GOBINDJAS, RAI (d. 1846) served, like his father Rai Anand Singh, as a vakilor agent of the Sikh kingdom, first at Ludhiana and then at Delhi. His despatches from Ludhiana contain reports concerning various political matters such as the Indus navigation scheme, the Ropar meeting, Alexander Burncs` mission to

HARI SINGH NALVA (1791-1837), celebrated general of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was horn in April 1791, at Gujranwala, now in Pakistan, to Gurdial Singh, an Uppal Sikh and a derdddrm the Sukkarchakkia misl. The family originally came from Majitha, near Amritsar. His grandfather, Hardas Singh, had been killed fighting against

ISHAR KAUR, RANI (d. 1840), daughter of Lal Singh Sandhu of the village of Sirarivali, in Sialkot district of the Punjab, was married to Prince Kharak Singh, eldest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in 1815, by the rite of chddar anddzi, i.e. throwing across the conjugal sheet. She immolated

JAWAHAR SINGH (d. 1838), son of Bishan Singh and great grandson of Sodhi Abhai Ram, served in the Sikh army under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The family traced its descent from Baba Kaul, founder of the village of Dhilvari, now in Faridkot district. Abhai Ram, who enjoyed the esteem of

KEHAR SINGH SANDHANVALIA (d. 1864), son of Afar Singh Sandharivalia, a collateral of Maharaja Ranjil Singh, was imprisoned, along with his uncle Lahina Singh Sandharivalia, by Maharaja Shcr Singh in January 1842 for conspiring against the Slate. As long as lie remained in Lahore, he endeavoured, at the instigation

MEGH RAJ (d. 1864), the third son of Misr Divan Chand, starting as a clerk in Gobindgarh Fort at Amritsar under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, became head of the treasury at Amritsar in 1816. He held this position until the Maharaja`s death in 1839 soon after which Prince Nau Nihal Singh

NANU MALL (d. 1791), minister and army general in Patiala state, was born at Sunam, in Sarigrur district. He came of a mercantile Aggarval family and became known as a highly capable administrator and a brave general. He acquired proficiency in classical languages Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian, and served in

PANJAB SINGH, son of Sham Singh, a banker in the village of Gharjakh, near Gujrariwala, enlisted in the force of Fateh Singh Kaliarivala as a trooper. After the death of his patron, Fateh Singh, in 1807, in the battle of Naraingarh, he went over to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who

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

RAM DEVI, RANI, daughter of Kaur Singh of the village of Chhachhrivala, in Gujrariwala district, was married to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. She predeceased the Maharaja.

SANKARNATH, PANDIT (1789-1858), astrologer and diplomat, belonging to the village of Karivallur, in north Kerala, was a celebrated scholar of ancient lore. His reputation especially as an astrologer spread far beyond the confines of his native Kerala and he was in 1816 invited by Raja Sansar Chand of Kangra

SUKH RAJ (d. 1842) was the youngest of the five sons of Misr Divan Chand, a general in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army. Sukh Raj himself joined an infantry regiment and soon rose to be its commandant. He commanded a number of infantry battalions and took part in several of