NIHAL SINGH THAKUR (1808-1895), Sikh theologian and musician, was born at Amritsar on 7 Phagun 1864 Bk/17 February 1808 to Bhai Mahal Singh and Mata Basi. Bhai Mahal Singh lived in the village of Sayyid ki Sarai in Gujjarkhan tahsil of Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan, and had come to

ARJAN SINGH, BHAYEE (1875-1946), of Bagarian, titled chief much honoured in Sikh piety, was a descendant of Bhai Rup Chand, a devoted disciple of Guru Hargobind, who had bestowed on him the title `Bhai` (also written as Bhayee) or holy brother. Rup Chand belonged to the village of Vadda

BULA, BHAI, mentioned by Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 15, as one of the devoted Sikhs of the time of Guru Arigad. See DlPA, BHAI

DIP SINGH SHAHID. BABA (1682-1757). founder of the Shahid misi or principality as well as of the Damdami Taksal or Damdama school of Sikh learning, was born in 1682, the son of Bhai Bhagata and Mai Jiuni. a Sikh couple living in Pahuvind, a village 40 km southwest of

GUR SEVAK SABHA, a society formed at Amritsar on 29 December 1933 by some Sikh intellectuals and educationists to restate Sikh moral and religious values and have these reinstated in the public life of the Panth,` then severely riven by rivalries and personal ambitions of the leaders. Bava Harkishan Singh,

KARTAR SINGH KALASVALIA, GIANI (1882-1952), theologian, poet and historian who started a new line in modern Punjabi verse making a departure from the traditional love romance or lays of heroic poetry in Braj or Hindiixcd Punjabi, was born in 1882 in Kalasvala, a village in Pasriir iahsil of Sialkot district,

KHURSHUID KHALSA (Khurshid, lit, tlie sun rays of tlie sun) is a book in Urdu pertaining to the history of the Sikhs from the time of Guru Nanak published at Aftabi Hind Press in Lahore in 1885. The book caused a considerable amount of controversy in contemporary Sikhism. Already riven

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).

RAHIT MARYADA, traditions and rules which govern the distinctive Sikh way of life and determine Sikh belief and practice. Rahit, from the Punjabi verb rahind (to live, to remain), means mode of living while maryada is a Sanskrit word composed of marya (limit, boundary, mark) and add (to give

SHAHZADA, son of Bhai Mardana, Guru Nanak`s favourite minstrel and companion. Like his father, Shahzada was a devotee of the Guru and an accomplished musician. After the death of Mardana, he remained in attendance upon Guru Nanak at Kartarpur and continued to perform kirtan or hymn singing to the

SUKKHA SINGH (d. 1752), eighteenth century Sikh warrior and martyr, was born at Mari Kamboke, in Amritsar district, in a family of carpenters of the Kaisi clan. As a small boy, he had heard with great fascination stories of Sikhs` daring and sacrifice in those days of fierce persecution and

TEJA SINGH, PROFESSOR (1894-1958), teacher, scholar and translator of the Sikh sacred texts, was born Tej Ram on 2 June 1894 at the village of Adiala in Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan. His father`s name was Bhalakar Singh. At the age of three, Tej Ram was sent to the village