sikh

BABA, a Persian word meaning \'father\' or \'grandfather\', is used among Sikhs as a title of affection and reverence. In its original Persian context, Baba is a title used for superiors of the Qalandar order of the Sufis, but as transferred to India its meaning extends to cover the old as well as any faqiror sannyasi of recognized piety. This was also one of Guru Nanak\'s honorific titles during his lifetime. It assumed a hereditary character and all the physical descendants of the Gurus were generally addressed by this title. Apart from them, the title was also applied to one who combined piety with the exercise of a secular authority.

BANDAI, name given to the followers of the Sikh hero, Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716), who regarded him not only as a military leader but also as Guru next to Guru Gobind Singh in spiritual succession. They were opposed and ultimately expelled in 1721 by the mainstream of the Sikhs, the Tatt Khalsa. A small number of Bandai Sikhs still survive. They reverence the Guru Granfh Sahib as their Scripture and most of them also undergo the Khalsa initiatory rites, but Banda Singh Bahadur is for them their eleventh Guru against the common Sikh belief of the spiritual line having ended with Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Master.

BHAGAT MAL, subtitled SakhiBhai Gurdas Ji ki Var Varvfri Sikhan di Bhagatmala, is an anonymous manuscript (Kirpal Singh, A Catalogue of Punjabi and Urdu Manuscripts, attributes it to one Kirpa Ram, though in the work itself no reference to this name exists) held in the Khalsa College, Amritsar, under MS. No. 2300, bound with several other works all of which are written in the same hand. The manuscript comprises 83 folios and is undated. The opening page of the full volume, however, carries the date 1896 Bk/AD 1839 which may be the year of its transcription. Bhagat Mal is a parallel work to the more famous Bhagatmala by Bhai Mani Singh and is, like the latter, meant to be an elaboration of Bhai Gurdas`s eleventh Var, listing the more prominent of the Sikhs of Guru Nanak`s time.

BHARU, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Ram Das mentioned by Bhai Gurdas in his Varan, XI. 17. See PADARATH, BHAI

BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION, a set of triumvirs appointed by Lord Dalhousie, the British governor general to manage affairs in the Punjab after its annexation on 29 March 1849 to the dominions of the East India Company. The Board consisted of three members. Henry Lawrence, the British resident at Lahore, was named president and entrusted with matters connected with defence and relations with the sardars while his brother, John Lawrence, was put in charge of land settlement. Charles Grenville Mansel, a covenanted civilian, was entrusted with the administration of justice.

BHANA MANNANA: Bhana Mannana literally means to bow before the Will of God. Anything unpleasant should not make a Sikh despondent or angry. One should try to do one\'s best and leave the rest to God. Sikh is not a fatalist but a Sikh has an obligation not to question the Grace of the Almighty. To have faith in the Almighty and also to grudge over some unpleasant phenomenon, is contradiction in terms. Also see: Charhdi Kala.

CHAUPA SINGH (d. 1724), earlier name Chaupati Rai, was a prominent Sikh in the retinue of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75) and then of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). He was born in a Chhibbar (Brahman) family of Kariala, a village in Jehlum district, now in Pakistan. His grandfather, Gautam, had accepted the Sikh faith and was followed in this allegiance by his two sons Paira and Praga. The former was Chaupati Rai`s father; in the lineage of the latter, known for his martial skill during the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), were Dargah Malt, Dharam Chand, Gurbakhsh Singh and Kesar Singh.

DALHOUSIE, JAMES ANDREW BROUN RAMSAY, First Marquis of (1812-1860), Governor General of India (1848-56), son of George (1770-1838), the ninth Earl in the peerage of Scotland, was born at Dalhouse Castle on 22 April 1812. He was educated at Harrow and at Christ Church, Oxford. He succeeded his father to the peerage in 1838 and became member of the House of Lords. In 1845, he became president of the Board of Trade. In 1846, he declined a post in the British cabinet under Sir Robert Peel.

DHAMTAN, a large village in Jind district of Haryana, is sacred to Guru Tegh Bahadur. He visited it first in 1665 in the course of his travels through Malva and Bangar territories. Chaudhari Daggo, who was a cattle lifter and lived on plunder, came with pitchers full of milk, but the Guru declined the offering saying that he would not take what was not honestly earned. Daggo asked forgiveness for his past misdeeds and promised to abide by the Guru`s teaching. Guru Tegh Bahadur gave him funds to construct a well and a dharamsala for the travellers. 

DUDDUN RAM, a saintly person of Pandori, in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab. He gave shelter in his dera at Pandori to some Sikh women and children when the Sikhs were being hounded out in 1817 Bk / AD 1760 by the joint forces of the subahs of Sirhind, Multan and Lahore under the orders of Ahmad Shah. A Niranjania informed the Mughal scouts, who searched the dera. As no Sikhs were apprehended inside the dera, Duddun Ram and his disciples were tortured, but they gave out nothing.