GANGA RAM, DIWAN (1775-1826) was a Kashmiri Brahman whose father, Kishan Das, was a government employee. During the oppressive days of the governors of Kashmir, Kishan Das migrated to Delhi, and later settled in the village of Rampur, near Banaras, where Ganga Ram was born about the year 1775.

JAIDEV (JAYADEVA), saint and poet, two of whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, is chiefly known to the literary world as the author of the Gita Govinda, a lyrical poem in which the love of Radha (soul or devotee) for Govinda (the Supreme Being) is described

KARAM NARAIN (b. 1817), the third son of Diwan Savan Mall, a Khatri of Chopra caste, served the Lahore Darbar in different capacities. His grandfather, Hoshnak Rai, was in the service of Sardar Dal Singh of Akalgarh and his father was governor of Multan. Karam Narain acted as the

KUSAL DAS, BHAI (early 19th century), was a minor poet in attendance upon Didar Das, a lineal descendant of Baba Prithi Chand, the eldest son of Guru Ram Das. Kusal Das composed 653 verses in Kabitt and savaiyyd forms, panegyrizing the preceptors of the Mina sect founded by Baba

MUL RAJ, DIWAN, governor of Hazara during Sikh times, was connected through family lies with Misr Beli Ram, an influential courtier. During the prime ministership of Raja Hira Singh (1843-44) when Misr Beli Ram was imprisoned, Diwan Mul Raj too was suspected of disloyalty towards the State. He was placed

RAM CHAND, DIWAN (1819-1888), son of Ratan Chand and grandson of Nanak Chand, the brother of Diwan Savan Mall, Governor of Multan under Ranjit Singh, was only twelve when he succeeded, in 1831, his grandfather as revenue collector of Multan and Kashmir. Soon Maharaja Ranjit Singh appointed him chancellor,

SANSAR CHAND (1765-1823), Katoch Rajput Raja of Kangra who ascended the throne in 1775. He was an ambitious ruler and began extending his influence over the neighbouring hill states as well as over the plains lying at the foot of the Sivalik ranges. He came as far as Hoshiarpur

SUKHDEV, ruler of Jasrota, a minor chief belonging to one of the hill states situated between the Chenab and the Ravi. He took the part of the hill chieftains and Guru Gobind Singh in the battle of Nadaun fought on 20 March 1691 against the Mughal commander, Alif Khan.

ANAND, BABA, was the second son of Baba Mohri and a grandson of Guru Amar Das. He received his name from the Guru himself who also uttered a long hymn in Ramkali measure calling it Anandu. The hymn has since formed an important part of Sikh liturgy. Baba Anand

BHIM CHAND, ruler of Kahlur (Bilaspur), a princely state in the Sivaliks, from 1665-92. The family claimed descent from Chandel Rajputs of Bundelkhand. Bhim Chand`s father, Dip Chand, was a tributary of the Mughals and he was allowed to exercise nominal authority over twenty-two states in the hills including

DESU, Jatt of Chahal clan, was a minor chief at Bhikhi, in present day Bathinda district, when Guru Tegh Bahadur visited that village travelling through the Malva region in 1672-73. As he came to see him, the Guru asked him why he carried a walking stick in his quiver.

GIRDHARI, BHAI, a wealthy but childless shopkeeper from southern districts, who hearing of how a certain goldsmith had got offspring as a result of Guru Amar Das`s blessing, made a pilgrimage to Goindval to see the Guru. The Guru uttered a sloka (couplet) as he saw him: "None can erase