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 had visited Anandpur more than once to seek his blessing. In 1677, he travelled to Anandpur along with his family including his young son, Daya Ram, to make obeisance to Guru Gobind Singh, this time to settle there permanently. Daya Ram, already well versed in Punjabi and Persian, engaged himself in the study of classics and gurbani. He also received training in the use of weapons.
DHARAM DHUJA, lit. standard or banner of dharma or faith, is the popular name of Akhara Nirmal Panth...
DHARAM SINGH, a Jatt Sikh of the village of Chitti, 15 km southwest of Jalandhar in the Punjab, was one of the associates of Bhai Maharaj Singh (d. 1856), leader of anti British revolt in the Punjab during 1848-49. Dharam Singh assisted Bhai Maharaj Singh by mobilizing help for him in the Doaba region during the latter half of 1849. He especially introduced two artillerymen of Kapurthala to Bhai Maharaj Singh, in Hoshiarpur area. He was arrested along with Maharaj Singh on the night of 28-29 December 1849, but managed to escape. However, he was rearrested at Wazirabad in Gujranwala district and was held in custody in Lahore jail.
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 (29°N, 77° 45`E). Dharam Das, as he was originally named, was born around 1666. As a young man, he fell into the company of a Sikh who introduced him to the teachings of the Gurus. He left home at the age of thirty in quest of further instruction. At the Sikh shrine ofNanak Piau, dedicated to Guru Nanak, he was advised to go to Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur, where he arrived in 1698.
DHARAM SINGH, BHAI (d. 1921) was the youngest of the four sons of Bhai Sant Singh and Mai Hukmi, of the village of Bundala, in Amritsar district. He was only four years old when the family migrated to Chakk No. 71 Bundala Bachan Singhvala in the newly colonized district of Lyallpur. His education was limited to rudimentary knowledge of the Punjabi language which he could barely read in the Gurmukhi script. He was robustly built and enjoyed wrestling.
DHARAM SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR (1881-1933), Sikh philanthropist, was born at the village of Kopra, in Sialkot district, now in Pakistan, on 18 January 1881. His father, Bhai Nattha Ram, was a sahajdhari Sikh who became Nattha Singh after receiving the rites of amrit. Dharam Singh learned Gurmukhi characters at the village dharamsala from Bava Narayan Singh. He had a religious bent of mind, and could read fluently the Guru Granth Sahib before he was 8 years of age. For his primary education, he joined the Mission School, Wazirabad, later passing his matriculation from Khalsa High School, Gujrariwala. In 1901, he qualified to be a sub overseer from Thompson Engineering College, Roorkee, and got a job in Burma.
DHARAM CHAND, son of Lakhmi Chand and grandson of Guru Nanak. According to Gurbilas Patshahi Chhevin, he received Guru Hargobind when the latter, along with Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Bhana, went to Kartarpur which Guru Nanak had made his dwelling place during the last years of his life. Dharam Chand received the Guru and his entourage along with other persons of the Bedi clan, with honour. Guru Hargobind made him an offering of a horse and five hundred gold mohars.
GURU NANAK VIDYA BHANDAR TRUST, aiming at promoting education among Sikhs, was founded in 1924 by Sardar Bahadur Dharam Singh. He had the inspiration from Sant Afar Singh of Mastuana, a Sikh saint widely revered for his piety at that time. The Trust was formally registered on 10 May 1932. Dharam Singh made substantial contributions from his personal assets. Funds were donated by Sant Atar Singh as well. Among the 18 founding members were eminent educationists and public men such as Bhai Jodh Singh, Bhai Mohan Singh, Bhai Takht Singh and Professor Teja Singh.
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 family, embraces the Sikh faith in unusual circumstances and spends her short, eventful life in prayer and service of the crusading Khalsa. Sundari`s tribulations begin with her catching the local Mughal chief`s attention as the latter, out hunting with a body of retainers one day, passes through her village.