SUNDARI, by Bhai Vir Singh, first published in 1898, is commonly acknowledged to be the first novel written in the Punjabi language. The story, set in the eighteenth century, depicts the trials and heroism of an imaginary character, Sundar Kaur (Sundari for short) who, born in a Punjabi Khatri Hindu

TEJ BHAN, BABA (d. 1533), affectionately referred to as Tejo in early chronicles, was the father of Guru Amar Das, Nanak III (1479-1574). A Khatri of the Bhalla clan, Tej Bhan was born to Baba Hariji and Mata Milavi of Basarke Gillari, a village 12 km southwest of Amritsar.

BHALLA, a subdivision of Khatri (Prakrit form kstriya) caste, one of the four castes into which the Hindu society is divided. Khatris are further divided into four subgroups. i.e. Bahri, Khukhrain, Bunjahi and Sarin; the Bhallas belong to the Sarin subgroup. According to a legend, once `Ala udDin Khiiji, the

BHULLU, BHAI, a Sekhar Khatri who turned a mendicant, once waited upon Guru Arjan to seek instruction. He was accompanied by Bhai Nau, also a mendicant like him, Bhai Jattu, a Bhiva Khatri, and Bhai Mula. The Guru said neither action nor the world be shunned. What was important

DABISTANIMAZAHIB, a seventeenth century work in Persian, is a unique study of different religious creeds and systems, including early Sikhism. It first attracted wide notice when it was translated into English by David Shea and Anthony Troyer and was published by Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland,

PRITHI MALL, BHAI. a Bhalla Khatri, resident of the village of Dalla, now in Kapurthala district of the Punjab. Once, as Guru Amar Das visited Dalla, he, accompanied by another Bhalla Khatri of the village, Bhai Tulsa, called on him and proudly announced that they too were of the