BALBIR SINGH (1894-1974) Dr. Balbir Singh is an eminent thinker and expositor of Sikh literature. He is a man of much learning, both of eastern and western philosophy, besides a teacher of botany. His essays are available in collections like Charan Hari Visthar (Detailed account of Charan Singh) about his father, Dr. Charan Singh whose contribution to Punjabi literature has been noticed.
CHARAN SINGH. BHAI (d. 1921), one of the Nankana Sahib martyrs, was the son of Bhai Gokal Singh and Mai Lachhman Kaur of Diriga village, in Gujrat district. He lost his mother during infancy. His old grandmother looked after him for about five years and was then sent to live with his maternal aunt in a village in Lyallpur district where a childless neighbour Bhai Piara Singh adopted him as his son. He took the vows of the Khalsa at the age of 15. He adopted tattooing as a profession.
CHARAN SINGH, BHAI (1902-1921), son of Bhai Gurdit Singh and Mai Sada Kaur of the village of Kotla Santa Singh in Sheikhupura district, now in Pakistan, was born on 12 Maghar 1959 Bk/26 November 1902. His original name was Karnail Singh and he was renamed Charan Singh when he received the vows of the Khalsa. He attended the village primary school. He had a musical voice and got up a dhadi jatha (band of preachers singing heroic ballads from Sikh history to the accompaniment of small tambourines called dhads and a sarangi, a stringed instrument). He himself played the sarangi.
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 company of wandering ascetics before he was persuaded to give up the life of a recluse and become a householder. In addition to his practice of indigenous medicine, he collected and transcribed Sanskrit manuscripts and wrote verse in Braj thereby laying the foundations of the family`s literary tradition. His son, Charan Singh, studied Sanskrit, Braj, Persian and prosody, besides Ayurveda and Western medicine.
Charan Singh \'Shahid\' (1891 - 1935) was a Punjabi poet, novelist, essayist and journalist. His father Suba Singh was a deeply religious man whose personality made strong impact on Charan Singh. Hazara Singh Giani introduced young Charan Singh into the domain of literature. After matriculation, in about 1906 Charan Singh joined the staff of Khalsa Samachar weekly and came under the influence of Bhai Vir Singh. Like Dhani Ram \'Chatrik\'. In 1907, he published his maiden work, a novel, entitled Sham Sundar.
