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It is a matter of pride for Bedis that there is a famous Lahore-Bedian Road starting from the heart of Lahore near the International Airport, passing through Lahore Cantonment and terminating at Village Bedian. Property prices along this road are soaring and there are beautiful farmhouses beyond Lahore and up to Bedian.
Along this route lies the historical village Dera Chahal which was the maternal house of Mata Tripta, mother of Guru Nanak. Mata Tripta’s first child, Bebe Nanaki was born here and this place has a famous Gurdwara named Gurdwara Janamasthan Bebe Nanaki. She got the name Nanaki because she was born at the Nanaka house. Later in line with the tradition, Nanak was named after his sister Nanaki. Nanak was born at Rai Bhullar di Talwindi now called Nanakana Sahib.
Before partition, Bedian village was occupied by the descendents of Guru Nanak and they all being Bedis, the village took the name Bedian. It is interesting to know as to how Bedian Village was founded. During the tenure of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, there was a man called Baba Sahib Singh Bedi who was respected widely because of his piety and religious lifestyle. Maharaja Ranjit Singh allotted him vast tracts of land around the cities of Gujranwala and Lahore. It was on this land that Baba Sahib Singh Bedi founded the village of Bedian, near the city of Lahore.
There is an interesting anecdote as to why Baba Sahib Singh Bedi chose this place. At this Bedian village he also founded a religious centre that would preach the teachings of Guru Nanak. Close to Bedian village is the village of Heir, which was founded by Prithi Chand, who was the elder brother of Guru Arjun, the 5th Sikh Guru, and who had been overlooked by his father Guru Ram Das for the Guru ship. Enraged, Prithi Chand founded his own Sect, built a centre at Heir to rival the religious and political significance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar and started ‘anti-Guru movement’. Prithi Chand was succeeded by his son, Meherban who built a huge shrine on the outskirts of Chunian. Baba Sahib Singh Bedi chose the spot of the Bedian Village for Religious Centre because he wanted to counter the propaganda being spread by the Sect founded by Prithi Chand at Heir, which is not far from Bedian. It is now a border village, close to the Indo Pak border.
When the British took over Punjab they allowed the Bedi community settled at Bedian to retain their land. However at the time of partition all of the Bedis migrated to India to be replaced by Mewatis and Arains from Amritsar. Presently there is also a large Christian population next to village of Bedian. Before partition these Christians were Mazhabi Sikhs. Untouchable Hindus who converted to Sikhism were referred to as Mazhabi Sikhs. A very large number of such untouchable Hindus had converted.
Though the Sikh Gurus had not believed in the concept of Caste in Sikhism, yet it is a reality that classification of Caste still persists in the villages. It is a fact that whenever a religion travels further away from its source in terms of time, it also travel away from the essence of the teachings of the source. This is true for all religions. At the time of partition when the Bedis were migrating to India, they asked their servants who were Mazhabi Sikhs to stay back and look after their property, since they believed that these riots and the division was a temporary phenomenon and sooner or later they would return to their ancestral village. However, when the riots spread to this region and these Mazhabi Sikhs felt that their life was threatened because of their religious identification, they removed their turbans and cut their hair. They then converted to Christianity, which was a neutral religion at the time of partition. The Christians living at Bedian now are the descendents of these Mazhabi Sikhs who had served the Bedis, tilled their land and taken care of their properties.
Bedian village and the area of Kasur are fed by the B-R-B (Bambawali- Ravi- Bedian) Canal, which starts from Bambanwala, lying between Wazirabad and Daska, and runs southwards to meet River Ravi opposite Ranian, thereafter cuts GT Road between Lahore and Wagah, and continues its run southwards to Bedian village and then further down all along the border before merging in River Sutlej in Pakistan, opposite the areas of Sri Muktsar Sahib. There is also the Bambawali-Ravi-Bedian Canal Road running all along the canal and still further ahead till the town of Rasoolpur, opposite the Fazilka Border.
The Revenue Records of the Bedian village show that there were two Gurdwaras inside the village and there were a few Samadhs of prominent Bedis outside the village. Post partition, the Bedian village Gurdwaras were allotted to the refugees, who destroyed the original structures and made new homes for themselves. Also the Samadhs outside Bedian Village have been razed and no trace left of the Bedis except that the village still carries the name Bedian.
Reference: Walking with Nanak by Haroon Khalid.
