SUNDARI, by Bhai Vir Singh, first published in 1898, is commonly acknowledged to be the first novel written in the Punjabi language. The story, set in the eighteenth century, depicts the trials and heroism of an imaginary character, Sundar Kaur (Sundari for short) who, born in a Punjabi Khatri Hindu

JANGNAMA LAHOW:, by Kahn Singh, is a poem describing the battles fought between the British and the Sikhs during 1845-46. Kahn Singh belonged to Bariga, Jalandhar district, and undertook the work at the instance of the British Deputy Commissioner of the area, Mr Vanistart. Though there is no internal evidence

TILOK SINGH, (d. 1710), Tiloka or Tilok Chand before receiving the Sikh initiatory rites, was an ancestor of the Phulkian families of Nabha and Jind, Badrukkhan and Dialpura. He was the eldest son of Chaudhari Phul. His wife, Bakhto, bore him two sons, Gurdit Singh and Sukhchain Singh. From

JASPAT RAI (d. 1746), a native of Kalanaur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, was during Mughal times the faujddr of Eminabad, now in Gujrariwala district of Pakistan. A weal thy ^fl^m/ar and an influential courtier of Zakanya Khan, the governor of Lahore, he once ransomed Lakhpat Rai, his

YAHIYA KHAN, the eldest son of Nawab Zakariya Khan, became governor of Lahore under the Mughals in 1745 after the death of his father. He continued his father\'s policy of repression against the Sikhs. During his regime, a fracas between a band of Sikh horsemen and the State constabulary resulted

JAVAND SINGH, BHAI (1887-1921), one of the martyrs of Nankana Sahib, was born on 22 September 1887, the second of the three sons of Bhal Ala Singh and MaT Bisso of Nijampur village in Amritsar district. His elder brother Gujjar Singh had registered himself as a volunteer for the

ALLARD, BENJAMIN (1796-1877), step-brother of General Allard, born at Saint Tropez in 1796, was sent to Lahore in 1829 in order to replace his brother as the military adviser of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, but the two brothers failed to win the confidence of the Maharaja, who would not release General

JUJHAR SINGH, SAHIBZADA (1691-1705), the second son of Guru Gobind Singh, was born to Mata Jitoji at Anandpur on 14 March 1691. Like his elder brother, Ajit Singh, he started training in the fighting skills as soon as he started learning the religious texts. In 1699, when he was