NIHAL SINGH, of Naushahra near Tarn Taran in Amritsar district of the Punjab, was among the close associates of the Sikh revolutionary, Bhai Maharaj Singh (d. 1856), who assigned him to many a secret mission such as procuring weapons from Charhat Singh, an exkdrddr, and helping Bhai Tek Chand of Amritsar who had been charged with distributing "turbans" on his (Maharaj Singh`s) behalf among volunteers and zaminddrs who offered to join his standard.
NIRANJANIE, also called Handalie, was an heretic cult rounded by Handal (1573-1646) of Jandiala in Amritsar district, a former follower of Sultan SakhT Sarwar, who became a Sikh in the time of GuruAmar Das. He served in the Guru ka Larigar. Pleased with his devotion, the Guru appointed him a preacher in his native Jandiala and the surrounding area. People admired him for his simple ways. Handal attracted many followers. But as time passed, he grew very vain and appropriated unto himself the status of Guru and started calling himself Nirarijania, i.e. one who had overcome his illusion.
Narula, Surinder Singh is a technique-conscious novelist, whose Peo putar (Father and the son, 1946) gave a fresh thematic dimension to the Punjabi novel. His literary corpus includes 12 novels, 7 collections of short stories, some collection of poems and few books of literary critcism, both in Punjabi and English. He was born in Amritsar and after graduating from Khalsa College, Amritsar, with three medals to his credit, he joined the State Secretariat in 1938; but after doing his M.A. in English (1942), he joined as a Lecturer at the local Khalsa College. Afterwards, he was at Rawalpindi (Khalsa College) for a short period, and then after joining Government Service he was posted at different other colleges.
