SHAHIDGANJ AGITATION (1935-40) marked culmination of the tussle between Sikh and Muslim communities in the Punjab for the possession of a sacred site in Lahore upon which stood Gurdwara Shahidgahj (shahid = martyr, gahj = hoard, treasure or mart) in memory of Sikh martyrs of the eighteenth century and which

RAM SINGH BEDI, BABA (d. 1797), a Nihang warrior, was the son of Bhai Faqir Chand, of the village of Kotia Faqir Chand, in Sialkot district, now in Pakistan. The family claimed direct descent from Guru Nanak. Ram Singh took khande di pahul or vows by the double edged sword,

RAM SINGH, a holy man maintaining a dharamsala at Zahura, near Tanda, in Hoshiarpur district, assisted Bhai Maharaj Singh, the leader of the anti British rebellion of 1848-49, not only by lodging him and his followers in his dharamsala but also introducing him to several influential

SAMMAN BURJ, also called Musamman Burj, an octagonal tower commanding a wide range of buildings within the Lahore Fort, was built by Emperor Akbar, who made the city his capital for some time. Within the Fort was situated the royal palace which was enlarged by Jahangir and,

ALLARD, JEAN FRANCOIS (1785-1839), Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, an order instituted in 1802 by Napoleon I, was born at Saint Tropez, France, on 8 March 1785. In 1803, he joined the French army and served in it fighting in the Imperial Cavalry in far flung fields in Italy,

ARJAN DEV, GURU (1563-1606), fifth in the line of ten Gurus or prophet teachers of the Sikh faith, was born on Baisakh vadi 7, 1620 Bk/15 April 1563 at Goindval, in present day Amritsar district, to Bhai Jetha who later occupied the seat of Guruship as Guru Ram Das, fourth

BAISAKHA SINGH, DlWAN (d. 1844), soldier and administrator in the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the son of Diwan Kahn Singh Chamiarivala. In 1831, he accompanied Kanvar Sher Singh and General Ventura to Peshawar to put down the tumult raised by Sayyid Ahmad Barelavi. When in 1832 Kanvar

BISHAN SINGH, a general in the Sikh army, was the adopted son of Jamadar Khushal Singh, the royal chamberlain (deorhidar). He received his education at the Ludhiana Mission School across the AngloSikh frontier. In 1848, when stationed at Pind Dadan Khan, Bishan Singh was ordered to move his troops

CHANDA SINGH (d. 1930), better known as Chanda Singh Vakil or lawyer, was born at Kaliarivali, district Sirsa, in the present Haryana state, in a Sikh farming family of moderate means. He was the eldest of the three sons of Dial Singh. An attack of smallpox in his childhood

DAL SINGH (d. 1845), son of Santokh Singh, a follower of Kanhaiya misi under Jai Singh, and of village Talvandi in Gurdaspur district, fought in most of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s campaigns. He inherited Talvandi and some neighbouring villages. Dal Singh was killed in the first AngloSikh war in 1845

DAYAKAUR, RANI (d. 1843), widow of Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat, was married, in 1811, to Maharaja Ranjit Singh by the rite of chadar andazi, a rite having sanction under customary law to facilitate marriage with a widow who is accepted into nuptials by unfurling a chadar or sheet