BHAGVANT SINGH BANGESARI was. according to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, the naik or leader of a large tanda or trade caravan. In September-October 1708, he with his merchandise was passing through Nanded where he halted to pay homage to Guru Gobind Singh. As the Guru deputed Banda

CHAND KAUR, MAHARANI (1802-1842), wife of Maharaja Kharak Singh, the eldest son of and successor to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born the daughter of SardarJaimal Singh of the Kanhaiya mis in 1802 at Fatehgarh, in present day Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. She was married to Prince Kharak Singh

DARA SHUKOH, PRINCE (1615-1659), the eldest son of Prince Khurram (later Emperor ShahJahan), was born on 30 March 1615 at Ajmer. Following the failure of his father`s rebellion against his grandfather, Emperor Jaharigir, Dara and his brother, Aurarigzib, were sent to the Emperor as hostages. They arrived at Lahore in

DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA, (1849-98), Sikh aristocrat and philanthropist, was the son of Lahina Singh Majithia and grandson of Desa Singh Majithia, both of whom had served Maharaja Ranjit Singh with distinction in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was born in 1849 at Banaras. His extensive education

GANDA SINGH (d. 1845), of Butala, in Gujranwala district of undivided Punjab, was a soldier in the Sikh army. Early in his career, he was assigned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to Prince Sher Singh`s troops. Ganda Singh`s father, Dharam Singh, had also served in the army and taken part

GURDIAL SINGH DHILLON (1915-1992), parliamentarian, diplomat and statesman, was a scion of the Bhangi Sardars who had ruled over the central Punjab during the latter half of the eighteenth century. Born at Sarhali, in Jalandhar district of the Punjab, at his ndnke, mother`s village, on 6 August 1915, the

HIRA SINGH (c. 1706-1767), founder of the Nakai mislor chief ship, was a Sandhu Jatt of the village of Bahirval, near Chuniari, in Lahore district, now in Pakistan. He was born the son of Chaudhari Hem Raj, headman of the village. In 1731, he received the initiatory rites of

JAIMAL SINGH RANDHAVA (1803-1870), son of Prcm Singh of the village of Khunda in Gurdaspur district, served the Lahore Darbar and thereafter the British. Jaimal Singh entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1836. He received a command in the RamgarhTa brigade from Lahina Singh Majithia in place

JODHA RAM (d. 1845), a Brahman of Jammu hills, was the father in law of Pandit Jalla, adviser and confidant of Raja Hira Singh Dogra, who became in 1843 the prime minister of the Sikh kingdom of Lahore. It was Jodha Ram who captured Jawahar Singh, brother of Maharani

KALU NATH, son of Jaimal, also called Data, a Dhalival Jatt of the Malva region, became a Vaisnav sddhu while still very young and, according to his biographer, Balmukand Das, roamed the countryside accompanied by his mother, Mohini, and young brother, Chikha. Later, he settled down under a jand

KISHAN SINGH GARGAJJ (1886-1926), founder of the Babar Akali movement, was the only son of Fatch Singh of Baring, a village in Jalandhar district in the Punjab. He joined the army as a sepoy in 1906 and rose to be a havildar major in 35th Sikh Battalion. While in the

MAJHA, from manjhla, i.e. middle, is the traditional name given to the central region of the Punjab covering the upper part of the Bari Doab lying between the rivers Beas and Ravi (whence the name Bari) and comprising the present Gurdaspur and Amritsar districts of India and Lahore district of