MULRAJ, DIWAN (1814-1851), son of Diwan Savan Mall, the governor of Multan, served as the kardar of Shuja`abad and Jharig during the lifetime of his father. He succeeded his father to the governorship of Multan after the latter`s death on 29 September 1844. The subah of Multan then included the

ALAM CHAND was a masand or parish leader at Lahore in Guru Arjan\'s time. He was known for his pious and honest ways. He brought to the Guru regularly offerings collected from the Lahore sangat. His favourite maxim, tells Bhai Mani Singh in the Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, was

BANVALI, BHAI, and his brother Paras Ram, Brahmans by birth, were devotees of Guru Hargobind. They were professional physicians and, as says Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, they treated Sikhs and holymen free of charge, and went travelling preaching the word of the Guru. Once they asked

CHATUR DAS, PANDIT, a learned Brahman of Varanasi. who engaged Guru Nanak in a discourse during his visit to the city. He was intrigued by the Guru`s apparel which was neither of a householder nor of a hermit. As relates the Puratan Janam Sakhi, he questioned him, "What faith

DUNI CHAND is described in Puratan Janam Sakhi as a Dhuppar Khatri of Lahore who held in the parganah the revenue rank of karori (lit. the holder of a karor or ten million). He was performing sraddha or anniversary feast for his deceased father when he learnt that the

HARIDAS, BHAI, a Soini Khatri, was the superintendent of the State jail in Gwalior Fort during the reign of Emperor Jahangir (1605-27). When Guru Hargobind was detained in Gwalior Fort under the orders of the Emperor, Haridas treated him with great veneration and devotion.

KALHA, RAI, feudatory chief of Raikot in Ludhiana district of the Punjab, was a contemporary of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). Converted from Hinduism to Islam, the Rai`s family were still among the admirers of the Gurus. When Guru Gobind Singh, after his escape from Chamkaur, was passing through his

KIRPA RAM, PANDIT or Kripa Ram (d. 1705), was the son of Bhai Aru Ram, a Sarasvat Brahman of Matan, 65 km east of Srinagar, in Kashmir. Aru Ram had met Guru Har Rai and sought his blessing at the time of the latter`s visit to Kashmir in 1660. In

MIHARBAN, (1581-1640), the popular name of Manohar Das, who was the grandson of Guru Ram Das, fourth in spiritual descent from Guru Nanak, and son of Prithi Chand, the elder brother of Guru Arjan, Nanak V. Born on 9 January 1581, Miharban spent his early years in the company

POHLO MALL, a goldsmith by caste and resident of Raja Sarisi in present day Amritsar district, was a mukhtdrkdr, i.e. attorney, in the service of Thakur Singh Sandharivalia and later, when the Sardar`s estate was placed under a court of wards, a clerk of the court. He kept in

SADHU JAN, a Punjabi poet of the seventeenth century who wrote verses on mythical and spiritual themes. His identity is not clearly established. While Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi (1718) identifies him as Bhai Sadhu who married in 1629 Bibi Viro, daughter of Guru Hargobind, Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahima Prakash, part

SOHAN LAL SURI, vakil or attorney at the Lahore court, is famous for his monumental work in Persian, `Umdat iitTwankh, a chronicle of Sikh times comprising five daftars or volumes. Little is known about Sohan Lal`s early life except that he was the son of Lala Ganpat Rai, a