Makhan Shah Lubana
Sea trader who identified Guru Tegh Bahadur at Bakala in 1664 among 22 claimants, shouting 'Guru ladho re' from the rooftop.
Makhan Shah was a sea-trader of the Lubana community from Tanda in the Jhelum district, who traded by ship and caravan. Once, caught in a storm at sea, he prayed to the Guru and vowed five hundred gold mohurs if he was saved.
In 1664 he came to Bakala to pay his vow, only to find twenty-two members of the Sodhi family each claiming to be the Guru after Guru Har Krishan's death. He decided to test them, placing two coins before each. None objected, until he found Tegh Bahadur in meditation in an upper room, who asked him where the rest of the promised five hundred were.
Makhan Shah climbed on the roof and shouted 'Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re', I have found the Guru. The rival claimants turned on him, but the Sikhs rallied to Guru Tegh Bahadur. His shout is remembered in a gurdwara at Baba Bakala.
