RAM SINGH (d. 1836), son of Bhagat Singh, descended from the Tsapur branch of the Randhava family founded by his grandfather Dasaundha Singh. Dasaundha Singh, on receiving the Sikh initiatory rites in 1730, entered the service of Adina Beg and remained with him for several years

MAHITAB DEVI (d. 1839), known as Rani Katochan or Rani Gaddan, was daughter of Raja Sansar Chand Katoch of Kangra. She was married to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1829 and had great influence over him. At Lahore she introduced the art of Phulkari embriodery, arranged marriages of orphan girls

MANGAL SINGH (d. 1864), manager of Prince Kharak Singh`s estates in Sikh times, came of a Sandhu family of the village of Sirarivali, in Sialkot district, which traced its ancestry to one Husain who founded, at the beginning of sixteenth century, Hasanvala, a village in Gujrariwala district. Mangal Singh`s

NAU NIHAL SINGH, KANVAR( 1821-1840), son of Maharaja Kharak Singh, was born on 23 February 1821. According to the official Lahore diarist, Sohan Lal Suri, great rejoicing took place at his birth and a Persian chronogramA bouquet of wisdom`s garden was coined recording the year of his birth. Nau

RAJ KAUR (d. 1838), also known as Datar Kaur or more popularly Mal Nakain, was the second wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. She was the daughter of Ran Singh Nakai, and was married to the Maharaja in 1798. Though Ranjit Singh married several other women, Mal Nakain remained his

VAR SHAH MUHAMMAD, also known as Jangnama Shah Muhammad or Hind Panjab da Jang, is a long poem in Punjabi in the traditional baint metre dealing with the events following the deaul of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, notably the Sikhs` warwiui the English in 1845-46. The author is a Muslim, Shah

AKALI DAL, CENTRAL, a political organization of the Sikhs set up in March 1934 as a parallel body to the Shiromani Akali Dal. The latter was formed on 14 December 1920 to assist the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in its campaign for the reformation of the management of the

ATAR SINGH KALIANVALA (d. 1851), soldier and feudatory chief in Sikh times, was son of Dal Singh Naherna, a military commander under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Atar Singh`s ancestors belonged to the village of Karial, in Sheikhupura district, now in Pakistan. His great great grandfather, Sahib Singh, had been given

CENTRAL SIKH LEAGUE, political organization of the Sikhs which guided their affairs until the Shiromani Akali Dal emerged as a mass force. The inaugural session of the Central Sikh League was held at Amritsar on 29 December 1919, coinciding with the annual sessions of the Indian National Congress and the

CHAND KAUR, MAHARANI (1802-1842), wife of Maharaja Kharak Singh, the eldest son of and successor to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was born the daughter of SardarJaimal Singh of the Kanhaiya mis in 1802 at Fatehgarh, in present day Gurdaspur district of the Punjab. She was married to Prince Kharak Singh

CHET SINGH BAJVA (d. 1839), Maharaja Kharak Singh`s distant relation and old tutor who wielded considerable influence at the Sikh court. The Dogra minister, Dhian Singh, looked upon Chet Singh as a potential rival to his position. The latter aligned himself with the Bhais and the Misrs at the

DEVINDER SINGH, RAJA (1822-1865), was born on 5 September 1822, the son of Raja Jasvant Singh of Nabha. He ascended the throne of Nabha on 5 October 1840 at the age of eighteen. During the first AngloSikh war of 184546, Devinder Singh whose sympathy was with the Lahore Darbar