PREM SINGH HOTI, BABA (1882-1954), historian and biographer, was born on 2 November 1882 at Hoti, near Mardan, in North-West Frontier Province, now part of Pakistan. His father Ganda Singh, a man of means, traced his ancestry back to Bhalla family of Goindval, in Amritsar district, to which noted Sikh

RANJIT SINGH (1780-1839), Maharaja of the Punjab, popularly called Sheri Punjab, i.e. the Lion of the Punjab, was the most colourful, the most powerful and yet the most endearing figure in the history of the Sikhs. He ruled over a domain extending from the Khaibar Pass in the west

SOLDIER AND TRAVELLER: MEMOIRS OF ALEXANDER GARDNER, edited by Major Hugh Pearse, with an introduction by Sir Richard Temple, was first published in 1898 by William Black wood and Sons of Edinburgh and London, and was reprinted by the Languages Department, Punjab, in 1970. Alexander Gardner (1785-1877), a European

VASTI RAM, BHAI (1708-1802), was son of Bhai Bulaka Singh, who is said to have accompanied Guru Gobind Singh to the South in 1707 from where he returned with his blessings to settle in Lahore. Vasti Ram lived through the long period of persecution the Sikhs endured and their

AHMAD YAR KHAN TIWANA (d. 1829), second son of Khan Muhammad Khan, the Tiwana chief of Mittha Tiwana, in Shahpur district, measured swords with Sikhs more than once during Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s time. Ahmad Yar Khan revolted against his father and, having succeeded in attracting most of the tribe to

AUCKLAND, GEORGE EDEN, EARL OF (1784-1849), Governor General of India, son of William Eden, First Baron of Auckland, was born at Eden Farm, near Beckenham, in Kent, in August 1784. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and was called to the bar at Lincoln`s Inn in 1809. From 1810-13,

BROUGHTON PAPERS are official and private papers of Sir John Cam Hobhouse (Lord Broughton) in numerous bound volumes in the British Library. Lord Broughton, British administrator, who served as President of the Board of Control of the East India Company from 1835-41 and again from 1846-52, was responsible for

DHIAN SINGH, RAJA (1796-1843), the second son of Miari Kishora Singh Dogra and the middle one of the three brothers from Jammu serving Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born on 22 August 1796. He was presented before Ranjit Singh at Rohtas in 1812 by his elder brother, Gulab Singh, and

GHAUS KHAN (d. 1814) was an artillery officer under Mahari Singh Sukkarchakkia, and after his death, under his son, Ranjit Singh. He knew something about casting guns, was skilful in his profession, and was rewarded with jdgirs at Van and Bharoval in Amritsar district, with a large house in Lahore

HOLKAR, JASVANT RAO (d. 1811), Maratha chief of Indore, who, defeated at Dig and Fatehgarh in 1804 by the British, moved northwards to obtain succour from the cissutlej Sikh rulers and from Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Accompanied by his Ruhila ally, Amir Khan, he arrived in 1805 at Patiala, where he

JODH SINGH (1798-1864), son of Deva Singh whose ancestral village was Rariala in Gujrariwala district. Jodh Singh, who came into the jdgir of Rariala, rose to prominence in the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. From 1813 to 1825 he served with the Ghorcharas (special cavalry) of SardarJodh Singh Sowariarivala.

MAHAN SINGH (d. 1790), son of Charhat Singh of Sukkarchakkia misl, was young in years when his father died. During his minority, his mother, Mai Desan, carried on the administration, with the help of her brothers. As soon as he came of age, Mahan Singh embarked upon a career