PRATAP SINGH, GIANI (1904-1984). preacher, journalist and author, was the son of Bhai Makkhan Singh and Mat Mathura Devi of the village of Nara in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab (now in Pakistan). Born on 3 January 1904, he learnt Gurmukhi and scripture reading at home and passed his

SHER SINGH, GIANI (1890-1944), political leader, orator and newspaper editor, was born the son of Varyam Singh and Nand Kaur at the village of Thikrivala, now in Sangrur district of the Punjab, .in January 1890. An attack of smallpox when he was barely two years old left him totally

VADDA GHAR, village 19 km southwest of Moga (30"48`N, 75"10`E) in the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind, who arrived here from Darauli in 1634 staying here for five days before setting out on an extensive journey across the Malva region. A memorial platform was later constructed on the site

AJAIB SINGH (d. 1705), one of the martyrs of Chamkaur, was the son of Bhai Mani Ram, a Rajput Sikh of the time of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh. Mani Ram had presented five of his sons including Ajaib Singh to Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur where

FATEH SINGH (d. 1716), an army commander under Banda Singh Bahadur, who was appointed administrator of Samana after the town was occupied by the Sikhs in 1709. Fateh Singh participated in several of Banda Singh`s battles against the Mughal rulers. In the battle of Sirhind fought at the nearby

JHANDA KALAN, village 7 km south of Sardulgarh (29°42`N, 75°14`E), in Mansa district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh, who, according to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sn Gur Pratdp Suraj Grantli, stayed here overnight while on his way from Talvandi Sabo to Sirsa in 1706. A shrine

MAHIMA SHAHANVALA, one of the three adjacent villages sharing the name Mahima, 8 km west of Goniana Mandi (30°18\'N, 74°54\'E) in Bathinda district of the Punjab, has a historical shrine, called Gurdwara Gurusar Patshahi X. The shrine marks the spot where, according to local tradition, Guru Gobind Singh made a

RAI SINGH was one of the Chali Mukte, the Forty Liberated Ones, who fell fighting for Guru Gobind Singh in the battle of Muktsar (29 December 1705). According to Bhalt Vahl Multdm Sindhi, Rai Singh was the son of Mai Das, a Vanjara Rajput, of `Alipur, in Multan district.

SHIHAN, recorded in a Sikh chronicle as the birthplace of Akali Phula Singh, celebrated warrior of Sikh times, was village 10 km from Lahira (29forming a big shallow lake. The mound lies in the revenue limits of Dehia village, whose sangat has now established a gurdwara near the mound,

VADHAVA SINGH, BHAl (d. 1924), son of Bhai Jhanda Singh, Gill Jatt, and Mat Dharam Kaur of village Gharik. He was the only son of his parents. He never married. He was illiterate, and had strong religious inclinations. At the age of 40, he took the vows of the Khalsa

GIANI SAMPRADAI is one of three major schools of Sikhs theologians and expositors of the Sikh scripture, the other two being the Udasis and the Nirmalas. Giani, the Punjabi form of Sanskrit jndni from the rootjnd (to know), originally meant a scholar of high learning. In Sikh tradition, a gidmis

JIND (29"18`N, 76"19`E), a district town in Haryana, was once the capital of a Sikh slate of this name. Even after the capital had been shifted to Sarigrur in 1827, the coronation ceremony of the rulers continued to be performed at Jind. GURDWARA MANJI SAHIB SRI GURU TEGH BAHADUR