Mohan Singh

Mohan Singh (1905–1978) was a noted Indian poet in the Punjabi language and an academic, and one of the early pioneers of modern Punjabi poetry. Born in 1905 at Lyallpur (now in Pakistan), Mohan Singh spent the early years of his life at his ancestral village Dhamial in Rawalpindi District. His poem Kuri Pathohar Di is reminiscent of his romantic early days. He obtained a master's degree in Persian and started his career as a Lecturer in Persian, Urdu and Punjabi at Khalsa College, Amritsar in 1933. He was well read in English, Persian and Urdu literatures. At Amritsar, Teja Singh, Sant Singh Sekhon, Gurbachan Singh 'Talib' became his friends. In 1940, he joined as a lecturer in the Sikh National College, Lahore, but after some time he left the job and started a firm, Hind Publishers to promote the literary standards of Punjabi publications. In 1939, he started his famous literary Punjabi monthly, Panj darya. After Partition In 1947 he shifted his business to Amritsar and then to Jullundur, but ultimately he closed down the firm. Then he became the teacher in Khalsa College, Patiala. Later, he worked as Professor Emeritus at the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana from 1970 to 1974 and made this industrial town of Punjab his home towards the end of his life.