BOYLE, a French national, who, deserting the First European high Infantry, joined the Khalsa army in 1843. He was killed fighting against the British in the first AngIo Sikh war (1845-46).
FORD, MATTHEW WILLIAM (d. 1841), an Englishman who started his career in 1804 as an ensign in a West India regiment. He successively served with the 7th Foot, the 70th Foot, the 1st Royal Scots and the 22nd Light Dragoons. In 1823, he was appointed paymaster to the 16th Foot. While stationed at Karnal in 1837, he embezzled large sums of money and deserted the British troops. He came to Lahore towards the end of the year and joined the Sikh army as a battalion commander on Rs 800 per month, later commuted for jagir of three villages near Rawalpindi.
Discover the story of HOMMUS, a Spaniard who joined the Khalsa Darbar in 1842, worked in gunpowder, and his untimely death in Lahore. Learn more.
Explore Lord Minto's pivotal role in ending British non-interference in India, forging the Anglo-Sikh Treaty of 1809 amidst looming French threats.
Discover the story of Sheriff, a Spaniard engineer in the Sikh army in 1841. Tragically, he met his end in Lahore within a year after a horse fall.
Discover the history of Vanjara Sikhs, their role as medieval traders, and their cultural integration within Sikhism across Central and South India.
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 gai kuiru na rod khai Babar\'s command or sway has spread; even the princes go without food" (GG, 417). Three of these hymns are in Asa measure at pages 360 and 41718 of the standard recension of Guru Granth Sahib and the fourth is in Tilang measure on pages 72223. Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babar, driven out of his ancestral principality of Farghana in Central Asia, occupied Kabul in 1504.
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 of the movement leading to the foundation of this "house of worship" is intimately bound up with that of the individual career of Rammohun Roy.
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.
