BRIJ RAJ (d. 1833), a learned Pandit came to settle in Lahore in the latter half of the eighteenth century, was appointed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to the position of raj purohit, or royal priest, which office he held till his death in 1833. The Maharaja and the court

RADHA KISHAN, PANDIT (d. 1875), son of Pandit Madhusudan, was appointed in 1824 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to take charge of the education of Hira Singh Dogra, who studied both Sanskrit and Persian. Later, he was appointed tutor to the minor Maharaja Duleep Singh. He also performed the duties

CHIRAGH DIN, FAQlR (d. 1851). son of Faqir Aziz udDin, foreign minister to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was governor of Jasrota. a small principality in the Sivalik hills, and was shortly afterwards placed in attendance on Prince Kharak Singh. In 1842, he succeeded his brother, Shah Din, as the Sikh

RAJ KAUR (d. 1838), also known as Datar Kaur or more popularly Mal Nakain, was the second wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. She was the daughter of Ran Singh Nakai, and was married to the Maharaja in 1798. Though Ranjit Singh married several other women, Mal Nakain remained his

DAYAKAUR, RANI (d. 1843), widow of Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat, was married, in 1811, to Maharaja Ranjit Singh by the rite of chadar andazi, a rite having sanction under customary law to facilitate marriage with a widow who is accepted into nuptials by unfurling a chadar or sheet

RAJ KAUR, daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind, was the mother of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. As she came from the Malva region, she was affectionately known as Mai Malvain. When her husband Mahari Singh died, their son Ranjit Singh was too young to assume control of the estate.

FATEH SINGH CHHACHHI (d. 1814), son of Tahal Singh Chhachhi, a Kohli Khatri belonging to Gujranwala district in the Punjab, served under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He fought in the campaigns launched by the Maharaja for the conquest of Pind Dadan Khan, Pindi Gheb and Jhang and obtained considerable addition

SOHAN LAL SURI, vakil or attorney at the Lahore court, is famous for his monumental work in Persian, `Umdat iitTwankh, a chronicle of Sikh times comprising five daftars or volumes. Little is known about Sohan Lal`s early life except that he was the son of Lala Ganpat Rai, a

FAZALDAD KHAN CHIB (d. 1864), son of Raja Umar Khan Chib, was recipient of a pension of rupees four thousand from Maharaja Ranjit Singh which was originally granted to his elder brother Amir Khan as compensation for the confiscated territory of his father. Fazaldad Khan was taken into service

SUKH RAJ (d. 1842) was the youngest of the five sons of Misr Divan Chand, a general in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army. Sukh Raj himself joined an infantry regiment and soon rose to be its commandant. He commanded a number of infantry battalions and took part in several of

GOBINDJAS, RAI (d. 1846) served, like his father Rai Anand Singh, as a vakilor agent of the Sikh kingdom, first at Ludhiana and then at Delhi. His despatches from Ludhiana contain reports concerning various political matters such as the Indus navigation scheme, the Ropar meeting, Alexander Burncs` mission to

GOBIND RAM, BHAI (d. 1845), son of Bhai Harbhaj and a grandson of Bhai Vasti Ram, had, like his brother Bhai Ram Singh, an honoured position at the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. A good scholar of Sanskrit and Persian, Gobind Ram, was of a retiring nature and more