MAN SINGH. BHAI (d. 1708), a warrior in Guru Gobind Singh`s retinue, was, according to Seva Singh, Shahid Bilas Bhai Mani Singh, the son of Mal Das of Alipur in Muzaffargarh district (now in Pakistan) and a brother of Bhai Mani Ram whose five sons were among the first

RAIPUR RANI, a large village on the left bank of the River Tarigri, 42 km from Chandigarh (3()" 44`N, `76° 47`E), was formerly a small hill principality. At the time of the battle of Bhangani in 1688, it was ruled by the widow of Rao Fatch Singh. She was

SILOANI, village 9 km from Raikot town (30139`N, 75"37`E), is sacred to the memory of Guru Gobind Singh, who visited the place travelling through the Malva after the battle of Chamkaur in December 1705. Gurdwara Beri Sahib Patshahi Dasvin commemorates the spot where Guru Gobind Singh alighted for rest

VANDAR, named after the Jatt clan who inhabits it, is a village 22 km southeast of Kot Kapura (30°35`N, 74°49`E) in Moga district of the Punjab. It has a historical gurdwara dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh, who made a brief halt here on his way from Dina to Kot

AMIR SINGH, GIANI (1870-1954), a widely revered Sikh school man, was born in 1870 at the village of Dargahi Shah in Jhang district, now in Pakistan. His parents, Prem Singh and Thakari Devi, a religious minded couple of modest means, admitted him at the age of 15 to Mahant

GURMAT GRANTH PRACHARAK SABHA, an association aiming at propagating Sikh religion through publications, was established at Amritsar on 8 April 1885 by Giani Sardul Singh to continue the work started by his father, Giani Gian Singh (d. 30 March 1884), the first secretary of Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Amritsar, established

KALIANA, BHAI (d. 1621), a Bindrao Khatri, was a leading Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He received initiation at the hands of the Guru, who instructed him to practise the Word and to devote himself to the service of others (See MAM CHAND HANDA, BHAi). Bhai Kaliana

MANDI, a district town in Himachal Pradesh, was formerly the capital of the princely state of that name. Guru Gobind Singh once visited it on the invitation of its ruler. Raja Siddh Sen. The Guru set up his camp outside the town. The ladies were escorted to the Raja`s

RAMEANA, village 10 km west of Jaito (30° 26`N, 74° 53`E) in Faridkot district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who visited here in December 1705 on his way to Khidrana, now Muktsar. As the Guru reached the village, he, according to Malva Desh Ratan di

SIMBHARO, village 16 km from Patiala, claims a historical shrine known as Gurdwara Sahib Patshahi Nauvin (Dera Sahib). Guru Tegh Bahadur is said to have stayed in this village while travelling through this area. An old Manji Sahib which marked the site where he had halted, was recently replaced

ZAIL SINGH, GIANI (1916-1994), the first Punjabi to become President of the Republic of India, was born on 5 May 1916, the son of Bhai Kishan Singh and Mata Ind Kaur, a Ramgarhia couple of a small village, Sandhvan, near Kot Kapura, in the princely state of Faridkot. Kishan

ANAK SINGH. warrior son of Bhai Mani Ram, resident of the village of Alipur, district Multan (now in Pakistan), received baptismal rites at Anandpur at the time of the initiation of the Khalsa, on 30 March 1699, and took part in the battles of Nirmohgarh and Anandpur. As says