ALA SINGH, BABA (1691-1765), Sikh mis leader who became the first ruling chief of Patiala, was born in 1691 at Phul, in present day Bathinda district of the Punjab, the third son of Bhai Ram Singh. His grandfather, Baba Phul, had been as a small boy blessed by Guru

Duggal, Kartar Singh (1917 - ) is one of the most prolific fictionist in Punjabi. He was born at Pothohar town in Dhamiyal (now in Pakistan). He is well-acqainted with the life of rural Punjab, particularly before the Partition which left ever-oozing scars on the psyche of the brave

KATTU SHAH, a Muslim resident of Kashmir who converted a Sikh, was known for his piety and devotion. Journeying through Kashmir once, Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) put up with him in his house for a night. Later, as says Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahimd Prakdsh, a group of Sikhs, on their

NAND CHAND, of the village of Darauli Bhai, who had been a playmate of Guru Gobind Singh, served as a masand or officiant and later as the Guru`s diwdn, looking after his accounts and stores. His grandfather, Umar Shah, was a masand during the time of Guru Arjan. Nand

SAUNDHA SINGH, famous as Kavi (kavi= poet) Saundha, was born around 1750 at the village of Kale, in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He studied Hindi, Rekhta and Persian, as also music, under Gur Sahai Kundra of Thatti Nagar, near Chunian, in Lahore district. He launched upon his literary

TARIKHIMUZAFFARl, by Muhammad `All Khan Ansari, is the title of a Persian manuscript of much historical value copies of which are preserved in several libraries in India and abroad. The author belonged to a prominent family of Arab extraction, long resident at Panipat, in present day Haryana state. His

ZAFARNAMAH MU\'IN UL-MULK, an unpublished manuscript, is a book written in 1748-49 by Ghulam Muhaiy ud-Din Khan. It gives an account of Ahmad Shah Durrani\'s first two invasions of India. Copies of the manuscript are available at the University of the Pahjab, Lahore, Khalsa College, Amritsar, and in the

AMAR SINGH, RAJA (1748-1782). of Patiala, was born on 6 June 1748, the son of Sardul Singh and Rani Hukman. In 1765, he succeeded his grandfather, Ala Singh, who had no son living at the time of his death. His succession to the throne of Patiala was challenged by

FATEH KHAN (d. 1818), son of Painda Khan, the Barakzai chief, who overthrew Shah Zaman, the king of Afghanistan (1793-1800), and placed his half-brother Shah Mahmud on the throne of Afghanistan, himself becoming prime minister. Shah Mahmud was dethroned in 1803 and was succeeded by Shah Shuja`. Fateh Khan expelled

KAURA MALL, DIWAN, MAHARAJA BAHADUR (d. 1752), a Sahajdhari Sikh and trusted officer under the Mughals in the eighteenth century Punjab, was the son of Valid Ram, an Arora of the Chuggh clan, originally from a village near Shorkot in Jhang district, now in Pakistan. Little is known about the

NIZAM UDDIN (d. 1802), the Pathan chief of Kasur and a tributary of the Bharigi sarddrs, overthrew his allegiance to the Sikhs and submitted to Shah Zaman, the king of Afghanistan, when the latter invaded India in January 1797. Nizam udDin took possession of the forts evacuated by the Sikhs.

SHAH DAULA (158 IP1676), a renowned Muslim divine of his time, was the son of `Abd urRahim Khan Lodhi, a descendant of Sultan Ibrahim Lodhi and Niamat Khatun, a scion of the chiefs of Gakkhar tribe of western Punjab, though the Gu^jars of Gujrat, now in Pakistan, claim him