During the stay of Guru Gobind Singh at Paonta Sahib (April 1685 – September 1688) and at Aanandpur Sahib, there were several poets, scholars and artists in the court of the Guru Sahib. According to Santokh Singh there were 52 poets and artists in the court of Guru Gobind Singh and this figure has been very popular to the students of the Sikh history and literature. Their number, however, was not exactly 52. There were several more. The names of these poets appear in Gur Partap Suraj Granth, Mehma Parkash, Gur Bilas Patshahi Daswin, Twarikh Guru Khalsa, Sau Sakhi etc. These artist and poets include:
1. Addha. 2. Aalam. 3. Allu. 4. Amrit Rai. 5. Ani Rai (Singh). 6. Aasa Singh. 7. Ballabh. 8. Ballu Bhatt. 9. Bhagatu. 10. Bhoj Raj. 11. Bidhi Chand. 12. Bihari. 13. Braham Bhatt. 14. Brij Lal. 15. Brikha. 16 Bulland. 17. Chanda. 18. Chandan. 19. Chander Sain ‘Sainapati’ (Saina Singh). 20. Desu Bhatt. 21. Devi Das. 22. Dhanna Singh. 23. Dharam Singh. 24. Dhyan Singh. 25. Girdhari Lal. 26. Gopal. 27. Gunia. 28. Gurdas Guni. 29. Gurdas Singh. 30. Hans Ram. 31. Hari Das. 32. Hir Bhatt. 33. Hussain Ali. 34. Ishar Das. 35. Jado Rai. 36. Jamal. 37. Kallu. 38. Kashi Ram. 39. Kesho Bhatt. 40. Khan Chand. 41. Kunvaresh. 42. Lakkha. 43. Lakkhan Rai. 44. Lal Khiali. 45. Madan Giri. 46. Maddu Singh. 47. Maddu/Madhu. 48. Mala Singh. 49. Mall Bhatt. 50. man Singh Bairagi. 51. Mangal. 52. Mathura Das. 53. Mir Chhabila. 54. Mir Mushki. 55. Nand Lal ‘Goya’. 56. Nand Lal Pandit. 57. Nand Ram. 58. Nand Singh. 59. Nanu. 60. Nanua Bairagi. 61. Narbud Bhatt. 62. Nihal Chand. 63. Nihchal Das. 64. Phat Mall. 65. Pindi Das/Lal. 66. Prehlad Rai (Singh). 67. Ram Das. 68. Raghunath Pandit. 69. Raushan Singh. 70. Raval. 71. Sharda. 72. Shayam. 73. Sudama. 74. Sukhdev. 75. Sukhia. 76. Sukha Singh. 77. Sunder. 78. Tahikan. 79. Tansukh. 80. Thar. 81. Uday Rai. 82. Vallabh etc.
It is possible that some names might have been repeated by various writers due to resemblance of the names or different spellings for the same name.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)