DAMDAMA SAHIB GURUDWARA, ANANDPUR It is known as Gurdwara Takht Sahib as well. Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib used to perform the functions of Akal Takht Sahib from this place. It was Diwane-i-Khas. It was also the court of Guru Sahib. Here, Guru Sahib used to receive representatives of different States

GULAB RAI and his brother Shyam Singh, sons of Dip Chand, grandsons of Suraj Mall and great grandsons of Guru Hargobind, resided with Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) at Anandpur. At the time of the evacuation of Anandpur in 1705, the Guru sent them with a letter of introduction to

HAYAT KHAN (d. 1688), one of the disbanded officials of the Mughal army who, along with five hundred Pathan soldiers, was recruited by Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib, on the recommendation of Pir Buddhu Shah of Sadhaura. On the eve of the battle of Bharigani, he however deserted

JIT MALL, a cousin of Guru Gobind Singh, was the son of Bhai Sadhu, a Khosia Khatrl of Malla, in present day Faridkot district of the Punjab, and Bibi Viro, daughter of Guru Hargobind and elder sister of Guru Tegh Bahadur. As recorded in Guru Gobind Singh`s autobiographical poem

KAUL, SODHI, or Sodhi Karival Nain (1638-1706), son of Baba Hariji and a great grandson of Baba Prithi Chand, the elder brother of Guru Arjan (1563-1606), was born at Muhammadipur village in Lahore district of the Punjab (now in Pakistan). He was educated under eminent men of letters at Amritsar

LAKHISAR, a small habitation in the neighbourhood of Goniana Mandi (30°18`N, 74°54`E) in Bathinda district of the Punjab, is famous for the historical shrine, Gurdwara Lakkhi Jangal, raised in honour of Guru Gobind Singh. According to Sikh tradition,the name Lakkhi Jangal was given this semi desert tract by Guru

MEDINI PRAKASH, ruler from 1684 to 1704 of Sirmur, a state situated along the river Yamuna in the Kayarda Dun valley of the Sivalik hills, was one among the hill chiefs who did not support Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur in his designs against Guru Gobind Singh. In April 1685,

NIHANGS or Nihang Singhs, originally known as Akalis or Akah Niharigs, are endearingly designated the Guru`s Knights or the Guru`s beloved, for the military ambience they still carry about them and the heroic style they continue to cultivate. They constitute a distinctive order among the Sikhs and are readily recognized

PRACHIN PANTH PRAKASH, by Ratan Singh Bharigu, a chronicle in homely Punjabi verse relating to the history of the Sikhs from the time of the founder, Guru Nanak (AD 1469-1539), to the establishment in the eighteenth century of principalities in the Punjab under Misi sarddrs. The work, which was completed

SADHAURA, an old town 43 km east of Ambala (30"23`N, 76"47`E) in Haryana, has a place in Sikh piety, being the seat of Sayyid Shah Badr udDin, commonly known as Pir Buddhu Shah, a Muslim saint who became a devotee of Guru Gobind Singh. Pir Buddhu Shah took the

SIANA SAYYIDAN, a village in Kurukshetra district of Haryana 5 km from Pehowa (29"59`N, 76"35`E), is the birthplace of Sayyid Shah Bhikh or Bhikhan Shah, a Muslim saint, who guided by intuition and divine inspiration, had gone to pay obeisance to the child Gobind at Lakhnaur in 1670. There

TAKHT MALL, a masand or preacher and the collector in the Nakka region (western part of Lahore district) during the time of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), was so scared when he heard of the Guru sending for some masands and punishing those found guilty of misappropriation of sangat`s offerings