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,

LAILI or LAILA, a famous horse of superb beauty and grace, was originally owned by Yar Muhammad Khan Barakzai, the Sikh tributary governor of Peshawar. It was much coveted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose love for horses was proverbial. With the romantic name given it, Laili was known throughout Central

ALI SINGH (d. 1716), a native of the village of Salaudi, near Sirhind, was in the service of Wazir Khan, the Mughal faujdar of Sirhind. According to Ratan Singh Bharigu, Prachin Panth Prakash, Wazir Khan, on learning of Banda Singh\'s advance from the South towards the Punjab under the

BHERA SRI GOBIND SINGH JI KA, also known as Var Bhere ki Patshahi Das, is an anonymous account, in Punjabi verse, of the battles of Anandgarh, Nirmohgarh and Chamkaur (1762 Bk/AD 1705). BAera from bher in Punjabi means a headon clash between two rival forces. A manuscript of this work

FARRUKH-SIYAR (1683-1719), Mughal emperor of India from 1713-19, was the second son of`Azim al-Shan, the third son of Bahadur Shah. Born at Aurangabad in the Deccan on 11 September 1683, he in his tenth year accompanied his father to Agra, and in 1697 to Bengal, when that province was added

HUKMA SINGH CHIMNI, commander cumcivil administrator under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. He was son of Ram Singh, of Bhera, who was the First one in the family to take the vows of Guru Gobind Singh`s amrita, and who entered the service of the Sukkarchakkia misi under Charhat Singh as a

KALE KHAN, one of the Pathan officers who had joined service under Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib after their dismissal from the Mughal army. He is said to have remained steadfast in his devotion to the Guru and his troops fought on his side in the battle of

MAIMUN KHAN, commander of a troop of 100 Afghan soldiers in the service of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), fought valiantly against Said Khan who in 1703 attacked Anandpur with a strong Mughal force.

PAINDA KHAN (d. 1635), spelt Painde Khan in Sikh chronicles, was the son of Fateh Khan. an Afghan resident of the village of `Alimpur, 7 km northeast of Kartarpur in the present Jalandhar district of the Punjab. His parents died while he was still very young, and he was brought

SHER MUHAMMAD KHAN, NAWAB (d. 1710), an Afghan feudatory of the Mughals, was the chief of Malerkotia and held a high military position in the sarkar or division of Sirhind. He had participated in the batde of Chamkaur and was present in the court at Sirhind when Nawab Wazir Khan,