Bebe Nanaki
elder sister of Guru Nanak
Bebe Nanaki (Punjabi: ਬੇਬੇ ਨਾਨਕੀ, lit. 'Sister Nanaki'; c. 1464–1518), alternative spelt as Bibi Nanaki, was the elder sister of Guru Nanak, the founder and first Guru of Sikhism. Nanaki is an important figure in Sikhism, and is known as the first Gursikh. She was the first to realize her brother's 'philosophical inclination', and is credited for inspiring his use of music as an instrument of devotion to God.
Biography
Early life
Nanaki and her brother were the children of Mehta Kalu and Tripta. She was born in 1464 in the city of Chahal, present-day Pakistan, she was named by her grandparents, who named her Nanaki after the word Nanakian, roughly meaning "the home of your maternal grandparents".
Bebe and Ji are added to her name as a sign of respect. Bebe is used to pay regard to an older woman and Ji given to anyone whom you want to show your respects regardless of age.
Marriage
Nanaki got married at an early age of 11. In those days it was customary to be married at such a young age.
In 1475 Nanaki married Jai Ram, a Palta Khatri employed at a modikhana, a storehouse for revenues collected in non-cash form, in the service of the Delhi Sultanate's Lahore governor Daulat Khan.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bebe Nanaki” is elder sister of Guru Nanak. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bebe, Nanaki and elder, not as a finished interpretation.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4878308. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1464, 1518 and 1475.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bebe Nanaki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.