Bhai Kanhaiya
Gave water to wounded soldiers of both sides at Anandpur. The Guru gave him ointment to treat the enemy too. Seen as a forerunner of the Red Cross.
Bhai Kanhaiya was born in 1648 at Sodhara near Wazirabad into a wealthy family, and as a young man left home to serve Guru Tegh Bahadur, carrying water for the Guru's household and the sangat.
During the battles at Anandpur he went among the wounded with a water-skin, giving water to anyone who was hurt, Sikh or Mughal. Some Sikhs complained to Guru Gobind Singh that he was reviving the enemy. The Guru called him and asked; Kanhaiya replied that he saw no enemy and no friend, only the Guru's face in every man. The Guru gave him ointment and told him to dress their wounds too.
He founded the Sewapanthi order, devoted to service without distinction. He is remembered as the forerunner of the Red Cross, and Sikhs regard his water-skin as the emblem of seva, service to all.
