KARAM CHAND (d. 1621), the son of Chandu Shah and a revenue official under `Abdulla Khan, faujddr of Jalandhar, bore enmity towards Guru Hargobind because of his father`s death at the hands of the Sikhs. He along with Ratan Chand, the son of Bhagvan Das Gherar, Chaudhari of Ruhela, instigated `Abdulla Khan to march troops against Guru Hargobind. A clash occurred at the village of Ruhela in 1621. Karam Ghand lost his life in this action.
KISHAN KANVAR, DIWAN, son of Diwan Hakim Rai, served the Sikh rulers of Lahore in various capacities. He had been the playmate and associate of Prince Nau Nihal Singh who bestowed upon him the title of dlwdn and showed him several other favours. In 1837, Prince Nau Nihal Singh, while at Peshawar, granted him command of four regiments of infantry and one of cavalry with usual proportion of artillery, on a monthly salary of 1,500 rupees.
MUHKAM CHAND, DIWAN (1750-1814), a renowned Sikh army general of the early years of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s reign, was born around AD 1750. Son of a small shopkeeper, Baisakhi Mall Khatri, of Kunjah, a village in Gujrat district, now in Pakistan, he trained as an accountant and served as a munshi under the chiefs of different misi sarddrs, rising to the position of a diwdn or minister under the Bhangis and the Atarivalas. In 1806, he took up service under Maharaja Ranjit Singh as military and financial adviser and remained until his death in 1814 the de facto commander in chief of his army. He had a major role in organizing the Sikh army on a regular basis and in the early territorial conquests of the young Maharaja.
RADHA KISHAN, PANDIT (d. 1875), son of Pandit Madhusudan, was appointed in 1824 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to take charge of the education of Hira Singh Dogra, who studied both Sanskrit and Persian. Later, he was appointed tutor to the minor Maharaja Duleep Singh. He also performed the duties of rdjpurohit and served as an almoner.
SAMARTH RAMDAS (1608-1681), Maharashtrian saint remembered as the religious preceptor of the Maratha hero Chhatrapati Shivaji (1627-80), was born, in 1608, the son of Suryaji Pant and Ranubai, a Brahman couple of the village of Jamb, near Aurangabad, in Maharashtra. His original name was Narayana. His father died when he was barely seven years old. Educated in Sanskrit according to the tradition of his caste, Ramdas showed strong mystical proclivities even as a child. He left home during his adolescence to Join the Vaisnava center at Pahchvati, near Nasik, where he stayed for 12 years engaged in study, reflection and devotion to Lord Rama.
SUKH RAJ (d. 1842) was the youngest of the five sons of Misr Divan Chand, a general in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army. Sukh Raj himself joined an infantry regiment and soon rose to be its commandant. He commanded a number of infantry battalions and took part in several of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s battles. For the gallantry he displayed in the Peshawar campaign against Dost Muhammad Khan, the Maharaja granted him an estate worth 10,000 rupees. In 1836, he was promoted general. He died in 1842.
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AMRITA SHERGIL (1913-1941), colourful and innovative painter of modern India, was born on 30 January 1913 in Budapest, Hungary. Her father, Umrao Singh Sher Gil, scholar and savant, learned in Sanskrit as well as in Persian, came of an old Sikh family of the village of Majitha, in Amritsar district of the Punjab. Her mother, Marie Antoinette, was a Hungarian of noble descent with artistic leanings. She had some Jewish blood about which she was generally very discreet, and possessed a gregarious, gushing manner which could charm society snobs, but bewilder those close to her.
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DESAN, MAI (d. 1778), daughter of Amir Singh of Gujrariwala, was married to Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia in 1756. When her husband died in 1770, their eldest son, Mahan Singh, was barely ten years old. Mai Desan took the control of the Sukkarchakkia misi or chiefship into her own hands, and showed uncommon sagacity and courage in administering its affairs. She had the advantage of the advice other brothers, Gurbakhsh Singh and Dal Singh, and of the support of Jai Singh of the Kanhaiya misi.
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HOTI, BAWA PREM SINGH (1882 - 1954) Bawa Kahan Singh, the grandfather of Bawa Prem Singh Hoti shifted to the North West Frontier Province after its annexation to the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh from Goindwal (Amritsar). He got his education from indigenous institutions and gained proficiency in Punjabi, Persian and a working knowledge of English. Pashto was his mother tongue. His surroundings reverberated with the heroic deeds of the Sikhs.
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MANSA DEVI, MATA (d. 1569), wife of Guru Amar Das (1479-1574), was the daughter of Bhai Dev Chand, a Bahil Khatri of Sankhaira, a small town in Sialkot district (now in Pakistan). Her marriage to (Guru) Amar Das took place on 11 Magh 1559 Bk/ 8 January 1503, but the couple remained childless until a girl, Dam, was born to them in 1530 followed by three more children, Bhani(1535), Mohan (1536) and Mohri (1539). Mata Mansa Devi died at Goindval in 1569.
