BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM CAVENDISH (1774-1839), Governor General of India, son of William Henry, third duke of Portland, was born on 14 September 1774. In 1803, he was appointed governor of Madras, but recalled in 1807 in consequence of the sepoy mutiny at Vellore. In 1827, Bentinck succeeded Lord Amherst as

DULEEP SINGH, MAHARAJA (1838-1893), the last Sikh sovereign of the Punjab, was born at Lahore on 6 September 1838, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. On 18 September 1843, at the age of five, he was, after the murder of Maharaja Sher Singh, proclaimed Maharaja of the Punjab

HARKISHAN DAS, a purohit or family priest of Maharaja Dulcep Singh, who in 1883 went on a visit to the Maharaja in England and stayed there as his guest for nearly two years. When he returned to India in 1885, he brought with him offerings from the Maharaja for

JOGENDRA SINGH, SIR (1877-1946). scholar and statesman of old Sikh lineage, and counted among the politest and most accomplished men of his day, was born the second son of Javala Singh on 25 May 1877 at Aira Estate, in Kheri district of what then used to be the United

MACNAGHTEN, SIR WILLIAM HAY (1793-1841), born in August 1793, was the son of Sir Francis Macnaghten. He was educated at Charter house and joined the service of the East India Company in 1809. He studied Hindustani, Persian and other Asiatic languages. His diplomatic career began towards the close of 1830,

PARTITION OF THE PUNJAB (1947) was the result of the overwhelming support the Muslim demand for the creation of Pakistan, an independent and sovereign Muslim State, had gathered in India. When the word Pakistan was first mentioned, the idea had been laughed out of court, even by the Muslims themselves.

ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES, held in London during 1930-32, were a series of high level meetings attended by representatives of the British government, rulers of Indian princely states and leaders of public opinion in British India to discuss proposals for introducing further constitutional reforms in India on the basis of the

ANNEXATION OF THE PUNJAB to British dominions in India in 1849 by Lord Dalhousie, the British governor general, which finally put an end to the sovereignty of the Sikhs over northwestern India, was the sequel to a chain of events that had followed the death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh ten

BHAGAT BHAGVAN, recipient of one of the bakhshi`shs or seats of the Udasi sect, was a contemporary of Guru Har Rai (1630-61). His original name was Bhagvan Gir. Little is known about his early life except that, according to Udasi sources, he was born in a Brahman family at

ELLENBOROUGH, LORD EDWARD LAW (1790-1871), Governor General of India (1842-44), son of Edward Law, Baron Ellen borough, Lord Chief Justice of England, was born on 8 September 1790. He was educated at Eton and at St John`s College, Cambridge. He became a member of the House of Lords in 1818.

HARLAN, JOSIAH (1799-1871), adventurer and medical practitioner who served the British, the Sikhs and the Afghans, was born in Philadelphia, U.S.A., in 1799. At the age of 24, he arrived at Calcutta and was employed as an assistant surgeon by the East India Company and attached to the British army

JONES, a deserter from the East India Company`s service, joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army as a gunner. According to Charles Masson, the traveller, Jones participated in the final battle of Multan in 1818 and took charge of the guns, enabling the Akalis to storm the fort.