AHMAD SHAH DURRANI (1722-1772), the first of the Saddozai rulers of Afghanistan and founder of the Durrani empire, belonged to the Saddozai section of the Popalzai clan of the Abdali tribe of Afghans. In the 18th century the Abdalis were to be found chiefly around Herat. Under their leader Zaman Khan, father of Ahmad Khan. they resisted Persian attempts to take Herat until, in 1728, they were forced to submit to Nadir Shah. Recognizing the fighting qualities of the Abdalis, Nadir Shah enlisted them in his army.
ANDREWS, CHARLES FREER (1871-1940). Anglican missionary, scholar and educationist, was born to John Edwin Andrews on 12 February 1871 in NewcastleonTyne in Great Britain. His father was a minister of the Evangelical Anglican Church. Andrews grew up in an intense and emotional religious environment. A nearly fatal attack of rheumatic fever in childhood drew him to his mother with an intense affection and her love created in his mind the first conscious thoughts of God and Christ, and by the time he entered Cambridge, at the age of 19, he had already had "a wonderful conversion of my heart to God." In 1893, Andrews graduated first class in Classics and Theology from Pembroke College, Cambridge.
BACHITTAR SINGH MALVAI (d. 1840), eldest son of Dhanna Singh Malvai, joined the army of Ranjit Singh about 1827, and served first at Bahawalpur. When Peshawar was occupied by the Sikhs in 1834, Bachittar Singh was sent to Shabqadar, where a new cantonment had been laid out and a fort built by Chatar Singh Atarivala. He was still there when, in April 1837, the Afghan army attacked the post and the fort of Jamrud. In January 1839, Bachittar Singh accompanied the Sikh forces escorting Shahzada Taimur, son of Shah Shuja, to Peshawar. He died in 1840.
BHAGVANT SINGH BANGESARI was. according to Sarup Singh Kaushish, Guru kian Sakhian, the naik or leader of a large tanda or trade caravan. In September-October 1708, he with his merchandise was passing through Nanded where he halted to pay homage to Guru Gobind Singh. As the Guru deputed Banda Singh Bahadur with five of his Sikhs to come to the Punjab to chastise the persecutors, they travelled with Bhagvant Singh`s caravan.
DYAL SINGH MAJITHIA, (1849-98), Sikh aristocrat and philanthropist, was the son of Lahina Singh Majithia and grandson of Desa Singh Majithia, both of whom had served Maharaja Ranjit Singh with distinction in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was born in 1849 at Banaras. His extensive education came from a dual source from the family`s keen interest in science and religion as well as from English tutors appointed by the court of wards which became responsible for Dyal Singh`s upbringing after Lahina Singh`s death in Banaras in 1854.
