ALLARD, BANNOU PAN DEI (1814-1884), born of Raja Menga Ram of Chamba and Banni Panje Dei at Chamba on 25 January 1814, married Jean Francois Allard, one of Maharaja Ranjit Singh\'s French generals, in March 1826, and bore him seven children, two of whom died in infancy and are buried in Lahore along with their father. Allard and his wife also adopted a little orphan, Achille. In 1834, Bannou Pan Dei, her children and two of her female attendants accompanied Allard to France.
COURT, CLAUDE AUGUSTE (1793-1880), general in the Sikh army, honorary general of France, Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, recipient of the Auspicious Order of the Punjab, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of England, and Member of several continental scientific and learned societies, was born at Saint Cezaire, France, on 24 September 1793. In 1813. he joined the French army. After Napoleon`s defeat at Waterloo in 1815 he was dismissed from service.
DE LA FONT, CAPTAIN AUGUSTE, a Frenchman, who entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s service in 1838. He was appointed an aide decamp to General Ventura. Later, he acted as a staff officer to Colonel C.M. Wade during his journey to Kabul. He took active part in the action at Fort `All Masjid and was also helpful in maintaining peace between the Sikh contingent and Wade`s "somewhat unruly" force. He left service in the Punjab in 1843 and returned to France. His younger brother (Christian name not known) also served in the Sikh army under Generals Avitabile and Ventura.
DUBUIGNON, ROBERT WALTER, DE TALBOT (1809-1868), a French adventurer in the employ of Begam Samaru of Sardhana, who came to Lahore to seek better prospects. He obtained employment in the Sikh court through the good offices of General Ventura, and was assigned to General Allard as aide decamp. He left the service after about a year to go into business, exporting goods from Kashmir to France in exchange for French merchandise. He died at Ludhiana in 1868.
