Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive1882–1926 · evidence-first digital heritage

Finding aids

Glossary & People

ਸ਼ਬਦਾਵਲੀ ਅਤੇ ਵਿਅਕਤੀ

Terms used throughout the archive, with their Gurmukhi forms, and an index of the people who appear in the documented record. This is a finding aid, not a set of biographies; no living private individual is profiled.

20 terms18 peopleGurmukhi forms pending native review

Terms

Akaliਅਕਾਲੀ
Literally “immortal one”; a follower of the Gurdwara Reform Movement; also the name of the Sikh daily newspaper launched in 1920, and later of a political party (Shiromani Akali Dal).
Barਬਾਰ
The upland tract between rivers in west Punjab; here the Sandal Bar, opened to settlement by canal irrigation.
Chabian da Morchaਚਾਬੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਮੋਰਚਾ
The Keys agitation of 1921–22, over the government’s seizure of the keys to the Golden Temple treasury.
Chakਚੱਕ
A numbered canal-colony village. Chak 140 GB is the family’s village in Samundri tahsil; “GB” denotes the Gugera Branch canal.
Chief Khalsa Diwanਚੀਫ਼ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਦੀਵਾਨ
The leading Sikh reformist body of the Singh Sabha era, founded at Amritsar in 1902.
Dafadarਦਫ਼ੇਦਾਰ
A cavalry non-commissioned rank in the British Indian Army; the infantry equivalent is Havildar. Not a junior commissioned officer rank.
Darbar Sahibਦਰਬਾਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ
The Golden Temple complex at Amritsar; formally Sri Harmandir Sahib.
Diwanਦੀਵਾਨ
An assembly or organised society.
Gurmat Samagamਗੁਰਮਤਿ ਸਮਾਗਮ
A religious congregation with kirtan and discourse; the form the 2026 Amritsar centenary commemoration took.
Jathaਜਥਾ
An organised band of volunteers.
Kar Sewaਕਾਰ ਸੇਵਾ
Voluntary manual service, especially the periodic desilting and cleaning of the sarovar.
Mahantਮਹੰਤ
A hereditary custodian of a shrine. By the early twentieth century many mahants treated shrine endowments as personal estates.
Morchaਮੋਰਚਾ
Literally “front”; a sustained non-violent agitation.
Murabaਮੁਰੱਬਾ
A land unit in the canal colonies, roughly 25 acres.
Panj Pyareਪੰਜ ਪਿਆਰੇ
The Five Beloved; five initiated Sikhs acting for the Panth on a ceremonial occasion.
Panthਪੰਥ
The Sikh community as a collective body.
Sarovarਸਰੋਵਰ
The sacred tank surrounding the Harmandir Sahib.
SGPCਸ਼੍ਰੋਮਣੀ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, established 15 November 1920 to bring Sikh shrines under democratic, elected management.
Toshakhanaਤੋਸ਼ਾਖ਼ਾਨਾ
Treasury — here, the treasury of the Golden Temple whose keys were at issue in 1921–22.
Undertaking
In 1925, the written personal pledge demanded of imprisoned Akali leaders as the condition of release: to work within the new Act and not resume agitation against it.

People in the record

Cite this page
Permanent URL
https://tejasinghsamundri.org/glossary/
Chicago
“Glossary & People.” Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive. Reviewed September 10, 2026. https://tejasinghsamundri.org/glossary/.
MLA
“Glossary & People.” Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive, September 10, 2026, https://tejasinghsamundri.org/glossary/.
Plain text
Glossary & People — Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive — https://tejasinghsamundri.org/glossary/ (page last reviewed 2026-09-10)
BibTeX
@misc{tssglossary2026,
  title = {Glossary & People},
  howpublished = {Teja Singh Samundri Digital Heritage Archive},
  year = {2026},
  month = {sep},
  url = {https://tejasinghsamundri.org/glossary/},
  note = {Page last reviewed 2026-09-10}
}
Last reviewed

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