NIHAL SINGH AHLUVALIA (d. 1852), son of Fateh Singh Ahluvalia, succeeded to the Ahluvalia chieftaincy on the death, in 1836, of his father. In his youth he was a favourite of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and was the recipient of the towns of Nur Mahal and Kalat Majra and other occasional bounties. Upon succession, however, he was subjected to a fee of 1,000,000 rupees. His younger brother, Amar Singh, who lived in Lahore, conspired to usurp the gaddi and was encouraged in his ambition by the Maharaja as well as by his minister, Dhian Singh.
NIHAL SINGH DAMDAMIAN, 19th century Nirmala saint, a native of Mimsa village of the former princely state of Patiala, received initiation and religious education at the hands of Mahant Dunna Singh, of Uchcha Buriga, a Nirmala sanctuary at Damdama Sahib, Talvandi Sabo, in present day Bathinda district, and became head of the Buriga after the latter`s death. He was respected for his humility and unassuming nature and for the zeal with which he served in the Guru ka Larigar and the loving care with which he looked after the cattle in the shed. In 1860, he with a band of youthful devotees, went to Dera Baba Ram Rai in Dehra Dun and, felling one of the tallest trees in the pine forest of its extensive estate, brought it to Talvandi Sabo carrying it on their heads all the way to Patiala and thence on bullock carts arranged by Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala to Damdama Sahib where it was put up as the religious flagmast. Reaching Damdama Sahib, Nihal Singh humbly stood at the entrance where the sangat had deposited their shoes and would not enter the Takht Sahib until he had obtained pardon by paying penalty for having violated the Sikh code of conduct forbidding any dealings with the followers of Baba Ram Rai.
NIHAL SINGH KAIRON (1863-1928), a pioneer of women`s education in the Punjab, was born on 22 December 1863 at Kairori, a village in Amritsar district. His father, Gulab Singh, a deeply religious person, had three sons, Nihal Singh being the youngest of them. Nihal Singh had no formal schooling, and travelled with his brother, Tarlok Singh, to Malaya (Malaysia) while still very young. He joined the Royal Artillery at Hong Kong, but soon secured his release and returned to his village in the Punjab to work for community welfare and reform. He lectured at Singh Sabha divans.
NIHAL SINGH SODHI (d. 1859), son of Megh Singh, entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army in 1819, and was, five years later, made commandant of 100 horsemen in the Charyari corps. He fought for Maharaja Sher Singh during the siege of Lahore in January 1841. Under Sher Singh`s successor, Nihal Singh was sent in command of 1,000 horse to administer the area of Dhanni which was in a state of insurrection. He shot the leader of the insurgents dead and by his vigour and severity soon reduced the country to submission.
NIHAL SINGH, BAVA, resident of Sri Hargobindpur in Gurdaspur district, was originally an employee of the princely state of Kalsia serving in the police department. Later, he went over to Maharaja Bikram Singh of Faridkot. Bava Nihal Singh belonged to the Kuka or Namdhari sect and was the author of an Urdu book, Khurshid Khalsd, published in 1885, in which he extolled Baba Ram Singh Kuka as the eleventh Guru of the Sikhs.
NIHAL SINGH, SANT, also known as Pandit Nihal Singh, a Sanskrit scholar well versed in Vedanta as well as in gurbdm, lived in Sikh times in the village of Thoha Khalsa, in district Rawalpindi, now in Pakistan. Pandit Nihal Singh is famous for his Sanskrit commentary on Japu, {hefapugudhdrthadipakd (Lamp which illuminates the deep and hidden meaning of the Japu) patterned on Sarikar`s Bhasya on Veddntasutra. According to the colophon appended to the manuscript, work on Gudhdrthadipakd was undertaken at the instance of an Udasi saint, Bava Buddh Sarup.
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