BHARPUR SINGH, RAJA (1840-1863), born on 4 October 1840, replaced his father, Raja Devinder Singh, on the throne of Nabha state in January 1847 after he was removed by the British. During his minority, the state affairs were managed by his grandmother. Rani Chand Kaur. An enlightened ruler. Raja Bharpur Singh was a devout Sikh. He had a good knowledge of Persian, English, Punjabi and Hindi and wrote his orders with his own hand.
GOIND, BHAI, a Ghei Khatri of Sultanpur Lodhi, embraced the Sikh faith in the time of Guru Amar Das. He took part in sevd for the digging of the sacred pool at Amritsar under Guru Arjan. Bhai Gurdas describes Bhai Goind in his Varan, XI.20, as one of the leading disciples of the Guru. GOIND, BHAI, also known as Bhai Gonda (1569-1649), head of a dhudn, seat or branch of Udasi Sikh preachers, was born on 27 July 1569 in a Khatri family of Srinagar in Kashmir.
NICHOLSON, JOHN (1821-1857), political assistant at Firozpur (1844-45), was born in Dublin on 11 December 1821, the son of Dr Alexander Nicholson. He obtained cadetship in Bengal Infantry in 1839 and in December the same year was posted to the 27th Native Infantry at Firozpur. In 1844, he became political assistant at Firozpur in which capacity he was found indulging in intrigues against the Sikh State and Lord Hardinge felt inclined to remove him from the frontier.
OMS (d. 1828), a Spaniard, also known as Amise, Musa Sahib, Urns and Hommus, served in Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army. As a young man, he had enlisted in Napoleon`s artillery. After France`s defeat in 1815, he set out on his travels and reached Persia where he obtained employment declaring himself to be a Frenchman. He left Persia in 1824, reaching Lahore in 1826. He took up service under Maharaja Ranjit Sihgh on a salary of Rs 1,200 per month and was given command of two battalions of infantry and a regiment of cavalry.
