NIRMOHGARH SAHIB, GURDWARA, situated on top of a low hill 4 km south of Kiratpur (31° ll`N, 76° 35`E), is dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. In August 1700, Anandpur, which was then the seat of Guru Gobind Singh, was attacked by a combined force of several of the surrounding hill

PRIKHIA PRAKARAN (printed = test; prakaran = part or fragment) by Pandit Tara Singh Narotam is a small tract, bound with the author`s more famous Gurumat Nimaya Sdgar, endevouring to establish the authenticity or otherwise of the authorship of the various Sikh texts including the Guru Granth Sahib, the Dasam

SAHERI, originally called Kheri, is a village about 2 km west of Morinda ( 30"47`N, 76"29`E) in Ropar district of the Punjab. The village was destroyed by Banda Singh Bahadur in 1710, and the habitation that reappeared upon its ruins dropped the old name because of its dismal associations

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

TANSUKH LAHAURl, a devoted Sikh of Lahore who later lived at Ranthambore in Rajasthan. Tansukh had two of his sons living at Anandpur under the patronage of Guru Gobind Singh. They sent a copy of a translation of Hitopadesa, made by one of the Guru`s poets, Lakkhan Rai, to

VARANASI (25°20`N, 82°58`E), the holiest place of Hindu pilgrimage, has since ancient times, been one of the most important centres of Sanskrit learning. Guru Gobind Singh sent five of his Sikhs to Varanasi to study Sanskrit, and following them several centres for the study of Sanskrit and theology were

ALIM, a Muslim poet, enjoyed the patronage of Guru Gobind Singh. Formerly in the employ of Prince Mu\'azzam (later Emperor Bahadur Shah), he probably came to Guru Gobind Singh sometime during the period 1687-94 when the prince, having fallen from the favour of his father, Aurangzib, was under internment.

BALACHAUR, a village about 11 km northeast of Jagadhri (30° 10`N, 77° 18`E) in Ambala district of Haryana, claims a historical shrine known as Gurdwara Agampura dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Gobind Singh visited the place travelling from Kapal Mochan in 1688. The old shrine, a 4.5 metre

BHANGANI, a small village on the right bank of the River Yamuna about 11 km from Paonta (30°25`N, 70°40`E) in Sirmur district of Himachal Pradesh was the scene of a battle between the hill rajas and Guru Gobind Singh. The chiefs taking exception to Guru Gobind Singh`s teaching equalizing

CHALI MUKTE, lit. forty (chalf) liberated ones (mukte), is how a band of 40 brave Sikhs who laid down their lives fighting near the dhab or lake of Khidrana, also called Isharsar, on 29 December 1705 against a Mughal force in chase of Guru Gobind Singh are remembered in Sikh

DEG TEGH FATEH, a Sikh saying which literally means victory (fateh) to kettle (deg) and sword (tegh). All the three words have been taken from Persian which was the State language in the formative period of Sikhism. The word deg, i.e. a large sized kettle or cauldron having a

FATEH SHAH (d. 1716) was the ruler of the Himalayan state of Srinagar (Garhval) from 1684 to 1716. He had strained relations with Raja Medini Prakash of Sirmur. When Guru Gobind Singh made Paonta his headquarters in April 1685 at the invitation of the latter, he brought about reconciliation between