AKALI, THE, a Punjabi daily newspaper which became the central organ of the Shiromani Akali Dal, then engaged in a fierce struggle for the reformation of the management of the Sikh gurdwaras and a vehicle for the expression of nationalist political opinion in the Punjab in the wake of the

AKALI, a term now appropriated by members of the dominant Sikh political party, the Shiromani Akali Dal, founded in 1920, and groups splitting from it from time to time, was earlier used for Nihangs (q.v.), an order of armed religious zealots among the baptized Sikhs. The word Nihang is

AJlT SINGH (1881-1947), patriot and revolutionary, was born in February 1881 at Khatkar Kalari, in Jalandhar district of the Punjab, the son of Arjan Singh and Jai Kaur. He had his early education in his village and then at Sain Dass Anglo Sanskrit High School, Jalandhar, and D.A.V. College,

AJIT SINGH PALIT (d. 1725), adopted son of Mata Sundari, the mother of Sahibzada Ajit Singh . Little is known about the family he came of except that Mata Sundari took him over from a goldsmith of Delhi and adopted him because of his striking resemblance with her son, Ajit

AJIT SINGH, RAJA, ruler of Ladva, was born the son of Gurdit Singh who had acquired territory around Thanesar after the conquest by Sikhs in 1764 of the Mughal province of Sirhind. Gurdit Singh, who belonged to the same clan as Ranjit Singh, originally came from the village of

AJIT SINGH, SAHIBZADA (1687-1705), the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh, was born to Mata Sundari at Paonta on 26 January 1687. The following year, Guru Gobind Singh returned with the family to Anandpur where Ajit Singh was brought up in the approved Sikh style. He was taught the

AJIT SINGH SANDHANVALIA (d. 1843), son of Basava Singh Sandharivalia, was a leading actor in the gruesome drama of intrigue and murder enacted in the Sikh kingdom following the passing away of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. One of the younger generation of the Sandharivalias, he outstripped his uncles, Atar Singh

AJITTA, BHAI, a Randhava Jatt, whose name occurs in Bhai Gurdas`s roster of prominent Sikhs of Guru Nanak, Varan, XI. 14, was a resident of the village of Pakkhoke Randhave, close to the present town of Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. It was at Pakkhoke

AJMER CHAND, ruler of Kahlur (Bilaspur), one of the princely states in the Sivaliks. He succeeded his father. Raja Bhim Chand, who had retired in his favour. Bhim Chand had led battles against Guru Gobind Singh, and his son, Ajmer Chand, continued the hostility. He formed a league of

AJUDHIA PARSHAD, DIWAN (1799-1870), soldier and civil administrator in Sikh times, was the adopted son of Diwan Ganga Ram. Maharaja Ranjit Singh first employed Ajudhia Parshad in 1819 to serve in the military office in Kashmir. Three years later, he was recalled to Lahore and appointed paymaster of the

AKAL, lit. timeless, immortal, non temporal, is a term integral to Sikh tradition and philosophy. It is extensively used in the Dasam Granth hymns by Guru Gobind Singh, who titled one of his poetic compositions Akal Ustati, i.e. In Praise (ustati) of the Timeless One (akal). However, the concept of

AKAL, BHAI, a carpenter resident of Vadda Ghar in present day Fandkot district of the Punjab and, according to Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, maternal grandfather of the celebrated Bhai Rup Chand, became a devotee of Guru Ram Das. He also served Guru Arjan and Guru Hargobind. He was a man