BASANT KIVAR, by Guru Arjan, is the shortest of the twenty-two vars, i.e. holy poems composed in the style or tone of odes (vars, in Punjabi) or heroic ballads included in the Guru Granth Sahib. Basant, Punjabi for spring, from which musical measure the Var derives its title is,

JAGATJIT SINGH, MAHARAJA (1872-1949), son of Raja Kharak Singh, was born on 23 November 1872 and ascended the throne of Kapurthala state on 16 October 1877. He assumed full ruling powers in November 1890 and then commenced his unusual career as a world traveller and a Francophile. He received

KHARAK SINGH, RAJA (1850-1877), son of Raja Randhir Singh, ascended the s.add1 of Kapurthala stale on 12 May 1870. He suffered from a permanent ailment for which reason the administration was entrusted to a council. Kharak Singh died in 1877 at the early age of 27, and was succeeded

NABHA, in Patiala district. 15 km south of Chandigarh (30° 44`N. 76° 46`E), has a historical gurudwara dedicated to Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh. The shrine, called Gurdwara Sis Asthan Patshahi IX ate Puja Asthan Patshahi X or simply, Gurdwara Nabha Sahib, is situated 200 metres south

PATIALA AND EAST PUNJAB STATES UNION, popularly known as PEPSU, formed on 5 May 1948 by merging together of eight East Punjab princely states of Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Kapurthala, Faridkot, Kalsia, Malerkotia and Nalagarh, was formally inaugurated on 15 July 1948 by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister of

RANBIR SINGH, MAHARAJA (1879-1948), son of Balbir Singh and a grandson of Raja Raghbir Singh, was born at Sangrur on 11 October 1879. He ascended the gaddi of jind state in 1887 and was invested with ruling powers in 1899. Deaf from a relatively early age, Maharaja Ranbir Singh