Religion:Piri System
The Piri System was part of the Sikh missionary administrative organization founded by the third Sikh guru, Guru Amar Das, for the purpose of propagating Sikhism amongst women.[1] The system was significantly expanded by the seventh Sikh guru, Guru Har Rai. Each Piri was a Sikh missionary seat and administrative unit. A similar Manji system existed for the spread of Sikhism among men.
Meaning of Piri
A Piri is a very small wooden cot (taken as the seat of authority in this context) from which the Sikh Piris (female Sikh preachers, holders of seat of religious authority) would teach Sikhism to other women. The word Manji also means a wooden cot, similarly used to denote seat of Sikh religious authority for preaching Sikhism to men.
Founding of Piri system by Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das started the Piri and Manji systems by appointing 94 men as Manjis and 52 women as Piris for the spread of Sikhism.[2][3]
Masand system
Sikh Gurus had established a Masand system of Sikh representatives who taught and spread the teachings of the Sikh Gurus and also collect monetary offering to maintain armed legion of saint-soldiers. Over time, this system became corrupted.
Expansion of Piri system by Guru Har Rai
Guru Har Rai Ji faced some serious difficulties during the period of his guruship. The corrupt Masands, Dhir Mal and Minas always tried to preclude the advancement of the Sikh religion.
Earlier, the Piri system was founded by Guru Amar Das. To reform the corrupted Masand system, Guru Har Rai expanded the Piri system by establishing additional female Sikh 'missionary' seats called Piris after the small cot (manji) used by the Guru's representatives. He also tried to improve the old corrupt Masand system and appointed pious and committed personalities, such as Suthre Shah, Sahiba, Sangtia, Mian Sahib, Bhagat Bhagwan, Bhagat Mal and Jeet Mal Bhagat (also known as Bairagi), as the heads of Manjis.[3]
See also
- Sikh Gurus
References
- ↑ Saith, Ashwani (2019) (in en). Ajit Singh of Cambridge and Chandigarh: An Intellectual Biography of the Radical Sikh Economist. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 317. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-12422-9. ISBN 978-3-030-12421-2. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-12422-9. "Guru Amar Das is known and respected for several edicts and progressive practices within the Sikh faith, but above all, he was a powerful proponent of gender equality which was one of his principal teaching planks; he initiated the piri system whereby there could be female preachers in the faith, and with his practice following his preaching, he passed on the mantle of Guru not to his son but on merit to his son-in-law; maybe there was an inherited gender gene at work!"
- ↑ Chawla, A.S.; Singh, Dharminder; Kaur, Jasleen. "7.2 - Established the Sikh Administration System". Management Perspectives of Sikh Religion. "Guru Amar Das established the Manji System to propagate Sikhism in a logical and planned way. He divided Sikh congregation areas into 22 Manjis and a local preacher was made in-charge of each Manji. He trained the group of 146 followers, out of which 52 were women, to attend to the spiritual needs of the people. He also appointed preachers called Masands, who went across the country to spread the gospel of Sikhism."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Piri system
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