SARDAR, in Persian amalgam of sar (head) and dar (a suffix derived from the verb dash tan, i.e. to hold) meaning holder of headship, is an honorific signifying an officer of rank, a general or chief of a tribe or organization. Sikhs among whom, during the time of the Guru and for half a century thereafter, no words indicative of high rank were current other than the common appellation bhaior, rarely, baba to express reverence due to age or descent from the Gurus, adopted sardar for the leaders of their Jathas or bands fighting against Afghan invaders under Ahmad Shah Durrani.
ADIT, a professional soldier of Soini clan, came to take refuge at the feet of Guru Arjan. He...
GURDWARA SHAHIDGANJ BABA GURBAKHSH SINGH, a small shrine standing in a narrow bazar behind the Akal Bunga, commemorates the saga of heroism of Baba Gurbakhsh Singh Nihang and his twenty-nine comrades who faced a Durrani horde in December 1764 and fell to the last man fighting in defence of the Harimandar.
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