CHARAN SINGH, DR (1853-1908), poet and musicologist, was born at Amritsar in 1853 (father: Kahn Singh ; mother Rup Kaur) and was seventh in descent from Diwan Kaura Mail, an influential eighteenth century Sahajdhari Sikh. Kahn Singh (1788-1878) who was of a retiring disposition had spent some years in the company of wandering ascetics before he was persuaded to give up the life of a recluse and become a householder. In addition to his practice of indigenous medicine, he collected and transcribed Sanskrit manuscripts and wrote verse in Braj thereby laying the foundations of the family`s literary tradition. His son, Charan Singh, studied Sanskrit, Braj, Persian and prosody, besides Ayurveda and Western medicine.
COURT, CAROLINE FEZLI AZAMJOO (1821-1869), born as Fezli Azamjoo in Kashmir on 13 June 1821, married Claude Auguste Court, a general in the Sikh army, by 1836. They had three children by the time they left the Punjab in 1843. On 25 June 1844, Fezli and her children were baptized at Marseilles, and she was on the same day religiously married to General Court by the Bishop in the Cathedrale of Marseilles. A fourth child was born in Marseilles in 1845. Little else is known about Fezli Azamjoo`s life at Marseilles.
ANANTA, BHAI, son of Bhai Kuko, a Vadhavan Khatri, was a devoted Sikh of the time of Guru Hargobind (1595-1644). According to Bhai Santokh Singh, Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, he once earned the Guru`s displeasure for wantonly hitting a crow which became lame as a result of the injury. He was, however, repentant and was pardoned through Bhai Bidhi Chand`s intercession. Bhai Ananta laid down his life fighting for the Guru in the battle of Amritsar (1629).
