KHĀLSĀ DĪWĀN LAHORE, formed on 11 April 1886 by a group of Sikhs who following a schism had severed their connections with the Khālsā Dīwān Amritsar. Bhāī Attar Siṅgh, chief of Bhadauṛ, was named president and Bhāī Gurmukh Siṅgh chief secretary. The Dīwān was formally registered with the government on 19 February 1892. The membership comprised representatives of the Siṅgh Sabhās affiliated to it as well as those from states where no Siṅgh Sabhās existed. Among the aims and objects of the Dīwān were the restoration of Sikhism to its pristine purity, propagation of education especially among women, development of Punjabi language and publication of books on Sikh history and religion. The Dīwān gained popularity among the Sikhs owing especially to the unremitting campaign launched by its leaders such as Bhāī Gurmukh Siṅgh, Giānī Ditt Siṅgh and Bhāī Jawāhir Siṅgh. Through platform speeches and through newspapers and tracts they preached the reformist creed of the Siṅgh Sabhā and derided the Amritsar Dīwān and its policies as conservative. Gurmukh Siṅgh had sponsored monthly Punjabi magazine Sudhārārak in April 1886, followed by the weekly Khālsā Akhbār which started publication from 13 June 1886. In the hands of Giānī Ditt Siṅgh the latter became a powerful spokesman of the Lahore Dīwān and its ideology. The number of the Siṅgh Sabhās affiliated to the Dīwān soon rose to above 125. But the Dīwān lost its verve and vigour with the death of Sir Attar Siṅgh in 1896, of Gurmukh Siṅgh in 1898 and of Ditt Siṅgh in 1901. It was completely eclipsed after the formation of the Chief Khālsā Dīwān in 1902.

        See SIṄGH SABHĀ MOVEMENT