Nidar Singh Nihang is the sole-surviving master of shastar vidya, the highly advanced North Indian system of armed and unarmed combat. He is the ninth gurdev (teacher) of the Baba Darbara Singh Shastar Vidya Akhara, founded in the 17th century to teach Sikh warriors the battlefield arts. He has dedicated the past twenty-five years to rigorous training and extensive field research in India, focusing on the history, philosophy and way of life of the four traditional Sikh orders: the Akali-Nihangs, Udasis, Nirmalas and Sewapanthis. He has lectured across the world on the Sikh martial tradition and has contributed to several television documentaries, radio programmes and publications on the subject. In his determination to preserve what experts regard as one of the last surviving branches of Sikh classical knowledge, he is currently preparing an extensive series of books uncovering the history, philosophy and science of shastar vidya. Parmjit Singh is an independent researcher specialising in the photographic history of 19th-century Punjab. His previous publications include Warrior Saints: Three Centuries of the Sikh Military Tradition (I.B. Tauris, 1999) and 'Sicques, Tigers, or Thieves': Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004). He is a founding member of the UK Punjab Heritage Association, an apolitical heritage organisation founded in 2001 to preserve, promote and increase awareness of Punjab's cultural heritage. In 2003, he made the decision to put his career as a chartered accountant on hold in order to intensively research the heritage of Punjab and the Sikhs. He has lectured extensively on Sikh art and heritage and has contributed to several television documentaries, radio programmes, exhibitions and publications on the subject. In 2005, he was honoured by the Sikh Centennial Foundation for his work in this field. The following year, he was presented with the Punjabi Cultural Award by the Punjabis in Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group, in recognition of his contribution to the promotion of Punjabi culture in Britain. He is currently working with Nidar Singh Nihang on a multi-volume, official history of the Buddha Dal, the ancient warrior-order of the Akali-Nihang Sikhs.