Thoha Khalsa

Thoha Khalsa is a village of tehsil Kahuta District Rawalpindi Pakistan. The village is located in the South East of Rawalpindi city at the distance of 45 kilometers. The population is about 20,000 consisting different tribes named Janjua Rajput, Ghakhar ,Mirza, Bhati and few others. The language used by the people is Pothohari and  majority of the people is labour. Few of them are serving in different Government / Civil organizations of Pakistan, However about 4% are working in foreign countries. It is a historical village and  was established by the Sikh,s  in early 18th Century during the Sikh rule over Punjab and Kashmir. This village got importance in 1840 when In Pothohar area  Thoha Khalsa and Dera Khalsa  along with few other villages were selected by Sikh Gurus/Sardars to conduct regular religious activities to convert  other religions in to Sikhs.     


    
    
    Historical importance
    Avtar Singh Vahiria was a famous  polemicist and scholar of Sikh cummunity, He was born on 12 June 1848 at Thoha Khalsa. As a small boy, he learnt to recite the Sikh psalms from his mother and maternal uncle, Prem Singh. After he had learnt Gurmukhi in his own village thoha khalsa, he moved towards Rawalpindi city for further education.


    Nihal Singh Saint also known as Pandit Nihal Singh, a Sanskrit scholar well versed in Vedanta as well as in gurbdm. In 1870 Thakur Nihal Singh set out on a pilgrimage to various Hindu and Sikh holy places, where he preached the Sikh faith through kirtan. In 1874 he moved to Thoha Khalsa, where he established a dera called Dukh Bhanjani. He continued his kirtan recitals and missionary work till the end. Saint Attar Singh is said to have frequently attended these recitals at Thoha Khalsa. Baba Khem Singh Bedi once took him on a preaching tour to Thoha Khalsa.

    Refrences:-

    (1)     www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/biographies/sikh.../nihal-singh-sant
    (2)     www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/modern-scholars.../avtar-singh-vahiri...
    (3)        www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/SANT_NIHAL_SINGH