ASAVARI See ASA ASCETICISM, derived from the Greek word askesis, connotes the `training` or `exercise` of the body and the mind. Asceticism or ascetic practices belong to the domain of religious culture, and fasts, pilgrimages, ablutions, purificatory rituals, vigils, abstinence from certain foods and drinks, primitive and strange dress, nudity,

AS KAUR, daughter of Gurdas Singh, was married to Raja Sahib Singh (1773-1813) of Patiala in 1792 and, in 1798, she bore him a son and heir who was named Karam Singh. She was a woman of great ability and her wise administration of the Patiala state during part

ASRARISAMADI, a Persian chronicle by an anonymous writer who is now identified as Munshi Jot Prakash attached to the court of Nawab Abd us Samad Khan, the governor of Lahore from 1713 to 1726. Written around 1728, the work. which the author claims to be an eyewitness account of

ASTPADI, from Sanskrit astapada, astapad or astapadf, is a poetic composition comprising ast or eight padas or stanzas. No specific rhyme scheme, measure or burden is prescribed for it, but all the eight stanzas must be in the same metre and measure. Lines in each stanza are generally rhymed.

ASMAN KHAN or ASMAN KHAN (d. 1635), a Pathan who sacrilegiously appropriated the robe of honour, a sword and a horse bestowed by Guru Hargobind on his father in law, Painda Khan, and poached a hawk belonging to the Guru`s eldest son, Baba Gurditta. When questioned, Painda Khan defended

ATAL RAI, BABA (1619-1628), son of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), was born to Mata Nanaki at Amritsar on 23 October 1619. He died at the tender age of nine years. The circumstances of his death, as narrated in Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, were most extraordinary. Atal Rai had a playmate, Mohan,

ATA MUHAMMAD KHAN BARAKZAI, son of Painda Khan Barakzai, became the governor of Kashmir in 1809. When Shah Shuja`, the king of Afghanistan, was dethroned, he fled towards the Punjab. At Attock he was captured by the governor, Jaharidad Khan. who sent him to Kashmir to be handed over

ATAR SINGH ATLEVALE, SANT (d. 1937), Sikh holy man and preacher, born in early fifties of the nineteenth century, was the eldest son of Bhai Kishan Singh and Mai Naraini, a devoted couple of Mirpur, in Jammu and Kashmir state. Atar Singh, originally known as Hari Singh, was adopted by

ATAR SINGH, one of the twenty-two Kuka subas, i.e. governors or deputies, appointed in different parts to espouse Kuka or Namdhari patriotism and reform during the latter part of the nineteenth century, belonged to Ludhiana district. He was born in 1832 the son of Buddh Singh. He sold all

ATAR SINGH ATARIVALA (d. 1897), son of Chatar Singh Atarivala, governor of Hazara. He joined his father during the latter`s re volt against the British in 1848-49 and was, after the annexation of the Punjab, confined within the limits of his village, along with his father and brother, Raja

ATAR SINGH KALIANVALA (d. 1851), soldier and feudatory chief in Sikh times, was son of Dal Singh Naherna, a military commander under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Atar Singh`s ancestors belonged to the village of Karial, in Sheikhupura district, now in Pakistan. His great great grandfather, Sahib Singh, had been given

ATAR SINGH MAJITHIA (d. 1843), commander and civilian officer under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was the adopted son of Uttam Singh Majithia, and, in 1809, was appointed governor of Rawalpindi and its dependencies. He held an estate worth Rs. 28,000 at Sayyid Kasrari.