HIRA SINGH, MAHARAJA SIR

Explore Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, the autobiographical memoirs of Emperor Jahangir, masterfully translated and edited, revealing insights into his reign (1605-1627).

Explore the profound concept of Aatma and its connection to Paramaatma, God, and the transcendental self in Sikh and Hindu philosophies.

ABUL FAZL (1551-1602), principal secretary-cum-minister to Akbar, the Mughal emperor. He was an accomplished man of learning and was the author of two celebrated works, A`ini Akbari and Akbar-nama, the former being a description of Akbar`s administrative system and the latter a chronicle of the events of his reign. Like his father, Shaikh Mubarak, and brother, Faizi, Abul Fazl had Sufi leanings, and all three of them were a major influence in moulding the religious policy of the emperor. Born at Akbarabad on 14 January 1551, Abul Fazl took up service at the royal court in 1574, and through his uncommon wisdom and learning soon rose to become Akbar`s most trusted adviser.

AJlT SINGH (1881-1947), patriot and revolutionary, was born in February 1881 at Khatkar Kalari, in Jalandhar district of the Punjab, the son of Arjan Singh and Jai Kaur. He had his early education in his village and then at Sain Dass Anglo Sanskrit High School, Jalandhar, and D.A.V. College, Lahore. He later joined the Bareilly College to study law, but left without completing the course owing to ill health. He became a munshi or teacher of Oriental languages, establishing himself at Lahore. In 1903, he was married to Harnam Kaur, daugher of Dhanpat Rai, a pleader of Kasur.

Explore Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, the autobiographical memoirs of Emperor Jahangir, masterfully translated and edited, revealing insights into his reign (1605-1627).

Explore the profound concept of Aatma and its connection to Paramaatma, God, and the transcendental self in Sikh and Hindu philosophies.

ABD USSAMAD KHAN (d. 1737), governor of Lahore from 1713 to 1726, a descendant of the Naqashbandi saint `Abdulla Ahrar, a great grandson of Khwaja Baki of Baghdad, was born at Agra when his father, Khwaja `Abd ul-Karim Ansari, had come out with his family from Samarkand on a tour of India during the reign of Emperor Aurangzib. When Samad Khan was two years old, his parents returned to Samarkand where he passed the early years of his life and where he attained the office of Shaikh ul Islam. Soon thereafter he came to India obtaining appointment at the court of Aurangzeb. He served for many years in the Deccan without attracting much notice. 

BHAN SINGH (d. 1917), a Ghadr activist, was the son of Savan Singh, of the village of Sunet, in Ludhiana district of the Punjab. As a young man, Bhan Singh migrated to Shanghai and then moved to America where he started taking interest in Ghadr activity. He was among those who returned to India to make Ghadr or armed revolution in the country. Travelling by the Tosa Maru he reached Calcutta on 19 October 1914, but was arrested and interned in Montgomery jail.