DERA, a word of Persian extraction, has several connotations. The original Persian word derah or dirah means a tent, camp, abode, house or habitation. In current usage in rural Punjab, a farmhouse or a group of farmhouses built away from the village proper is called dera. Even after such an

PHIRNA, BHAI, a KhahiraJatt, named, along with Bhai Jodh, among Guru Nanak`s Sikhs in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. Both Bhai Phirna and Bhai Jodh had received instruction at the hands of Guru Nanak. Together they had presented themselves before the Guru and prayed that they be endowed with faith.

TAKHTU. BHAI, a Dhir Khatri, embraced Sikh faith during the time of Guru Arjan. He lived up to the time of Guru Hargobind when he earned a name for himself as a soldier participating in the encounters with the Mughal troops. "Once", as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di

DHESI, BHAI, and Bhai Jodh, both Brahmans converted to Sikhism, once came to Guru Arjan and complained, "0 True King ! other Brahmans treat us as out castes, for they tell us that by taking a Khatri as a guru, by discarding Sanskrit, the language of the gods, and

POTHI, popular Punjabi form of the Sanskrit pustaka (book), derived from the root pust (to bind) via the Pali potlhaka and Prakrit puttha. Besides Punjabi, the word poihi meaning a book is current in Maithili, Bhojpuri and Marathi languages as well. Among the Sikhs, however, polhi signifies a sacred book,

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

DHINGAR, BHAI, a carpenter, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, Bhai Dhirigar, along with Bhai Maddu, a fellow worker in the craft, came to serve at the Guru`s feet. During the day they hewed wood

PARTHA (ARJUNA) Guru Arjan Dev is an authentic personality. He does not move out (of the battlefield) like Partha (Arjuna). (The word Partha connotes a son of Pritha or Kunti). (Swayye Mahle Panjwen Ke, p. 1408) The word Partha cannotes a son of Pritha or Kunti. Partha is a

TURK, a word standing in Sikh tradition usually for a Muslim, is really the name of a race of people which orginating probably in Central Asia established itself in Asia Minor and southeastern Europe in the west and in India in the east. The earliest references to Turks connect them

DAS, BHATT. See BHATT BANI DAS GRANTHI, a pothi, i.e. a small book, containing selected barns or texts from the Dasam Granth. Das, meaning `ten`, here stands for `tenth`, or the Tenth Master`s granth or book to distinguish it from the older Adi Granth, i.e. the first or primary

RAHITNAME, plural of rahitndmd (rahit = conduct, stipulated conduct or way of life: name = letters, writings, manuals) is a term used in Punjabi in reference to a genre of writings specifying approved way of life for a Sikh. These writings, enunciating conduct and behaviour in accordance with the principles

UMA (UMAPATI) (Ahalya) the wife of sage Gautama, and the husband of Uma i.e. Shiva—the latter got stuck the fifth head of Brahma in his hand and the former was the cause of one thousand marks of disgrace on the body of Indra. (jaitsri, Ravidas, p. 710) Uma is