NIHAL SINGH THAKUR (1808-1895), Sikh theologian and musician, was born at Amritsar on 7 Phagun 1864 Bk/17 February 1808 to Bhai Mahal Singh and Mata Basi. Bhai Mahal Singh lived in the village of Sayyid ki Sarai in Gujjarkhan tahsil of Rawalpindi district, now in Pakistan, and had come to

MANGA, BHAI, a musician by profession was among Guru Nanak`s leading disciples. He has been described by Bhai Gurdas, Varan, XI. 13, as a lover of gurbani or the Guru`s word.

RAM SINGH, a holy man maintaining a dharamsala at Zahura, near Tanda, in Hoshiarpur district, assisted Bhai Maharaj Singh, the leader of the anti British rebellion of 1848-49, not only by lodging him and his followers in his dharamsala but also introducing him to several influential

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

ARJAN DEV, GURU (1563-1606), fifth in the line of ten Gurus or prophet teachers of the Sikh faith, was born on Baisakh vadi 7, 1620 Bk/15 April 1563 at Goindval, in present day Amritsar district, to Bhai Jetha who later occupied the seat of Guruship as Guru Ram Das, fourth

BAGGA SINGH, BHAI (1893-1921), was born during Assu 1950 Bk/September-October 1893, the son of Bhai Ganga Singh and Mai Mallan, a peasant couple of Chakk No. 38 Deva Singhvala in Sheikhupura district, in the newly developed canal area in western Punjab by the British. He learnt reading and writing

BALU HASNA (1564-1660), Sikh preacher and the first head of a dhuan or branch of the Udasi sect, was born the son of Pandit Hardatt and Mai Prabha of Srinagar (Kashmir) on 13 November 1564.. His original name was Balu. Accompanying his elder brother, Alu, better known as Bhai

BELA, pronounced bella, means, in Punjabi usage, a jungle of tall grasses, reeds and assorted shrubbery along the banks of rivers and streams. The word also received a different connotation when an Udasi saint and preacher, Banakhandi, established in AD 1818 a preaching centre on an Island in the River

BHAGVAN DAS, BHAI, a devoted Sikh of Burhanpur (21° 18`N, 76° 14`E), on the bank of the River Tapti, once travelled to Amritsar along with Bhai Bodala, Bhai Malak Kataru, Bhai Prithi Mall, Bhai Bhagatu, Bhai Dallu, Bhai Sundar Das and Bhai Svami Das to seek instruction from Guru

BHANGARNATH, was a Gorakhpanthi yogi whom, according to the BalaJanam Sakhi, Guru Nanak met in one of the mountain resorts of the siddhas or adepts who through austerities and penances had attained occult powers. Bhai Gurdas, Varan, I. 3941, places this meeting in Achal Vatala (Batala), now in Gurdaspur

BHULLA, BHAI, and Bhai Kulla, both Jhanjhi Sunars, accompanied by Bhagirath, a Soini Khatri, presented themselves before Guru Arjan and begged to be instructed in the pious way. The Guru told them, always to act like gurmukhs, and not like manmukhs. The Guru, according to Sikhan di Bhagat Mala,

BUDDH SINGH. BHAI (1903-1921), son of Bhai Surjan Singh and Mat Ganga Kaur was born on 4 January 1903 at village Kartarpur in Sialkot district. The family descended on the paternal side from Bhai Alam Singh Nachana, a prominent Sikh in Guru Gobind Singh`s retinue. Young Buddh Singh shared his