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Ramgharia Sikh
The Ramgarhia are a community of Sikhs from the Punjab region of northwestern India, encompassing members of the Lohar (blacksmiths) and Tarkhan (carpenters) subgroups. Etymology Originally called Thoka, meaning ''carpenter'', the Ramgarhia are named after Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, whose birth surname of Thoka became Ramgarhia in the 18th century when he was put in charge of rebuilding what became known as Ramgarhia Bunga, at Ramrauni, near Amritsar. Occupation and status Traditionally, Ramgarhias are mostly carpenters, but included other artisan occupations including blacksmiths. Generally, Sikh carpenters use ''Ramgarhia'' as a surname whereas Hindu carpenters use '' Dhiman''. Their artisan skills were noted by the British, who encouraged many Ramgarhia to move to colonies in East Africa in the 1890s, where they assisted in the creation of that region's infrastructure and became Africanised. One significant project in which they and other Punjabi Sikhs were involved was th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Tarkhan At Work, By Kehar Singh, Circa Mid-19th Century
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version is often written in one of two forms: the double-storey and single-storey . The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type. In English, '' a'' is the indefinite article, with the alternative form ''an''. Name In English, the name of the letter is the ''long A'' sound, pronounced . Its name in most other languages matches the letter's pronunciation in open syllables. History The earliest known ancestor of A is ''aleph''—the first letter of the Phoenician ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Akali Movement
The Akali movement (IPA: ; known in Punjabi as the Akali Morcha), also called the Gurdwara Reform Movement, was a campaign to bring reform in the gurdwaras (the Sikhism, Sikh places of worship) in India during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of the Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). The Akalis also participated in the Indian independence movement against the British Government, and supported the Non-cooperation movement (1919–22), non-cooperation movement against them. Formation Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha in a general meeting in Lahore in March 1919 formed the Central Sikh League in March 1919, which was formally inaugurated in December of that year. In its periodical, the ''Akali'', it listed among its objectives the goals of bringing back control of the Khalsa College, Amritsar under the control of representatives of the Sikh community ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zail Singh
Giani Zail Singh (, born Jarnail Singh; 5 May 1916 – 25 December 1994) was an Indian politician from Punjab who served as the president of India from 1982 to 1987 and chief minister of Punjab. He was the first Sikh to become president. Born in Sandhwan in the princely state of Faridkot, Singh trained to be a granthi and was given the title of giani, meaning a learned man, while training at the Sikh Missionary School in Amritsar. Singh was associated with peasant agitations and the movement seeking a representative government in Faridkot. His political activism in the Praja Mandal, an organisation allied with the Indian National Congress, saw him sentenced to solitary confinement between 1938 and 1943. He led a flag satyagraha and formed a parallel government in Faridkot State which were called off only after the intervention of Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel. The stints in jail inspired him to change his name to Zail Singh. After independence, Faridkot was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Namdhari
The Namdharis or Namdhari Sikhs (Gurmukhi: ਨਾਮਧਾਰੀ; Devanagari: नामधारी; ''nāmadhārī'', meaning "bearers of the name"), also known as Kuka (Gurmukhi: ਕੂਕਾ; ''kūkā'' (''sing.)''; ਕੂਕੇ; ''kūkē'' (''pl''.): from Punjabi ''kuk'', “scream” or “cry”), are a Sikh sect that differs from mainstream Sikhs chiefly in that they believe that the lineage of Sikh Gurus did not end with Satguru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) in 1708, as they recognize Satguru Balak Singh (1797–1862) as the 11th Guru of the Sikh religion, thus continuing the succession of Sikh Gurus through the centuries from Satguru Nanak Dev to the present day. Their 12th Guru is Satguru Ram Singh 816–1885(disputed) who moved the sect's centre to Sri Bhaini Sahib (Ludhiana) and is regarded as the first Indian to use non-cooperation and non-violence boycott in order to combat the British Empire in India. Names The most common names for the sect are Namdhari or Kuk ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ram Singh Kuka
Namdhari Guru Ram Singh (3 February 1816 – 1885) is known to the Namdhari Sects of Sikhism, sect of Sikhism as the twelfth guru (religious leader), whilst for mainstream Sikhs such as Damdami Taksal and Nihang, Nihangs, he is regarded as a 'Saint' and not a Guru. He is credited as being the first Indian to use non-cooperation and boycott of British goods and services as a political tool. He was exiled to Rangoon, British rule in Burma, Burma (Myanmar) by the British colonial government of India on 18 January 1872. In 2016, the Government of India officially decided to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Ram Singh. Biography Early life Namdhari Guru Ram Singh was born in a small-farming Tarkhan (Punjab), Tarkhan family to mother Sada Kaur and father Jassa Singh. He lived in the village of Raiyan, near Sri Bhaini Sahib, Ludhiana. He was nurtured by his mother in the traditions of Guru Nanak and was taught to read and write in Punjabi. Namdhari Guru Ram Singh spent 20 yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nand Singh (saint)
