RAM SINGH BEDI, BABA (d. 1797), a Nihang warrior, was the son of Bhai Faqir Chand, of the village of Kotia Faqir Chand, in Sialkot district, now in Pakistan. The family claimed direct descent from Guru Nanak. Ram Singh took khande di pahul or vows by the double edged sword,

KESHO GOPAL, PANDIT, a learned Brahman, became a devotee of Guru Amar Das. According to Sarup Das Bhalla, Mahimd Prakdsfi, he used to give discourses at the afternoon gatherings called by the Guru at Goindval. The words keso gopal pandit, appearing in the Guru Granth Sahib in the composition

KIRPAL DAS, MAHANT, an Udasi prelate, was putting up with Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib at the time of the commencement of the battle of Bharigam, fought between the troops of hill chiefs and those of Guru Gobind Singh, in 1688. As his followers, not given to fighting

LAKKHU, BHAI, a pious Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644) was also a brave warrior. He commanded a troop in the battle of Kartarpur fought against the imperial army under Qutab Khan,faujdar of Jalandhar and a cousin of Painda Khan. Painda Khan, the Pathan who had been

PHUL SHAH (1574-1663), Udasi Sikh preacher, was born the son of Bhai Jai Dev and Mat Subhadra, Khatris of Srinagar (Kashmir), on 14 February 1574. Under the influence of his elder brother, Bhai Goind, another well known Udasi Sikh and head of one of the four dhudns or branches

PRARTHANATITADAN, poem in Bengali by Rabindranath Tagore on the Sikh martyr Bhai Taru Singh. Written on 2 Agrahayan, 1306 BS/1819 November 1899 and included in Kathd, a collection of Tagore`s poems published in October-November 1899, the poem refers to Bhai Taru Singh`s arrest along with some other Sikhs "who had

AKIL DAS, an eighteenth century head of the Handali sect of Jandiala in Amritsar district of the Punjab, also known as Haribhagat Niranjania, was an inveterate enemy of the Sikhs. Giani Gian Singh, Shamsher Khalsa, describes him as "Akul Das who basked in the name of Haribhagat." He was

AMIR SINGH, GIANI (1870-1954), a widely revered Sikh school man, was born in 1870 at the village of Dargahi Shah in Jhang district, now in Pakistan. His parents, Prem Singh and Thakari Devi, a religious minded couple of modest means, admitted him at the age of 15 to Mahant

SHANKAR DAS (d. 1832) was introduced at the Sikh court by his father, Shiv Dial, himself an employee of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had appointed him manager of the Dhanni country. Shankar Das was placed under Prince Kharak Singh, the heir apparent, to manage his Jagirs. When Diwan Moti

BAHILO, BHAI (1553-1643), a Siddhu Jatt of the village of Phaphre, in present day Bathinda district of the Punjab, and a prominent Sikh of his time. He was originally a follower of Sultan Sakhi Sarwar and a local priest of that semi Muslim sect of Sultanias or Sarwarias. In

SARASVATI Shiva, the destroyer of many sins and the master of three worlds, wandered in several pilgrim-stations, but could not be successful in his mission. The sin of severing the fifth head of Brahma could not be washed off from him. Because of his action, the skull of Brahma

DINA NATH, DIWAN (1795-1857), civil administrator and counsellor of considerable influence at the Sikh court for well over three decades, was the son of a Kashmir! Pandit, Bakht Mall, who had migrated to Delhi during the oppressive rule of the Afghan governors of the valley. He was also closely