Explore the life of Frederick Mackeson, a key figure in 19th-century Anglo-Sikh relations, diplomacy, and the Indus navigation scheme.
Discover the story of Wafa Begam, her brave quest to rescue Shah Shuja, and the famed Kohinoor diamond in 19th-century India.
BHANDARI PAPERS, a large collection of sundry papers, letters and documents preserved in the Punjab State Archives, Patiala, and named after the collector, Rai Indarjit Singh Bhandari of Batala. Little is known about the life of Indarjit Singh beyond a conjecture based upon some of the letters in the collection itself that he was a descendant or a relation of one of the Sikh kingdom`s vakils or agents at Ludhiana, namely Rai Kishan Chand, Rai Ram Dial, and Rai Gobind Das. Bhandari collection is a huge miscellany of 4103 items, mostly letters in Persian exchanged between the Sikh government at Lahore or its agents and the officers of the British agency at Ludhiana.
Discover the inspiring life of Sant Magghar Singh, a Sikh divine who preached Guru's teachings and championed social reform in Punjab. Learn more!
Baba Bohar (The Old Banyan Tree) is a poetic play, a long monologue. A tree personified is in conversation with the children who are playing under it; it starts with the contemporary situation in Punjab and goes back to elaborating its glorious past from the time of the Sikh Gurus upto the period of Independence, and ends with the narration about the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh. The play is important for its relevant symbolism and ample scope for imaginative staging.
Discover Maharaj Singh's battle against British rule in Punjab: a saint turned revolutionary who inspired many during the Anglo-Sikh wars.
DEVA SINGH NAROTAM, PANDIT (d. 1924), Nirmala scholar, was the son of Mahitab Singh of the village of Janetpura, 13 km north of Jagraori (30° 47`N, 75° 28`E), in Ludhiana district of the Punjab. He received his early lessons in the Sikh texts at the hands of Bhai Gurdit Singh and then left home to continue his studies under Sant Nattha Singh of Gurdwara Tapiana Sahib at Khadur Sahib, in Amritsar district, and later under Sant Mahna Singh (d. 1890) at the Nirmala dera or monastery at Khandur, near Mullaripur, in Ludhiana district. He accompanied Sant Mahna Singh to Bhai Rupa, a village 18 km north of Rampura Phul in Bathinda district, to join the Nirmala monastery called Dera Khuharivala. Here, Deva Singh, already reputed enough as a scholar to be known as pandit (lit. learned scholar), was put by his mentor through a course of comparative study of gurbani in the light of his knowledge of Sanskrit and Vedanta.
DHARAM SINGH, a cousin of the celebrated Tara Singh Ghaiba of the Dallevalia Misi, participated in the campaigns of the Khalsa, fighting against Mughals and Afghans in the second half of the eighteenth century. He figured in the conquest of Sirhind and partition of the territory by Sikhs in January 1764 when he occupied a cluster of villages and founded amid them his own Dharamsinghvala.
Discover Dr. Murray's journey to Lahore to treat Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Explore his engaging despatches revealing court splendor and military insights.
DUBUIGNON, ROBERT WALTER, DE TALBOT (1809-1868), a French adventurer in the employ of Begam Samaru of Sardhana, who came to Lahore to seek better prospects. He obtained employment in the Sikh court through the good offices of General Ventura, and was assigned to General Allard as aide decamp. He left the service after about a year to go into business, exporting goods from Kashmir to France in exchange for French merchandise. He died at Ludhiana in 1868.
