member of a group of dissenters within Sikhism, a religion of India. The Rām Rāiyās are descendants of Rām Rāī, the eldest son of Gurū Har Rāī (1630–61), who was sent by his father as an emissary to the Mughal capital at Delhi. There he won the confidence of the emperor Aurangzeb but the displeasure of his own father, who when choosing the next Sikh Gurū passed over Rām Rāī in favour of his younger brother Hari Krishen. A few Rām Rāiyā gurdwārās (Sikh houses of worship) are maintained in Dehra Dūn (Uttar Pradesh state) on land given Rām Rāī by Aurangzeb.