1. AGYA KAUR. BIBI

AGYA KAUR. BIBI (d. 1918), wife of Bhai Takht Singh and his helpmate in promoting women's education among Sikhs to which cause he was passionately devoted, was the daughter of Sardar Tek Singh of the village of Sultanpur, near Rahim Yar Khan railway station in the princely state of Bahawalpur. She had been a resident student at the Sikh girls school, at Firozpur, founded in 1892 and nurtured by Bhai Takht Singh. Agya Kaur had studied at the Mahavidyala up to the high school level. Bhai Takht Singh's first wife Harnam Kaur who was a co-builder of the school died in 1906.

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2. AMARO, BIBI,

AMARO, BIBI, elder daughter of Guru Angad and Mata Khivi, is especially remembered in the Sikh tradition for introducing (Guru) Amar Das to Guru Angad whose disciple, and eventually successor in the holy office, he became. She was born in c. 1526 at Khadur Sahib, in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab, and was married to a nephew of Amar Das at Basarke, now called Basarke Gillan, 11 km southwest of Amritsar. She was known for her piety and had memorized several of Guru Nanak`s hymns which she recited every morning, amid her household chores. Once Amar Das happened to listen to a hymn from Bibi Amaro`s lips, and felt deeply moved.

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3. AMRITA SHER-GIL

AMRITA SHERGIL (1913-1941), colourful and innovative painter of modern India, was born on 30 January 1913 in Budapest, Hungary. Her father, Umrao Singh Sher Gil, scholar and savant, learned in Sanskrit as well as in Persian, came of an old Sikh family of the village of Majitha, in Amritsar district of the Punjab. Her mother, Marie Antoinette, was a Hungarian of noble descent with artistic leanings. She had some Jewish blood about which she was generally very discreet, and possessed a gregarious, gushing manner which could charm society snobs, but bewilder those close to her.

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4. ANANTI, MATA,

ANANTI, MATA, wife of Baba Gurditta and mother of Guru Har Rai, Nanak VII. She was popularly known as Mata Natti. Some chroniclers have also used for her the names of Nihal Kaur and Bassi. See NATTi, MATA

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5. ANOKHI, BIBI,

ANOKHI, BIBI, born, according to Kesar Singh Chhibbar, Bansavalinama Dasan Patshahian Ka, in the Bikrami year 1592/AD 1535. She was the third child and the younger of the two daughters of Guru Arigad and(Mata) Khivi. M.G.S. ANUPDEI, MATA, mother of the fourth Guru, Guru Ram Das (1534-81). See HARDAS. BABA P.S.P. ANUP SINGH and Sarup Singh, grandsons of Duni Chand a masand or parish leader during the time of Guru Gobind Singh, were residents of Majitha, in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab. They, according to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, came to Anandpur to meet Guru Gobind Singh. They besought the Guru to forgive their grandfather for having deserted him earlier. The Guru granted their request.

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6. AS KAUR,

AS KAUR, daughter of Gurdas Singh, was married to Raja Sahib Singh (1773-1813) of Patiala in 1792 and, in 1798, she bore him a son and heir who was named Karam Singh. She was a woman of great ability and her wise administration of the Patiala state during part of her husband`s reign and during the minority of her son won the admiration of the neighbouring chiefs and was warmly praised by the British government. In 1821, she retired to her estate at Sanaur, about 7 km south of Patiala, where she spent the last years of her life.

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7. BAKHT KAUR, MATA

BAKHT KAUR, MATA, also called Lakhmi or Lakkho, was the mother of Guru Amar Das (1479-1574). Mata Lakkho is the name mentioned by Kesar Singh Chibbar, Bansavalinama Dasan Patshahian Ka. Born in a Duggal Khatri family, she was married to Baba Tej Bhan of Basarke Gillan, a village 12 km southwest of Amritsar. Four sons were born to her, Guru Amar Das being the eldest. The other three were Ishar Das, Khem Rai and Manak Chand.

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8. BANARASI, MATA,

BANARASI, MATA, grandmother of Guru Nanak and mother of Baba Kalu or Kalian Rai, was the wife of Shiv Ram, resident of Talvandi Rai Bhoi Ki, now called Nankana Sahib. She was the mother of two sons, Kalu and Lalu. See SHIV RAM, BABA

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9. BHAGO, MAI

BHAGO, MAI, the sole survivor of the battle of Khidrana, i.e. Muktsar (29 December 1705), was a descendant of Pero Shah, the younger brother of Bhai Langah, a Dhillon Jatt who had converted a Sikh during the time of Guru Arjan. Born at her ancestral village of Jhabal in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab, she was married to Nidhan Singh Varaich of Patti. A staunch Sikh by birth and upbringing, she was distressed to hear in 1705 that some of the Sikhs of her neighbourhood who had gone to Anandpur to fight for Guru Gobind Singh had deserted him under adverse conditions. She set off along with them and some other Sikhs to seek out the Guru, then travelling across the Malva region.

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10. BHANI, BIBI

BHANI, BIBI (1535-1598), daughter of Guru Amar Das, consort of Guru Ram Das and mother of Guru Arjan Dev, was born to Mata Mansa Devi on 21 Magh 1591 Bk/19 January 1535 at Basarke Gillan, a village near Amritsar. She was married on 18 February 1554 to Bhai Jetha (later Guru Ram Das), a Sodhi Khatri belonging to Lahore, then in Goindval rendering voluntary service in the construction of the Baoli Sahib. After marriage, the couple remained in Goindval serving the Guru. From Goindval Bhai Jetha was deputed by the Guru to go and establish a habitation (present day Amritsar) on a piece of land gifted, according to one version, by Emperor Akbar to Bibi Bhani at the time of his visit to Guru Amar Das.

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