BIKRAMA SINGH, KANVAR (1835-1887), one of the pioneers of the Singh Sabha movement, was born in 1835. He was the son of Raja Nihal Singh of Kapurthala. As he grew up, he developed interest in classical learning and music. He received several honours and distinctions from the British government.

MAYYA SINGH, BHAI (1862-1928). spelt as Maya Singh in contemporary English writings, was a leading figure in the Singh Sabha awakening. He was born in 1862. Little is known about his early life, except that after his school years he joined the railways at Lahore as a clerk. There

BISHAN SINGH, GIANI (1875-1966), cleric and exegete, was a granthi or priest at the Khalsa College at Amritsar for 30 years. The Khalsa College was then a premier Sikh college excelling in research and publication in the field of Sikh studies. Four of the foremost Sikh scholars of this

MOHAN SINGH VAID, BHAI. (1881-1936), apothecary, writer, collector of books and social reformer, was born at Tarn Taran on Phagun sudil, 1937 Bk/7 March 1881, the youngest of the four sons of Bhai Jaimal Singh (1843-1919), who too was a void (practitioner of  Ayurveda or Indian system of medicine) of

CHELLARAM, BHAl (1904-1964), a well known Sahajdhari Sikh of modern times who sang and preached gurbani, the Guru`s inspired word, with a rare love and devotion, was born in a Sindhi family of Hyderabad (Sindh) on 3 May 1904, the son of Dr Tekchand Rachumal Mansukhani and Chettbai. Chellaram`s

NIRANJAN SINGH, PROFESSOR (1892-1979), educationist and writer, was born in 1892, the youngest of the five sons of Bhai Gopi Chand and Mai Mulan Devi, a Sahijdhari Sikh couple of the village of Harial in Gu|jarkhan tahsil, Rawalpindi district (now in Pakistan). His father died in 1901 and his brothers,

CHARAN SINGH, DR (1853-1908), poet and musicologist, was born at Amritsar in 1853 (father: Kahn Singh ; mother Rup Kaur) and was seventh in descent from Diwan Kaura Mail, an influential eighteenth century Sahajdhari Sikh. Kahn Singh (1788-1878) who was of a retiring disposition had spent some years in the

PRATAP SINGH, GIANI (1904-1984). preacher, journalist and author, was the son of Bhai Makkhan Singh and Mat Mathura Devi of the village of Nara in Rawalpindi district of the Punjab (now in Pakistan). Born on 3 January 1904, he learnt Gurmukhi and scripture reading at home and passed his

DITT SINGH, GIANI (1853-1901), scholar, poet and journalist, was an eminent Singh Sabha reformer and editor. He was born on 21 April 1853 at Kalaur, a village in Patiala district of the Punjab. His ancestral village was Jhalliari, near Chamkaur Sahib, but his father, Divan Singh, had migrated to

PREM SINGH HOTI, BABA (1882-1954), historian and biographer, was born on 2 November 1882 at Hoti, near Mardan, in North-West Frontier Province, now part of Pakistan. His father Ganda Singh, a man of means, traced his ancestry back to Bhalla family of Goindval, in Amritsar district, to which noted Sikh

GANESHA SINGH, BHAI (d. 1888), assistant chief secretary of the Khalsa Diwan, initially called Singh Sabha General, which was established in 1880 to coordinate the activities of the Singh Sabhas at Lahore and Amritsar, was employed in the Amritsar municipal committee as a sarishtadar or clerk. When the Khalsa Diwan

PURAN SINGH. PROFESSOR (1881-1931), poet and scientist, was born on 17 February 1881 at Salhadd (Abottabad) in a Khatri family (father: Kartar Singh; mother; Parma Devi). His father worked in the revenue department at Salhadd, though their ancestral home was in the village of Dera Khalsa in Rawalpindi district.