sikh

ANAND, BABA, was the second son of Baba Mohri and a grandson of Guru Amar Das. He received his name from the Guru himself who also uttered a long hymn in Ramkali measure calling it Anandu. The hymn has since formed an important part of Sikh liturgy. Baba Anand lived up to the time of the Sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind (1595-1644), who held him in high esteem. He once sent messengers, with a palanquin, to escort Baba Anand to Kiratpur. The Guru himself came out to receive him as he arrived.

ARJAN SINGH (d. 1859), a military commander in Sikh times, was born the son of Jamiat Singh of Rarighar Nangal, in Gurdaspur district. In 1845, on the eve of the first AngloSikh war, he was given the command of four infantry regiments, one regiment of cavalry, and a troop of horse artillery, with which force he served at the battle of Sabhraon. In 1846, he took part in the Kashmir expedition and in August 1847 received a Persian title of honour on the recommendation of Major Henry Lawrence, the British Resident at Lahore.

AZIM KHAN, MUHAMMAD (d. 1823), was one of the sons of Painda Khan and a brother of Fateh Khan, who appointed him governor of Kashmir in April 1813. In 1814, Maharaja Ranjit Singh made an unsuccessful attempt to conquer Kashmir. On the death of Fateh Khan in 1818, Azim Khan hurried from Kashmir to Kabul, and inflicted a crushing defeat on Prince Kamran, the assassin of Fateh Khan. He placed Ayub Khan, a son of Taimur Shah, on the throne and himself became prime minister.

BAIRARL See SIKH DEVOTIONAL MUSIC

BARELAVI, SAYYID AHMAD (1786-1831), leader of the militant Wahabi movement in India for the purification and rehabilitation of Islam, was born at Rae Bareli, in present day Uttar Pradesh, on 29 November 1786, in a Sayyid family. At school, he took more interest in sports than in studies. He attained proficiency in wrestling, swimming and archery and developed a robust physique. During 180304, when 18 years of age, he set out for Lucknow with seven companions in search of employment. For seven months, he lived on the hospitality of a local aristocrat who knew the family, but got no employment. 

BHAGVAN SINGH LAUNGOVALIA (d. 1944), patriot, Akali activist and one of the founders of the Praja Mandal, a platform meant to provide voice to the people of Indian states ruled by Indian princes during British times to ventilate their grievances and protest against the oppression, misrule and extravagances of the autocrats who presided over their destinies, was born in Burma where his father Rur Singh was a soldier in the army. The only child of his parents, he was named Indar Singh. The family originally belonged to the village of Laurigoval in the present Sarigrur district of the Punjab.

BIBHAUR, village close to Naya Nangal in Ropar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Gobind Singh who resided here for some time in 1700-01 at the invitation of the Rao (chief) of Bibhaur. The commemorative Sikh shrine here is called Gurdwara Bibhaur Sahib. The present complex was raised during the 1960`s under the supervision of Sant Seva Singh of Anandpur. The divan hall, with the sanctum marked off by four huge pillars at the far end, stands on a marble topped terrace.

BUDDH SINGH SANDHANVALIA (d. 1827), soldier wdjagirdar in the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was son of Amir Singh Sandhanvalia, his two brothers being the more famous Lahina Singh Sandhanvalia and Atar Singh Sandhanvalia. Buddh Singh entered the Maharaja`s service in 1811. The first independent command he held was at Bahawalpur where he had been sent to collect tax arrears. In 1821, he captured the forts of Maujgarh and Jamgarh and received jagirs in reward from the Maharaja. Later, he was sent to the Jammu hills in command of two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry.

BHISTA (BAHISHTA) He holds fasts, offers prayers and recites Kalimah, in this way Bhista (Bahishta) or heaven cannot be achieved..... Having comprehended himself, if one tries to know? others, then he can become a resident of Bhista..... (Asa Kabir, p. 480) You are impure and are not conscious about the Pure Lord, you have not known His secret. Kabir says you have thus missed Bhista and your mind is in consonance with Dojaka (Dozakha—hell). (Prabhati Kabir, p. 1350) Bhista or Bahishta is the heaven Qannat) of Muslims as described in the Koran.

COMMUNAL AWARD was an official statement of British government policy in respect of the composition of provincial legislatures as a further step in the transfer of responsibility to the Indian people. The Secretary of State for India presented the terms of the Award to Parliament as command paper 4147, and they were published on 16 August 1932 under the title Communal Decision. The terms of the Award defined the methods of selection and the relative strength of representation of various "communities" in the legislatures as they were expected to be formed under provisions of a new constitution for a federation of Princely Indian states and British Indian provinces, which was being devised at the time and which was given final shape later in the Government of India Act of 1935.In effect, the Award was a political settlement worked out for the people of British India by officials in London.