71. MALVA

MALVA, not to be mixed with a tract of this name in Central India, is one of the three main divisions of the present Punjab state of India, the other two being Majha and Doaba. It is in the shape of a rough parallelogram lying between 29°-30 and 31°-10 North latitudes and 73°-50 and 76°-50' East longitudes, bounded by the River Sutlej in the north, Haryana in the east and the south, Rajasthan in the southwest corner, and by Bahawalpur state of Pakistan in the west. Malva comprises eleven of the seventeen administrative districts of the Punjab, viz., Firozpur, Faridkot, Moga, Muktsar, Bathinda, Sangrur, Mansa, Ludhiana, Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar excluding its Nurpur Bedi tahsil or sub-division which falls across the Sutlej and geographically lies in the Doaba region. G.A. Grierson, Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. IX, Part I, who based his demarcation on the spoken dialect Malvai, would exclude the present Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib and Ropar districts and part of Ludhiana district from Malva because of a different dialect, Povadhi, spoken there. But because of demographical changes consequent upon partition of the country (1947) and subsequent allocation of a major part of Povadhi-speaking area to the newly created state of Haryana (1966), it is not inappropriate to call the entire cis Sutlej tract of the present Punjab as Malva. Malva is a dialectical variation of the Sanskrit word Mallava which was the name of an ancient tribe (Malloi of the Greek accounts) who challenged, though unsuccessfully, the might of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC and might have later migrated to the south of the Sutlej, giving the name Malva, the land of the Mallavas, to their new homeland. With an area of 32,808 square km and a population of 11,817,142 (1991 census), Malva is the largest region of the present Punjab. It has 65.1 per cent of the total area and 58.5 per cent of the total population 360.1 per square km against 401 per square km for the entire state. The density of population district-wise varies vastly between Ludhiana (629) and Firozpur (272). Till the latter part of the nineteenth century, Malva, leaving aside a narrow strip along the Sutlej, was an arid semi-desert covered with slow-growing trees such as van (Quercus incana) and jand (Prosopis spicigera) and thorny bushes like karir (Capparis aphylla) and malha beri, a kind of jujube. Although by and large a plain country, the region, especially its southern and southwestern parts, had become undulated with mounds of sand blown in from Rajasthan by southwesterly winds. Cultivation was almost entirely dependent upon rain which was erratic and usually scanty. Introduction of canal irrigation with the renovation of Sirhind canal initiated a change which, strengthened by later developments, especially the harnessing of water resources and the availablity of cheap hydro-electricity, culminated in intensive agriculture of the 1960's and the following decades, and transformed the face of Malva and helped make Punjab the granary of India. The hardy farmers of the region including those brought here in the aftermath of the partition of the country in 1947 have converted the former forest and sandy mounds into neatly marked lush green farmlands. Major crops grown are wheat, paddy, cotton and oil seeds, sugarcane, cultivation picking up rapidly since the beginning of the 1980's. This coupled with the growth of small and medium-scale industry, though at a slower pace, has brought in prosperity which in turn is resulting in a perceptible change for the better in education and cultural fields, although literacy rate (45.6 per cent) still lags behind the state average (49.2 per cent). As in the case of density of population, there is vast variation also in district-wise literacy rate which ranges between 57.2 per cent for Ludhiana (highest in the state) and 32.8 per cent for Sangrur. Yet, of the three universities in the state, two are located in Malva-Punjab Agricultureal University at Ludhiana and Punjabi University at Patiala, besides an autonomous college of engineering and technology at Patiala. Similarly, of the four medical colleges in the whole of Punjab three are located in the Malva region. In the industrial field, Malva, with its two huge thermal plants, one each at Bathinda and Ropar, and industrial complexes at Ludhiana, Rajpura, Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar (Mohali) and Mandi Gobindgarh, is far ahead of the other two regions. According to 1991 census figures, of the ten Punjab towns having a population of over 100,000 each, five lie in Malva. Ludhiana (1, 012, 062, persons) is the most populous city in the state. Malva's part in the history of the Sikhs dates back to the time of Guru Nanak, whose peregrinations also covered this ancient land. Guru Angad's birthplace, Sarai Nanga, lies in the Malva. Guru Hargobind, Guru Har Rai, Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh travelled extensively through this area. Many eminent Sikhs such as Bhai Bhagatu, Bhai Bahilo and Bhai Mani Sihgh came from Malva. The years following the death in 1708 of Guru Gobind Sihgh were the most turbulent period of the history of the Sikhs when the Mughal governors of the Punjab and later the Afghan invaders had let loose a reign of terror and religious persecution against the Sikhs. The jungles of Malva, with their comparative inaccessibility on account of shortage of water and other scarcities impeding large-scale operations, provided the warring Sikh bands from across the Sutlej with a natural sanctuary. Some local Sikh sardars, descendants of Bhai Phul blessed by Guru Hargobind and Guru Har Rai and collectively known as Phulkiari misl, carved out territories over which they ruled as independent or semi-independent chiefs. This is how the former Sikh states of Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Faridkot, Kalsia, Kaithal and Ladva came into existence. When Maharaja Ranjit Singh rose to power north of the Sutlej and started amalgamating other misi territories to his own dominions, the states south of the Sutlej known as cis Sutlej states, sought protection under the British, whose suzerainty they accepted. They became tributaries of the British empire while the districts of Ludhiana and Firozpur came under the latter's direct rule. Of these Sikh states, Kaithal lapsed to the British dominions on the death, without a male heir, of its last ruler, Bhai Udai Singh, in 1845, and Ladva was annexed as a punishment to its ruler, Sardar Ajit Singh, for his open support to Sikh government of Lahore during the first Anglo-Sikh war (1845-46). The remaining five Punjab Sikh states and the Muslim state of Malerkotla continued to exist till after the independence of India, 1947. In May 1948, they in combination with Kapurthala in the Doaba region and the submountainous Hindu state of Nalagarh formed themselves into what was called the Patiala and East Punjab States Union, PEPSU for short. In 1956 PEPSU was amalgamated with the Punjab, which was further split into Haryana and the Punjabi speaking state of the Punjab on 1 November 1966.

