The Rajas of the Punjab by Lepel H. Griffin/The History of the Nabha State

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The Rajas of the Punjab

by Lepel H. Griffin


The History of the Nabha State

[Page-417]

Nabha family, the eldest branch of the Phulkians

The Nabha Chiefs claim precedence over the other Phulkian houses on account of their descent from the eldest branch of the family. The histories of Pattiala and Jhind have contained an account of the common ancestor Phul, and of his two sons Gurditta and Sukhchen, from the elder of whom the Nabha house has sprung, and from the younger the house of Jhind.

The Nabha rulers genealogy

The Nabha genealogy is as pictured:

The division of the estate of Chaudhari Tiloka:


On the death of Tilokha, in 1687, his estate was divided between his sons. Gurditta married the daughter of


[Page-418]

Sirdar Sardul Singh Man of Mauran, who bore him one son, Suratya. He founded the village of Dhanaula or Dhandla, on that portion of the estate of his father that fell to his share, and, subsequently, the town of Sangrur, which remained the head quarters of the Nabha State, till seized by treachery by the Raja of Jhind, and he also took from his neighbours a considerable portion of the surrounding country. He was always on bad terms with his younger brother Sukhchen, and on more than one occasion their disputes ended in bloodshed

The death of Gurditta and succession of Hamir Singh

He died in 1754, and was succeeded by his grandson Hamir Singh, his only son Suratya having died two years earlier, leaving two sons, Hamir Singh and Kapur Singh. Kapur Singh married Raj Kour, the daughter of Sujan Singh Mansahia, but died without issue, and his brother, in accordance with the Sikh custom of Karewa or chaddardalna, married the widow and succeeded to his brother's estate of Kapurgarh and Sangrur, which he had increased by the addition of the villages of Pakho and Badyala. This lady was the only one of Hamir Singh's wives who bore him a son, Jaswant Singh, born in the year 1775. The Chief married, besides, a daughter of Natha Singh, Magharia ; Desu, the daughter of Sirdar Makhan Singh of Rori, who gave birth to two daughters, Subha Kour and Sada Kour, the former of whom was married to Sirdar Sahib Singh,* the powerful Bhangi Chief, and the latter to Sirdar Jai Singh of Batala. His fourth wife Raj


* Translation of replies of the Nabha Ahlkars in the Mowran case 18th May 1844, and the Bhangi History, it is curious that both the Nabha and Bhadour family histories make Subha Kour the wife of Sardar Gujar Singh Bhangi, which is quite erroneous.


[Page-419]

Kour, the daughter of Sirdar Dhan Singh of Nirhana, had no children. Hamir Singh was a brave and energetic Chief and added very largely to his possession.

The town of Nabha founded, AD 1755

He founded the town of Nabha in the year 1755 ; four years later he obtained possession of Bhadson, and, in 1763, having joined Raja Ala Singh of Pattiala and the other Sikh Chiefs in the great battle of Sirhind, when Zin Khan, the Muhammadan Governor, was slain, he obtained Imloh or Amloh as his share of the spoil. He conquered Rori from Rahimdad Khan in 1776. Hamir Singh was the first Chief of Nabha who established a mint,* which may be accepted as a sign of his complete independence. Many of the successes of Nabha at this time were due to the ability of a Muhammadan Diwan of the Raja's, popularly known as “Kubba” or the hump-backed.

The conquest of Sangrur by the Raja of Jhind:

Hamir Singh was not invariably fortunate, and in Raja Gajpat Singh of Jhind he found more than his match. In 1774, the later chief invaded Nabha on a frivolous pretext, took Hamir Singh prisoner by treachery, and seized the strong town of Sangrur, which has never been restored.

The death of Hamir Singh AD 1783, and the regency of Mai Deso

When Hamir Singh died in 1783, his son Jaswant Singh was only eight years of Age and it was necessary to appoint a Regent to carry on the administration. Rani Desu, one of the late Chiefs widows, was selected on account of her capacity for business, in preference to the mother of Jaswant Singh. Desu


* Ante p. 317.

† Ante p. 318—315.


