SAMMAN BURJ, also called Musamman Burj, an octagonal tower commanding a wide range of buildings within the Lahore Fort, was built by Emperor Akbar, who made the city his capital for some time. Within the Fort was situated the royal palace which was enlarged by Jahangir and,

ANARKALI, the oldest Mughal tomb in Lahore, was built between 1605 and 1615 by Emperor Jahangir for his former favourite dancing girl Anarkali. The tomb was surrounded by extensive gardens enclosed within a high protective wall, and several buildings and palaces were erected in the gardens by Mughal princes and

KHUSHAL CHAND, RAJA, or Khushal Rai (d. 1752), an official under the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah (1719-48) and a writer and poet of some merit, described himself as a NanakpanthI, i.e. a follower of Guru Nanak, his father Jivan Ram, and grandfather, Anand Ram Kayastha, had also served in the

SUNDARI, by Bhai Vir Singh, first published in 1898, is commonly acknowledged to be the first novel written in the Punjabi language. The story, set in the eighteenth century, depicts the trials and heroism of an imaginary character, Sundar Kaur (Sundari for short) who, born in a Punjabi Khatri Hindu

AURANGZIB, MUHI UDDIN MUHAMMAD ALAMGIR (1618-1707), the last of the great Mughal emperors of India, ascended the throne of Delhi on 21 July 1658 after he had gained a decisive victory in the war of succession at Samugarh, near Agra, on 29 May 1658. Aurangzib`s appointment in 1636 as

UDDA, BHAI, a Jatt of Harike in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab, received initiation at the hands of Guru Arjan. He was accompanied by Bhai Gangu and Bhai Nau, Bhai Rama and Bhai Dharma, who were also initialed along with him. The Guru, according to Bhai Santokh

BAGHAR SINGH, BHAI, killed in 1740, was the youngest son of Bhai Alam Singh Nachna, of Duburji village in Sialkot district, a warrior in Guru Gobind Singh\'s retinue at Anandpur. His elder brothers, Mohar Singh and Amolak Singh, too, were soldiers and are believed to have died fighting along

LAKHPAT RAI (d. 1748), diwan or revenue minister at Lahore under two successive Mughal viceroys, Zakariya Khan (1726-45) and Yahiya Khan (1745-47). He came of a Hindu Khatri family of Kalanaur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. In 1736 when Zakariya Khan organized a mobile column of 10,000 to scour

Var Patshahl Dasvin Ki, ballad in Punjabi by an unknown poet who describes, Guru Gobind Singh\'s battle against the combinded forces of hill rajas and the Mughal faujdar Rustam Khan. The poet has not mentioned where and when the action took place the names of the Mughal commander Rustam Khan

BAGHEL SINGH (d. 1802), who succeeded in 1765 Karora Singh as leader of the Karor singhia misi or chief ship, is celebrated in Sikh history as the vanquisher of Mughal Delhi. A Dhalival Jatt, Baghel Singh arose from the village of Jhabal, in Amritsar district, to become a formidable

MAIMUN KHAN, commander of a troop of 100 Afghan soldiers in the service of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), fought valiantly against Said Khan who in 1703 attacked Anandpur with a strong Mughal force.