JIVAN SINGH, BHAI (1649-1705), Bhai Jaila before he had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, was a Sikh belonging to the scavenger caste who was given by Guru Gobind Singh the epithet of `Rarigharcta Guru Ka Beta` (the young man of

UDE SINGH (d. 1705), warrior and martyr, was the third of the sons of Bhai Mani Ram, a Parmar Rajput of `Alipur in Multan district (now in Pakistan). Ude Singh along with four of his other brothers received the rites of the Khalsa on the historic Baisakhi day, 30 March

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

JOGA SINGH. a Sikh youth from Peshawar, who had lived in the presence of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) at Anandpur for many years and served him with devotion. One day as his parents, eager to see him married, arrived to escort him back home, the Guru permitted him to

VIDIA SAGAR GRANTH, lit. the book (granth) of the ocean (sagar) of wisdom {vidia), is the title given to a legendary literary corpus created at Anandpur under the patronage of Guru Gobind Singh. The volume, also known as Vidiasar Granth, Vidiadhar Granth and Samund Sagar Granth, was supposed to comprise

CHANDRA SAIN SAINAPATI, commonly referred to as Sainapati and counted among the "fifty-two poets" of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), was the son of Bal Chand, an educated Man Jatt of Lahore. His original name was Chandra Sain, Sainapati being the pseudonym he had taken. Chandra Sain, taught by one

KANHAIYA, BHAI (1648-1718), founder of the Sevapanthi or Addanshahi sect of the Sikhs, was born in a Dhamman Khatri family of Sodhara near Waxirabad in Sialkot district (now in Pakistan). His father was a wealthy trader, but he himself being of a religious bent of mind left home when

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

DAYA SINGH, BHAI (1661-1708), one of the Panj Piare or the Five Beloved celebrated in the Sikh tradition, was the son of Bhai Suddha, a Sobti Khatri of Lahore, and Mai Diali. His original name was Daya Ram. Bhai Suddha was a devout Sikh of Guru Tegh Bahadur and

KESARI CHAND, Raja of Jasvan, a tiny hill state situated in the foothills of the Sivaliks. Besides being a close relation, he was a confidant and ally of Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur, who once deputed him to Anandpur to seek from Guru Gobind Singh the loan of an

ZORAWAR SINGH PAUT (d. 1708), generally known as Guru Gobind Singh\'s adopted son, was born to Bhai Natthu, a carpenter of Bassi Pathanan, near Sirhind. His mother, Mai Bhikkhi, served in the Guru`s household at Anandpur, where the boy spent his early childhood, too. He was about the same age

DHARAM SINGH, BHAI (1666-1708), one of the Pan] Piare or the Five Beloved, the forerunners of Khalsa, came of farming stock. He was the son of Bhai Sant Ram and Mai Sabho, of Hastinapur, an ancient town on the right bank of the Ganges, 35 km northeast of Meerut