ISHAR KAUR, RANI (d. 1840), daughter of Lal Singh Sandhu of the village of Sirarivali, in Sialkot district of the Punjab, was married to Prince Kharak Singh, eldest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in 1815, by the rite of chddar anddzi, i.e. throwing across the conjugal sheet. She immolated

KOHINUR ("Mountain of Light"), the peerless diamond which today lakes the pride of place among the British crown jewels, once belonged to Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Sikh sovereign of the Punjab. Duleep Singh was made to surrender it to the British after the annexation of

MINTO, SIR GILBERT ELLIOT (1751-1814), Governor General of India (18071 S) son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, third baronet of Minto, was born of 23 April 1751. He was called to the bar at the Lincoln`s Inn in 1774 and in 1806 served as president of the Board of Control. Lord

ORIGIN OF THE SIKH POWER IN THE PUNJAB AND POIJTICAL LIFE OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH, with an Account of the Religion, Laws and Customs of the Sikhs, was compiled by Henry Thoby Prinsep (1793-1878), a civil servant of the British East India Company, who later rose to be a

RAJAS OF THE PUNJAB, by Sir Lepel H. Griffin, first published in 1870 and reprinted in 1970 by the Languages Department, Punjab, Patiala, contains accounts of the principal Sikh princely states in the Punjab and of their political relations with the paramount power. The author admits that the title

THAKAR SINGH ATARTVALA (d. 1842) was the eldest son of Sham Singh Atarivala, the celebrated general of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. During the expeditions against Bannu and Peshawar in the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, he served as a commandant of artillery. He died in 1842 during the lifetime of

AMIR SINGH SANDHANVALIA (d. 1827), a collateral of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born the son of Didar Singh Sandhanvalia. In 1784, he, upon the death of his father, succeeded to the family estates which he considerably enlarged. As Mahan Singh and Ranjit Singh rose to power, he seized several

BHAG SINGH, RAJA (1760-1819), born on 23 September 1760, succeeded his father, Gajpat Singh, to the gaddi of Jind state in 1789. He was a man of extraordinary vigour, intelligence and diplomatic astuteness. Like his father, he was also a close ally of Patiala and joined hands with Bibi

CHET SINGH, military commander, engineer and a kardar, i.e. a revenue officer, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1831 he became engineer in charge for constructing a bridge over the River Sutlej for the Ropar meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Governor General William Bentinck. He constructed another bridge at

FANE, SIR HENRY (1778-1840), commander-in-chief of the British Indian army, who visited the Punjab in 1837 on the occasion of the marriage of Kanvar Nau Nihal Singh, Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s grandson. Sir Henry Fane`s visit to Ranjit Singh was an event of considerable interest. He was highly impressed by the

GURUMUKHI DIN PATRI, lit. a calendar or daily diary (patn) in Gurmukhi characters, is a manuscript reporting some of the events of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s reign from AD 1805 onwards. The author is one Ram Singh, perhaps a resident of Amritsar, for he narrates events occurring at Amritsar in greater

JAI SINGH MAN (d. 1812), son of Sarja Singh (d. 1763) of Mughal Chakk settled in the village of Man, near Gujrariwala. His family was related to the Sukkarchakkia family by matrimony as Ranjit Singh`s father, Mahari Singh, was married to his daughter. Jai Singh was a constant companion