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72. MAN

MAN or mana, from Skt. manas (mind or psyche), is one of the major operational con cepts in Indian thought involved in the process of apprehending facts and reacting to situations and stimuli, as also the cause of bandh (bondage/attachment). `Mind` is the nearest English rendering of `man`, though the two are not perfectly synonymous, Whereas `mind` is a comprehensive term subsuming all mental functions, man has a narrower connotation in that its functions mainly relate to (i) the indns (sense organs and motor organs) and (ii) emotions, such as sukh (pleasure) and dukh (pain), hit (good) and ahit (bad), grief and anger.

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73. MAN CHAND

MAN CHAND, son of Khan Chand. resident of Kabul in Afghanistan, became a devotee of Guru Nanak. According to Bala Janam Sakhi, once Guru Nanak accompanied by Bhai Bala went to Kabul especially to meet Man Chand whom he sent for through a local Pathan. Man Chand, who had not heard about the Guru before, however, received instruction and not only became a follower himself, but also began to preach the Guru`s teaching in the region.

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74. MAN MOHAN SINGH

MAN MOHAN SINGH (1906-1942), the first Sikh aviator and the first Indian to fly solo from England to India, was born at Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan, in September 1906, the son of Dr Makkhan Singh, a recipient of the Kaisari Hind medal from the government for his distinguished public service as a medical practitioner. Man Mohan Singh was educated at Denny`s High School and at Gordon College, both in Rawalpindi. In 1923, he went to England to train as a civil engineer, receiving his B.Sc degree four years later at the University of Bristol. In England he also completed a two year course in flying and aeronautical engineering for which he had been given a scholarship by the Government of India.

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75. MAN SINGH, JUSTICE

MAN SINGH, JUSTICE (1887-1949), known as Bhai Man Singh up to his thirties, was born in 1887 at Ambala, now in Haryana, the youngest of the three sons of Nand Singh who had fought against the British in the second AngloSikh war (1849) and had then worked under them as superintendent of excise. Man Singh, who became an orphan at a very young age, attended successively Mission High School and A.S. High School in his native town and later joined the Khalsa College at Amritsar. While at school he had founded an association of Sikh youth, Khalsa Bhujharigi Dal, and now in Amritsar he took a leading part in setting up Khalsa Youngnnen Association and was the editor of its journal from 1905 to 1909.

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76. MAN SINGH, RISALDAR MAJOR

MAN SINGH, RISALDAR MAJOR (d. 1892), son of Deva Singh of Rariala, in Gujrariwala district, now in Pakistan, was a soldier in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army." He was attached to Raja Suchct Singh`s force. He took part in the capture of Peshawar (1834) and then entered Raja Hira Singh`s brigade as a cavalry adjutant. He fought against the British in the first AngloSikh war at Mudki, Ferozeshah and Sabhraori. After the hostilities ceased, he was stationed at Lahore in command of a troop of fifty horse. In 1848, he was sent to Amritsar. After the second AngloSikh war his troop was disbanded and he retired on a pension. In 1852, he joined the police under Col. R. Lawrence, and remained in the force until 1857.

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77. MAN SINGH. BHAI

MAN SINGH. BHAI (d. 1708), a warrior in Guru Gobind Singh`s retinue, was, according to Seva Singh, Shahid Bilas Bhai Mani Singh, the son of Mal Das of Alipur in Muzaffargarh district (now in Pakistan) and a brother of Bhai Mani Ram whose five sons were among the first few to be initiated at the time of the inauguration of the Khalsa on 30 March 1699. Man Singh took part in the battles of Anandpur both as an ensign and a fighting soldier. He also fought at Chamkaur and was one of the three Sikhs who survived that critically unequal battle and came out with Guru Gobind Singh unscathed.Man Singh constantly attended upon the Guru thereafter until his death in a chance skirmish with Mughal troops near Chittor during the Guru`s march to the Deccan along with Emperor Bahadur Shah.

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78. MANA SINGH MAN

MANA SINGH MAN (d. 1807), son of Sarja Singh Man, a minor misldar and a feudatory sardar of Mahan Singh Sukkarchakkia who held jagirs in Pindori Kalan and Pindori Khurd.

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79. MANAK CHAND JIVARA

MANAK CHAND JIVARA, a Patharia Khatri of the village of Vairoval, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. He lovingly contributed the labour of his hands to digging the Baoli, or open well with steps going down to water level, at Goindval. In the course of digging, Sikhs came across a stratum of hard rock. As the last layer was in the end pierced, water suddenly gushed forth drowning Manak Chand who had struck the final blow. There was great commotion among the Sikhs standing around the well.

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80. MANAK CHAND, BHAI

MANAK CHAND, BHAI, received initiation at the hands of Guru Ram Das. He followed the path of selfless service and attained liberation and spiritual bliss. See Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 17. .

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