Historical Gurdwaras in Foreign Lands

IRAQ

Baghdad

Baghdad, capital of Iraq, was visited by Guru Nanak Dev on his way back from Mecca and Madina. He stayed outside the city of the west of Dajala (Tigris) River, about two kilometers north of Baghdad West railway station. He held discourses with Sajjadanashins (caretaker of mausoleum) of the mausoleums of Abdul Qadir gilani and Bahlol the Wise, who were greatly impressed by his views on God and religion. After the Guru's departure, they raised a memorial in the form of a platform where the Guru had sat and discoursed. After some time when a room was constructed over the platform, a stone slab with the following inscription in Turki was installed in it:

Lo ! the Great God hath fulfilled the wish. A new building for Baba Nanak Darvesh has been constructed. Seven holy men extended their help in the construction. Its date as reckoned comes to 927. The lucky disciple caused a new current of water from the earth.

The last sentence is the customary phrase to work out the date according to alphabetical key. The date is 927 A.H. which correspond to A.D. 1520.

This inscription was first noticed by Swami Anandacharya who mentioned it in his book Snow Birds. Sikh soldiers who went to Iraq during the First World War, 1914-18, raised a Gurdwara here, but now only the room exists which is visited by Sikh and non-Sikh Punjabis who have gone to the oil-rich Iraq as workmen during decades. However, as it is located within the graveyard, visitors are banned from staying overnight, cooking meals, holding Langar and Kirtan in view of the sensitivities of the majority of Muslim community (No Iraqi citizen is a Sikh).