BABAR, ZAHIR UD-DIN MUHAMMAD (1483-1530), soldier of fortune, founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, diarist and poet, descending in the fifth generation from Timur, was born on 14 February 1483. In June 1494, he succeeded his father, \'Umar Shaikh\', as ruler of Farghana, whose revenues supported no more than
BAHADUR SHAH (1643-1712), Mughal emperor of India from 1707 to 1712. Born Muhammad Mu\'azzam at Burhanpur in the Deccan on 14 October 1643, he was actively employed by his father, Aurangzib, from 1663 onwards for subduing the kingdom of Bijapur and the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda in the south.
BAKHT MALL and Tara Chand, masands or accredited Sikh preachers in Kabul, once ledr the sangat of their area to the Punjab to wait on Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). Among the offerings they brought were two pedigree horses of excelling beauty, named Gulbagh and Dilbagh. As they were passing through Lahore,
BALVAND, RAI, a rababi or rebeck player in the time of Guru Arjan and co-composer with Satta, said to be his brother, of a Var included in the Guru Granth Sahib in the Ramkali musical measure. He was by birth a mirasi, Muslim minstrel and genealogist, and sang the sacred
BARELAVI, SAYYID AHMAD (1786-1831), leader of the militant Wahabi movement in India for the purification and rehabilitation of Islam, was born at Rae Bareli, in present day Uttar Pradesh, on 29 November 1786, in a Sayyid family. At school, he took more interest in sports than in studies. He attained
BASANT SINGH, BHAI (d. 1900), one of the founder members of Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Lahore, established on 2 November 1879, worked as its accountant and later became its vice president. Differences between Bhai Basant Singh and other leaders of the Khalsa Diwan, Lahore, originating in the expulsion in April
BASAWAN, SHAIKH, a ranked Muslim officer at Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s court, started his career as an assistant to Misr Beli Ram, who had entered the Maharaja`s service in 1809 and who in 1816 had become superintendent of the to shakhana or treasury. Basawan by dint of hard work gradually rose
BENTINCK, LORD WILLIAM CAVENDISH (1774-1839), Governor General of India, son of William Henry, third duke of Portland, was born on 14 September 1774. In 1803, he was appointed governor of Madras, but recalled in 1807 in consequence of the sepoy mutiny at Vellore. In 1827, Bentinck succeeded Lord Amherst as
BHAGVANT SINGH HARIJI, BHAI (1892-1968), a lover of game, horticulturist and scholar, was born on 15 February 1892 to the erudition of his celebrated father, Bhai Kahn Singh, of Nabha, the creator of the immortal Gurushabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh. Unobtrusively, and in his characteristically gentle and self abnegating manner, Bhagvant
BHALENDRA SINGH, RAJA (1919-1992). distinguished cricketer and India`s long estlasting sports executive, was born on 19 August 1919, the son of Lieutenant General Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh, the glamorous princely ruler of the state of Patiala in Southern Punjab. Brought up in the lap of luxury, Bhalendra Singh shot up
BHIKHAN KHAN (d. 1688) was a Pathan who had served in the Mughal army before joining Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib on the recommendation of Pir Buddhu Shah of Sadhaura. He had one hundred soldiers under his command, but he crossed over to the hill rajas on the eve
BHIKHAN SHAH OR SHAH BHIKH, PIR, a seventeenth century Sufi saint, was born the son of Sayyid Muhammad Yusaf of Siana Sayyidari, a village 5 km from Pehova, now in Kurukshetra district of Haryana. For a time, he lived at Ghuram in present day Patiala district of the Punjab and
BHIRAI, MAI, spelt by some chroniclers also as Bharai and Virai, who belonged to Matte di Sarai, the birthplace of Guru Arigad (1504-52), was married to Bhai Mahima, a Khahira Jatt of Khadur (Sahib) in Amritsar district of the Punjab. She was like a sister to Bhai Pheru Mall, the
BROADFOOT, GEORGE (1807-1845) Joined service of the East India Company as a cadet in the Madras Native Infantry in 1826. In May 1841, he went to Kabul in command of the escort which accompanied the families of Shah Shuja` and Zaman Shah. He took part in the first Afghan war
BROWN, JOHN, alias RICHARD POTTER, an Englishman, who, deserting the East Indian Company`s service in the Bengal artillery, came to Lahore and joined the Sikh artillery in 1826. He was later promoted colonel and placed in charge of the artillery depot at Lahore. During the first Anglo Sikh war, he
BUDDH SINGH. BHAI (1903-1921), son of Bhai Surjan Singh and Mat Ganga Kaur was born on 4 January 1903 at village Kartarpur in Sialkot district. The family descended on the paternal side from Bhai Alam Singh Nachana, a prominent Sikh in Guru Gobind Singh`s retinue. Young Buddh Singh shared his
BUDDHU SHAH, PIR (1647-1704), a Muslim divine whose real name was Badr udDIn and who was an admirer of Guru Gobind Singh, was born on 13 June 1647 in a prosperous Sayyid family of Sadhaura, in present day Ambala district of Haryana. Because of his simplicity and silent nature during
BURNES, SIR ALEXANDER (1805-1841), British traveller, explorer and writer, was born on 16 May 1805. He joined Bombay infantry in 1821. Upon his arrival in India, he devoted himself to the study of the local languages and was, while still an ensign, selected for the post of regimental interpreter. In
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