BISHAN SINGH, SANT (1862-1949), much honoured in recent Sikh piety, was the son of Bhai Atar Singh of Kanjhia, a village 18 km northwest of Sarigrur (30°14`N, 75°50`E) in the Punjab. Born in March 1862, Bishan Singh received instruction in reciting Scripture from Sant Jagat Singh of his own village. As he grew up he enlisted in the army, but did not serve long. Back in his village after getting his discharge, he married and had a son, whose death at the age of 13 years proved a severe blow.
BROUGHTON PAPERS are official and private papers of Sir John Cam Hobhouse (Lord Broughton) in numerous bound volumes in the British Library. Lord Broughton, British administrator, who served as President of the Board of Control of the East India Company from 1835-41 and again from 1846-52, was responsible for the Home Government`s major policy decisions on the Punjab and the Sikhs.
BUDDHU, BHAI, a kiln owner of Lahore, whose name occurs in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI.25, among the prominent Sikhs of the time of Guru Arjan, once waited upon the Guru and begged to be instructed. The Guru said, "Commence any task you may be launching on after an ardas or prayer in sangat seeking God`s blessing, and distribution of karahprasad. Lay aside one tenth of what you earn for the general weal." Bhai Buddhu took the Guru`s precept and became a Sikh. Once, as the tradition goes, Bhai Buddhu undertook a large brick baking project, involving considerable investment.
BUR SINGH, BHAI (1896-1921), son of Bhai Mal Singh Kamboj and Mai As Kaur, of Chakk No. 80 Mula Singhvala, district Sheikhupura, was born on 10 Phagun 1952 Bk/22 February 1896. His parents originally belonged to village Bahoru in Amritsar district and had settled in the newly developed canal colony in western Punjab, Chakk No. 80, only in 1892. Bur Singh received elementary education in the village school and gurdwara.
BABA BAKALA (31°34`N, 75°16`E), a small town in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Hargobind and Guru Tegh Bahadur. The original name of the place was Bakala. As Guru Har Krishan lay on his deathbed in Delhi, he was asked by the sangat to name his successor. All that the Guru could say at that time was \'Baba Bakale\' meaning that (Guru) Tegh Bahadur, who was the brother of his (Guru Har Krishan\'s) grandfather (baba) and who was living at Bakala, was to be the next Guru. Bakala, thereafter, came to be called Baba Bakala.
BAGGA SINGH, BHAI (1893-1921), was born during Assu 1950 Bk/September-October 1893, the son of Bhai Ganga Singh and Mai Mallan, a peasant couple of Chakk No. 38 Deva Singhvala in Sheikhupura district, in the newly developed canal area in western Punjab by the British. He learnt reading and writing in Gurmukhi script from the village granthi and took the initiation of the Khalsa at the age of 18. He was of a lissom athletic build interested in village sports and was also a member of the village holy choir.
