Biographical

BISHAN SINGH, GIANI (1875-1966), cleric and exegete, was a granthi or priest at the Khalsa College at Amritsar for 30 years. The Khalsa College was then a premier Sikh college excelling in research and publication in the field of Sikh studies. Four of the foremost Sikh scholars of this period, namely Bhai Jodh Singh, Prof. Asor Teja Singh, Bhai Sahib Singh and Dr Ganda Singh, were members of the college faculty and between them they brought about a major enlightenment in Sikh letters.

MOHAN SINGH VAID, BHAI. (1881-1936), apothecary, writer, collector of books and social reformer, was born at Tarn Taran on Phagun sudil, 1937 Bk/7 March 1881, the youngest of the four sons of Bhai Jaimal Singh (1843-1919), who too was a void (practitioner of  Ayurveda or Indian system of medicine) of long standing. Mohan Singh had no regular schooling after his preliminary education in the Gurmukhi Vidyala at Tarn Taran. He, however, studied books on Sikh religion and history at home and learnt Ayurveda from his father and, later, from Sant Ishar Singh and Pandit Jai Dial.

patrick vans agnew

AGNEW, PATRICK ALEXANDER VANS (1822-1848), a civil servant under the East India Company. He was the son of Lt Col Patrick Vans Agnew, an East India Company director. Agnew joined the Bengal civil service in March 1841. In 1842, he became assistant to the commissioner of Delhi division. In December 1845, he was appointed assistant to Major George Broad foot, the superintendent of the cis Sutlej states. He was present at the battle of Sabhraon in 1846.

BROADFOOT, GEORGE (1807-1845) Joined service of the East India Company as a cadet in the Madras Native Infantry in 1826. In May 1841, he went to Kabul in command of the escort which accompanied the families of Shah Shuja` and Zaman Shah. He took part in the first Afghan war and distinguished himself in the Khaibar operations under General Pollock. In 1844, he was appointed Agent to the Governor General at the North-West Frontier Agency. The appointment was not liked by the Sikh Government. Major George Broadfoot was impulsive by nature and had a temperamental hostility towards the Sikhs.

DEPUIS or DE LUST, a French soldier of fortune who came to Lahore in 1842, and was employed by the Sikh Darbar as a trainer of gunner recruits. Later, he was made commandant of a battalion, but, being found unfit for command, he was removed from service in 1844. He then proceeded to Shimla where he opened a school for teaching French and dancing.

GOMEZ, also known as Lawrence Goniez Allard, was a Portuguese. Hejoined the Khalsa army in 1842. After the Anglo Sikh wars, he was taken by the British as adjutant in one of the police battalions raised from the disbanded Sikh soldiery. He retired in 1862.

JONES, a deserter from the East India Company`s service, joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army as a gunner. According to Charles Masson, the traveller, Jones participated in the final battle of Multan in 1818 and took charge of the guns, enabling the Akalis to storm the fort.

sikh khalsa army cuirassiers (toy soldiers)

MOUTON, FRANCOIS HENRI (1804-1876), born at Montelimar (France) on 17 August 1804, joined the French army as a volunteer in 1823, becoming in 1827 a sublieutenant in the Royal Bodyguards. In 1835, he got promotion as captain. In 1838, he accompanied General Ventura, then on leave in France, to the Punjab where he was employed as commandant of Cuirassiers in the Khalsa army, on a monthly salary of Rs 800. In 1839 he along with Foulkes accompanied Ventura on an expedition to Mandi, in the hills. Foulkes was killed at Mandi in 1841 by his own troops, but Mouton`s life was spared.

sir joseph thackwell

THACKWELL, SIR EDWARD JOSEPH (1781-1859), commander of cavalry division of the army of the Sutlej under Lord Hugh Gough in the first Anglo Sikh war was born on 1 February 1781, the son of John Thackwell. A veteran of Peninsula and Waterloo, he assumed command of the army of the Indus in the Afghan campaign of 1838-39. He also commanded the cavalry division of Sir Hugh Gough`s army in the campaign against the Marathas of Gwalior at the close of 1843. In the first Anglo Sikh war, he was in command of the cavalry at Sabhraon on 10 February 1846.

adina beg khan

ADINA BEG KHAN (d. 1758), governor of the Punjab for a few months in AD 1758, was, according to Ahwal-i-Dina Beg Khan, an unpublished Persian manuscript, the son of Channu, of the Arain agriculturalist caste, mostly settled in Doaba region of the Punjab. He was born at the village of Sharakpur, near Lahore, now in Sheikhupura district of Pakistan. Adina Beg was brought up in Mughal homes, for the most part in Jalalabad, Khanpur and Bajvara in the Jalandhar Doab. Starting his career as a soldier, he rose to be collector of revenue of the village of Kang in the Lohian area, near Sultanpur Lodhi.

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In 1595, Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606) the Fifth Sikh Prophet with some of his followers visited the village...

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4 years Ago

AARTI: The word Aarati is a combination of two words Aa (without) + raatri (night), According to popular...

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4 years Ago

AATMA: Aatma (self) is the element (part, fraction) of Paramaatma (Supreme Soul) in human being. Hence Aatma and...

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TUZUKIJAHANGlRI is one of the several titles under which autobiographical writing of the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir (160527), is available, the common and generally accepted ones being TuzukiJahangin, Waqi`atiJahangm, and Jahangir Namah. The TuzukiJahangni based on the edited text of Sir Sayyid Alimad Khan of `Aligarh is embodied in two volumes translated by Alexander Rogers, revised, collated and corrected by Henry Beveridge with the help of several manuscripts from the India Office Library, British Library, Royal Asiatic Society and other sources. The first volume covers the first twelve years, while the second deals with the thirteenth to the nineteenth year of the reign. The material pertaining to the first twelve of the twentytwo regnal years, written by the Emperor in his own han

The Sikh Encyclopedia

This website based on Encyclopedia of Sikhism by Punjabi University , Patiala by Professor Harbans Singh.