SRI SANT RATAN MAL by Bhai Lal Chand, containing biographical sketches in Punjabi of the Sevapanthi saints, completed in 1919 Bk/AD 1862 at Amritsar, was first published in 1924 and reprinted in 1954 by Bhai Hira Singh Mahant, Sevapanthi Addan Shahi Sabha, Patiala. The voluminous work, comprising 563 printed pages,

SUNDARI, MATA (d. 1747), the second wife of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), was the daughter of Bhai Ram Saran, a Kumarav Khatri of Bijvara. in present day Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab. She was married to Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur on 4 April 1684. On 26 January 1687,

TARAORI (29048`N, 76056`E), also pronounced Taravri, is an old walled town 12 km north of Karnal in Haryana. It claims a historical Sikh shrine known as Gurdwara Sisgahj Patshahi Navin. After the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Delhi on Maghar sudi 5,1732 Bk/11 November 1675, his severed head

TOTA MAHITA, BHAI, a devoted Sikh contemporary of Guru Arjan and of Guru Hargobind. During latter`s time, he, along with Bhai Tiloka, came to be known as a soldier, adept in handling musket, sword and javelin. Bhai Tota Mahita and Bhai Tiloka fell fighting in the battle of Amritsar

VAR, a verse form in Punjabi popular in folklore as well as in refined poetry. In the old bardic tradition of the Punjab, var meant the poem itself with its typical theme as also the form in which it was cast. The earliest vars were ballads of battles and

AKIL DAS, an eighteenth century head of the Handali sect of Jandiala in Amritsar district of the Punjab, also known as Haribhagat Niranjania, was an inveterate enemy of the Sikhs. Giani Gian Singh, Shamsher Khalsa, describes him as "Akul Das who basked in the name of Haribhagat." He was

ANANTA, BHAI, son of Bhai Kuko, a Vadhavan Khatri, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). According to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, he once earned the Guru`s displeasure for wantonly hitting a crow which became lame as a result of the

BADALI, BHAI, a Sodhi Khatri, and Se^h Gopal figure in the roster of prominent Sikhs of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) in Bhai Gurdas, Varan XI. 31. As they sought the Guru\'s instruction he, records Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, impressed upon them the virtue of

BALA JANAM SAKHI. The Janam Sakhis of the Bala tradition owe both their name and their reputation to Bhai Bala, a SandhuJa^ from Guru Nanak`s village of Talvandi. According to the tradition`s own claims, Bala was a near contemporary of Guru Nanak who accompanied him during his period in

BECHINT SINGH, BHAI (1872-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Sundar Singh and Mat Sahib Kaur, a peasant couple of the village of Pharala in Jalandhar district. The family migrated to Chakk No. 258 Pharala in the newly colonized district of Lyallpur in 1892.

BHAG SINGH, BHAI (1880-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was born in 1880, the son of Bhai Amir Singh and Mai Nihal Kaur of village Nizampur, in Amritsar district. The family later shifted to Chakk No. 38 Deva Singhvala, in the newly developed canal colony of Sheikhupura. Bhag

BHANA, BHAI, resident of Prayag (Allahabad), is listed by Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 31, among leading Sikhs of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). As recorded in Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, he asked the Guru to indicate the way to release. The Guru said, "Meditate always