sikh

SIHAN, BHAI, a washerman, was a devoted Sikh of Guru Nanak`s. He along with Bhai Hassu accompanied the Guru during his journey to Kashmir. They reduced to writing hymns uttered by the Guru during this udasl. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Vir Singh, Bhai, ed., Puratanjanam Sakhi. 2. Kirpal Singh, Janam Sakhi Parampara. Patiala, 1962 3. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion : Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors: Oxford, 1909 Gn.S. SIHAN, BHAI, an Uppal Khatri, and his cousin, Gajjan, both figure in Bhai Gurdas` roster (Varan, XI. 14) of the Sikhs of Guru Nanak.

SIKHS` RELATIONS WITH JATS OF BHARATPUR. Hindu Jats, who have ethnic affinity with the Sikh Jatts of the Punjab, had emerged, like the Sikhs, as a new political power in the region south of Delhi. Their first revolt in 1669 under their leader Gokul was ruthlessly suppressed by the Mughal audiority, but they soon found another leader in Raja Ram who continued the struggle till his death in July 1688. Churaman (d. 1721), his younger brother and successor to leadership, was an astute politician. He professed allegiance to Emperor Bahadur ShahI (1707-12) and received from him mansab of 1500 zat and 500 sowar. He joined the imperial campaign against the Sikhs at Sadhaura and Lohgarh in 1710

SRI GUR TIRATH SANGRAHI (Sri = honoured; gur= Gurus of the Sikh faith ; tirath = places of pilgrimage ; sangrahi = collection) by Pandit Tara Singh Narotam, lists places across the country hallowed by the visits of the Gurus and their families. The work, written in Gurmukhi script was completed in 1940 Bk/AD 1883 and published by Bhai Buta Singh Pratap Singh, Amritsar. It is a pioneer work in this genre and gives the geographical location of each shrine, its religious and historical importance and the name of the sect to which its principal priest or custodian at that time belonged.

SUNDAR SINGH LYALLPURI, MASTER (1885-1969), teacher, journalist and politician, was born on 4 April 1885, the son of Lakhmir Singh Kamboj and Ram Kaur, of the village of Bahorii, 12 km south of Amritsar. The family later moved to the canal colony in Sheikhupura district where they founded a new village, Chakk No. 18 Bahoru. Having completed his early education in Bahoru and in Shahkot, district Sheikhupura, Sundar Singh took his B.A. (Honours) degree at Khalsa College, Amritsar, and his B.T. at Government Training College, Lahore.

TANKHAHNAMA, by Bhai Nand Lal, is a Sikh penal code laying down punishments and fines for those guilty of religious misconduct. Tankhah, a Persian word, actually means salary, reward or profit, and nama, also Persian denoting an epistle, a code or a catalogue. In Sikh usage, however, tankhah stands for the opposite of its original meaning and juxtaposed with nama it means a religious penal code. Any H Sikh, particularly one who received the pahul (nectar of the doubleedged sword) for initiation into the fold of the Brotherhood of the Khalsa, committing a breach of rahit (stipulated conduct) and guilty of kurahit (misconduct) is subject to be punished. One who is so punished is called tankhahia.

TEJA SINGH HAZURIA, BHAI (1879-1922), also known as Babu Teja Singh Maingan, a noted Sikh preacher and social reformer, was the son of Bhai Lakhmi Das, a Sahajdhari Sikh of the village of Maingan in Jehlum district, now in Pakistan. After his early education in the village gurdwara, he studied at the Mission High School at Rawalpindi and later joined government service as a storekeeper in the Supply Department. He came in contact with a holy man, Sant Murii Das, under whose influence he resigned his job to devote himself to religious pursuits.

TURBAN, derived from the ancient Persian word dulband through the Turkish tarbush, is a long scarf wrapped around the head. It is a common headdress for men in Middle Eastern and South Asian countries. As a form of headdress, it is of Semitic origin and was an essential part of the Israeli High Priest`s uniform in Moses` day, 1300 BC, as stated in the Old Testament (Exodus, 28 :4). In India, it is to be seen as worn by men depicted in the Ajanta caves (200 BC) and on the Sahchi Gateway (150 BC).

VARAN BHAI GURDAS is the title given to the collection of forty vars or "ballads" written in`Punjabi by Bhai Gurdas (d. 1636) much honoured in Sikh piety and learning. These forty vars comprise 913 pauris or stanzas, with a total of 6,444 lines. There is no internal or external evidence available to determine the exact time of the composition of these vars, but it can be assumed that vars (Nos. 3,11,13,24,26,38,39) which have references to Guru Hargobind who came into spiritual inheritance in 1606 after the death of Guru Arjan, his predecessor, might have been composed sometime after that year, and the others implicitly prior to that date.

ZAFARNAMAH-I-RANJIT SINGH (A Chronicle of the Victories of Ranjit Singh), by Diwan Amar Nath, is a contemporary account in Persian of the events of Maharaja Ranjit Singh\'s reign from AD 1800 to AD 1837. Amar Nath, born in 1822, was the son of Diwan Dina Nath, the Maharaja\'s finance minister, and grandson of Bakht Mall, a noted scholar of Persian and Arabic and author of the Khalsa Namah. Amar Nath held the position of Bakhshi or paymaster of the irregular cavalry forces of the Sikh government of Lahore and was personally acquainted with most of the influential men at the Sikh court.

AJAIB, BHAI, a Sangha Jatt who embraced the Sikh faith in the time of Guru Arjan. He belonged to the village of Darauli Bhai, in presentday Faridkot district. Two of his brothers, Umar Shah and Ajab, were the Guru`s masands or vicars. Bhai Ajaib took part in seva, voluntary labour of hands, at the time of digging of the Amritsar pool and construction of the Harimandar. See AJAB, BHAI