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had held her own bravely against Jhind during the imprisonment of her husband, recovering most of the territory which had been seized by Raja Gajpat Singh, with the aid of troops lent by her son-in-law Sirdar Sahib Singh Bhangi of Gujrat.

The death of Mai Desu:

With these foreign troops she maintained herself as regent, ruling in the name Of her son till 1790, when she died suddenly : her enemy and rival Raja Gajpat Singh at Jhind having died in the previous year.

The expedition against George Thomas:

After this, the relations between Nabha and Jhind became more friendly, and a common danger for the time united them in an attempt to destroy the power of George Thomas, the master of Hansi, whose wars and conquests, so far as they concerned the Cis-Satlej States, have been already related,*

The price of Mahratta existence:


In the arrangements made at Dehli with General Perron, the Commander-in-Chief of the Northom Mahratta army, for the expulsion of Thomas from Hansi, it does not appear that Nabha was concerned. The Agents of the Raja of Pattiala, Raja Bhag Singh of Jhind, and Bhai Lal Singh of Kythal, were the contracting parties, but Nabha was included in the conditions finally settled, as that State would benefit as much as any other from the defeat of the common enemy.

The revenue and tribute promised to be paid to the Mahrattas by the Sikhs, who were strangely willing to surrender their independence, is given in the following list, which shows fairly the relative power and resources of the several Cis-Satlej States at the close of the last century.


* Ante p. 81. †t Ante p. 88.


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Name of Raja Revenue (Rs.) Tribute (Rs.)
Raja Sahib Singh of Pattiala 1,14,750 38,250
Raja Jaswant Singh of Nabha 28,500 9,500
Raja Bhag Singh of Jhind 21,750 7,250
The Chiefs of Maler Kotla 15,000 5,000
The Chiefs of Rai Kot 60,000 20,000
The Chiefs of Raipur and Gujarwal 15,000 5,000
Bhai Lal Singh of Kythal 45,000 15,000
Total 3,00,000 1,00,000

Raja makes friends with the English:

Raja Jaswant Singh of Nabha was not as ready as the Chiefs of Jhind and Kythal to make friends with the English, but he sent his agents to be present at the interview held at Nanak Toda between General Lake and the Cis-Satlej Chiefs, and was thanked by that officer for the friendly sentiments which his agents were directed to express towards the British Government.* The following year, when Holkar, the Mahratta Prince, was advancing northwards to Lahore and halted at Nabha, the Baja refused to assist him in any way, pleading his engagements with the English. Lord Lake assured the Raja that so long as his disposition towards the British Government remained unchanged, his possessions would


* Letter of Lord Lake to Raja Jaswant Singh, dated 26th May 1804.


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never be curtailed nor any demand made upon him for tribute.

The Nabha Chief and Maharaja Ranjit Singh, AD 1806

The history of the first connection of Maharaja Ranjit Singh with the Cis-Satlej States and his conquests and intrigues, have been related with so much detail in the Pattiala narrative that it is unnecessary in this place to do more than briefly allude to them. Rani Aus Kour of Pattiala, wife of the imbecile Sahib Singh, had for some time been engaged in hostilities with the Rajas of Nabha and Jhind, and with the assistance of the Thanesar and Kythal Chiefs was getting the better in the contest, when the Jhind Chief summoned his kinsman the Maharaja of Lahore to his aid.* Ranjit Singh arrived speedily with a large force, and, although he did little to heal the dispute which existed between Pattiala and the neighbouring States, he rewarded his friends and adherents by grantee from the country which he conquered, Raja Jaswant Singh receiving as his share, portions of Kot, Basia, Talwandi and Jagraon, 51 villages worth Rs. 26,690 ; and seven villages from the Ghumgrana estate worth Rs. 8,350.

The Maharaja’s campaign of 1807, 1808:

During the Cis-Satlej expeditions of Ranjit Singh in 1807, 1808, the Nabha Chief remained his firm ally, hoping to profit by the weakness and dissensions in Pattiala. In 1807, he received a grant of four villages of the Ghumgrana estate, taken by the Maharaja from


* Circular of Resident Dehli to all Residents, Magistrates, &c., dated 1st November 1806.

