SUKHDEV, a Kanyakubja Brahman from Uttar Pradesh, was one of the scholars and poets attached to Guru Gobind Singh. According to his own evidence, he was born at Kapilnagar and educated at Varanasi. He had been at the courts of several chieftains and officials, Hindu and Muslim, before joining

ALI SINGH (d. 1716), a native of the village of Salaudi, near Sirhind, was in the service of Wazir Khan, the Mughal faujdar of Sirhind. According to Ratan Singh Bharigu, Prachin Panth Prakash, Wazir Khan, on learning of Banda Singh\'s advance from the South towards the Punjab under the

MAI DAS, a Vaisnavite sadhu of the village of Narli, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab, embraced Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Amar Das. As a wandering sadhu, he once visited Goindval and desired to meet the Guru, but since he was unable to comply with

TARA SINGH, BHAI, the eighteenth century Sikh martyr, was a Buttar Jatt of the village Van, popularly known as Dallvan because of its proximity to another village called Dall, in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab. His father, Gurdas Singh, had received the rites of the Khalsa in the

BALLU, BHAI, a barber who embraced the Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Angad came into prominence in the time of Guru Amar Das. When Guru Amar Das, after being consecrated Guru by Guru Arigad, retired to Goindval and shut himself in a room to meditate in seclusion,

MALI SINGH (d. 1716), resident of the village of Salaudi near Sirhind, was in the service of Nawab Wazir Khan, the Mughal faujdar. Following his brother Ali Singh, he left his service and joined Banda Singh Bahadur\'s army. Mali Singh took part in several of Banda Singh\'s campaigns and

TARU SINGH, BHAI (1720-45), the martyr, was a Sandhu Jatt of Puhia village, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He was a pious Sikh who tilled his land diligently and lived frugally. Whatever he saved went to his Sikh brethren forced into exile by government persecution. Spied upon by

BANI PRAKASH or 5n Guru Banf Prakash is a dictionary of the Guru Granth Sahib compiled by Sodhi Teja Singh. According to the author, he started working on it in December 1928, and got it printed in 1932 at the Phulwari Press, Lahore. The original version of the dictionary, according

MANOHAR DAS. BHAI, a great grandson of Guru Amar Das and a distant cousin of Guru Hargobind, was a devoted Sikh, known for his piety and humility. He had been brought up by Guru Arjan himself. As he grew up, he started performing kirtan at Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib and

VADDA GHALLUGHARA, lit. major holocaust or carnage, so called to distinguish it from another similar disaster, Chhota (minor) Ghallughara that took place in 1746, is how a one day battle between the Dal Khalsa and Ahmad Shah Durrani fought on 5 February 1762 with a heavy toll of life is

BAVANJA KAVI, lit. fifty-two poets, is how the galaxy of poets and scholars who attended on Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) is popularly designated. Guru Gobind Singh, Nanak X, prophet and soldier, was an accomplished poet and also a great patron of letters. According to Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahima Prakash, he

MATT DAS, BHAI (d. 1675), the martyr, was the son of Bhai Hira Mal, also called Hiranand, a Chhibbar Brahman of Kariala, now in Pakistan. His grandfather, Bhai Paraga, had embraced the Sikh faith in the time of Guru Hargobind and had taken part in battles with the Mughal forces.