in a large plot of land. The sarovar (sacred pool) of the site has dried-up.