SHAH DIN, FAQIR (d. 1842), son of Faqir `Aziz udDin, minister to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the Sikh court`s envoy with the British political agent at Ludhiana and later at Firozpur. He is described in contemporary chronicles as an able diplomat who often accompanied foreign dignitaries visiting Lahore and acted

ZOBEIR RAHAMA (1830-1913), Egyptain pasha and Sudanese governor whose name is mentioned in connection with the campaign for the restoration of Maharaja Duleep Singh to the throne of the Punjab, was a member of a family which claimed descent from the Quraish tribe through Abbas, uncle of Muhammad. He was

ASMAN KHAN or ASMAN KHAN (d. 1635), a Pathan who sacrilegiously appropriated the robe of honour, a sword and a horse bestowed by Guru Hargobind on his father in law, Painda Khan, and poached a hawk belonging to the Guru`s eldest son, Baba Gurditta. When questioned, Painda Khan defended

DARA SHUKOH, PRINCE (1615-1659), the eldest son of Prince Khurram (later Emperor ShahJahan), was born on 30 March 1615 at Ajmer. Following the failure of his father`s rebellion against his grandfather, Emperor Jaharigir, Dara and his brother, Aurarigzib, were sent to the Emperor as hostages. They arrived at Lahore in

HUSAIN KHAN (d. 1696), called Husaim in Guru Gobind Singh`s Bachitra Ndtak, was a slave general of Dilawar Khan, an important officer in the Mughal hierarchy. When Dilawar Khan learnt of the disaster suffered by the imperial expedition led by his son against Guru Gobind Singh, he sent his

KHUSHAL CHAND, RAJA, or Khushal Rai (d. 1752), an official under the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (1719-48) and a writer and poet of some merit, described himself as a NanakpanthI, i.e. a follower of Guru Nanak, his father Jivan Ram, and grandfather, Anand Ram Kayastha, had also served in the

PAINDA KHAN (d. 1635), spelt Painde Khan in Sikh chronicles, was the son of Fateh Khan. an Afghan resident of the village of `Alimpur, 7 km northeast of Kartarpur in the present Jalandhar district of the Punjab. His parents died while he was still very young, and he was brought

SHAH SHUJA (1780-1842) or Shuja`ulMulk, the King of Kabul, was the youngest son of Taimur Shah and grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani. Shah Zaman, his elder brother, appointed him governor of Peshawar. In 1800, Shah Zaman was defeated and dethroned by his half brother, Shah Mahmud, but Shah Shuja`

\'ABDULLA BHAI\', Abdul according to some Sikh chroniclers, was a Muslim minstrel who recited heroic balladry at Sikh congregations in the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). Abdul was born in the village of Sursingh, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He first came to Amritsar in 1606 at the

ATA MUHAMMAD KHAN BARAKZAI, son of Painda Khan Barakzai, became the governor of Kashmir in 1809. When Shah Shuja`, the king of Afghanistan, was dethroned, he fled towards the Punjab. At Attock he was captured by the governor, Jaharidad Khan. who sent him to Kashmir to be handed over

DILAWAR KHAN, a Mughal chief, who during the closing years of seventeenth century sent his son, referred to as Khanzada in Guru Gobind Singh`s Bachitra Natak, as head of an imperial expedition to exact tribute from the Guru. The young commander, marching with alacrity, reached the vicinity of Anandpur

IBRAHIM, SHAIKH (Shaikh Farid of the Janam Sakhi), twelfth in succession from the famous Sufi saint, Shaikh Farid udDin GanjiShakar (1173-1266), held the seat of the earlier Shaikh at Pakpattan in the present Sahiwal (former Montgomery) district of Pakistan when Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was travelling in these parts. Shaikh Ibrahim,