SAVAN MALL, a nephew of Guru Amar Das, was pious and accomplished Sikh. As Guru Amar Das, after having been installed Guru by Guru Angad, moved from Khadur to Goindval, a number of his followers came to reside there, necessitating the construction of many new houses. To procure timber required for this purpose, the Guru sent up to the hill country Savan Mall, who had experience in the trade. Savan Mall went to Haripur, the capital of a small principality in what is now known as Himachal Pradesh. The ruler of the state was deeply impressed by his spiritual demeanour and put him up as his own guest.
ALIF KHAN, who is mentioned in Guru Gobind Singh\'s Bachitra Natak, was an officer in the Mughal army of Aurangzib. In 1691, he was despatched by Mian Khan, the viceroy of Jammu, to Kangra for collecting arrears of tribute from the hill chiefs. Raja Kirpal Chand Katoch of Kangra and Raja Dyal of Bijharval submitted to Alif Khan, but not Raja Bhim Chand of Kahlur. Bhim Chand enlisted the support of several of the chieftains against Alif Khan. He also requested Guru Gobind Singh for help.
CHATAR SINGH COLLECTION, comprising correspondence, papers, treaties, etc., particularly relating to transactions among the Dogra chiefs of Jammu (Dhian Singh, Gulab Singh and Suchet Singh) and between them and the Lahore Darbar, was put together by Thakur Chatar Singh of Dharamsala and is now preserved in the Punjab State Archives, at Patiala. These documents are mostly certified copies, very few of them being the original ones. The Handlist in the Archives (Nos. 490551) enumerates sixty-two documents in this collection, beginning from 9 March 1846 and contains correspondence of 0. St. John, the British Resident in Kashmir (No. 497) ; Col. Nisbet (No. 498) ; H.S. Barnes (No. 500) ; and Sir Frederick Currie (No. 501) all relating to Raja Gulab Singh and Kashmir.
HAQIQAT RAH MUQAM RAJE SHIVNABH KI Haqiqat Rah Muqam Raje Shivnabh Ki (account or description of way, i.e. journey to the abode of Raja Shivnabh) is an anonymous and undated short piece in Punjabi prose, found appended to some manuscript copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, particularly to copies of the Bhai Banno recension. The author of this account is supposed to be Bhai Paira, a learned Sikh who was deputed by Guru Arjan to go to Singhladip (Singhladip of the Janam Sakhis), present-day Sri Lanka, to fetch a copy of a manuscript called the Pran Sangll (Chain of the Vital Breath), an interpretation of Hatha Yoga, which was said to have been recited by Guru Nanak to the Raja of Sanghladip, Shivnabh.
LAL SINGH, RAJA (d. 1866), son of Misr Jassa Mall, a Brahman shopkeeper of Sanghoi, in Jehlum district in West Punjab, entered the service of the Sikh Darbar in 1832 as a writer in the treasury. He enjoyed the patronage of the Dogra minister Dhian Singh and, when in 1839 Misr Bell Ram had displeased the latter because of his sympathy with Chet Singh Bajva, he was promoted in his place Daroghah-i-Toshakhana, which position he held until the reinstatement of the former.
RAGHBfR SINGH, RAJA (1834-1887), son of Raja Sarup Singh, ascended the throne of Jind on 31 March 1864 after the death of his father. He was an able and enlightened ruler, indefatigable in his efforts to promote the prosperity of his people. He built the town of Sarigrur on the model of the Rajput city of Jaipur. He helped the British with men and money during the second Afghan war (1878-80) and was rewarded with the title of Rajai Rajgan in perpetuity. Raja Raghbir Singh died in 1887, and was succeeded by his grandson, Ranbir Singh, as his only son, Balbir Singh, had predeceased him.
SHER SINGH ATARIVALA (d. 1858), provincial governor under Maharaja Duleep Singh of Lahore, was the son of Chatar Singh Atarivala. He was appointed governor of Peshawar in October 1845, and recalled in August 1846 to Lahore where he was nominated a member of the Council of Regency. He was created Raja in November 1847. In April 1848, Raja Sher Singh commanded the Lahore Darbar troops sent out to Multan by the British Resident to quell the rebellion by Diwan Mul Raj.
AMAR NATH, DIWAN (1822-1867), bakhshi or paymaster of the irregular forces of the Sikh army who distinguished himself also as a historian, was born in 1822 the son of Raja Dina Nath, finance minister of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. During the prime ministership of Hira Singh, Amar Nath was assigned to the task of settling the accounts of government studs and stables. The town duties of Lahore and Amritsar were also leased out through him. Hira Singh reposed great trust in Amar Nath who became an intermediary between him and his uncle. Raja Gulab Singh, when the two had fallen out.
COUNCIL OF REGENCY. To govern the State of the Punjab during the minority of Maharaja Duleep Singh, two successive councils of regency were set up at Lahore the first functioning from 1844-46 and the second from 1846-49. After the assassination of Maharaja Sher Singh on 15 September 1843, Raja Hira Singh had won over the Khalsa army and established himself in the office of prime minister with the minor Duleep Singh as the new sovereign. But his rule was short lived, and he, along with his favourite and deputy, Pandit Jalla, was killed by the Army on 21 December 1844. MaharaniJind Kaur, who had an active hand in overthrowing Hira Singh, now cast off her veil and assumed full powers as regent in the name of her minor son, Duleep Singh.
JAIDEV (JAYADEVA), saint and poet, two of whose hymns are incorporated in the Guru Granth Sahib, is chiefly known to the literary world as the author of the Gita Govinda, a lyrical poem in which the love of Radha (soul or devotee) for Govinda (the Supreme Being) is described symbolically and mystically. Jaidcv was born at Kindu Bilva which, according to some, is now Kcnduli, in BTrbhum district of West Bengal, on the river Ajay and, according to others, KcnduliSasan, on Prachi river, near Jagannath Purl in Orissa. At the end of Ins poem, he has given his father`s name as Bhojadcva and mother`s as Radhadcvi, deciphered also as Ramadevi, or Vamadcvl.