DAYĀ RĀM, Brāhmaṇ Sikh in the retinue of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, was the son of Jātī Mall, popular as Jātī Malik (d. 1643) and grandson of Siṅghā, prohits or family priests of the Soḍhīs as well as fearless warriors in the service of Gurū Hargobind (1595-1644), Dayā Rām, too, was trained in the martial art. Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, in his autobiographical poem, Bachitra Nāṭak, praises Dayā Rām's part in the battle of Bhaṅgāṇī (1688) in these words : "Dayā Rām, the Brāhmaṇ, entered the field filled with fury and excelled in the just battle like Droṇāchārya (teacher and general in the epic Mahābhārata). "