DASAUNDHA SINGH, BHAI (1892-1921). one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was born on 28 August 1892, the son of Bhai Hira Singh and Mai Man Kaur of village Haripur, in Jalandhar district. The family later migrated to Chakk No. 91 Dhannuana in the newly developed canal district of Lyallpur, now in Pakistan. Dasaundha Singh was married and was father of two children a daughter and a son when he enlisted in the Jatha or column of Akali volunteers led by Lachhman Singh Dharovali, and attained martyrdom at Nankana Sahib on 20 February 1921. See NANKANA SAHIB MASSACRE
DAYAL, BABA (1783-1855), founder of the Nirankari sect of the Sikhs, was born at Peshawar on Baisakh sudi 15, 1840 Bk / 17 May 1783. He was the only son of Ram Sahai, a banker, and his wife Ladikki, daughter of Bhai Vasakha Singh of Rohtas. He lost his father while he was still an infant. He learnt Gurmukhi from his mother and Persian and Pushto at a maktab (elementary school kept by a Muslim maulawi). His mother, a devout Sikh, nurtured him in the best traditions of the faith and took him out daily to make obeisance at the local Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh. After the death of his mother in 1802, Dayal migrated to Rawalpindi where he opened a grocer`s shop and also started preaching a message of simple living, commonly addressing congregations at Gurdwara Peshaurian and Gurdwara Bhai Ram Singh.
DARSHAN SINGH PHERUMAN (1885-1969), political leader and martyr, was born at the village of Pheruman, in present day Amritsar district, on 1 August 1885. His father`s name was Chanda Singh and his mother`s Raj Kaur. After passing his high school examination, he joined in 1912 the Indian army as a sepoy. Two years later, he resigned from the army and set up as a contractor at Hissar. He was doing well as a contractor, when a taunt from his mother, who was deeply religious, led him to give up his business and plunge into the Akali movement for the reform of Gurdwara management.
DHARA SINGH (d. 1860) succeeded his father, Mehar Singh, to the family estate situated in the Nakka tract of land upon the latter`s death in 1843. Dhara Singh joined Raja Sher Singh with his horsemen at Multan in 1848. He fought against the British in the battles of Ramnagar (22 November 1848) and Gujrat (21 February 1849). He died in 1860.
DHIAN SINGH, RAJA (1796-1843), the second son of Miari Kishora Singh Dogra and the middle one of the three brothers from Jammu serving Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born on 22 August 1796. He was presented before Ranjit Singh at Rohtas in 1812 by his elder brother, Gulab Singh, and was given employment as a trooper on a monthly salary of sixty rupees. Dhian Singh by his impressive bearing, polished manner and adroitness, steadily rose in the Maharaja`s favour and, in 1818, replaced Jamadar Khushal Singh as deorhidar or chamberlain to the royal household.
DIALPURA BHAI KA, village in Bathinda district of the Punjab, 38 km west of Barnala, named after its founder, Bhai Dial Singh, a grandson of Bhai Rupa (1614-1709), around the middle of the eighteenth century, claims a historical shrine, Gurdwara Zafarnamah Sahib Patshahi X. According to local tradition, Guru Gobind Singh, during his stay at Dina in December 1705, retired during the day to a grove around a pool of water which stood at the site marked by the present gurdwara.
DIVAN SINGH MAFTOON (1890-1974) was in his day the most talked about editor in Urdu journalism. Born in the Punjab he migrated to Delhi in the early twenties. His sole asset was a smattering of Urdu. Gradually, he grew in his command of the language and became known for his mastery of Urdu prose acclaimed for its lucidity and exactness. Through his felicity in Urdu prose, he naturalized himself in the milieu of Ghalib`s Delhi. He achieved to a considerable degree its style and refinement. In his conversation, in his dress and in his tastes, he became a sovereign Delhiite. He had a natural genius in personal relationships.
