AHWAL-I-FIRQAH-I-SIKKHAN, variously titled as Twarikh-i-Sikkhan, Kitab-i-Tankhi-Sikkhan and Guzarish-i-Ahwal-i-Si\'kkhan, by Munshi Khushwaqt Rai, is a history in Persian of the Sikhs from their origin to AD 1811. Khushwaqt Rai was an official news writer of the East India Company accredited to the Sikh city of Amritsar. It was written at the

AHWAL-I-DINA BEG KHAN , Persian manuscript of unknown authorship, gives biographical details about Adina Beg Khan, faujdar of Jalandhar. The manuscript forms part of the collection of Persian Manuscripts, Sir H.Elliot\'s Papers, Additional MS. 30780 (ff. 2152-92), Extracts relating to India, vol. VIII. 1 , preserved in British Library, London.

AGYA KAUR. BIBI (d. 1918), wife of Bhai Takht Singh and his helpmate in promoting women\'s education among Sikhs to which cause he was passionately devoted, was the daughter of Sardar Tek Singh of the village of Sultanpur, near Rahim Yar Khan railway station in the princely state of

AGYA RAM, BHAI (Bhai Agya Singh, according to Sukha Singh, Gurbilas Dasvin Patshahi), a Sikh of Delhi, who accompanied Bhai Jaita, Bhai Nanu and Bhai Uda to carry from Chandni Chowk in Delhi to the Dilvali Mahalla the severed head of Guru Tegh Bahadur who was executed there on

AHANKAR (hankar as it is commonly pronounced in Punjabi) is a compound of Sanskrit aham (I) and kar (\'maker\') and means I-maker, i.e. what individuates the person as I. It stands for egotism, egoism, self conceit, self centredness, vanity or simply pride. Other synonyms used in the sacred texts of

AHIMSA. The term ahimsa is formed by adding the negative prefix a to the word himsa which is derived from the Sanskrit root \'han\', i.e. \'to kill\', \'to harm\', or \'to injure\', and means not killing, not harming, not injuring. The commonly used English equivalent \'non-violence\' is inadequate as it

AHLUVALIA MISL. See also MISLS Ahluvalia Misl was one of the twelve misls or Sikh confedracies which had gained power in the Punjab during the latter half of the eighteenth century, derived its name from the village of Ahlu, in Lahore district, founded by a Kalal or distiller of wine,

AMRITSAR (31°38\'N, 74°53\'E), principal holy city of the Sikhs, is the headquarters of a district (Amritsar) in the Punjab. The foundation of the town was laid in 1577 by Guru Ram Das (1534-81) when he inauguarted the digging of the holy tank Amritsar (amrit = nectar, sar = pool)

AHMAD SHAH DURRANI (1722-1772), the first of the Saddozai rulers of Afghanistan and founder of the Durrani empire, belonged to the Saddozai section of the Popalzai clan of the Abdali tribe of Afghans. In the 18th century the Abdalis were to be found chiefly around Herat. Under their leader

AHMAD, SHAIKH (1564-1624), celebrated Muslim thinker and theologian of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, was born on 26 May 1564 at Sirhind in present day Patiala district of the Punjab. He received his early education at the hands of his father. Shaikh `Abd al-Ahad, and later studied at Siaiko, now in

AHMAD YAR KHAN TIWANA (d. 1829), second son of Khan Muhammad Khan, the Tiwana chief of Mittha Tiwana, in Shahpur district, measured swords with Sikhs more than once during Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s time. Ahmad Yar Khan revolted against his father and, having succeeded in attracting most of the tribe to

AHRAURA, a small town in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, 40 km south of Varanasi (25°20\'N, 8205-81 E). has a Sikh shrine called Gurudwara Bagh Shri Guru Tegh BahadurJi Ka. Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Ahraura in 1666 in the course of his journey in the eastern parts. It is