BASAVA SINGH, a resident of the village of Sujoval in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, was a close associate of Bhai Maharaj Singh, who led a revolt against the British in 1848-49. Basava Singh was included in the delegation sent with letters to Bhai Kishan Singh, Bhai Nihal Singh and Amir Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul to seek support for a fresh uprising after the defeat of the Sikhs in the second AngloSikh war. He returned with a reply from the Amir and rejoined Bhai Maharaj Singh at Kurala Kalan, in Hoshiarpur district. He however was not present when Bhai Maharaj Singh was arrested along with his companions on 28-29 December 1849.
PREM SINGH, commandant in the Sikh forces demobilized after the first AngloSikh war, joined Bhai Maharaj singh (d. 1856) in a bid to raise the standard of revolt against the British. After Sikhs` defeat in the second AngloSikh war early in 1849, he along with Maharaj Singh escaped to Jammu from where they shifted to Suhival, near Batala, sometime in July/August 1849. Here it was planned to get Maharaja Duleep Singh released from the British who, it was rumoured, were soon going to take him out of the Punjab. Prem Singh was one of a group of 20 men chosen to carry out the plan, which however aborted. Prem Singh along with most of his companions was arrested.
BHAG SINGH, also referred to in government records as Baj Singh, was an associate of Bhai Maharaj Singh, leader of the anti British revolt in the Punjab in 1848-49. Originally a disciple of Bhai Bir Singh of Naurangabad, he survived the attack on his dera on 7 May 1844 and went on a pilgrimage to Nanded. On his return to the Punjab, he joined Bhai Maharaj Singh at Amritsar shortly before the latter went underground in June 1847 to escape arrest by the British in connection with the Prema conspiracy case. Bhag Singh escaped towards Kangra and rejoined Bhai Maharaj Singh before the beginning of the second AngloSikh war in 1848. After the battle of Chelianvala he made a trip to Peshawar, rejoining his leader at Dev Batala, in the Jammu area.
RAM SINGH NURPURIA, an associate of Bhai Maharaj Singh in his revolt against the British, was the son of Shiam Singh alias Shiama, a Pathania Rajput and Wazir or minister to Raja Bir Singh, chief of Nurpur, 25 km east of Pathankot (32° 18`N, 75° 40`E), a feudatory of the Sikh kingdom of Lahore since 1802. Nurpur had been annexed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in January 1816 on account of the failure of its chief to attend the general review of the army held at Sialkot in October of the previous year and his failure to pay the mulct imposed for his default. Bir Singh took refuge in British territory.
BISHAN SINGH, SANT (1862-1949), much honoured in recent Sikh piety, was the son of Bhai Atar Singh of Kanjhia, a village 18 km northwest of Sarigrur (30°14`N, 75°50`E) in the Punjab. Born in March 1862, Bishan Singh received instruction in reciting Scripture from Sant Jagat Singh of his own village. As he grew up he enlisted in the army, but did not serve long. Back in his village after getting his discharge, he married and had a son, whose death at the age of 13 years proved a severe blow.
SAHIB SINGH, a resident of Sangia Hill in present day Faisalabad district of Pakistan, was a veteran of the Khalsa army under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors. After the first AngloSikh war (1845-46), he joined the rebellious band of Bhai Maharaj Singh (d.1856). He commanded the contingent of 400 horsemen that Bhai Maharaj Singh took out to Multan in June 1848 in aid of Diwan Mul Raj.
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BHAI: Bhai, literally means brother. In the Sikh culture this term is used to show respect for a person. A saintly person, an intellectual, a humanitarian, a leader may be addressed as Bhai. The British adopted conferring the title of Sardar Bahadur to the persons loyal to their regime.
TEK SINGH, BHAI, a priest at the Golden Temple, Amritsar, was an associate of Bhai Maharaj Singh, leader of the anti British revolt of 1848-49. On receiving a written message from Maharaj Singh, he came to Jalandhar Doab with 30 to 35 men to join the renewed struggle. On the arrest of Bhai Maharaj Singh, he went underground and evaded arrest for a considerable time.
DHARAM SINGH, a Jatt Sikh of the village of Chitti, 15 km southwest of Jalandhar in the Punjab, was one of the associates of Bhai Maharaj Singh (d. 1856), leader of anti British revolt in the Punjab during 1848-49. Dharam Singh assisted Bhai Maharaj Singh by mobilizing help for him in the Doaba region during the latter half of 1849. He especially introduced two artillerymen of Kapurthala to Bhai Maharaj Singh, in Hoshiarpur area. He was arrested along with Maharaj Singh on the night of 28-29 December 1849, but managed to escape. However, he was rearrested at Wazirabad in Gujranwala district and was held in custody in Lahore jail.
JAVALA SINGH, son of Desa Singh of Raja Sarisi, in Amritsar district, accompanied Thakur Singh Sandharivalia to England in 1884 to call on the deposed sovereign of the Punjab, Dulccp Singh, and stayed there for nine months as the Maharaja`s guest. In February 1887,Javala Singh joined Thakur Singh in Pondicherry, a French colony near Madras, where the latter had set up an emigre government on behalf of the Maharaja. The same year, Thakur Singh died and Javala Singh was charged with bringing his ashes to his ancestral village, Raja Sarisi. In the Punjab, he remained under police surveillance for some time and was once arrested for interrogation.