BENARES (BANARASA, VARANASI) .....They have rosaries around their necks and glittering jugs in their hands—they cannot be called the saints of Hari, they are the Thugs of Benares (Varanasi).(Asa Kabir, pp. 476) He lives on the bank of Asi rivulet in Benares (Varanasi). (Gond Namdev, p. 873) It is

TURK, a word standing in Sikh tradition usually for a Muslim, is really the name of a race of people which orginating probably in Central Asia established itself in Asia Minor and southeastern Europe in the west and in India in the east. The earliest references to Turks connect them

Duggal, Kartar Singh (1917 - ) is one of the most prolific fictionist in Punjabi. He was born at Pothohar town in Dhamiyal (now in Pakistan). He is well-acqainted with the life of rural Punjab, particularly before the Partition which left ever-oozing scars on the psyche of the brave

UDHAM SINGH (1899-1940), a militant nationalist, was born Sher Singh on 26 December 1899, at Sunam, in the then princely state of Patiala. His father, Tahal Singh, was at that time working as a watchman on a railway crossing in the neighbouring village of Upali. Sher Singh lost his

FERINGHEE is an adaptation of the Indo Persian term frangi or firingi used to denote a person of European origin. It is dervied from Frank, "a member of a group of ancient Germanic peoples dwelling in the regions of the Rhine, one division of whom, the Salians, conquered Gaul [modern

WATHEN, GERARD ANSTRUTHER (1878-1958), a British educator who came by much applause and friendliness at the hands of his Sikh pupils and their parents during his time as principal of the Khalsa College at Amritsar in the early part of the twentieth century. By his helpfulness and natural affability and

GOSHTI, from Sanskrit gostha (go = cow + stha = place, i.e. cowpen) means, secondarily, an assembly of people engaged in a discourse or debate on some metaphysical, theological or ethical point, thereby seeking to expound their respective views or tenets and revealing in the process their dialectical prowess

HARI SINGH, a native of Pandori, one of a number of villages of that name, 8 km northwest of Tarn Taran in Amritsar district of the Punjab. He joined Bhai Maharaj Singh after the first AngloSikh war and helped him in his campaign in the Majha region against the

KAPUR SINGH, SIRDAR, BHAl SAHIB (1909-1986), civilian, parliamentarian and intellectual, was master of manysided learning. Besides Sikh theology, he was vastly learned in philosophy, history and literature. He was born into a farming family, at the village Chakk in Ludhiana district on 2 March 1909. His father`s name was

MAI-POTRE, meaning grandsons of an old woman, is the name given to a group of families residing in Goindval. These families were the descendants of a goldsmith couple blessed by Guru Amar Das. It is said that the couple, advancing in years, had no offspring. Despaired of the gift of