POPULATION of the Sikhs, small as compared to other major religious communities of India, is chiefly concentrated in the Punjab, India, although being fond of travel, Sikhs are found in nearly all corners of the globe. The community is 500 years old, but the data regarding its spread geographically and

RAJPUTSIKH RELATIONS. During his preaching tours. Guru Nanak (1469-1539), founder of the Sikh faith, is believed to have visited Pushkar and Kulayat, two important Hindu pilgrimage centres in Rajputana (now Rajasthan), the land of the Rajputs. While under detention in Gwalior Fort, Guru Hargobind came in contact with some Rajput

SADHU SINGH BHAURA, JATHEDAR (1905-1984), Sikh missionary who rose to be the Jathedar or high priest of Sri Akal Takhat, Amritsar, was born the son of Bhai Ran Singh and Mai Atam Kaur, on 6 June 1905 at Chakk No. 7, a village in Lyallpur district (now in Pakistan).

SHAHBAZ SINGH (d. 1745) was the son of Subeg Singh, the kotwal of Lahore under the Mughal governor, Zakariya Khan. He went to a Muhammadan school to read Persian and Arabic. He made good progress in his studies and caught the notice of the maulawi for his highly intelligent

SIKHS` RELATIONS WITH MUGHAL EMPERORS. The Janam sakhis, traditional, accounts of the life of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), describe a meeting between him and Babar (1483-1530), founder of the Mughal dynasty, who was impressed by the former`s spiritual manner. Four of the Guru`s sabdas included in the Guru Granth Sahib allude

SUNDAR SINGH MAJITHIA, SARDAR BAHADUR SIR (1872-1941), statesman and reformer, was the younger son of Raja Surat Singh (d. 1881). He was born on 17 February 1872 at Majitha (31038`N, 74052`E), a village 18 km northeast of Amritsar (hence the surname Majithia). He was educated at Government School, Amritsar,

TAZKIRAH (lit. memoir) by Anand Ram Mukhlis, a manuscript of much historical value containing an account of events that took place in North-West India during the second quarter of the eighteenth century. The manuscript deals mainly with the Punjab, Nadir Shah`s invasion (1739), Zakariya Khan`s governorship of Punjab (1726-45),

VAR AMRITSAR KI, also known as Var Singhan Ki, by Darshan Bhagat, a disciple of Bhai Kanhaiya is an eyewitness account of the battle fought in Amritsar between a force sent by the Mughal satrap of Lahore and the Sikhs on the Baisakhi day (29 March) of 1709. A manuscript

AKALI DAL, CENTRAL, a political organization of the Sikhs set up in March 1934 as a parallel body to the Shiromani Akali Dal. The latter was formed on 14 December 1920 to assist the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in its campaign for the reformation of the management of the

ARJAN DEV, GURU (1563-1606), fifth in the line of ten Gurus or prophet teachers of the Sikh faith, was born on Baisakh vadi 7, 1620 Bk/15 April 1563 at Goindval, in present day Amritsar district, to Bhai Jetha who later occupied the seat of Guruship as Guru Ram Das, fourth

BANDA SINGH BAHADUR (1670-1716). eighteenth century Sikh warrior who for the first time seized territory for the Khalsa and paved the way for the ulimate conquest of the Punjab by them, was born Lachhman Dev on 27 October 1670 at Rajauri in the Punchh district of Kashmir. According to

BHANA MALLAN, BHAI, and Bhai Rekh Rao, storekeepers of the Mughal governor at Kabul, were pious and devoted Sikhs of the time of Guru Arjan. Whatever they earned, they spent on feeding the needy Sikhs and others. Jealous of their generous hospitality, someone complained to the governor charging them