SUCHET SINGH, RAJA (1801-1844.), the youngest of the Dogra trinity who rose to high positions at the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born on 18 January 1801, the son of MIari Kishora Singh. He started his career a^ a young age, appointed to the duty of laying public petitions

VADBHAG SINGH, SODHl (1716-61), a lineal descendant of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) through the latter`s son, Baba Gurditta, and grandson, Dhir Mall, was born the son of Sodhi Ram Singh on 13 August 1716 at Kartarpur, in present day Jalandhar district of the Punjab. Vadbhag Singh became chief of Kartarpur

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

FUKINAUL, THOMAS, a Frenchman, who during 1822-23 was in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service, employed in the gunpowder factory.

GULZAR SINGH, BHAI (d. 1737), a devoted Sikli, received the vows of the Khalsa at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh. He was among the five Sikhs sent along with Bhai Mani Singh to Amritsar in 1700 to manage the shrines there. In the days of severe persecution by

HIRA SINGH DOGRA (1816-1844), prime minister of the Sikh kingdom of Lahore from 17 September 1843 to 21 December 1844, was born the eldest son of Raja Dhian Singh in 1816 at Ramgarh, about 25 km from Jammu. Dhian Singh, an influential courtier, introduced his son to his patron