Kahn Singh Nabha

Kahn Singh Nabha (30 August 1861 – 24 November 1938) was a Punjabi Sikh scholar, writer, anthologist, lexicographer, and encyclopedist. His most influential work, Mahan Kosh, inspired generations of scholars after him. He also played a role in the Singh Sabha movement. He was born into a Sikh family to Narain Singh and Har Kaur at the village of Sabaz Banera, located in what was then Patiala State. His father, Narain Singh succeeded to the charge of Gurdwara Dera Baba Ajaypal Singh at Nabha, after the death of his grandfather Sarup Singh in 1861. Kahn Singh was the eldest of three brothers (the other two being Meehan Singh and Bishan Singh) and one sister (Kahn Kaur). He did not attend any school or college for formal education, but studied several branches of learning on his own. By the age of 10 he was able to quote freely from the Guru Granth Sahib and Dasam Granth. In Nabha, he studied Sanskrit classics with local pandits and studied under the famous musicologist Mahant Gajja Singh. In Delhi, he studied Persian with Mawlawis.