POTHOHAR, a distinct lingual and cultural region in northwest Punjab (now in Pakistan), comprising a part of the Rawalpindi district, including the entire Gujjar Khan tahsil (subdivision) barring the hilly tract in the east along the River Jehlum, southeastern part of Rawalpindi tahsil and Kallar circle of Kahuta tahsil.

SHERIFF, a Spaniard, who joined the Sikh army as an engineer in 1841 on a salary of Rs 300 per month. He had not been in service more than an year when he fell off his horse and died in Lahore.

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

BABAR VANI (Babar\'s command or sway) is how the four hymns by Guru Nanak alluding to the invasions by Babar (1483-1530), the first Mughal emperor of India, are collectively known in Sikh literature. The name is derived from the use of the term in one of these hymns: "Babarvani phiri

BRAHMO SAMAJ. The expression "Brahmo Samaj" (correct transcription, "Brahma Samaja") literally stands for a society of the worshippers of Brahman, the Supreme Reality, according to Hindu philosophy. It is the name of the Theistic Church founded by Raja Rammohun Roy (1772-1833), in Calcutta on 20 August 1828. The history

FRANCIS, a French adventurer, who arrived at Lahore in 1833 and joined Maharaja Ranjit Singli`s army. But he had no military training, and was discharged from the service soon afterwards.

HUMAYUN, NASIR UDDIN MUHAMMAD (1508-1556), Mughal emperor of India, was born at Kabul on 6 March 1508, the eldest of the four sons of ZahTr udDin Muhammad Babar. Humayuri succeeded Babar to the throne of Delhi in December 1530 at the age of 23, but his reign was beset with

KARTAR SINGH, BAWA (1886-1960), a direct descendant of Guru Amar Das and a scientist of repute, was born at Vairoval in Amritsar district on 17 April 1886, the son of Bawa Jivan Singh, who was a member of the Indian Medical Service and was posted to Burma. Kartar Singh

MOHAN SINGH, GENERAL (1909-1989), famous for his part in the Indian National Army for the liberation of India from British rule, in which he held the rank of a general, was born the only son of Tara Singh and Hukam Kaur, a peasant couple of Ugoke village, near Sialkot

POTTINGER, SIR HENRY (1789-1856), soldier and diplomat, son of Eldred Curwen Pottinger, was born on 3 Ocober 1789. He obtained a cadetship in the Indian army in 1804. During 1809-11, he explored the country between Persia and India travelling incognito. He reported the results of his journey which were published

SIKH STUDENTS FEDERATION. A front of the Sikh youth studying in schools, colleges and universities formed in 1944, at Lahore, with Sarup Singh, then a senior law student, as president. Its primary object was the promotion among the Sikh youth of the Sikh priciples and values and to bring to

VANJARA SIKHS or Banjaras, akin to Labana Sikhs of the Punjab, are found scattered throughout Central and South India as well as in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Although vanjara, from Sanskrit vanij (a merchant, trader), is now used as a generic term for peddlers in the Punjab, the Vanjaras during