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CHAR SAHIBZADE, (char = four + sahibzade = scions, young men of genteel birth) is a term endearingly used for the four sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Nanak X, all of whom died as martyrs while still very young. Their names are reverently preserved in Sikh memory and are recalled every time Sikh ardas or prayer of supplication is recited at a congregation or privately by an individual. See AJIT SINGH. SAHIBZADA; FATEH SINGH, SAHIBZADA; JUJHAR SINGH, SAHIBZADA; and ZORAWAR SINGH, SAHIBZADA
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DAKKHANI SIKHS or Sikhs of the Deccan, a distinctive ethnic community scattered in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, are the descendants of Punjabi Sikhs who went to the South during the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries and permanently settled in what was then the princely state of Hyderabad. The first Punjabi Sikhs to travel to the South comprised the 300strong contingent which arrived at Nanded in 1708 in the train of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708).
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DIVALI, festival of lights (from Sanskrit dipamala or dipavali meaning row of lamps or nocturnal illumination), is observed all over India on amavasya, the last day of the dark half of the lunar month of Kartika (October-November). Like other seasonal festivals, Divali has been celebrated since time immemorial. In its earliest form, it was regarded as a means to ward off, expel or appease the malignant spirits of darkness and ill luck. The festival is usually linked with the return to Ayodhya of Lord Rama at the end of his fourteen year exile. For the Hindus it is also an occasion for the worship of Laksmi, the goddess of good fortune, beauty and wealth.
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PRASADI HATHI, an elephant trained to perform several unusual feats, was among the presents brought to Guru Gobind Singh by an Assamese chief, Ratan Rai. According to Sikh chronicles, Ratan Rai`s father. Ram Rai had served Guru Tegh Bahadur during his travels across Assam in the mid1660s and received his blessing. Ratan Rai, as he grew up, learnt that after the death of Guru Tegh Bahadur, his son, Gobind Rai, sat on his spiritual seat. He travelled upcountry and came to Anandpur to make obeisance to the Guru, bringing with him as presents a young and trained elephant, five horses of rare breed and a five-in-one weapon.
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RAJPUTSIKH RELATIONS. During his preaching tours. Guru Nanak (1469-1539), founder of the Sikh faith, is believed to have visited Pushkar and Kulayat, two important Hindu pilgrimage centres in Rajputana (now Rajasthan), the land of the Rajputs. While under detention in Gwalior Fort, Guru Hargobind came in contact with some Rajput chiefs similarly held in custody there, and was instrumental in their eventual release from captivity. Mirza RajaJai Singh of Amber (1605-67), his queen, and his son, Raja Ram Singh, were devotees of the Gurus.
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