JAI RAM (d. 1518), brother in law of Guru Nanak, was a trusted official at the court of Nawab Daulat Khan Lodhl at Sultanpur, in presentday Kapurthala district of the Punjab. He was married to Nanaki, daughter of Kalian Chand and sister of Guru Nanak, in 1475 at Talvandi

MAHIMA PRAKASH, known as Mahima Prakash Vartak (prose) to distinguish it from another work, in verse, bearing the same title, Sarup Das Bhalla\'s Mahima Prakash, is an unpublished manuscript containing anecdotes from the lives of the Gurus. The manuscript, copies of which are now available in the Khalsa College at

Meharban, Sodhi, original name Manohardas, son of Prithichand, the elder brother of Guru Arjan Dev (the fifth Guru of the Sikhs), wrote poetry as well as prose, but his prominent work is Janam sakhi Guru Nanak Dev (Story of the nativity of Guru Nanak, the first Guru of the

PAINTIS AKKHARI, lit., a poem based on paintis or thirty-Five letters, is a composition in the form of an acrostic utilizing for successive verses the thirty-five characters of the Gurmukhi alphabet. The poem is sometimes attributed to Guru Nanak but mistakenly, for it is not included in the Guru

RAHIT MARYADA, traditions and rules which govern the distinctive Sikh way of life and determine Sikh belief and practice. Rahit, from the Punjabi verb rahind (to live, to remain), means mode of living while maryada is a Sanskrit word composed of marya (limit, boundary, mark) and add (to give

SHIV RAM (b. 1418), grandfather of Guru Nanak, was the son of Ram Narain, a Bedi Khatri. He and his wife, Banarasi, lived in a village called Patthevind, now the site of Gurdwara Dera Sahib, 10 km east of Naushahra Pannuan in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab. Two

AGRA (27°10\'N, 78°\'E), became the seat of a Sikh sangat following a visit by Guru Nanak during the first of his four long preaching journeys. Later, Guru Ram Das, in his early career as Bhai Jetha, was in Agra when he attended Akbar\'s court on behalf of Guru Amar Das,

ASA KI VAR, as recorded in the index to the Guru Granth Sahib, but commonly designated Asa di Var, lit. an ode (var) in the musical measure Asa, is a composition by Guru Nanak sung by musicians at Sikh congregations as part of the early morning service. Asa is

BATALA (31° 49`N, 75° 12`E), an old town in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Nanak, who was married here, according to local tradition, on Bhadon sudf7, 1544 Bk/24 September 1487, to Sulakkhani, daughter of Mul Chand, of the village of Pakkhoke, on the River Ravi,

BISHAN DAS. BHAL a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Ram Das, Nanak IV. His name is included in the roster of prominent Sikhs in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 17. See PURO, BHAI