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

MAHITAB SINGH, MAHANT (1811-1871), founder Sri Mahant (head) of Sri Nirmal Panchaiti Akhara, at Patiala, was born in 1811 in a Jatt Sikh family of the village of Lehal Kalan, now in Sangrur district in the Punjab. He learnt to read Punjabi in his village and gained fluency in

MIRZA BEG, a Mughal official who, in 1696. accompanied Prince Mu`azzam (later Emperor Bahadur Shah of Delhi), sent by Emperor Aurangzib to settle affairs in the Punjab. The Prince stationed himself in Lahore and sent Mirza Beg towards the Sivalik hills. Mirza Beg brought the hill rajas to submission.

NARLI, village barely one kilometre from the Indo Pakistan border in Amritsar district of the Punjab, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Manji Sahib which commemorates one of the manjis or preaching centres established by Guru Amar Das (1479-1574), The first preacher appointed here by the Guru was Bhai Mai

PARCHI BHAI SEVA RAM is a biographical sketch, in Punjabi verse, of Bhai Seva Ram who led the Sevapanthi sect after the death of its founder Bhai Kanhaiya, a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). Written by Bhai Sahaj Ram, himself a renowned Sevapanthi saint, the book was edited by

RAJAS OF THE PUNJAB, by Sir Lepel H. Griffin, first published in 1870 and reprinted in 1970 by the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala, contains accounts of the principal Sikh princely states in the Punjab and of their political relations with the paramount power. The author admits that the title

SACHCHAN SACHCH, a simple Brahman so nicknamed for his habit of responding with "sachch, sachch (true, true)" to anything said to him, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. Leaving his native village, Mandar, now in Sheikhupura district of Pakistan he came to stay at

SANHER, 8 km southeast of Zira (30° 58`N, 74° 59 ° E), in Firozpur district, is sacred to Guru Hargobind, who visited the village on his way from Amritsar to Darauli. The Gurdwara Patshahl`Chhevin was in the control of Udasi priests before it came under the administration of the

SOHAN LAL (d. 1888), son of Chhaiju, the goldsmith, of Charkhi Dadri in the princely state of JJnd, was the steward of the estates of Thakur Singh Sandhanvalia`s mother in law, Rani Kishan Kaur of Ballabgarh. Thakur Singh, who liad set up an emigre government in Pondicherry in behalf

TARAN SINGH (1922-1981), scholar and teacher of Sikh studies, was born on 18 February 1922, the son of Bhai Nidhan Singh Makan of village Kallar Kohar in Jehlum district (now in Pakistan). Having received his early education in the village school, he passed his Giani (Honours in Punjabi) examination of

VIRO, BIBI (b. 1615), daughter of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) and Mata Damodari, was born at Amritsar on 11 July 1615. She was married to Bhai Sadhu, son of Bhai Dharma, a Khosia Khatri of the village of Malla.The nuptials were performed on 24 May 1629 at Jhabal, 15 km

ALAM SINGH NACHNA (d. 1705), a warrior in the retinue of Guru Gobind Singh, was the son of Bhai Durgu, a Rajput Sikh of Sialkot. He earned the popular epithet Nachna (lit. dancer) because of his uncommon agility. Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahima Prakash, describes him as one of Guru