WAZIRKHAN, NAWAB (d. 1710), a resident of Kuhjpura, near Karnal, now in Haryana, was the faujdar of Sirhind under the Mughals in the opening years of the eighteenth century. The hill chiefs who held territories in the Sivalik ranges often sought his help against Guru Gobind Singh, then living in

AKBAR, JALAL UD-DIN MUHAMMAD (1542-1605), third in the line of Mughal emperors of India, was born on 23 November 1542 at Amarkot, in Sindh, while his father, Humayun, was escaping to Persia after he had been ousted by Sher Khan Sur. Akbar was crowned king at Kalanaur, in the Punjab,

BARELAVI, SAYYID AHMAD (1786-1831), leader of the militant Wahabi movement in India for the purification and rehabilitation of Islam, was born at Rae Bareli, in present day Uttar Pradesh, on 29 November 1786, in a Sayyid family. At school, he took more interest in sports than in studies. He attained

GHANI KHAN and his brother Nabi Khan, Pathan horse dealers of Machhivara in present day Ludhiana district of the Punjab, were admirers of Guru Gobind Singh whom they had visited at Anandpur and to whom they had sold many good animals. When they learnt that, travelling in a lonely state

JAMSHAID KHAN (d. 1708), Ruhila Afghan, was hired by Nawab Wazir Khan, faujddr of Sirhind, to assassinate Guru Gobind Singh, whose friendly relations with Emperor Bahadur Shah I were perceived by the faujddr as a danger to his own position. Jamshaid Khan with another accomplice caught up with the

NABI KHAN and his brother Ghani Khan, Pathans of Machhivara, who after the battle of Chamkaur (1705) escorted Guru Gobind Singh to the safety of the Malva region disguised as a Muslim pir. See GHANI KHAN

SAID KHAN. a Mughal general, came in February 1703 at the head of a large army to invade Anandpur and force Guru Gobind Singh into submission. Guru Gobind Singh, who, according to Gur Ratan Mal (Sau Sakhi), had only 500 warriors with him at the time, came out of the

WAZIRKHAN (d. 1634) is the name popularly given by Sikh chroniclers to Hakim `Alim udDin, son of Shaikh `Abd ulLatif of Chiniot, a town now in Jhang district of Pakistan Punjab. Trained as a physician, he rose in favour with Emperor Shah Jahan, who created him a ma.nsa.bdar of

AKBAR KHAN MUHAMMAD (d. 1848), son of Dost Muhammad Khan, the ruler of Afghanistan. He was a Hery young man of great dash and daring. Like his father, he was keen to regain the Afghan possessions in India Multan, Kashmir, Attock and Peshawar. In 1837, Dost Muhammad Khan declared

BASAWAN, SHAIKH, a ranked Muslim officer at Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s court, started his career as an assistant to Misr Beli Ram, who had entered the Maharaja`s service in 1809 and who in 1816 had become superintendent of the to shakhana or treasury. Basawan by dint of hard work gradually rose

GHAUS KHAN (d. 1814) was an artillery officer under Mahari Singh Sukkarchakkia, and after his death, under his son, Ranjit Singh. He knew something about casting guns, was skilful in his profession, and was rewarded with jdgirs at Van and Bharoval in Amritsar district, with a large house in Lahore

JANI, a Sayyid Muslim, who, according to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sn Gur Pratdp Suraj Granlh, had long wandered in search of a true spiritual guide, was directed by one, Khwaja, a Kashmir! Musalman, to meet Guru Hargobind whom he himself reverenced. Sayyid Jani visited Guru Hargobind, received instruction from