NAINA SINGH, AKALI, eighteenth century Nihang warrior esteemed as much for his piety as for his valour. His special title to fame rests on the fact that he was the guardian of the celebrated Akali Phula Singh (1761-1823) whom he trained in the martial arts. Little is known about his

BHAG SINGH CHANDRA UDAYA, an undated manuscript preserved in the Punjab State Archives, Patiala, under accession No. M/773, deals with the life and achievements of Sardar Bhag Singh Ahluvalia (1745-1801), who succeeded Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluvalia as ruler of Kapurthala state in 1783. Its author, Ram Sukh Rao, was tutor

GURBILASBABA SAHIB SINGH BEDI, by Bhai Sobha Ram belonging to the Sevapanthi order, is a versified account of the life of Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak. The voluminous work, four manuscript copies of which one each at the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjabi University, Patiala;

KRISHNA The One Krishna is the Chief among gods, the soul of their godliness. If one comprehends the secret, this soul is God Himself... (Var Asa, M. 2, p. 469) (The false Gurus) Sing of Gopis and Krishna, Sita and Rama, but not the Fearless and True Transcendental Lord

PARCHI (plural parchtdn), Punjabized form of the Sanskrit noun parichaya which means introduction, evidence or an anecdote bearing witness to the miraculous powers of a prophet or seer. The term was applied to the form of Punjabi writing developed in the seventeenth century to present the life stories of the

SIKH YUDDHER ITIHAS O MAHARAJA DULEEP SINGH, by Barodakanta Mitra, is a brief narrative in Bengali of the fall of the Sikh kingdom and of the career of the deposed sovereign Duleep Singh. Published in Calcutta in AD 1893, the monograph made use of the official records and other primary

ZINDAGI NAMAH, a book of pious poetry in Persian by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, an honoured Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh, whose name continues to be remembered with affection and esteem. A distinction which uniquely belongs to him is that his verse can be sung along with Scriptural hymns at

BHAKTI AND SIKHISM. The word bhakti is derived from Skt. bhaj, meaning to serve, honour, revere, love and adore. In the religious idiom, it is attachment or fervent devotion to God and is defined as "that particular affection which is generated by the knowledge of the attributes of the

GURBILAS PATSHAHIDASVIN, a poeticized account of the life of Guru Gobind Singh by Bhai Sukkha Singh. The poet, a convert to Sikhism from the barber caste, was born at Anandpur in 1768 and completed the work in 1797 when he was barely twenty-nine. The poetry is more Braj than Punjabi,

LAL KAUL, PANDIT (d. 1849), a Kashmiri Brahman, served the Amir of Afghanistan before entering Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service. He look part in the Sikh expedition to Kashmir in 1819 under Misl Divan Chand. After this he was for three years employed as governor of Multan, and was subsequently appointed

PARCHI BHAI SEVA RAM is a biographical sketch, in Punjabi verse, of Bhai Seva Ram who led the Sevapanthi sect after the death of its founder Bhai Kanhaiya, a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). Written by Bhai Sahaj Ram, himself a renowned Sevapanthi saint, the book was edited by

SINGH SAGAR, by Vir Singh Bal, is a versified account of the life of Guru Gobind Singh. The author, not many details of whose career are known, was born to Bhai Bakht Singh towards the end of eighteenth century. He was a poet at the court of Maharaja Karam Singh