† Vide Appendix A.- Statement of the conquests of Ranjit Singh during the years 1806—9.


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Gujar Singh, and, the next year, the district of Kannah, consisting of eighteen villages, taken from Rani Raipuri and Ran Singh. But, at length, he, with the other Cis-Satlej Chiefs, began to under- stand that Ranjit Singh's friendship was only one degree less dangerous than his enmity, and that he would be satisfied with nothing less than absolute supremacy over the whole country to the north of the Jamna. With this conviction, was quite willing to turn to the English, with whom he had always remained on friendly terms, for protection.

Nabha is taken under British protection

He received Colonel Ochterlony on his arrival at Nabha with the utmost cordiality,* and in May of the same year was taken under the protection of the British Government, with the other Chiefs of Malwa and Sirhind.

The position of Nabha with respect to other states:

At this time Raja Jaswant Singh ranked third among the Cis-Satlej Chiefs. First was the Maharaja of Pattiala with a revenue of upwards of six lakhs of rupees ; the Bhais of Kythal were second, with a revenue of two lakhs and a quarter, and third was Nabha, with one lakh and a half; though the Chiefs of Kalsia and Ladwa had almost as large an income and certainly could bring more troops into the field.§ Sir David Ochterlony had formed a high opinion of the Raja's abilities : writing to Government he observed, " Jaswant Singh is one of the principal Sirdars under our protection, and by far superior in manner, management and


* Colonel Ochterlony to Secretary to Government, 4th of February 1809. A. Seton, Esqaire, Resident (Delhi, to Secretary to Government, 10th August 1809. Colonel Ochterlony to Raja of Nabha, 6th February 1809.

† Proclamation of 3rd May 1809.

§ tate.nent prepared in 1809 by Colonel Ochterlony.


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“understanding, to any of them I have yet seen. I have seen much of his country, which is highly cultivated, and proves him to be mild and unoppressive, a character seldom seen amongst them, and is made more conspicuous by his lands being much mixed with the Raja of Pattiala, where the contrast is very discernible".

Although by the proclamation of the 3rd of May 1809, the Chiefs taken under British protection were exempted from tribute and confirmed in the exercise of their ancient rights and authority, yet Jaswant Singh sought and obtained from the Governor General more explicit and personal assurances on these points, and, later, a sanad was granted to him confirming to him all his possessions under the seal of the Governor General.

In 1810, the Raja received from the Emperor of Dehli, to whom he had sent, a A present of two guns and four bows, a title of honor, Barār Bans Sarour Malwindra Buhādar .§ From his near connection with the family of Pattiala, the Nabha Chief was naturally one of the advisers of that State, with Raja Bhag Singh of Jhind, and Bhai Lal Singh of Kythal.§ The Raja of Pattiala was almost imbecile, and his wife, Rani Aus Kour,


* Colonel Ochterlony to J. Moncto, Esqire, Secretary 19th May 1810.

† Letter of Raja of Nabha to Governor General, 7th June 1810. Reply of Governor General, 20th November 1810.

§ Murasila from Resident Sbahjahanabad to Raja of Nabha, 27th September 1810. Letter, from Muhammad Akbar Shah, Emperor of Dehli, dated 28rd September 1810, to Raja of Nabha, with firman conferring the title, 26th September 1810.

§ Colonel Ochterlony to Government, 9th March 1811.


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virtually exercised supreme authority, subject in certain matters to the advice of the other Chiefs and the British Political Agent. But the influence of the Nabha Raja was not used for good. Both during the last years of the life of Raja Sahib Singh and during the minority of his son, his only object was to increase the disorders of Pattiala and to make the scandal of its mismanagement sufficiently notorious to call for direct interference from without, or possibly to break up the principality altogether, in which case he hoped to share in the spoil, and to increase his own possessions at the expense of his kinsman.

The character of Jaswant Singh

The character which Sir David Ochterlouy had given of the Raja referred alone to his administrative qualities, and not to his conduct towards the neighbouring States, in which he showed himself as unscrupulous and grasping as any other Chief. He was no worse than others, but, at this time, there was no single Chief in the Cis-Satlej territory who appeared to have any idea of right distinct from his own personal interest, and the consideration that his object could only be attained by violence or fraud, gave him no concern. With Pattiala there had always existed on the part of Nabha a jealousy which had led to constant disputes.

