Explore Dera Baba Nanak—a sacred site by the Ravi River in Punjab, tied to Guru Nanak's legacy and home to historical gurdwaras and spiritual heritage.
Discover the history of Dal Singar, the famed warhorse of Guru Gobind Singh, and its significance in Sikh heritage.
DALHOUSIE MUNIMENTS, a classified and catalogued collection of Lord Dalhousie`s official, demi official and private papers and diaries, preserved at the Scottish Record Office, Edinburgh. These are a part of the vast collection of Dalhousie papers which were deposited in the Scottish Record Office in 1951, and placed in the Gifts and Deposits series.
DAN SINGH, a Brar Jatt of the village of Mahima Sarja in present day Bathinda district of the Punjab, joined along with his son the contingent of Brars raised by Guru Gobind Singh after his escape from Chamkaur in December 1705. Dan Singh by virtue of his devotion and daring soon won the Guru`s trust as well as the leadership of the Brar force. The anonymous author of Malva Des Ratan di Sakhi Pothi states that he was appointed asupali (asvapa/,) or keeper of horses. It was at his suggestion that Guru Gobind Singh chose a high ground near the dhab or pool of Khidrana (now known as Tibbi Sahib near Muktsar), to defend himself against the pursuing host of the faujdar of Sirhind.
DE LA FONT, CAPTAIN AUGUSTE, a Frenchman, who entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service in 1838. He was appointed an aide decamp to General Ventura. Later, he acted as a staff officer to Colonel C.M. Wade during his journey to Kabul. He took active part in the action at Fort `All Masjid and was also helpful in maintaining peace between the Sikh contingent and Wade`s "somewhat unruly" force. He left service in the Punjab in 1843 and returned to France. His younger brother (Christian name not known) also served in the Sikh army under Generals Avitabile and Ventura.
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DESAN, MAI, a childless woman from a Sandhu Jatt family of Patti in Amritsar district, once approached Guru Hargobind praying for the boon of a child. The Guru advised her to remain content with what God had willed for her, but, as she persisted in her request, he made a prayer for her. Mai Desan, says Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi, had in course of time seven sons, whose descendants now inhabit the village of Chabba, 8 km south of Amritsar. Gurdwara Sarigrana Sahib at Chabba marks the spot where Mai Desan is believed to have met the Guru.
DHARAM SINGH, BHAI (1666-1708), one of the Pan] Piare or the Five Beloved, the forerunners of Khalsa, came of farming stock. He was the son of Bhai Sant Ram and Mai Sabho, of Hastinapur, an ancient town on the right bank of the Ganges, 35 km northeast of Meerut (29°N, 77° 45`E). Dharam Das, as he was originally named, was born around 1666. As a young man, he fell into the company of a Sikh who introduced him to the teachings of the Gurus. He left home at the age of thirty in quest of further instruction. At the Sikh shrine ofNanak Piau, dedicated to Guru Nanak, he was advised to go to Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur, where he arrived in 1698.
DHINGA, BHAI, a barber by profession, became a follower of Guru Nanak. He once came to Guru Arigad, Nanak II (1502-52), and sought instruction. The latter advised him to emulate Sain, famous saint who too was a barber by profession and who had gained spiritual enlightenment by his loving devotion to the Deity.
DINA NATH, PANDIT (b. 1888), active supporter of and participant in the Sikh Gurdwara reform movement 1920-25, was born in 1888, the son of Pandit Bal Krishan of Amritsar. In the wake of the agrarian protest in the Punjab in 1907, he joined the Indian National Congress. He was secretary of the Amritsar District Congress Committee when the Gurdwara reform or AkaIi movement got under way with the establishment in November 1920 of a representative Sikh body, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. Pandit Dina Nath was in sympathy with the movement and joined the Akali agitation for the restoration of the keys of the to shakhana or treasury of the Darbar Sahib, which had been taken away by the British Deputy Commissioner on 7 November 1921.
