UDHAM SINGH NAGOKE (1894-1966), one of the village triumvirate which grew in importance and influence with the years and left its decisive imprint on the modern period of the Majha country. It shared with two others its name. The trio were Jathedar Udham Singh Nagoke, Mohan Singh Nagoke (1896-1969)

AKALI DAL, SHIROMANI (shiromani= exalted, foremost in rank; dal = corps, of akali volunteers who had shed fear of death), the premier political party of the modern period of Sikhism seeking to protect the political rights of the Sikhs, to represent them in the public bodies and legislative councils being

ARJAN SINGH (d. 1859), a military commander in Sikh times, was born the son of Jamiat Singh of Rarighar Nangal, in Gurdaspur district. In 1845, on the eve of the first AngloSikh war, he was given the command of four infantry regiments, one regiment of cavalry, and a troop

BAJ SINGH (d. 1716), a Bal Jatt, was a native of Mirpur Patti, a village in Amritsar district of the Punjab. A devoted Sikh, Baj Singh had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh himself. He accompanied the Guru to the Deccan in 1708

BHATRAS (the term bhatra appears to be a diminutive of the Sanskrit bhatta, a bard), an endogamous and tightly knit group among the Sikhs with peddling and fortunetelling as their principal occupations. More than one story is current about their origin. However, the Bhatras themselves trace it to Baba Changa

CHATAR SINGH ATARlVALA (d. 1855), commander and provincial governor under minor Maharaja Duleep Singh, was the son of Jodh Singh Atarivala. Jodh Singh had joined the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1805 when he received large jagirs in the Pothohar country. On the death of his father in

DEVA SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR(d. 1872), son of Fateh Singh and a great grandson of Savan Singh, cousin of Sarigat Singh, the leader of the Nishanavali misi, came of a Shergil Jatt family of Mansurval, in Firozpur district. Deva Singh joined service under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1816 at a

Duggal, Kartar Singh (1917 - ) is one of the most prolific fictionist in Punjabi. He was born at Pothohar town in Dhamiyal (now in Pakistan). He is well-acqainted with the life of rural Punjab, particularly before the Partition which left ever-oozing scars on the psyche of the brave

GHULAM MURTAZA, MIRZA, served the Lahore Darbar under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors for several years. One of his ancestors, Hadi Beg, a Mughal migrant from Samarkand, had emigrated to the Punjab in 1530 during the reign of Babar and got appointment as qdzi or magistrate over seventy

GURMUKH SINGH, BABA (1888-1977), a Ghadr revolutionary, was born in 1888 to a poor peasant, Hoshnak Singh , of the village of Laltori Khurd, in Ludhiana district. Second of three brothers, he was sent to school at Ludhiana. His ambition was to join the army, but he could not

HUDIARA, 20 km southeast of Lahore along the Lahore KhaIra road, claimed a historical shrine commemorating the visit of Guru Hargobind, who had once halted here travelling from Lahore to Amritsar. This Gurdwara was managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee until 1947 when it was abandoned at the time

JALLIANVALA BAGH MASSACRE, involving the killing of hundreds of unarmed, defenceless Indians by a senior British military officer, took place on 13 April 1919 in the heart of Amritsar, the holiest city of the Sikhs, on a day sacred to them as the birth anniversary of the Khalsa. Jalliarivala Bagh,