GURDAS, BHAI (1551-1636), much honoured in Sikh learning and piety, was a leading figure in early Sikhism who enjoyed the partronage of Guru Arjan under whose supervision he inscribed the first copy of Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, which is still extant. He was born in a Bhalla

SAVAN MALL, a nephew of Guru Amar Das, was pious and accomplished Sikh. As Guru Amar Das, after having been installed Guru by Guru Angad, moved from Khadur to Goindval, a number of his followers came to reside there, necessitating the construction of many new houses. To procure timber

POTHIAN, BABA MOHAN VALIAN, manuscript copies {pothidn, lit. books), in Gurmukhi script, containing some of the compositions of the first three Gurus and eight medieval saints, which, according to Sikh tradition. Guru Arjan (1563-1606) obtained from Baba Mohan, the elder son of the Third Guru, Amar Das, and which

MOHAN, BABA (b. 1536), the elder son of Guru Amar Das, was born to Mata Mansa Devi at Basarke Gillan, near Amrtisar, in 1536. He was of a taciturn disposition and most of the time kept to his room in Goindval absorbed in study and contemplation. He had in

MANOHAR DAS. BHAI, a great grandson of Guru Amar Das and a distant cousin of Guru Hargobind, was a devoted Sikh, known for his piety and humility. He had been brought up by Guru Arjan himself. As he grew up, he started performing kirtan at Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib and

MAI DAS, a Vaisnavite sadhu of the village of Narli, now in Amritsar district of the Punjab, embraced Sikh faith at the hands of Guru Amar Das. As a wandering sadhu, he once visited Goindval and desired to meet the Guru, but since he was unable to comply with

MAHADEV, BABA (1560-1605), the second son of Guru Ram Das (1534-81) and Mata Bhani, was born on 1 June 1560 at Goindval, in present-day Amritsar district of the Punjab. As he grew up, he displayed little interest in worldly affairs and remained occupied in meditation. According to Bhai Gurdas,

KHEDA, BHAI, a Brahman resident of Khem Karan, in present day Amritsar district, was a devout Sikh of the time of Guru Amar Das. According to Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahimd Prakdsh, Kheda was initially a staunch worshipper of the goddess Durga and regularly went on pilgrimage to Javalamukhi. Once,

KABUL VALI MAI. or the Lady from Kabul, is the name chroniclers have given to a woman who rendered devoted service during the digging of the bdoH at Goindval under the supervision of Guru Amar Das. Day after day, says Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahimd Prakdsh, she toiled away at the

ALLAYAR, a wealthy Muslim horse dealer of Delhi, who turned a preacher of Sikhism, first came to Guru Amar Das at Goindval escorted by Bhai Paro, a prominent Sikh of Dalla, a village in present day Kapurthala district of the Punjab. It is said that returning from Kabul once

GOINDVAL (31°22`N, 75"9`E), the first ever place of Sikh pilgrimage so designated by its founder, Guru Amar Das. This in fact was the spot where the ancient eastwest highway crossed the River Beas. With the renovation of the highway by Sher Shall Sur, the Afghan ruler of north India

GIRDHARI, BHAI, a wealthy but childless shopkeeper from southern districts, who hearing of how a certain goldsmith had got offspring as a result of Guru Amar Das`s blessing, made a pilgrimage to Goindval to see the Guru. The Guru uttered a sloka (couplet) as he saw him: "None can erase