HOLA MAHALLA or simply Hola, a Sikh festival, takes place on the first of the lunar month of Chef which usually falls in March. This follows the Hindu festival of Holi. The name Hola is the masculine form of the feminine sounding Holi. Mahalla, derived from the

SAMMAN BURJ, also called Musamman Burj, an octagonal tower commanding a wide range of buildings within the Lahore Fort, was built by Emperor Akbar, who made the city his capital for some time. Within the Fort was situated the royal palace which was enlarged by Jahangir and,

DHANPAT RAI, DlWAN (d. 1831), son of Ram Kumar, served Maharaja Ranjit Singh in various capacities. His grandfather Gutu Mall, who belonged to Shahpur district, was employed as diwan to the Bharigi sardars, Gujjar Singh and Sahib Singh, regulating the civil affairs of a large tract of land under

MEGH RAJ (d. 1864), the third son of Misr Divan Chand, starting as a clerk in Gobindgarh Fort at Amritsar under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, became head of the treasury at Amritsar in 1816. He held this position until the Maharaja`s death in 1839 soon after which Prince Nau Nihal Singh

DURLI JATHA was an impromptu band of Sikh volunteers active during the Jaito agitation, 1923-24, to force their way through in contrast to the AkaliJ`at has vowed to a nonviolent and passive course. Durii is a meaningless word: whatever sense it possesses is communicated on omatopoetically. At Jaito, on 14

MOHAN SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR (1897-1961), aesthete, philanthropist and privy counsellor, was born on 6 June 1897 at Rawalpindi in a family of note founded by Sadhu Singh (d. 1798), who under Sardar Milkha Singh Thehpuria, founder of present town of Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan), was entrusted with the duty of

GANDA SINGH (d. 1845), of Butala, in Gujranwala district of undivided Punjab, was a soldier in the Sikh army. Early in his career, he was assigned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to Prince Sher Singh`s troops. Ganda Singh`s father, Dharam Singh, had also served in the army and taken part

POHLO MALL, a goldsmith by caste and resident of Raja Sarisi in present day Amritsar district, was a mukhtdrkdr, i.e. attorney, in the service of Thakur Singh Sandharivalia and later, when the Sardar`s estate was placed under a court of wards, a clerk of the court. He kept in

GANDA SINGH (d. 1845), of Butala, in Gujranwala district of undivided Punjab, was a soldier in the Sikh army. Early in his career, he was assigned by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to Prince Sher Singh`s troops. Ganda Singh`s father, Dharam Singh, had also served in the army and taken part

RORI SAHIB GURUDWARA, EMINABAD Eminabad, an old town 15 kilometres south of Gujrariwala, is linked to Grand Trunk Road and Eminabad railway station by four-kilometres stretch of metalled road. It has three historical shrines Gurudwara Rori Sahib, half-a-kilometre northwest of the town, marks the place where once Guru Nanak Dev,