Bedi clan

Bedi () is a Khatri clan in India.
History
Sri Chand was a celibate yogi but his younger brother, Lakshmi Chand (or Lakshmi Das), was married to the daughter of Diwan Uttam Chand. It is said that all the Bedis today are descendants of Manak Chand and Mehr Chand, the two sons of Lakshmi Chand. Traditionally the Bedis were specially respected by the Sikhs. Baba Kaladhari, a Bedi, was honoured and given special gifts by Guru Gobind Singh. Baba Kaladhari had inherited a cap ("seli topi") originally worn by Guru Nanak Dev. This cap has been preserved at Una in present-day Himachal Pradesh. Sahib Singh Bedi was asked to preside over the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Baba Khem Singh Bedi along with Thakur Singh Sanduwallia founded the Sanatan Singh Sabha. The current head of the family is Baba Gajinder Singh Bedi and he is based in Punjab.
Guru Nanak Ji's Chola (upper garment) is on display at Sri Chola Sahib at Dera Baba Nanak which is managed by a local Bedi family. The families take turns to control and collect donations for the upkeep of the Gurudwara. Dera Baba Nanak is the traditional home of the Bedi clan - some of who were granted Jagirs by Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had profound respect for the Bedis and particularly Baba Sahib Singh Bedi who had put the coronation Tilak on the forehead of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Three more heads of the family are in Pune and are children of Baba Autar singh sahib who is the son of Baba Jhalmal Singh Sahib of Rawalpindi. They also have a royal garment which is worn by them when they get married. These are the descendants of Guru Nanak Dev Ji who are from Rawalpindi since Guru Nanak Dev Ji is from Lahore. The garment is not well known but has been maintained for more than 400 years. The sons of Baba Autar singh sahib are Baba Iqbal Singh sahib, Baba Jagtar Singh sahib and Baba Palinder Singh sahib. Each of them have their own children and grandchildren and the last Bedi in the family is the son of Baba Surinder Singh sahib—the son of Baba Jagtar Singh sahib and is the last in the royal Bedi bloodline.
Eminent Personalities
Baba Shib Dayal Bedi 1874-1941 was the builder of the ITC (Imperial Tabacco Company), then known as the Anglo-American Tabacoo at Saharanpur and builder of the railway line between Lahore and Delhi, including the Jamuna Bridge. He was also the municipal commissioner of Saharanpur during the 1930s. Many Gurudwaras were built by Baba Shib Dayal Bedi. Baba Shib Dayal Bedi was awarded the Victoria cross in 1937. Baba Shib Dayal Bedi refused a knighthood as he felt the title of Baba was greater and valuable.
Baba Dr. Dina Nath Bedi (1938-1998), grandson of Baba Shib Dayal Bedi, was a computer pioneer and developed speech and multimedia technology. He was director of the computer science department of CUNY from 1975-1984 as well as training blind programmers and wrote a book on this subject. He also was appointed by Indira Gandhi to the science and advisory commission of India along with M.N. Dastoor.
Baba Vickram A. Bedi (born 1974, son of Baba Dr. Dina Nath Bedi) developed the world's first Pentium-based laptop in 1994 and is the President of Datalink Computer Products Inc. and the D.N. Bedi Property group. The family possesses a family tree which was verified by British Indian Government in 1941.
Dr. Punit Bedi (son of Sat Parkash Bedi) is a renowned Physician/Cardiologist and Humanist.

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