WOMEN IN SIKHISM. Women who had many equal privileges with the menfolk in Vedic India were reduced to a position of utter subordination during the time of the lawgivers. In the codes and institutes laid down in the dharmasastras they were given the status of sudras. They were declared to be intrinsically impure and unfit, hence ineligible, even for listening to the recital of sacred texts and receiving religious instruction or initiation. The inherent attraction of the female was considered to be a temptation to sin, and man had to remain on guard all the time.
ABUL FAZL (1551-1602), principal secretary-cum-minister to Akbar, the Mughal emperor. He was an accomplished man of learning and was the author of two celebrated works, A`ini Akbari and Akbar-nama, the former being a description of Akbar`s administrative system and the latter a chronicle of the events of his reign. Like his father, Shaikh Mubarak, and brother, Faizi, Abul Fazl had Sufi leanings, and all three of them were a major influence in moulding the religious policy of the emperor. Born at Akbarabad on 14 January 1551, Abul Fazl took up service at the royal court in 1574, and through his uncommon wisdom and learning soon rose to become Akbar`s most trusted adviser.
AMRITSAR (31°38\'N, 74°53\'E), principal holy city of the Sikhs, is the headquarters of a district (Amritsar) in the Punjab. The foundation of the town was laid in 1577 by Guru Ram Das (1534-81) when he inauguarted the digging of the holy tank Amritsar (amrit = nectar, sar = pool) on a piece of land which, according to some sources, was purchased from the residents of the neighbouring village of Tung during the time of Guru Amar Das (1479-1574) and, according to other sources, was a gift from the Mughal Emperor Akbar (1542-1605) to Guru Amar Das\'s daughter, Bibi Bhani, married to (Guru) Ram Das.
AKALI, THE, a Punjabi daily newspaper which became the central organ of the Shiromani Akali Dal, then engaged in a fierce struggle for the reformation of the management of the Sikh gurdwaras and a vehicle for the expression of nationalist political opinion in the Punjab in the wake of the massacre of Jalliarivala Bagh in Amritsar (1919), followed by the annual session of the Indian National Congress. The first issue of the paper was brought out from Lahore on 21 May 1920 to honour the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Fifth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Arjan.
ALAM KHAN, son of Nihang Khan of Kotia Nihang Khan and son-in-law of Rai Kalha, the chief of Raikot, was a devotee of Guru Gobind Singh. According to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, he was with Rai Kalha when he met Guru Gobind Singh passing through Raikot after having left Chamkaur on 8 December 1705. Also, see NIHANG KHAN
AMBALA (30°23`N, 76°47`E), a city in Haryana, has several historical shrines sacred to the Gurus. GURDWARA BADSHAHI BAGH, situated near the district courts, occupies the site which used to be a halting place for the Mughal emperors when travelling from Delhi to the Punjab or Kashmir. Guru Gobind Singh came here at the end of 1670 or in early 1671 during one of his excursions from Lakhnaur. Then only a small child, he had greatly impressed Pir Nur Din (or Mir Din), custodian of the nearby Muslim shrine.
ANANTNAG (33° 44`N, 75° 13`E), a district town on the southern edge of the Kashmir valley, is named after a nearby spring which is regarded as sacred by the Hindus. The town claims a historical Sikh shrine commemorating the visit of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), who passed through here on his way to Mattan in 1517. The present building of Gurdwara Guru Nanak in the southern part of the town was constructed in 1950, and a second storey was added to it in 1970.
ASMAN KHAN or ASMAN KHAN (d. 1635), a Pathan who sacrilegiously appropriated the robe of honour, a sword and a horse bestowed by Guru Hargobind on his father in law, Painda Khan, and poached a hawk belonging to the Guru`s eldest son, Baba Gurditta. When questioned, Painda Khan defended his son in law and denied the charges levelled against him. However, Bhai Bidhi Chand, at the bidding of Guru Hargobind, recovered the articles from Asman Khan`s possession. Both Painda Khan and Asman Khan rose against the Guru, and enlisted the support of the Mughal faujdar ofJalandhar. A clash occurred at Kartarpur during the last week of April 1635. Asman Khan was killed in this battle with an arrow from Baba Gurditta`s bow.
AKAL BUNGA SAHIB GURUDWARA, ANANDPUR This Gurdwara is situated exact opposite to Gurdwara Sis Ganj. Here, Guru Sahib addressed the Sikhs after the cremation of the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. Guru Sahib asked the Sikhs to bow before the Will of the Almighty. He told them to be prepared for struggle for freedom of faith and war against tyranny and injustice.
AULUKH, AJMER SINGH Aulukh, Ajmer Singh has published three collections of short plays. Arbad Narbad Dhundakar (Aeons and the Nebula, 1978) includes five such plays. The title is taken from a line of Guru Nanak in the Guru Grantha in which he has given cosmology on the lines of ancient Indian texts. The first, the title play, extends over two acts. Of its five characters, Ranjha and Mirza are heroes of love legends of medieval Punjab, Majnu of medieval Arabia and Farhad of medieval Iran.
