Key to Hir Warish Shah (Paperback - 1996)

Waris Shah was born in Jandiala Sher Khan, Punjab, present-day Pakistan into a reputed Sayyid family and was a descendant of Sayyid Muhammad Al-Makki through his son Sayyid Badruddin. His father's name was Gulsher Shah and mother's name was Kamal Banu. Waris's parents are said to have died when he was young. Waris spent years in search of the perfect spiritual guide. Waris Shah acknowledged himself to be a disciple of an ustad from Kasur, namely Hafiz Ghulam Murtaza from whom he received his education. After completing his education, Waris moved to Malka Hans, a village twelve kilometres north of Pakpattan. Here he resided in a small room, adjacent to a historic mosque now called Masjid Waris Shah, until his death.

His mausoleum is a place of pilgrimage today, especially for those in love. The mausoleum complex was completed in 1978 and is a mixture of the Lahore School of Architecture and Tughlaq Architecture.

Dr. Bakshish Singh Nijjar, M.A., Ph.D., is a known scholar of Punjabi, Urdu and Persian. He taught Punjabi, Urdu and Persian in different colleges of Punjab for a long period. He was Director of Punjab State Archives. He was also member of Indian Historical Records Commission. He is subeditor to the Encyclopaedia of Hinduism (Pittsburgh U.S.A) on Sikh History, Religion and Literature.

He has written a large number of books including Heer Waris Shah (edited and annotated), History of the United Panjab, Panjab Under the Sultans 1000 — 1526, Panjab Under the Great Mughals 1526 — 1707, Panjab Under the Later Mughals 1707 — 1756, Panjab Under the British Rule 1844 — 1947, The Anglo-Sikh Wars 1844 — 1849, Manarani Jind Kaur, The Indian Panjab 1947—1966, Jawahar Lal Nehru and Jaito Morcha, History of the Babar Akalis 1920 — 1942. He has also contributed more than one hundred Research Articles in leading Journals.