his major creative works such as Sri Guru Nanak Chamatkar and Sri Guru Kalgidhar Chamatkar, were originally serialised in its columns. In literature, Singh started as a writer of novels which are considered forerunners of the Punjabi novel. His writings in this genre – Sundari (1898), Bijay Singh (1899), Satwant Kaur (published in two parts, I in 1900 and II in 1927), were aimed at recreating the heroic period (eighteenth century) of Sikh history. Through these novels he made available to his readers, models of courage, fortitude and human dignity. Singh championed the Sikh identity in a way that did not devalue other religions. He even reprimanded the violation and destruction the Hindu idols in Kashmir in his book, Avantipur de Khandar. Singh also criticized and discouraged religious fanaticism, citing those as victims of their own fears brought on by a fervent and obsessive belief. The novel Subhagji da Sudhar Hathin Baba Naudh Singh, popularly known as Baba Naudh Singh (serialised in Nirguniara from 1907 onwards and published in book form in 1921), shares with the epic Rana Surat Singh (which he had started serialising in 1905) Vir Singh's interest in the theme of a widow's desperate urge for a reunion with her dead husband. Soon after the publication of Rana Surat Singh in book form in 1919, he turned to shorter poems and lyrics. These included Dil Tarang (1920), Tarel Tupke (1921), Lahiran de Har (1921), Matak Hulare (1922), Bijlian de Har (1927) and Mere Sayian Jio (1953). Through these works, he paved the way for the emergence of the Punjabi poem. In November 1899, he started a Punjabi weekly, the Khalsa Samachar. He revised and enlarged Giani Hazara Singh's dictionary, Sri Guru Granth Kosh, originally published in 1898. The revised version was published in 1927. He published critical editions of some of the old Sikh texts such as Sikhan di Bhagat Mala (1912), Prachin Panth Prakash (1914), Puratan Janam Sakhi (1926) and Sakhi Pothi (1950). An important work was Singh's annotation of Santokh Singh's Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth, published from 1927 to 1935 in fourteen volumes. Role of women in writings Unlike most of the popular religions, Sikhism stresses the equality between men and women and that it is even sinful to consider either sex above the other. Singh reflected this belief in his novels, and featured them in a number of strong female characters. In fact,