Biographical

PARDHAN KAUR (1718-1792), Patiala princess, better known as Bibi Pardhan, was the daughter of Baba Ala Singh, founder of the family. She was born in 1718 at Bhadaur, in present day Sarigrur district of the Punjab. She was married to Mohar Singh Randhava, of the village of Ramdas in Amritsar district.Her only son, Rup Singh, died young, and her husband also met with a premature end.

SAHIB DEVAN, by tradition mother of the Khalsa, was the daughter of Bhai Har Bhagvan alias Ramu, a Bassi Khatri, and his wife, Jas Devi, a devout Sikh couple of Rohtas, in Jehlum district (now in Pakistan). Her parents had from the beginning dedicated her to the service of Guru Gobind Singh. They took her along as they came to Anandpur on the occasion of the Baisakhi festival of 1700, and disclosed to the Guru their heart`s wish to give away their daughter in marriage to him. The Guru, who already had two wives and was the father of four sons, refused the offer.

BACHITTAR SINGH, BHAI (d. 1705), warrior and martyr, was the second son of Bhai Mani Ram, a Parmar Rajput and devotee of the Gurus. One of the five brothers presented by their father for service to Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), he joined the order of the Khalsa on the historic Baisakhi day, 30 March 1699, and shot into prominence during the first battle of Anandpur against the hill chieftains, when, on 1 September 1700, he was selected by Guru Gobind Singh to face a drunken elephant brought forth by them to batter down the gate of the Lohgarh Fort.

CHARAN SINGH. BHAI (d. 1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Gokal Singh and Mai Lachhman Kaur of Diriga village, in Gujrat district. He lost his mother during infancy. His old grandmother looked after him for about five years and was then sent to live with his maternal aunt in a village in Lyallpur district where a childless neighbour Bhai Piara Singh adopted him as his son. He took the vows of the Khalsa at the age of 15. He adopted tattooing as a profession.

DIVAN SINGH, BHAI (1888-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was born in 1888, the son of Bhai Hira Singh and Mat Pan Kaur of Pandori Nij[jaran, in Jalandhar district. The family later shifted to Chakk No. 91 Dhannuana, in the newly colonized district of Lyallpur, now in Pakistan. Divan Singh, an illiterate bachelor, made a name for himself in that area as a wrestler and as an intrepid fighter.

ISHAR SINGH JATHEDAR, BHAI (1870-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the second son of Dafcdar (cavalry sergeant) Hardit Singh and Mata Prem Kaur of Dharovali village in Gurdaspur district. He learnt to read the scripture in the village gurudwara. He was married on 15 Phagun 1942 Bk/26 February 1886 to Bibi Basant Kaur, daughter of Bhai Harnam Singh of Muhaddipur village in Jalandhar district. The family later migrated to Chakk No. 33 Dharovali in Sheikh upura district in the Lower Chenab Canal Colony.

KARAM SINGH, BHAI (1885-1922), who died a martyr in the Panja Sahib episode, was the son of Bhat Bhagvan Singh, a priest of Takht Kesgarh, at Anandpur Sahib. He was born on 14 November 1885 and given the name of Sant Singh. He received instruction in the Sikh sacred lore and in devotional music from his father and grew up to be an accomplished singer of the holy hymns. At the time of the Guru ka Bagh agitation in 1922, Karam Singh and his wife, Kishan Kaur, went on a pilgrimage to Gurdwara Panja Sahib where he so impressed the sahgat with his kirtan that the Gurdwara committee employed him permanently as one of the choir.

MAHINGA SINGH, BHAI (d. 1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was born in a potter\'s family of Lahuke in Amritsar district. He along with his parents, Bhai Jhanda Singh and Mat Bhago, migrated to Chakk No 75 Lahuke in Lyallpur district when that area was colonized during the 1890\'s. He knew Urdu and Punjabi; he also learnt some Mahajani (a script used traditionally by commercial classes) and became a postman. Later, he set up himself as a commission agent.

NIDHAN SINGH, a Varaich Jatt of Patti in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab, was, according to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, the husband of the celebrated Sikh heroine, Mai Bhago. He was one of the warriors who fell fighting in the battle of Muktsar fought on 29 December 1705 and who were blessed by Guru Gobind Singh as mukte, the Liberated Ones. NIDHAN SINGH (d. 1850) or Nidhan Singh Hathu, i.e. Nidhan Singh the Inflexible, son of Jassa Singh, was a bold warrior in Sikh times who, inheriting Daska in Sialkot district from his father, had acquired considerable territory.

SUCHCHA SINGH (1883-1924) was born the son of Bhai Sundar Singh of Chakk No. 277 Sital Rakkh in Lyallpur, now Faisalabad, district of Pakistan. After a stint as a school teacher lie joined service in the Punjab Police and rose to he a sub inspector. Reacting to Nankana Sahib massacre and police atrocities committed during Guru ka Bagh agitation he resigned and became an activist of the Gurdwara Reform movement. During the Jaito morcha he joined the first Shahidi Jatha (a peaceful band of volunteers) which set out from Amritsar on 9 February 1924. On arrival at Jaito on 21 February 1924 this jatha was fired upon by the Nabha state police. Suchcha Singh was one of the martyrs who fell at the mound now known as Gurdwara Tibbi Sahib.