BATHINDA (30° 14`N, 74° 59`E), an old town in the Punjab, was called Vikramgarh during the preMuhammadan period. Tradition ascribes its foundation to Bhati Rao, a Rajput chief who also founded Bhatner, present Hanumangarh, in Rajasthan. The two towns together commanding the area between Hissar and Bikaner known as

GURBAKHSH SINGH, BHAI (d. 1764), founder of the Bhai family of Kaithal, was great grandson of Bhai Bhagatu of revered memory. His grandfather, Bhai Bhagatu`s elder son, Gaura, was a brave warrior who became the chief of Virijhu, near Bathinda. His father, Dial Das, on the other hand was

HARNAM SINGH, BABA (d. 1927), an ascetic saint widely respected in the southern districts of the Punjab, was born the son of BhaT BTr Singh and Pradhan Kaur of the village of Mansurval in Kapurthala district. His original name was Nihal Singh. Leaving his home at the age of

JIVA, BHAI, a Sikh living near Khadur Sahib in Amritsar district of the Punjab, who used to bring daily khichan (a dish of rice mixed with lentils) and curds for Guru Angad`s I an gar or community kitchen. One evening as a severe dust storm was raging, he, according

SAMPURAN SINGH RAMAN, JATHEDAR (1895-1970), active in Akali politics and in the Praja Mandal movement, was born in 1895, the son of Hari Singh Man and Bhag Kaur of Maur Dhilvah in present day Bathinda district of the Punjab. The family later shifted to Raman where Hari Singh had