ARGOUD, BENOIT, a Frenchman, who joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s infantry in November 1836 as an instructor. He was of a quarrelsome nature and readily picked rows with his colleagues and subordinates. Dismissed from service in April 1837, he proceeded to Afghanistan, but failed to get any employment there. Returning

DHANNA SINGH MALVAI (1775-1843), soldier and jagirdar under Ranjit Singh, belonged to the village of Maur in Nabha territory. Mall Singh, Dhanna Singh`s father, who was the first in the family to be initiated a Sikh, left his village about 1760 and entered the service of Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia

KAHN SINGH (d. 1876), son of Dula Singh, belonged to the village of KaIasvala, in Sialkot district. He began his career in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army under General Avkabile and was present in the Khaibar Pass actions and throughout the Yusafzai campaign. He served in the Sher Dil Paltan

PRICE, JAMES, an Englishman who deserting the British camp at Ludhiana in early 1809. came to Lahore and joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army on a salary of Rs 300 per month. He served under Diwan Muhkam Chand. The British demanded his extradition which was denied. However, he did not

ARUR SINGH, BHAI (1872-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was born in November 1872 at Thothian village in Amritsar district, the son of Bhai Nihal Singh and Mat Jio. His education was limited to reading and writing the Gurmukhi script which he learnt in the village gurdwara. He

DOTTENWEISS or DOTTERWICH, a short statured, stoutly built German who, in 1835, joined the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a military tactician. He was found unequal to the appointment and was dismissed from the service soon afterwards.

KARAM SINGH CHAHAL (d. 1823) was, like his father Kattha Singh, in the service of the Bhangi sarddrst.a.hma. Singh and Gujjar Singh before he joined Ranjit Singh`s army after he had seized Lahore in 1799 from Lahina Singh Bhangi`s son, Chet Singh. Karam Singh rapidly rose in the Maharaja`s

ROCHA SINGH, SANT (1688-1803), a holy man and preacher of Sikh faith, was born of Brahman parents living at Kausari, a small village in Hazara district (now in Pakistan). Rocha Singh was barely 14 years of age when his father, Bhai Parijaba, died leaving his wife and a younger

AVITABILE, PAOLO CRESCENZO MARTINO (1791-1850), a Neapolitan soldier of fortune who, starting life as a private gunner, succeeded in obtaining high ranks in two widely separated Asiatic armies of Persia and Punjab, was born at Agerola, Naples, Italy, on 25 October 1791. From 1807 onwards he successively served in the

DUBUIGNON, ROBERT WALTER, DE TALBOT (1809-1868), a French adventurer in the employ of Begam Samaru of Sardhana, who came to Lahore to seek better prospects. He obtained employment in the Sikh court through the good offices of General Ventura, and was assigned to General Allard as aide decamp. He

KARAM SINGH SIDDHU, son of Dial Singh, of village Othiari in Gurdaspur district, popularly known as Karam Singh Othiarivala, rendered service in several campaigns undertaken by Maharaja Ranjil Singh, including those of Peshawar and Hazara. Under the Sikh court he received rupees 1,800 annually subject to the service of

SADH, BHAI, devoted disciple of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who lived near the ancient city of Balkh in central Asia. Zulfiqar Ardastani, the author of DabistanI Mazahib, a contemporary work in Persian, records, two anecdotes which show that Bhai Sadh was a devoted Sikh who, unaffected by joys and sorrows of