PAL SINGH ARIF, SANT (1873-1958), mystic and poet, was born on Maghar sudi 15, 1930 Bk/4 December 1873, the son of Gurdit Singh Sandhu and Sahib Kaur of the village of Paddhari, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He learnt to read and write Punjabi from the village granthi

SIKH CALENDAR or system of reckoning chronology or dates of events in Sikh history is generally based on the Vikrami Samvat (Bikrami Sammat, in Punjabi), a system mostly in vogue in northern India, although other systems the Hijri during the Muslim period and Christian since the advent of the

SANTOKH SINGH, BHAI (1893-1927), a Ghadr leader, was born in Singapore in 1893, where his father, Javala Singh, of the village of Dhardeo (Amritsar district), was employed as a gunner in the army. Santokh Singh had his early education in a school in Singapore and learnt Punjabi (Gumukhi script)

AMAR SINGH MAJITHIA (d. 1848). known as Amar Singh Khurd (junior) to distinguish him from his namesake Amar Singh Kalan (senior) who was also from the village of Majitha, son of Mahna Singh (d. 1802), was aJagmfar and military commander under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was placed in the

TARAN SINGH (1922-1981), scholar and teacher of Sikh studies, was born on 18 February 1922, the son of Bhai Nidhan Singh Makan of village Kallar Kohar in Jehlum district (now in Pakistan). Having received his early education in the village school, he passed his Giani (Honours in Punjabi) examination of

AMAR SINGH MAN (d. 1805), landowner in Amritsar district who left his village about the year 1759, adopted the Sikh faith and joined the Kanhaiya Misl. He overran and took possession of a large part of Gurdaspur district, including Sukalgarh and Dharamkot. He built a fort at Sukalgarh which

VAR HAQIQAT RAI, by Aggra or Aggar Singh, is a versified account of the life and martyrdom of Haqiqat Rai. No biographical details are available about Aggra, except that he was a contemporary of Haqiqat Rai and that he came of a Sethi Khatri family. Haqiqat Rai was the son

DHANPAT RAI, DlWAN (d. 1831), son of Ram Kumar, served Maharaja Ranjit Singh in various capacities. His grandfather Gutu Mall, who belonged to Shahpur district, was employed as diwan to the Bharigi sardars, Gujjar Singh and Sahib Singh, regulating the civil affairs of a large tract of land under

EDWARDES, SIR HERBERT BENJAMIN (1819-1868), soldier, writer and statesman, son of the Rev. B. Edwardes, was born on 12 November 1819. He joined the Bengal infantry as a cadet in 1841, and served as Urdu, Hindi and Persian interpreter to his regiment. He was aide decamp to Lord Hugh Gough

FARRIS (d. 1842), a Frenchman, who joined the Sikh army in 1841 and was employed in the gunpowder factory. He died at Lahore within one year of his appointment.