LABH SINGH. BABU (1895-1947), Akali politician, was born in 1895 at the village of Lasara, in Jalandhar district, the son of Dula Singh. He spent his early youth at Quetta and passed his Matriculation examination from the high school there. In 1914, he took up service in the army

LACHHMAN SINGH (1885-1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the leader of the jatha of more than one hundred Sikhs who were attacked in Gurdwara Janam Asthan (birthplace of Guru Nanak) by the custodian of the shrine, Mahant Narain Das, and his accomplices, and killed to a man. Lachhman

LACHHMAN SINGH GILL (1917-1969), Akali politician and chief minister of the Punjab for a brief term, was born at Jagraon in Ludhiana district. He started life in 1937 as a government contractor. He entered politics via the Shiromani Akali Dal of which he became a member during the Punjabi

LACHHMAN SINGH GRANTHI, BHAI (1867-1921), one of the martyrs of Nankana Sahib, was born in 1867, the son of Bhai Nanak and Mai Gariga Dei. His original name was Lachhman. As he grew up, he enlisted in the army as a cook. There he underwent the rites of Khalsa

LACHHMI, RANI, daughter of Desa Singh Vadpagga, a Sandhu Sikh of the village of Jogki Khan, in Gujranwala district, now in Pakistan, was married to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, in 1820. She survived the Maharaja and received from the British a pension of Rs 11,200 per annum.

LADDHA, BHAI, a Sikh widely respected for his piety, compassion and selfless service, lived in Lahore during the time of Guru Arjan. When Bhai Buddhu, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, solicited Guru Arjan`s blessing to cancel Bhai Lakkhu`s curse upon his brickkiln, the Guru deputed

LAHINA SINGH (d. 1797), one of the triumvirate who ruled over Lahore for more than 30 years before its occupation by Ranjit Singh, was the son of Dargaha and was adopted by Gurbakhsh Singh Roranvala, a Sikh chief of note belonging to the Bhangi misl, after whose death in

LAHINA SINGH MAJITHIA (d. 1854), son of Desa Singh Majithia, was commander, civil and military administrator, and one of the principal sardars of the Sikh court. Of all the Majithias associated with the ruling family of Lahore, Lahina Singh was the ablest and most ingenious. He succeeded his father

LAHINA SINGH SANDHANVALIA (d. 1843), son of Amir Singh Sandhanvalia, enjoyed at the court of Ranjit Singh the title of "Ujjal Didar, Nirmal Buddh, Sardar i-ba-Waqar (Resplendent presence, pure of intellect, the Sardar with prestige marked) Sardar Lahina Singh Sandhanvalia Bahadur." Like other collaterals of the Maharaja, Lahina Singh

LAHINA SINGH, SARDAR (d.1893) a military commander during Sikh rule in the Punjab, came of a Sohi Khatri family of Gharjakh, a village adjacent to the town of Gujranwala (now in Pakistan). His grandfather, Panjab Singh, was a trooper in the regiment of Sardar Fateh Singh Kalianvala, a general

LAIRDEE (d. 1846), an Englishman who deserted the East India Company`s artillery and came to Lahore. He took up service under the Sikhs in 1842. He trained the gunners and was one of the few Europeans who actually fought against the English in the first Anglo Sikh war. At

LAKHBIR SINGH, SANT (1860-1935), a convert to Sikhism, was born Karim Bakhsh to Muslim parents, Natthu and Basri, at Bakapur, a small village about 3 km from Phillaur, in the Punjab, which became the site of a big Sikh convention at the advent of the twentieth century. Karim Bakhsh

LAKHPAT RAI (d. 1748), diwan or revenue minister at Lahore under two successive Mughal viceroys, Zakariya Khan (1726-45) and Yahiya Khan (1745-47). He came of a Hindu Khatri family of Kalanaur, in Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. In 1736 when Zakariya Khan organized a mobile column of 10,000 to scour

LAKKHA SINGH was, according to Gur Ratan Mal (Sau Sakht), one of the attendants of Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in the south. He killed one of the two Pathans who had conspired to assassinate the Guru. The other assassin, Jamshaid Khan, who actually stabbed the Guru, had already

LAKKHA, BHAI, a devout Sikh who served as Guru Hargobind`s drummer. He was in attendance upon the Guru during the battles of Ruhela and Amritsar (1629).