The grievance against Pattiala:

The Nabha Chiefs, who considered that they by birth and right the head of the Phulkian family, saw with great dissatisfaction the younger branch growing more wealthy and powerful than themselves, and the influence of this feeling may be traced in almost all the relations between the States till the time of the first Sikh war.


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The dispute regarding the village of Doladhi:

A boundary dispute regarding the lands of Doladhi, a village close to the walls of Nabha and the ownership of which was claimed by both States, had been a principal cause of ill-feeling. This was one of the cases which Maharaja Ranjit Singh was summoned to decide in 1807, but which, nevertheless, for more than twenty years afterwards continued to be a fruitful case of strife.*

The dispute regarding the village of Aliki:

Many other disputes arose between these States regarding their respective boundaries. In January 1819, the Maharaja of Pattiala sent troops to take possession of the village of Aliki, which he declared was his, and it was only on the representations of the Political Agent that he consented to withdraw them and aappoint arbitrators to settle the dispute.

The dispute regarding Kowlasheri:


The following year Pattiala complained of the aggressions of the Nabha Raja. The first grievance was with reference to the villages of Kowlasheri, belonging to Pattila and Phulasheri belonging to Nabha. In the previous year Raja Jasiwant Singh had complained of the encroachments of the Kowlasiheri zamindars on the Phulasheri lands, Arbitrators were appointed, and a decision given in his favor. The Maharaja of Pattiala then sent troops into Kowlasheri, to protect the inhabitants, as alleged from the stronger


  • vide ante, pp.171-174


Captain Murray to Sir E. Colebrooke, 12th April, 30th July, 30th September, 2nd and 10th October, and 13th December 1828. Sir E. Colebrooke to Captain Marray, 11th and 18th June, 25th, 30th July, 30th September, 2nd and 13th October 1828.

† From Captain Birch to Sir D. Qchterloy, dated 12lh September 1819.


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and hostile neighbouring villages. This action was quite unnecessary, for the Phulasheri villagers had gained all they wanted and had no wish to continue the quarrel, but the Maharaja was unwilling to relinquish his claim, and the result was much contention and bloodshed.


A second subject of dispute was the boundary between the village of Bhadour, belonging to Sirdars Dip Singh and Bir Singh, relations of the Pattiala Chief, and the village of Kangar, belonging to Nabha, in which Case also the Nabha Raja had the right on his side ; and, thirdly, the possession of the lander in Harriana to the south of the Gaggar, which had been divided between the States when the boundaries of Harriana and British territory were laid down.*

Family dissensions, The rebellion of Prince Ranjit Singh

Raja Jaswant Singh's troubles were not confined to boundary disputes with Pattiala. His eldest son, Kour Ranjit Singh, in 1818, influenced by evil advisers and chiefly by the Sirdar of Lidhran, rebelled openly against his authority, and it was only through the personal influence of the Political Agent that he consented to dismiss those of his followers who were obnoxious to the Raja, and to return to his allegiance, when his jagir, which had been confiscated, was restored to him. The reconciliation between father and son was not permanent in 1822 the Raja again believed that Ranjit Singh was plotting against him, and resumed all the lands which had been assigned for his sup-


* Captain Birch, to Sir D. Ochfterlooy dated 22nd November 1820.

† Captain Birch to Sir D. Ochterlony, dated 19th January, and 18th February 1819.


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port ; and, in 1824, declared that his son was implicated in a conspiracy against his life.

