JIVAN SINGH, BHAI (1649-1705), Bhai Jaila before he had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, was a Sikh belonging to the scavenger caste who was given by Guru Gobind Singh the epithet of `Rarigharcta Guru Ka Beta` (the young man of

KESARI CHAND, Raja of Jasvan, a tiny hill state situated in the foothills of the Sivaliks. Besides being a close relation, he was a confidant and ally of Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur, who once deputed him to Anandpur to seek from Guru Gobind Singh the loan of an

LAKKHAN RAI, son of Bik Chand, a Changra Rajput of Una, now a district town of Himachal Pradesh, embraced Sikhism during the time of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75), and was later counted, along with his brother Bhoj Raj, among the poets and scholars patronized by Guru Gobind Singh. The

MUHKAM SINGH, BHAI (1663-1705). born Muhkam Chand, one of the Panj Piare or the Five Beloved of honoured memory in the Sikh tradition, was the son of TIrath Chand, a cloth printer of Dvaraka in Gujarat. About the year 1685, he came to Anandpur, then the seat of Guru

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