LAKKHAN RAI, son of Bik Chand, a Changra Rajput of Una, now a district town of Himachal Pradesh, embraced Sikhism during the time of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-75), and was later counted, along with his brother Bhoj Raj, among the poets and scholars patronized by Guru Gobind Singh. The

LAKKHI MALL, DIWAN (d. 1844), an official of the Lahore Government in the Indus territories, which included Dera Ismail Khan, annexed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1836. Lakkhi Mall`s charge also included Bannu which the Sikhs had occupied in 1825. In January 1844 Diwan Lakkhi Mall led an expedition

LAKKHI SHAH OR LAKKHI RAI (d. 1680), son of Godhu Ram, a Yadobansi Rajput of the Barhtia clan, belonged to village of Khairpur in the present Muzaffargarh district of Pakistan. Also described as a banjara or roving trader, he was an affluent man with a permanent residence in Delhi.

LAKKHU, BHAI, a pious Sikh of Lahore, lived in very poor circumstances. Because of his appearance, he was once denied entry to the feast Bhai Buddhu, the brick manufacturer, had laid out for the Sikhs, seeking their blessing for the success of his venture. Bhai Lakkhu thereupon pronounced a

LAKKHU, BHAI, a pious Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) was also a brave warrior. He commanded a troop in the battle of Kartarpur fought against the imperial army under Qutab Khan,faujdar of Jalandhar and a cousin of Painda Khan. Painda Khan, the Pathan who had been

LAL CHAND, a confectioner turned warrior, won praise from Guru Gobind Singh for his feats in the battle of Bhangani (1688). Thus does the Guru eulogize him in his Bachitra Natak, "Wrathful became Lal Chand. His face turned red, he humbled the pride of many a lion (i.e. enemy

LAL KAUL, PANDIT (d. 1849), a Kashmiri Brahman, served the Amir of Afghanistan before entering Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service. He look part in the Sikh expedition to Kashmir in 1819 under Misl Divan Chand. After this he was for three years employed as governor of Multan, and was subsequently appointed

LAL SINGH (1798-1875), of the village of Talvandi in Gurdaspur district, saw, like his father Dal Singh, a good deal of service under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He fought in the Multan and Kashmir campaigns of 1818-19. He also fought at the famous battle of Jamrud in April 1837, where

Lal Singh (pen-name Kamla Akali), was the founder of the travelogue genre in Punjabi literature and an essayist of renown. His travelogue Mera Valayati Safar Nama (My Travel to England) has been acclaimed by the reading public. Sailani Des Bhagat, another travelogue, describes the return from Japan of two

LAL SINGH MORANVALA, promoted a general in the Sikh army during the prime ministership of Jawahar Singh, was a member of the Council of Regency constituted by Maharani Jind Kaur in December 1844. He took part in the operation against Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu launched by the Lahore

LAL SINGH NAROTAM (1840-1926), also known as Sant Lal Singh Hare Ram, a Nirmala scholar, was born the son of Bhai Kirpal Singh and Raj Karni Devi on 14 September 1840 at Bhera,Jehlum district, now in Pakistan. The family claimed descent from Bhai Manna Singh, one of Guru Gobind

LAL SINGH, BHAI, ruler of the Sikh state of Kaithal, was the younger son of Bhai Desu Singh, founder of the principality. Unlike other rulers of the cis Sutlej states, the Kaithal chiefs did not assume the title of rajah (king), but preferred to use the family epithet of

LAL SINGH, RAJA (d. 1866), son of Misr Jassa Mall, a Brahman shopkeeper of Sanghoi, in Jehlum district in West Punjab, entered the service of the Sikh Darbar in 1832 as a writer in the treasury. He enjoyed the patronage of the Dogra minister Dhian Singh and, when in 1839

LAL, BHAI, a chaudhari or headman of the village of SurSingh in the parganah of Patti in present day Amritsar district of the Punjab, was led to Guru Arjan`s presence by Bhai Langah, another chaudhari in the same parganah. Bhai Langah had already been initiated a Sikh. It was

LALA, a Pannu Jatt, was, according to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, a devoted Sikh contemporary of Guru Angad. He is said to have accompanied Bhai Bala sent out by Guru Angad in search of the horoscope of Guru Nanak so that he might have a

LALA, BHAI, a Sethi Khatri, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Arjan. He was a talented musician and recited and expounded the holy hymns at Sikh gatherings. See Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI.24.

