ALA SINGH, BABA (1691-1765), Sikh mis leader who became the first ruling chief of Patiala, was born in 1691 at Phul, in present day Bathinda district of the Punjab, the third son of Bhai Ram Singh. His grandfather, Baba Phul, had been as a small boy blessed by Guru

GWALIOR (26°10`N, 78°8`E), formerly the capital of a princely state, is now a district town in Madhya Pradcsh. It is a railway junction on the Central Railway, 120 km south of Agra, and an important road junction along the AgraBombay national highway. Gurdwara Data Band! Chhor Patshahl VI, dedicated

SARAGARHI, BATTLE OF, a heroic action fought by a small detachment of Sikh soldiers against heavy odds, took place on 12 September 1897 in the Tirah region of North-West Frontier Province (now in Pakistan). The heroes of Saragarhi, barely 22 in number, belonged to the 36th Sikhs, since re-designated as

AMAR SINGH, RAJA (1748-1782). of Patiala, was born on 6 June 1748, the son of Sardul Singh and Rani Hukman. In 1765, he succeeded his grandfather, Ala Singh, who had no son living at the time of his death. His succession to the throne of Patiala was challenged by

HARIDAS, BHAI, a Soini Khatri, was the superintendent of the State jail in Gwalior Fort during the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1605-27). When Guru Hargobind was detained in Gwalior Fort under the orders of the Emperor, Haridas treated him with great veneration and devotion.

SIKHS` RELATIONS WITH HILL STATES lying between the Ganga and the Chenab rivers from the time of the Gurus to the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh fluctuated from guarded friendship to open hostility. Guru Nanak (1469-1539) and later his son, Baba Sri Chand, had preached the Sikh tenets in the

AMAR SINGH MAN (d. 1805), landowner in Amritsar district who left his village about the year 1759, adopted the Sikh faith and joined the Kanhaiya Misl. He overran and took possession of a large part of Gurdaspur district, including Sukalgarh and Dharamkot. He built a fort at Sukalgarh which

HARI SINGH NALVA (1791-1837), celebrated general of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was horn in April 1791, at Gujranwala, now in Pakistan, to Gurdial Singh, an Uppal Sikh and a derdddrm the Sukkarchakkia misl. The family originally came from Majitha, near Amritsar. His grandfather, Hardas Singh, had been killed fighting against

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

IMAM UDDIN, FAQIR (d. 1847), second son of Ghulam Mohly udDTn and younger brother of Faqir `Azi/ udDin, foreign minister to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was Qiladar or garrison commander of the Gobindgarh Fort at Amritsar, where the bulk of the Sikh crown jewels was kept in deposit. Capable and scholarly.

TAZKIRAHISALATlNICHUGHTAI, a manuscript dealing with the political history of the Mughal times from the reign of Aurangzib to the third year of Muhammad Shah`s reign, i.e. up to 1722. It is an important document for the history of the Sikhs for^ its sections dealing in detail with the exploits