LAILI or LAILA, a famous horse of superb beauty and grace, was originally owned by Yar Muhammad Khan Barakzai, the Sikh tributary governor of Peshawar. It was much coveted by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose love for horses was proverbial. With the romantic name given it, Laili was known throughout Central

RAM SINGH (1744-1839), son of a Khatri belonging to Hasanvala in Gujrariwala district, was taken into the household of Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia at a very young age. When he grew up, he rode in the chief`s troops. He considered Mahan Singh, son of Charhat Singh, his putreld

SAMMAN BURJ, also called Musamman Burj, an octagonal tower commanding a wide range of buildings within the Lahore Fort, was built by Emperor Akbar, who made the city his capital for some time. Within the Fort was situated the royal palace which was enlarged by Jahangir and,

ARMY OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH, a formidable military machine that helped the Maharaja carve out an extensive kingdom and maintain it amid hostile and ambitious neighbours, was itself the creation of his own genius. His inheritance was but a scanty force which, in the manner of the Sikh misldari days,

BIJAYBINOD, a chronicle in Punjabi verse of the turbulent period following the death in 1839 of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the sovereign of the Punjab, written according to internal evidence in 1901 Bk/AD 1844. The only known manuscript of the work, still unpublished, is preserved in the private collection of Bhai

DEVI DAS, DIWAN (1767-1830), eldest son of Diwan Thakur Das Khatri of Peshawar, was, like his father, in the service of the Afghan rulers prior to joining the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. At the time of Shah Zaman`s last invasion of northern India (1798-99), the Maharaja, who had

FATEH SINGH MAN (d. 1845). son of Sham Singh Man, soldier, diplomat and commander in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army. He entered the service of the Maharaja as a trooper, and took part in several campaigns, including those of Multan (1818) and Kashmir (1819). He rose to be a kumeddn.

HIRA SINGH DOGRA (1816-1844), prime minister of the Sikh kingdom of Lahore from 17 September 1843 to 21 December 1844, was born the eldest son of Raja Dhian Singh in 1816 at Ramgarh, about 25 km from Jammu. Dhian Singh, an influential courtier, introduced his son to his patron

JAWAHAR SINGH (d. 1838), son of Bishan Singh and great grandson of Sodhi Abhai Ram, served in the Sikh army under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The family traced its descent from Baba Kaul, founder of the village of Dhilvari, now in Faridkot district. Abhai Ram, who enjoyed the esteem of

MACNAGHTEN, SIR WILLIAM HAY (1793-1841), born in August 1793, was the son of Sir Francis Macnaghten. He was educated at Charter house and joined the service of the East India Company in 1809. He studied Hindustani, Persian and other Asiatic languages. His diplomatic career began towards the close of 1830,

MULTAN (SO012`N, 71°31`E), ancient city which had been a prominent centre of Muslim piety, was where according to Bhai Gurdas, Varan I. 4445, Guru Nanak met with some local Sufi saints. Travelling from Kartarpur, on the River Ravi, Guru Nanak first went to Achal Batala and thence to Multan. As

POONA RESIDENCY CORRESPONDENCE is an English rendering, in several volumes, of selections from the Persian records of the Peshwa Dafiar, a collection of British official records of the Resident`s transactions concerning the cis Sutlej region. Prior to the establishment of the Delhi Residency (1803) and the Ludhiana Agency (1809), the