Baba Gurumukh Singh Laliton was a great revolutionary freedom fighter who accepted a life of sacrifice and suffering for the sake of his country. Baba Gurumukh Singsh Laliton was bom in 1888 in the village of Laliton Khurd in the Ludhiana district of the Punjab. He belongs to the

LALO, BHAI, was, according to Bala Janam Sakhi, a carpenter by profession who lived at Saidpur, present day town of Eminabad in Gujranwala district of Pakistan, and with whom Guru Nanak put up for three days during his travel through those parts. Bhai Lalo served him with devotion. That

LALU, BABA (1444-1542), paternal uncle of Guru Nanak and the son of Shiv Ram and Mata Banarasi, was born at Talvandi Rai Bhoi. He was the younger brother of Mahita Kalu, father of Guru Nanak.

LALU, BHAI, headman of Khadur (Sahib), a village in Amritsar district of the Punjab, became a devout Sikh of Guru Angad. According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, he along with Bhai Durga and Bhai Jivanda once begged the Guru to show them the way to liberation.

LALU, BHAI, a Vij Khatri, was initiated into Sikh faith by Guru Arjan. The Guru instructed him in the virtues of humility and of sharing with others whatever one had to eat. Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, mentions Bhai Lalu`s name among those who earned prominence

LANE, STEPHEN, an American, who served for some years in Scindia`s army rising lo the rank of lieutenant. Hejoined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army in 1834, and was entrusted with the command of a battalion. Being an habitual drunkard, he was dismissed from service after about 18 months and deported

LANGAH, BHAI, a well known figure in early Sikh history, was originally a follower of Sultan Sakhi Sarwar. Son of Abu ulKhair, a Dhillon Jatt with a Muslim name, belonging to the village of Jhabal, in the present Amritsar district of the Punjab, he was one of the three

LANGAR SINGH, BABA, an eighteenth century Nirmala saint, was the son of Bhai Parshada Sihgh and Mai Valtohl, a devout Sikh couple contemporary with Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708) and living at Kot Kapura (30"35`N. 74°49`E) now in Faridkot district of the Punjab. The names Prasada (lit. bread or meal),

LATKAN, BHAT, a Ghura Khatri, received instruction at the hands of Guru Arjan and became a Sikh. The name also appears in Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 24.

LAWRENCE, JOHN IAIRD MAIR (1811-1879), Governor General of India, younger brother of Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence, was born on 4 March 1811 at Richmond, in Yorkshire, England. He was educated at Bristol, Londonderry, Bath and Haileybury. In 1830, he look up appointment under the East India Company and served from

LAWRENCE, SIR HENRY MONTGOMERY (1806-1857), elder brother of Governor General John Laird Mair Lawrence, was born on 28 June 1806 at Matura, in Ceylon. After education at schools in Londonderry and Bristol, he joined the Bengal Artillery, in 1823, as a Second Lieutenant. In 1833, lie was appointed an officer

LEIGH, WILLIAM, an Irish adventurer, who while serving with the 19th Light Dragoons in Bombay, shot down, in 1803, his captain and fled his unit. He travelled in the remote parts of Sindh and Afghanistan. In Khorasan he embraced Islam and adopted the name of Muhammad Khan. He came

LITTLER, SIRJOHN HUNTER (1783-1856), garrison commander at Firozpur, the concentration point of British forward movement preparatory to the first Anglo Sikh war, was born on 6 January 1783 at Tarvin, Cheshire, England. He joined the 10th Bengal Native Infantry in August 1800 and served in the campaigns under Lord Lake