NAINA SINGH, AKALI, eighteenth century Nihang warrior esteemed as much for his piety as for his valour. His special title to fame rests on the fact that he was the guardian of the celebrated Akali Phula Singh (1761-1823) whom he trained in the martial arts. Little is known about his

DALIP SINGH, Babar revolutionary, belonged to the village of Gosal, in Jalandhar district. His father`s name was Ishar Singh. Dalip Singh passed his matriculation examination and became a teacher in a primary school in Jalandhar. During his spare time, he toured the surrounding villages making patriotic speeches. He was

JASWANT SINGH, BHAGAT (1881-1967), prominent in the Gurdwara Reform movement of 1920-25, was born at Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, on 15 Poh 1938 Bk/27 December 1881, the son of Chaudhari Sayan Singh. After matriculating from Mission School, Rawalpindi, he passed his B.A. examination from Gordon College, Rawalpindi. In 1921,

MOHAN SINGH TUR, JATHEDAR (1915-1979), cminest Akali politician, was born at village Tur in Tarn Taran tahsil of Amritsar in 1915, the son of Jagat Singh, an Akali activist of the Akali Lahir (Gurdwara Reform movement) of the early 1920`s and a member of the first Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak

SADHU SINGH AKALI (d. 1818), known for his daring exploits during the final Sikh assault on Multan under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1818. On 2 June when the fort wall was breached by cannonading, Akali Sadhu Singh accompanied by a few of his companions rushed through the breach and

TARA SINGHNEHRU PACT refers to an understanding arrived at in 1959 between Master Tara Singh, the Akali leader, and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India, in order to remove certain misgivings of the Sikhs with regard to government interference in their religious affairs. Looming in the background was the

ANANDPUR SAHIB RESOLUTION, a frequently invoked document of modern Sikhism pronouncing its religious rule as well as its political goal. After having enjoyed power under chief ministers, Gurnam Singh and Parkash Singh Badal in the Punjab, newly demarcated in 1966, Sikhs as represented by their premier political party, the Shiromani

DARBARA SINGH, BHAI (d. 1921), still in his teens when he fell a martyr at Nankana Sahib in 1921, was the son of Bhai Kehar Singh and Bibi Ratan Kaur. His father was serving in the Indian army as a havildar (sergeant) and he was born at a cantonment

JATHA, from Sanskrit yutha meaning a herd, flock, multitude, troop, band or host, signifies in the Sikh tradition a band of volunteers coming forth to carry out a specific task, be it armed combat or a peaceful and nonviolent agitation. It is not clear when the term jathd first gained

MORCHA, in Persian murchah or murchal meaning entrenchments, fortification or battlefront, has, apart from its usage in military strategy, entered Indian political vocabulary via the Gurdwara Reform or Akali movement of the early 1920`s. In that prolonged agitation for the liberation of Sikh historical shrines from the control of a

SADHU SINGH BHAURA, JATHEDAR (1905-1984), Sikh missionary who rose to be the Jathedar or high priest of Sri Akal Takhat, Amritsar, was born the son of Bhai Ran Singh and Mai Atam Kaur, on 6 June 1905 at Chakk No. 7, a village in Lyallpur district (now in Pakistan).