Nanak Singh was born to a poor Punjabi Hindu family in the Jhelum district of Pakistan as 'Hans Raj'. He later changed his name to Nanak Singh after adopting Sikhism. Although he did not receive a formal education, he started writing at an early age by writing verses on historical events. Later, Singh started to write devotional songs, encouraging Sikhs to join the Gurdwara Reform Movement. In 1918, he published his first book Satguru Mehma, which contained hymns in praise of the Sikh Gurus. It is considered his first commercially successful literary work.
On April 13, 1919 British troops shot and killed 379 peaceful rally participants in what became known as the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre on Baisakhi day in Amritsar. Singh was present with two friends who were killed in the massacre. This incident impelled Singh to write Khomeini Visayans – Bloody Baisakhi , an epic poem that mocked colonial rule. The British Government became concerned about his provocative publication and banned the book. Singh participated in India’s independence struggle by joining the Akali movement. He became the editor of Akali papers. This was noticed by the British Government. Singh was charged with participation in unlawful political activities and was sent to Borstal Jail, Lahore. He described the savagery and oppression of the British on peaceful Sikhs during the Guru ka Bagh Mocha demonstration in his second poetry collection, Zakhmi Dil. It was published in January 1923, and was banned within two weeks of publication. Singh wrote several novels during his time in jail, including over 40,000 pages in longhand Gurmukhi script. He was publicly recognized with many awards, including Punjab's highest literary award in 1960. His great historical novel, Ik Mian Do Talwaran, won him India’s highest literary honor, the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1962.
Prolific writer
In 1945 he wrote his popular novel, which won him acclaim. It was translated into Hindi and other Indian languages, and into English by his grandson Navdeep Singh Suri. In 1968 the book was adapted into the successful motion picture, , by his admirer Balraj Sahani. Quoting the Tribune, "Nanak Singh was the best selling novelist in India for thirty to forty years. He wrote over 50 books including novels and collection of short stories. He made significant contributions to various literary genres. For him character was the determination of incident and incident the illustration of character. His greatest contribution to Punjabi fiction is its secularization. He depicted excerpts from contemporary life, cloaked with a veil of romantic idealism." In his novel Chitta Lahu, Singh writes, "It seems to imply that in the lifeblood of our society, red corpuscles have disappeared." In 2011, Singh's grandson, Dilraj Singh Suri, translated Chitta Lahu into English. Natasha Tolstoy, the granddaughter of novelist Leo Tolstoy, translated Singh's novel Chitta Lahu into Russian. She visited Nanak Singh in Amritsar to present to him the first copy of the translated novel.