An alleged conspiracy against Raja’s life:

He proposed altogether to disinherit the Prince and his children in favour of his second son, and to add the lands of Raja Singh of Lidhran, the most influential of Ranjit Singh's friends, to the State lands. The evidence which the Raja was able to produce in support of his fears was fanciful in the extreme, and the Prince indignantly denied the truth of the charge ; but his supposed accomplices were thrown into prison, heavily ironed, while the case was referred for the orders of the Governor General, who did not consider the charge to be established, and ordered that no restraint should be placed on Prince Ranjit Singh and that Sirdar Raja Singh should be at once released from confinement.*

The Charge against the prince is disproved:

Raja Jaswant Singh was not satisfied with this decision, and Submitted to Government a series of documents which he believed would establish the truth of his assertions. But the Governor General again agreed with Sir Charles Metcalfe, the Resident at Dehli, that the charge was in no way substantiated, and upheld the order which before had been passed. There is ample evidence to show that the conduct of the Prince had been wild and extravagant, and that the Raja had some reason to be dissatisfied with him. This is established by the various


* Captain Murray to C. Elliott, Esquire, 27th and 30th November 1824.

C. Elliott, Esquire, to Gaptain Murray, 6th May and 25st September 1825. C. Elliott, Esquire, to Secretary to Government of India, 9th May, 1825

Secretary to Government of India to C.Elliott Esquire, 26th August 1825.


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agreements drawn up at various times by the Prince, and attested by Sir David Ochterlony, but they also prove that the serious crime charged was without foundation.

The various orders issued by Captains Ross and Murray, subsequent to those Of Sir David Ochterlony, show, indeed, the continued immoral and disorderly conduct of the Prince, but do not contain the smallest direct or circumstantial evidence of any wish or attempt at assassination of the Raja.

The only document which at all supported the charge, was the alleged confession of Raja Singh of Lidhran ; but on this no reliance whatever could be placed. When it was given, Raja Singh was a prisoner at Nabha, completely in the power of Jaswant Singh, who had means of inducing his captive to make any confession he wished. The character of Raja Singh was so infamous, that had he been free no reliance could have been placed on his word, and he was, moreover, the acknowledged instigator of the extravagances of the Prince. On evidence such as this, no one could justly be condemned, far less of an attempt to commit so unnatural a crime as parricide, and the Prince was accordingly acquitted.*

The death of the Prince AD 1832:

But this acquittal Prince Ranjit Singh did not long survive. On the 17th of June 1832 he died at Patriri, the residence of Sirdar Gulab Singh Shahid, to whose sister-in-law he had been married a short time before.


* Sir Charles Metcalfe to Secretary to Government of India 23rd November 1826, and to Captain Muray, 3rd May 1827.

Secretary to Government of India, to Sir C. Metcalfe, 27tb April 1827.


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Which is attributed to fowl play:

The sudden death of a person of importance in the Sikh States was rarely considered to be due to natural causes, the more especially when, as in the case of Ranjit Singh, he had been for years pursued by the most bitter and unrelenting enmity of his father. The widows of the deceased at once charged the Raja with their husband's murder, and the body certainly bore marks which seemed to suggest foul play. Only two years before. Prince Santokh Singh, the only son of the Prince, had died suddenly* and the belief then was general that his grand-father, the Raja, had caused poison to be administered to him. But there was no shadow of evidence to support the charges, and soon afterwards the mother of the Prince, who had joined the widows in accusing the Raja of the murder, wrote to Sir George Clerk, declaring her disbelief in the alleged instrumentality of the Raja in causing her son's death, and no further action was accordingly taken. Prince Ranjit Singh, though of extravagant and dissolute habits, was a young man of considerable promise, and was extremely popular with the Chiefs on both sides of the Satlej.

Kour Ranjit Singh married three wives, the daughters of Sirdars Jodh Singh of Bamne Kaleki, Jassa Singh of Shahpur, and Dya Singh Bhamna. His son Santokh Singh, was married to Bhagbari, the daughter of Sirdar Sher Singh of Shahabad, with great pomp : all the Cis-Satlej Chiefs and the British Political Agent being present at the ceremony.


* Captain Murray to Acting Resident, 4th October 1890.

† Sir George Clerk to Mr. Fraser, Governor General’s Agent. 20th June and 7th September 1832, and letters from the widow and mother of Ranjit Singh to Sir G. Clerk.


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Notice must now be taken of an important case which illustrates the nature of the relations which grew up gradually between a powerful State like Nabha and its weaker neighbours, from original independence to a state of feudal vassalage.

