GANESHA SINGH, BHAI (d. 1888), assistant chief secretary of the Khalsa Diwan, initially called Singh Sabha General, which was established in 1880 to coordinate the activities of the Singh Sabhas at Lahore and Amritsar, was employed in the Amritsar municipal committee as a sarishtadar or clerk. When the Khalsa Diwan

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

GURBAKHSH SINGH, SANT (1871-1939), better known as Sant Gurbakhsh Singh of Patiala, scholar and preacher, was born in 1871 at Chunlan in Patiala district. His father, Bhal Sham Singh, and his family shifted to Harisron, near Navashahar in Jalandhar district, as the repression was let loose by government on

VADBHAG SINGH, SODHl (1716-61), a lineal descendant of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) through the latter`s son, Baba Gurditta, and grandson, Dhir Mall, was born the son of Sodhi Ram Singh on 13 August 1716 at Kartarpur, in present day Jalandhar district of the Punjab. Vadbhag Singh became chief of Kartarpur

HIMMAT SINGH JALLEVALIA (d. 1829), son of Chaudhan Gulab Rai, a Bairis Jatt of Mahalpur, in present day Hoshiarpur district of the Punjab, joined the Sikh forces which conquered Sirhind province in 1764, and secured for himself the village of Jalla, whence the family derived its cognomen of Jallevalia.

JODH SINGH WAZLRABADIA (d. 1809), son of Gurbakhsh Singh, was a powerful eighteenth century Sikh chief. He possessed the parganahs;of Wazirabad, Karial, Mitranvali and Talvandi Musa Khan, comprising about 500 villages. Jodh Singh and Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s father, Mahari Singh, were great friends, and both often joined hands together

KHALSA DIWAN LAHORE, formed on 11 April 1886 by a group of Sikhs who following a schism had severed their connections with the Khalsa Diwan Amritsar. Bhai Attar Singh, chief of Bhadaur, was named president and Bhai Gurmukh Singh chief secretary. The Diwan was formally registered with the government

AHMAD YAR KHAN TIWANA (d. 1829), second son of Khan Muhammad Khan, the Tiwana chief of Mittha Tiwana, in Shahpur district, measured swords with Sikhs more than once during Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s time. Ahmad Yar Khan revolted against his father and, having succeeded in attracting most of the tribe to

KHALSA DIWAN MAJHA, an association of reformist Sikhs representing the districts of Lahore, Amritsar and Gurdaspur, was set up in 1904. The Singh Sabha movement had created among the Sikhs a new consciousness for the need to reform their religious and social practices. Early in 1904, Risaldar Basant Singh of

KHALSA DIWAN MALAYA, a religious organization of Sikhs in Malaysia, was established on 27 December 1903 at Taiping (4"51`N, 100"44`E) at a divan at the gurdwara of the Malaya State Guides celebrating the birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh. The Khalsa Diwan was assigned to promoting Sikh religion, managing

AMAR SINGH WASU (1884-1932), Akali activist and journalist, was born Ganga Ram at the village of Wasu, in Gujrat district, now in Pakistan, in 1884, the son of Ladha Mall and Lachhmi Devi. Under the influence of the Singh Sabha movement, the family went through the Sikh initiatory rites,

BAGH SINGH VIRK (d. 1806), a feudatory chief under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. His father Lal Singh, who had migrated from Jammu, held sway in the tract between Sheikhupura and Miralivala as the Sikh sardars started acquiring territory in the Punjab in the latter half of the eighteenth century. He