MTAN MIR, HAZRAT (1550-1635), well known Sufi saint of the Qadiriyah order, was a contemporary of Guru Arjan (1563-1606) and Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). His real name was Shaikh Mir Muhammad. He was born the son of Qazi Sayandanah (Sain Datta to some chroniclers) bin Qazi Qalandar Faruqi in 957 AH/AD 1550 at Sahvan (also called Sevastan) in the present Dadu district of Sindh in Pakistan. The family claimed descent from Hazrat Umar Faruq, the second Caliph successor to Prophet Muhammad. Mir Muhammad`s father died when he was a young boy and he grew up under the care of his mother, Bibi Fatimah, daughter of Qazi Qazan, who put him under Shaikh Khizr Sevastani for study of Qadiri Silsila (School) of Sufi thought.
SADHNA, one of the fifteen saints and sufis whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, was a qasai or butcher by profession who, by nis piety and devotion, had gained spiritual eminence. He is believed to have been born at the village of Sehvan, in Sindh. He was cremated at Sirhind, in the Punjab, where even today a tomb stands in his memory. He is considered to be a contemporary of Nam Dev, another medieval saint. Sadhna lived by selling n eat, though, as it is asserted, he never butchered the animals himself.
TAIMUR SHAH (1746-1793), son and successor of Ahmad Shah Durrani, was born in December 1746 at Mashhad, in Iran, where his father was in the service of Nadir Shah. Taimur was educated at home and received practical training in the art of warfare by accompanying his father on many of his expeditions. He was present in Delhi in January 1757 during Ahmad Shah`s fourth inroad into India. In February 1757, Taimur was married at the age often to the daughter of the Mughal Emperor, Alamgir II.
AMAR SINGH (1888-1962), who came into prominence in the Gurdwara reform movement, was the eldest of the three sons of Gopal Singh of the village of Jhabal, in Amritsar district of the Punjab. His great grandfather, Gulab Singh, had served in the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his grandfather, Harbhagat Singh, had been an aidede camp to Kanvar Nau Nihal Singh. Born in 1888, Amar Singh was educated at the village school and at Khalsa Collegiate School, Amritsar. After passing the matricualtion examination, he joined the police department and became a subinspector.
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 Sher Singh. With his father and brother, he was removed to Allahabad in January 1850, and thence to Calcutta. In January 1854, he was released from confinement. Atar Singh chose Rae Bareilly in the then North West Province for his residence and gradually severed his connection with the Punjab. He died in 1897, leaving behind a son, Prem Singh.
BASAVA SINGH, a resident of the village of Sujoval in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, was a close associate of Bhai Maharaj Singh, who led a revolt against the British in 1848-49. Basava Singh was included in the delegation sent with letters to Bhai Kishan Singh, Bhai Nihal Singh and Amir Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul to seek support for a fresh uprising after the defeat of the Sikhs in the second AngloSikh war. He returned with a reply from the Amir and rejoined Bhai Maharaj Singh at Kurala Kalan, in Hoshiarpur district. He however was not present when Bhai Maharaj Singh was arrested along with his companions on 28-29 December 1849.
BHUMA SINGH (d. 1746), a Dhillon Jatt of the village of Hung near Badhni, in present day Faridkot district of the Punjab, gathered power in men and money during Nadir Shah`s invasion of India in 1739. At the time of the death of Nawab Zakariya Khan, the Mughal governor of the Punjab, Bhuma Singh`SJ`atha was one of 25 roving bands of the Sikhs. Bhuma Singh commanded a body of about 300 men.
BUR SINGH (d. 1892). son of Ruldu Ram, appointed to do menial jobs first as an attendant in the household of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s wife, Rani Mahtab Kaur, and then as a water carrier in Kanvar Sher Singh`s, carried out some of the confidential errands he was assigned to with such great skill that he not only rose in rank but also hadjagirs in Mukerian, and houses at Batala and Lahore bestowed on him. For his assistance to the British on the occasion of General Pollock`s advance on Kabul, he received ajagir near Peshawar. His enemies took advantage of the murder in September 1843 of his master, Maharaja Sher Singh, to harm him.
DARGAH MALL, DIWAN (d. 1695), son of Dvarka Das Chhibbar, was, according to Shahid Bilas Bhai Mani Singh, and Guru kian Sakhian, a diwan or minister in the time of Guru Hargobind and his successors and managed, as such, their households. He was the great grand father of Kesar Singh Chhibbar, the author of Bansavalinama. He was in attendance upon Guru Har Rai when summons arrived from Aurangzib asking the Guru to meet him in Delhi. The Guru sent instead his son, Ram Rai, to call on the emperor. Diwan Dargah Mall was deputed to escort him to the imperial capital.
DIVAN SINGH MAFTOON (1890-1974) was in his day the most talked about editor in Urdu journalism. Born in the Punjab he migrated to Delhi in the early twenties. His sole asset was a smattering of Urdu. Gradually, he grew in his command of the language and became known for his mastery of Urdu prose acclaimed for its lucidity and exactness. Through his felicity in Urdu prose, he naturalized himself in the milieu of Ghalib`s Delhi. He achieved to a considerable degree its style and refinement. In his conversation, in his dress and in his tastes, he became a sovereign Delhiite. He had a natural genius in personal relationships.
