CHANDPUR, village connected by a 4km stretch of link road to Ropar Nangal road near Kotia power house, is sacred to Guru Har Rai (1630-61), who came here on visits several times. Gurdwara Guru Har Rai Sahib marking the site of the Guru`s camp is also known as Gurdwara Nira Sahib (from nira, i.e. fodder for the Guru`s horses). The present three storeyed domed building raised in 1950 has the sanctum on the ground floor. The Gurdwara is affiliated to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, but is managed by the local sangat.
CHATAR SINGH, a BrarJatt, was, according to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, a Sikh spy who, during the siege of Anandpur by the hill rajas in September/October 1700, used to mix with the enemy and bring intelligence about their strength, dispositions and plans. It was he who carried to Guru Gobind Singh the news one evening how Raja Kesari Chand, one of the besieging chieftains, had planned to smash the gate of the Lohgarh Fort on the following morning with the help of a drunken war elephant.
CHET SINGH, BHAI (1891-1921), son of Bhai Javala Singh and Mai Ram Kaur, was born on 28 May 1891 at Bundala, in Amritsar district. In 1899 the family migrated westward to Chakk No. 64 Nihaleana, in the newly colonized Lyallpur district. Chet Singh studied up to the 5th standard in the village school. He grew up into a handsome, tall and fair complexioned young man interested in manly sports. He took the vows of the Khalsa in early manhood and participated in the liberation of Gurdwara BhaiJoga Singh at Peshawar (5 February 1921).
CHOHLA, village 4.5 km southeast of Sirhali Kalari (31° 16`N, 74° 56`E) in Amritsar district of the Punjab, is sacred to Guru Arjan (1563-1606). The village was called Bhaini when the Guru visited here. A housewife served him a delicious dish of chohia, broken bread mixed with sugar and butter. Guru Arjan was pleased and blessed her. He also uttered a hymn of thanks giving with the refrain: "The Lord is our life and soul ; He cares for us every where in every respect." Its last line was: "God is our wealth, His Name is our food; this, 0 Nanak, is our chohia."
CUNNINGHAM, JOSEPH DAVEY (1812-1851), the first British historian of the Sikhs (his A History of the Sikhs was published in London in 1849), was the eldest of the five sons of Allan Cunningham, a noted poet and playwright. Born at Lambeth on 9 June 1812, Joseph had his early education in private schools in London where he showed such a marked aptitude for mathematics that his father was advised to send him to Cambridge. But as the young boy was more keen on becoming a soldier, a cadetship in the East India Company`s service was procured him through the good offices of Sir Walter Scott.
CHAKAR, village 17 km south of Jagraon (30° 47`N, 75° 28`E), in Ludhiana district, is sacred both to Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Hargobind passed through here in the course of his tour of the Malva in 1631-32 and Guru Gobind Singh at the end of 1705 after the battle of Chamkaur. The Gurdwara Guru Sar Patshahi VI and X, an imposing structure, is situated at the northwestern corner of the village. Constructed during the 1970`s, it is a large square hall with a square sanctum at the far end.
CHANDRA SAIN SAINAPATI, commonly referred to as Sainapati and counted among the "fifty-two poets" of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), was the son of Bal Chand, an educated Man Jatt of Lahore. His original name was Chandra Sain, Sainapati being the pseudonym he had taken. Chandra Sain, taught by one Devi Das, joined the group of Guru Gobind Singh`s poets, and rendered into Hindi verse Chanakya Niti, the well known Sanskrit treatise on statecraft and diplomacy. His Sri Gur Sobha, a versified life sketch of Guru Gobind Singh describing his major battles, the creation of the Khalsa, and events following the evacuation of Anandpur, is a work of much historical value.
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
CHHACHHRAULI, a small town about 12 km northeast of Jagadhri (30° 10`N, 77° 18`E) in Ambala district of Haryana, was the capital of the princely state of Kalsia. Guru Gobind Singh is believed to have visited Chhachhrauli during his sojourn at Kapal Mochan in 1688. The site was brought to light only in 1920 by Sant Harnam Singh of Mastuana, and the building was erected by Rani RanbTr Kaur of Kalsia in 1924.
