Pratap Singh Giani

Pratap Singh Giani (also Partap Singh Gyani, 1855–1920) was a Sikh academician, scholar and calligraphist. He was born in 1855, the son of Bhai Bhag Singh Giani of Lahore (Gurmukhi: ਭਾਈ ਭਾਗ ਸਿੰਘ ਲਾਹੌਰ). As a young boy, Partap Singh learnt Punjabi, Urdu and Sanskrit and studied Sikh scriptures. In 1884, he accompanied Thakur Singh Sandhanvalia to England to read the Guru Granth Sahib to the deposed Sikh ruler of the Punjab, Maharaja Duleep Singh and to re-convert him to Sikhism. Partap Singh remained in England for six months. On return to India, he worked as a granthi (scripture-reader) at Gurdwara Kaulsar in Amritsar. When Maharaja Duleep Singh was due to come back to India, Partap Singh accompanied Thakur Singh and his sons to Delhi with the intention of going to Bombay to receive the Maharajah. On hearing the news of Duleep Singh's detention at Aden, Partap Singh returned to Amritsar while Thakur Singh proceeded to Pondicherry. At Amritsar, Partap Singh worked secretly for Thakur Singh distributing his pro-Duleep Singh letters among his confidants and friends. Towards the close of 1887, he was arrested at Amritsar and sent to Lahore jail. He escaped from prison and, turning a sadhu, travelled to different parts of the country in the company of holy men.