Bhai Mardana

Bhai Mardana was a Muslim mirasi, a hereditary musician, of Talwandi, born in 1459, ten years older than Guru Nanak. He played the rabab and became the Guru's lifelong companion, travelling with him on all his journeys for more than twenty years.

In the janamsakhis he is the human figure beside the Guru: hungry, tired, sometimes afraid, often teased. When the Guru felt the hymn coming, he would say 'Mardana, play the rabab, the bani has come', and the words of the Guru Granth Sahib were first sung to his music. Three saloks in the Guru Granth Sahib are attributed to him.

He died around 1534, by tradition at Kurram in Afghanistan. His descendants, the rababis, sang kirtan at the Harmandir Sahib for generations until Partition, and Bhai Mardana's story is the founding story of Sikh music.