BHAG SINGH, SANT (1766-1839), of Kuri. a holy man widely respected in his time, was born the son of Bhai Hans Rai in 1766 at Qadirabad, a village in Gujrat district (now in Pakistan), where his grandfather, Gurbakhsh Singh, said to have been in the retinue of Guru Gobind Singh, settled after the Guru`s passing away at Nanded, in the Deccan. Bhag Singh learnt to read Gurmukhi letters and the Guru Granth Sahib at the village gurdwara. As he grew up, he made a pilgrimage to Nanded. Returning to the north, he visited Una, now in Himachal Pradesh, where he became a disciple of Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, a descendant of Guru Nanak in direct line.
CHET SINGH BAJVA (d. 1839), Maharaja Kharak Singh`s distant relation and old tutor who wielded considerable influence at the Sikh court. The Dogra minister, Dhian Singh, looked upon Chet Singh as a potential rival to his position. The latter aligned himself with the Bhais and the Misrs at the court and sought the support of General Ventura and other Feringhee officers in open rivalry with the Dogra faction. The Dogras, on the other hand, won over Kanvar Nau Nihal Singh, the heir apparent, to their side.
DHIAN SINGH, RAJA (1796-1843), the second son of Miari Kishora Singh Dogra and the middle one of the three brothers from Jammu serving Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born on 22 August 1796. He was presented before Ranjit Singh at Rohtas in 1812 by his elder brother, Gulab Singh, and was given employment as a trooper on a monthly salary of sixty rupees. Dhian Singh by his impressive bearing, polished manner and adroitness, steadily rose in the Maharaja`s favour and, in 1818, replaced Jamadar Khushal Singh as deorhidar or chamberlain to the royal household.
