BALVAND, RAI, a rababi or rebeck player in the time of Guru Arjan and co-composer with Satta, said to be his brother, of a Var included in the Guru Granth Sahib in the Ramkali musical measure. He was by birth a mirasi, Muslim minstrel and genealogist, and sang the sacred hymns to the accompaniment of rebeck like Bhai Mardana used to do during the time of Guru Nanak. Not much authentic biographical information is available about him except that he and his brother, Satta, were contemporaries with Guru Arjan (1563-1606) for whom they recited sabdakirtan. According to another tradition, they started their career under Guru Arigad sometime after he succeeded Guru Nanak on the latter`s demise in 1539 and continued to serve the Gurus until the time of Guru Arjan.
BEDI, a subcaste of the Khatris, Prakritized form of the Sanskrit kstriya which is one of the four caste groups into which the Hindu society is divided. The Khatris are mainly Hindus though there is among them a Sikh element which is small in number but important historically.There are no Muhammadans in the caste because a Khatri after conversion into Islam ceases to be a Khatri and becomes a Khoja. The Khatris are further divided into four subgroups Bahri, Khukhrain, Bunjahi and Sarin. Bahris have twelve castes, Khukhrain eight, Bunjahi fiftytwo and Sarins twenty.
BRAHMAN MAJRA, an old village, about 11 km southeast of Ropar (30° 58`N, 76° 31`E), is sacred to Guru Hagobind and Guru Gobind Singh. Gurdwara Guru Garh Sahib commemorates the visit of Guru Gobind Singh on 6 December 1705 when he, with his two elder sons and 40 Sikhs, was on his way from Kotia Nihang Khan to Chamkaur. The Gurdwara about 50 metres outside the village, constructed during the 1970`s, consists of a square divan hall with a verandah in front.