<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MOR&#256&#7748</TITLE>
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<p class="C1">&#65279MOR&#256&#7748, a Muhammadan dancing girl of Lahore whom Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh is said to have married in 1802. She was a woman of uncommon beauty and attracted the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's notice at a nautch party set up to mark the birth of his son and heir, Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh remained  under her spell for a number of years and some say that he even had coins, gold as well as silver, struck in her name during 1803-09. They are known as &#256rs&#299v&#257l&#299 Mohar or Mor&#257&#7749sh&#257h&#299 coins. Though her name does not appear on the coins, Mor&#257&#7749 is meant to be represented on the one side by the tail of a peacock which bird is called <i>mor</i> in Punjabi. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's infatuation with Mor&#257&#7749 has been commented upon by several foreign visitors. It was resented by Sikhs and, as the story goes, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 was summoned to Amritsar by the Jathed&#257r of Sr&#299 Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t to explain his conduct, and sentenced to be flogged publicly. Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh willingly offered to undergo the punishment, but was let off on payment of a fine of Rs 1,25,000. He sent Mor&#257&#7749 away to Pa&#7789h&#257nko&#7789 in August 1811. Later her sister, Mam&#363l&#257&#7749, had a mosque raised in her memory in P&#257pa&#7771 Ma&#7751&#7693&#299, near Mat&#299 Chowk, Lahore. It came to be known as Masj&#299d-i-Mor&#257&#7749.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Waheed-ud-Din, Fakir Syed, <i> The Real Ranjit Singh </i>. Karachi, 1965<BR>
<li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i> Ranjit Singh.-Maharajah of the Punjab </i>. London, 1962<BR>
<li class="C1"> Chopra, G.L., <i> Punjab as a Sovereign State </i>. Lahore, 1928<BR>
<li class="C1"> Hasrat, B.J., <i> Life and Times of Ranjit Singh </i>. Hoshiarpur, 1977<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR>
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