MOTA SINGH, BHAI (1902-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Hari Singh and Mat Thakari, Ramdasia Sikhs, weavers by profession, originally of Bassi village in Hoshiarpur district, who had migrated for better living to Chakk No. 18 Bahoru in Sheikh upura district (now in Pakistan).

MUL SINGH GARMULA, BHAI (1846-1945), religious preacher and reformist, was the son of Jodh Singh, a well to do Virk Jatt of the village of Garmula Virkan in Gujranwala (later in Sheikhupura) district of the Punjab, now in Pakistan. He learnt Punjabi and Sikh religious texts and history at

PARDAH SYSTEM, the custom in certain societies of secluding women from men, is of ancient origin. Pardah is a Persian word meaning veil, curtain or screen. Pardah system involves the covering of the bodies or at least faces by grownup women from the gaze of males other than the closest

PURAN SINGH. PROFESSOR (1881-1931), poet and scientist, was born on 17 February 1881 at Salhadd (Abottabad) in a Khatri family (father: Kartar Singh; mother; Parma Devi). His father worked in the revenue department at Salhadd, though their ancestral home was in the village of Dera Khalsa in Rawalpindi district.

SADH, BHAI, devoted disciple of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who lived near the ancient city of Balkh in central Asia. Zulfiqar Ardastani, the author of DabistanI Mazahib, a contemporary work in Persian, records, two anecdotes which show that Bhai Sadh was a devoted Sikh who, unaffected by joys and sorrows of

UDHAM SINGH (1882-1926), revolutionary and Ghadr leader, was born on 15 March 1882 at the village of Kasel in Amritsar district. His father`s name was Meva Singh and mother`s Hukam Kaur. He passed his early years in his village grazing cattle and working on the family`s small farm. He

BHIRAI, MAI, spelt by some chroniclers also as Bharai and Virai, who belonged to Matte di Sarai, the birthplace of Guru Arigad (1504-52), was married to Bhai Mahima, a Khahira Jatt of Khadur (Sahib) in Amritsar district of the Punjab. She was like a sister to Bhai Pheru Mall, the

DALIP SINGH, SANT (1883-1948), son of Ishar Singh and Har Kaur, was born in 1883 at the village ofLahri, in Hoshiarpur district. He was hardly five years old, when his father died. He was brought up by his maternal grandfather, Nihal Singh, at his village Dumeli. He received his early