MAHAN SINGH (d. 1844), son of Data Ram, came to Lahore from Jammu at a very early age to seek his fortune in the Sikh capital. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was struck by his skill and courage on a hunting expedition when Mahan Singh unassisted had killed a leopard with his sword, gave him an appointment in the army under Hari Singh Nalva. Young Mahan Singh fought in several campaigns with gallantry, and at the last siege of Multan in 1818 was twice wounded. He also served in Kashmir and Peshawar. He was in charge of the Fort of Jamrud as Qiladar in April 1837 when the Afghan army attacked it in force.
MEHAR SINGH NIRMALA, a Sandhu Jatt belonging to the Nishananvali misi, became famous by display of bravery and courage in the latter half of the eighteenth century. He was one of the persons who figured in the partition of Sirhind territory after the town was captured by Sikhs in 1764. He took possession of the parganah of Shahabad and Isma`ilabad, in Karnal district.
MUL SINGH GARMULA, BHAI (1846-1945), religious preacher and reformist, was the son of Jodh Singh, a well to do Virk Jatt of the village of Garmula Virkan in Gujranwala (later in Sheikhupura) district of the Punjab, now in Pakistan. He learnt Punjabi and Sikh religious texts and history at home and in the village gurdwara, and also became well versed in Urdu and Persian with the help of the local maulawi or Muslim teacher, who being a physician also taught him hikmat or the Yunani system of medicine. Mul Singh had a sharp memory and studious habits, and soon started giving sermons at Sikh gatherings.
NIHAL SINGH, BAVA, resident of Sri Hargobindpur in Gurdaspur district, was originally an employee of the princely state of Kalsia serving in the police department. Later, he went over to Maharaja Bikram Singh of Faridkot. Bava Nihal Singh belonged to the Kuka or Namdhari sect and was the author of an Urdu book, Khurshid Khalsd, published in 1885, in which he extolled Baba Ram Singh Kuka as the eleventh Guru of the Sikhs.
PREM SINGH, commandant in the Sikh forces demobilized after the first AngloSikh war, joined Bhai Maharaj singh (d. 1856) in a bid to raise the standard of revolt against the British. After Sikhs` defeat in the second AngloSikh war early in 1849, he along with Maharaj Singh escaped to Jammu from where they shifted to Suhival, near Batala, sometime in July/August 1849. Here it was planned to get Maharaja Duleep Singh released from the British who, it was rumoured, were soon going to take him out of the Punjab. Prem Singh was one of a group of 20 men chosen to carry out the plan, which however aborted. Prem Singh along with most of his companions was arrested.
RATAN SINGH MAN (d. 1857), a general in the Sikh army, was the son of Nahar Singh of Mughal Chakk, now in Pakistan. He joined military service as a trooper under the Sikhs and rose to be an adjutant. He served under Hari Singh Nalva in Kashmir and Hazara and was, in 1821, severely wounded at Marigli in the Kashmir hills where Hari Singh was besieging a strong fort defended by the hillmen. For his services in this campaign, he received a grant of land in Gujrariwala and the command of a regiment under Prince Kharak Singh.
SANTA SINGH, BABU (1887-1926), Babar revolutionary, was born the son of Suba Singh at Harion Khurd, a village in Ludhiana district. He passed his matriculation from the Malwa Khalsa High School at Ludhiana where he also worked for some time as an office clerk. In February 1920, he enlisted in the 54th Sikh Battalion as a sepoy, later shifting over to a clerical position. Henceforth he came to be known as "Babuji", a term by which a clerk is commonly addressed. For Santa Singh the Nankana massacre proved a turning poing as indeed it did for many another youth.
SHER SINGH CHHACHHI (d. 1814), son of Tahal Singh Chhachhi of Kohli Khatri caste, served under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. As his ancestors had settled in Chhachh, in Attock district (now in Pakistan) the family came to be known as Chhachhi. Sher Singh succeeded to the estates of his father along with his two brothers, Jassa Singh and Fateh Singh. He took part in several of the Maharaja`s early campaigns of conquest receiving large additions to his estates at Bharatpur, Sahival and Kuhjah. He served at Kask in Pind Dadan Khan district, at Pindi Gheb and Jhang and joined the expedition against Kashmir in 1814 in which he was killed.
TARA SINGH, SARDAR (1888-1956), lawyer, legislator and judge, was born in 1888, the son of Pratap Singh Gill of Moga, a district town of the Punjab. Having matriculated from a local high school in 1903, he graduated from Khalsa College, Amritsar, in 1907 and obtained his law degree from the Panjab University, Lahore, in 1910. He started legal practice at Firozpur but soon shifted to his native Moga. His interest in local civic affairs, besides his professional work, soon made him popular. He also took active interest in the Gurdwara Reform movement launched in 1920 and participated in the Jaito morcha which commenced in August 1923.
UDHAM SINGH (1899-1940), a militant nationalist, was born Sher Singh on 26 December 1899, at Sunam, in the then princely state of Patiala. His father, Tahal Singh, was at that time working as a watchman on a railway crossing in the neighbouring village of Upali. Sher Singh lost his parents before he was seven years and was admitted along with his brother Mukta Singh to the Central Khalsa Orphanage at Amritsar on 24 October 1907. As both brothers were administered the Sikh initiatory rites at the Orphanage, they received new names, Sher Singh becoming Udham Singh and Mukta Singh Sadhu Singh. In 1917, Udham Singh`s brother also died, leaving him alone in the world.