Sant Baba Nand Singh (8 November 1870 – 29 August 1943) was a Sikh Saint. He is known as the founder of the Nanaksar Kaleran sampradya (Nanaksari sect) of Sikhism. Early life Baba Nand Singh was born on 8 November 1870 at Sherpur, Punjab, Sherpur village in Jagraon, Ludhiana district of Punjab, India, Punjab to Sardar Jai Singh and Mata Sada Kaur. It is reported that he displayed a proclivity for meditation from a young age, once being found doing so while sitting at the edge of a well in the middle of the night. Life work Nand Singh left his house to do Seva (Indian religions), sewa at Gurdwara Sahib in Firozpur. He acquired a distinct group of followers during his lifetime. At a very young age, he left his family to seek enlightenment and became a disciple of Maha Harnam Singh, another great Saint of great spirit. There he met Harnam Singh (saint), Harnam Singh, who was impressed by his spirituality. He mentored him in the ways of devotion and the spirit of sacrifice. It ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhai Lalo
Bhai Lalo was born in 1452 at the village of Saidpur presently known as Eminabad (modern day Pakistan). His father's name was Bhai Jagat Ram Ghataura (ਤਰਖਾਣ)of the Ghataura surname pertaining to the carpenter clan. Bhai Lalo was known for his name in Sikh historic incident with first guru of sikhs Guru Nanak. One day Malik Bhago, a high government official of the city, gave a general feast. He invited Guru Nanak Dev Ji too. Guru ji declined the invitation of Bhago. On being asked a second time, Guru Nanak Dev Ji took Bhai Lalo with him and went to Malik Bhago's house. He is honest man and Guru Nanak Dev Ji praised him Guru Nanak Dev Ji took Bhai Lalo's dry roti in his right hand and Malik Bhago's fried sweet pancake in his left hand. When he squeezed the right hand the people present there saw ''drops of milk dripping from it''. And when he pressed the left hand with the Malik Bhago's fried pancakes, everyone saw ''blood trickling from it''. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sikh Confederacy
The Sikh Confederacy was a confederation of twelve sovereign Sikh states (each known as a Misl, derived from the Arabic word مِثْل meaning 'equal'; sometimes spelt as Misal) which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. History In order to withstand the persecution of Shah Jahan and other Mughal emperors, several of the later Sikh Gurus established military forces and fought the Mughal Empire and Simla Hills' Kings in the early and middle Mughal-Sikh Wars and the Hill States–Sikh wars. Banda Singh Bahadur continued Sikh resistance to the Mughal Empire until his defeat at the Battle of Gurdas Nangal. For several years Sikhs found refuge in the forests and the Himalayan foothills until they organized themselves into guerilla bands known as '' jathas''. The basis of the Dal Khalsa army was established in 1733–1735 during the period of Sikh nawabship under the Mughals, based upon the numerous pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tarkhan
Tarkhan (, or ; ; zh, c=達干/達爾罕/答剌罕; ; ; alternative spellings ''Tarkan'', ''Tarkhaan'', ''Tarqan'', ''Tarchan'', ''Turxan'', ''Tarcan'', ''Turgan, Tárkány, Tarján, Tarxan'') is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Turkic peoples, Turkic, Hungarians, Hungarian, Mongols, Mongolic, and Iranian peoples. Its use was common among the successors of the Mongol Empire and First Turkic Khaganate, Turkic Khaganate. Etymology The origin of the word is not known. Various historians identify the word as either Eastern Iranian languages, East Iranian (Sogdian language, Sogdian or Saka language, Khotanese Saka) or Turkic languages, Turkic. Although Richard N. Frye reports that the word "was probably foreign to Sogdian", Gerhard Doerfer points out that even in Turkic languages, its plural is not Turkic (sing. ''tarxan'' → plur. ''tarxat''), suggesting a non-Turkic origin. L. Ligeti comes to the same conclusion, saying that "''tarxan'' and ''tegin'' [prince] form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saini
Saini () is a farming and landowning caste of northern India. The community is given reservation in India, representation in government jobs and educational institutes as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab (India), Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Sainis, like other farming castes such as the Jats, play a dominant role in shaping the social and cultural life of rural villages in Punjab. Their size, farming and political visibility, strengthens their position in local society. As both a statutory agricultural tribe and a designated martial race during the British Raj era that followed the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Sainis had been chiefly engaged in both agriculture and military service. Since the independence of India, they have diversified into White-collar worker, white-collar professions. History Mythology The Sainis of Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur districts claim to be the descendants of kings of the Yaduvanshi or Surasena lineag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labana
Labana (also spelled Lubana, Lavana, Lubhana; ) is a merchant and transportation community in India engaged in maritime trade and land trade, which includes trading and transportation of goods such as saltpetre, silk, diamonds, etc. In the Punjab region, during socio-economic reforms, Labanas overwhelmingly became agriculturists. The Labanas of Punjab and Haryana are mostly Sikhs and Hindus and mainly speak Punjabi or Hindi. Etymology The term "Lubana" is believed to be a combination of two words - "lūn," meaning "salt," and "bānā," meaning "trade." The Lubanas, as a community, were deeply involved in the transportation and trading of salt. They were also occasionally referred to as Banjaras. History The history of the Lavana/Labana community traces back to their association with the salt trade and transportation, which influenced their name and occupation. The term 'Lubana' is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word 'Lavan,' meaning salt. This connection is evide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
