DEVA SINGH NAROTAM, PANDIT (d. 1924), Nirmala scholar, was the son of Mahitab Singh of the village of Janetpura, 13 km north of Jagraori (30° 47`N, 75° 28`E), in Ludhiana district of the Punjab. He received his early lessons in the Sikh texts at the hands of Bhai Gurdit Singh and then left home to continue his studies under Sant Nattha Singh of Gurdwara Tapiana Sahib at Khadur Sahib, in Amritsar district, and later under Sant Mahna Singh (d. 1890) at the Nirmala dera or monastery at Khandur, near Mullaripur, in Ludhiana district. He accompanied Sant Mahna Singh to Bhai Rupa, a village 18 km north of Rampura Phul in Bathinda district, to join the Nirmala monastery called Dera Khuharivala. Here, Deva Singh, already reputed enough as a scholar to be known as pandit (lit. learned scholar), was put by his mentor through a course of comparative study of gurbani in the light of his knowledge of Sanskrit and Vedanta.
ADDAN SHAH, BHAI (1688-1757), third in succession to Bhai Kanhaiya, founder of the Sevapanthi sect, was born in 1688 in the village of Lau in Jhang district, now in Pakistan. His parents were of a devout temperament and he inherited from them a deeply religious bent of mind. He learnt Gurmukhi and got training in the exegesis of Sikh scriptural texts from Bhai Gurdas Dakkhani, a leading Sikh of Guru Tegh Bahadur`s time. He also remained in the company of Bhai Seva Ram, a disciple of and successor to Bhai Kanhaiya, for a long time and ultimately succeeded him as chief of the Sevapanthi sect.
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NAURANGABAD, village 7 km southeast of Tarn Taran (31°27`N, 74°56`E) along the Tarn TaranGoindval road, came into prominence when during the 1840`s the Gurdwara established here by Baba Bir Singh (1768-1844), reputed for his sanctity, started attracting devotees and pilgrims in hundreds every day. During the crisis that followed the assassination of Maharaja Sher Singh on 15 September 1843, and the entrenchment in power of Hira Singh Dogra and his mentor, PanditJalla, Baba Bir Singh`s dera or seat at Naurarigabad, became a rallying point for protesting soldiers and political fugitives, including such persongaes as Prince Pashaura Singh, Prince Kashmira Singh and Sardar Atar Singh Sandharivalia.
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