How long this Timeline keeps the stay

Sikh tradition and local plaque give the stay of Jagat Guru Dhan Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji as 14 years, 9 months, and 13 days, a blessed chapter before the Udasis began. Many historians place the stay at roughly a decade ending around 1500.

This Timeline honours both views and does not lock a calendar start or end. For narrative depth, read the history page. The number 14 in a title is the tradition’s figure, not a verdict against the decade framing.

Stage one, the call

Satikarayog Bebe Nanaki Ji and Satikarayog Bhai Jai Ram Ji invited Guru Sahib to Sultanpur Lodhi. That invitation begins the stay. Bebe Ji is remembered as the first Gursikh. Bhai Jai Ram Ji served under Nawab Daulat Khan Lodhi, and from that setting the modikhana stream opens.

Stage two, the modikhana

On the recommendation of Bhai Jai Ram Ji, Guru Sahib served in Nawab Daulat Khan Lodhi’s modikhana, a remembrance of honest work and justice. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism treats this town-and-service link as standard account. The store shrine keeps the tradition.

Stage three, Tera-Tera

According to Janamsakhi tradition, while weighing grain Guru Patshah became absorbed in Naam at the count of thirteen, remembering that all is Yours before the Creator. The sakhi is linked with the store shrine. Honest work and Naam are one stream, not two errands.

Stage four, truth vindicated

Tradition holds that false complaints were made about the store. When accounts were checked, there was surplus rather than shortage. The cell shrine remembers truth vindicated, and honesty in householder work. Keep the wording soft. It is not a modern court file.

Stage five, householder life

The residence shrine commemorates householder life with Mehal Mata Sulakhni Ji. Tradition places the births of Baba Sri Chand Ji and Baba Lakhmi Das Ji during this stay. Janamsakhi and local tradition also mention the barat to Batala. Keep exact dates soft. No firm plaque is claimed here.

Stages six and seven, stream then message

Daily amrit-vela bathing in the Kali Bein and simran under the jujube are the town’s most recognised daily remembrance. The principal shrine keeps that current. This stage comes before the upstream bank. First daily simran, then the first message.

According to Janamsakhi tradition, after several days Guru Patshah reappeared upstream and said Na ko Hindu, na Musalman. The Encyclopaedia says two days. Popular tellings often say the third day. This Timeline softens both. It is sacred memory, not modern archival proof. The spot is about two kilometres upstream.

Stage eight, the Udasis

Tradition links the start of the Udasis, journeys carrying truth and oneness, with Sultanpur Lodhi. Bhai Mardana Ji walked that path with Guru Sahib. Tradition also holds that Guru Sahib returned to the town between journeys. Later departure toward Kartarpur Sahib is remembered without invented years.

Dedicated journey pages may expand later. Here only the town beginning is in view. The Timeline does not invent a year for each departure.

Grihast and the road

In this town, memory keeps home, honest work, and Naam as one: the store, the cell, and the residence. After grihast, the Udasis. They are two sides of one path, not opposites. Bebe Ji’s call, as first Gursikh, is the doorway to the whole path.

The Timeline order is fixed for reading even when dates stay soft: call, store, Tera-Tera, cell, home, daily simran, first message, journeys. Do not place the upstream message before the daily bank.

Questions on the eight stages

How many stages? Eight, in the order above. How long was the stay? Tradition says 14 years, 9 months, and 13 days. Many historians say roughly a decade, around 1500. Both are honoured. What is Tera-Tera? Absorption in Naam at the count of thirteen, linked with the store.

How do the bank and the upstream shrine differ? Daily ablution and jujube simran, then Janamsakhi reappearance and the first message about two kilometres upstream. Where is grihast? Primarily the residence shrine. The Timeline refuses a ninth stage for a wedding that is not Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s here.

Read next

Depth is on the history page. The eight shrines are on the shrine list. The stream is on the sacred stream. The sister’s life is on the life page. Station code SQR is on the travel guide.

This Timeline is a reading order, not a new chronicle. It does not add a place name the stage pages do not already use.

Named lead

Stage notes lean on the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism where the town-and-service link and the day-count are concerned. Plaque tradition and historian framing stay side by side, unlocked.

This timeline page is a town record.