PHULA SINGH AKALI (1761-1823), Sikh hero and an eminent religious figure of the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born in 1761 at the village of Shihari, now in ruins, about 5 km west of Miinak, in present day Sarigrur district of the Punjab. His father, Ishar Singh, an

PUNJABI SUBA MOVEMENT, a long drawn political agitation launched by the Sikhs demanding the creation of Punjabi Suba or Punjabi speaking state in the Punjab. At Independence it was commonly recognized that the Indian states then comprising the country did not have any rational or scientific basis. They were more

RAM DAS, GURU (1534-1581), is the fourth Guru or spiritual mentor of the Sikhs in the line of Guru Nanak, Guru Arigad and Guru Arnar Das. "Ram Das" translates as servant or slave of God (ram = God + dds slave). Blessed by Guru Amar Das with the light of

RENUNCIATION means the giving up of the style of living dominated by worldly ambition and craving and discarding the love of possessions for the sake of achieving the ultimate goal of religious life. The theistic traditions hold that when one is united with God, all else loses its significance. In

SAHARU, BHAI, a native of the village of Dalla, in present day Kapurthala district of the Punjab, was a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He received the rites of initiation at the hands of die Guru at the time of the latter`s visit to Dalla.

SANHSIS, also called Sansis, Sainsis and Bhatus, are a nomadic people counted among one of the Scheduled Tribes in the Constitution of India which entitles them to certain special rights and privileges. They claim descent from one of the Aryan tribes entering India centuries ago. Some of the immigrants

SEVA, from Sanskrit root sev (to serve, wait or attend upon, honour, or worship), is usually translated as `service` or `serving` which commonly relates to work paid for, but does not convey the sense in which the term is used in the Sikh tradition. The word seva has, in

SHIVNABH, RAJA, was, according to the Janam Sakhi tradition, a Ceylonese king who became a devotee of Guru Nanak. It was a merchant of Lahore, Bhai Mansukh, who during a visit to Ceylon, then known as Sinhaldvip, had impressed the king with his conduct as well as with the

SIKHS AND AFGHANS, THE, by Munshi Shahamat `All, the Journal of an expedition to Kabul through the Punjab and die Khaibar Pass in 1838-39 kept by the author, who accompanied Colonel Wade and Shahzada Taimur, Shah Shuja`s eldest son, with an auxiliary force under a treaty made in 1838 between

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

SUKKHU, sadhu of the Divana (lit. madmen) sect, was incited by his mentor, Ghudda, to attack Guru Gobind Singh to avenge the death of one of his followers at the hands of a Sikh. The deceased had been mortally wounded while attempting to force his entry into Guru Gobind

TAKHT, Persian word meaning a throne or royal seat, has, besides its common literal use, other connotations in the Sikh tradition. In Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh Scripture, phrases such as sachcha takht (true throne) and pura takht (perfect throne) have been used to signify God`s seat of divine justice.