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<p class="C1">&#65279&#7692ER&#256, a word of Persian extraction, has several connotations. The original Persian word <i>&#7693er&#257h</i> or <i>dir&#257h</i> means a tent, camp, abode, house or habitation. In current usage in rural Punjab, a farmhouse or a group of farmhouses built away from the village proper is called <i>&#7693er&#257</i>. Even after such an habitation develops into a separate village or a town, it may continue to be called <i>&#7693er&#257</i>, e. g. &#7692er&#257 Bass&#299 in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 district of the Punjab, or &#7692er&#257 <u>Gh</u>&#257z&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257n and Der&#257 Ism&#257'&#299l <u>Kh</u>&#257n in Pakistan. Where colloquially used in place of Hindi <i>dehar&#257</i>, the word will carry the connotation of a temple or memorial over a cremation site. The examples are &#7692er&#257 S&#257hib Gurdw&#257r&#257 at Lahore and &#7692er&#257 B&#257b&#257 N&#257nak, a town in Gurd&#257spur district of the Punjab.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	In a different but not totally unrelated sense, <i>&#7693er&#257</i> is apparently derived from the Persian <i>dair</i> meaning a monastery or convent. Monasteries, hermitages or seminaries set up by religious persons are almost invariably called <i>&#7693er&#257s</i>. They, too, are usually at some distance from the nearest village or town, and have an exclusively male population. For example, Daudhar &#7692er&#257. Among Sikhs, Nirmal&#257s and Ud&#257s&#299s have their <i>&#7693er&#257s</i> spread throughout the countryside. Although the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is installed in most of them, their custodians prefer to call them <i>&#7693er&#257s</i> rather than <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	In Sikh times, the word <i>&#7693er&#257</i> was also used for army camps or cantonments to particularize regiments or armies commanded by different generals, such as &#7692erah Gho&#7771cha&#7771h&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257s Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh A&#7789&#257r&#299v&#257l&#257, &#7692erah R&#257mga&#7771h&#299&#257&#7749, &#7692erah Naulakkh&#257 and &#7692erah Im&#257m ud-D&#299n.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib &#7693er&#257 is used to mean abode or living place, permanent rather than temporary (GG, 256), and also in the sense of a camp or citadel (GG, 628).</p>
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<p class="BIB">
BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Fauja Si&#7749gh, <i>Military System of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1964<BR>
<li class="C1"> Cunningham, J. D. , <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>. London, 1849<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR>
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