The rise of the Nishanwala confederacy:

The Sikhs of Lidhran and Sunti were members of the powerful Nishanwala confederacy, which, under Sirdar Sangat Singh, Dassanda Singh, Jai Singh and Mohr Singh, took possession, after the battle of Sirhind, in 1763, of Ambala, Serai Lashkar Khan, Shahabad, Doraha, Lidhran, Amloh and Sunti complained bitterly to the Agent of the Governor General at Dehli of the tyranny of the Nabha Raja, who treated them as his vassals, demanded constant service, from the former fifty and from the latter seventy horse, and harassed them with numerous requisitions with which it was most irksome to comply, and which the Raja had no right to make as they were not his vassals at all. The Political Agents to whom the question was referred, considered that although the Chiefs should continue to furnish contingents for service to the Raja that they should be protected from his oppression, and that their disputes should be heard and decided by the British Agent at Ambala.*

The Resident did not consider this practicable, as he held the Lidhran and Sunti Sikhs to be dependants of Nabha, and that any interference on the part of the British Government would weaken the position


* Captain Murray to Sir E. Colebrooke 13th September 1827. Acting Resident to Captain Murray 27tli July 1827.


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of the Raja. This vassalage was thenceforth considered as proved, although the Chiefs themselves denied any right over them on the part of Nabha, and the documents which affirmed it, purporting to have been executed by themselves, they declared to be forgeries.

Result of investigation by Sir G. Clerk:

In 1836, the case was taken up by Sir G. Clerk and thoroughly investigated. This officer came to the conclusion that, as regarded the Lidhran Sikhs, the Nabha Raja was only primus inter pares and had continued, with the assistance of the British authorities, to usurp the position of a feudal lord. That, with regard to Sunti, the case was very similar, the Nabha Raja having successfully asserted his supremacy at a time when the co-parcenary rights of the Sikhs were imperfectly understood.*

This decision was founded on the undoubted fact that, under Sikhism, as originally understood, no such thing, as vassalage or feudal superiority had any existence. The principle of the creed was fraternity; and the Sikhs boasted of being communities of independent soldiers. While the Khalsa was still young and enthusiastic and the power of no individual Chief was inordinately great, this idea of independence represented a state of things not far removed from the truth, but as the more important Chiefships gradually increased in power, their smaller neighbours were compelled, either for protection against others or to avoid absorption altogether, to place themselves under the protection of some Chief able to defend them, and, in return, to give service in the field.


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The Lidhran and Sunti Sikhs were, at the time of the conquest of Sirhind, independent members of the Nishanwala confederacy, and when Sirdar Jai Singh seized Lidhran with twenty seven adjacent villages, he was still an independent Chief. * When the Phulkians, in 1718, attacked Ambala, a Nishanwala possession, the Lidhran and Sunti Sikhs both came to the assistance of the besieged and fought against the Nabha troops, proving that at this time, at any rate, they were not vassals of the Nabha Chief, After this time the Lidhran Sikhs were never engaged in active hostilities against Nabha, for an alliance was made and cemented by the marriage of the daughter of Sirdar Jai Singh to Raja Jaswant Singh. But the Sikhs of Sunti, on several subsequent occasions fought against Nabha, and, so late as 1810 and 1814, when they were at war with the Chiefs of Kannah and Karar, Nabha gave them no assistance, as she undoubtedly would have done had they been her acknowledged feudatories.

Usurpation of Nabha from Sunti Sikhs...:

Soon after the capture of Sirhind, the Sunti Sikhs seized Amloh and thirty-six adjacent villages; but on the approach of Ahmad Shah Durani, who was invading the Punjab from the north, they, in common with other Manjha Sikhs, crossed the Satlej to oppose him. Nabha took this opportunity to possess herself of Amloh and half of its attached villages, and the rightful owners on their return were only able to establish their head quarters at Sunti, and carry on hostilities against


* Ante Note p. 48.


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Nabha with varying success until, Sirdar Jassa Singh Ahluvalia and Sirdar Himmat Singh of Shahabad, acting as arbitrartors, assigned Amloh to to Nabha, and the thirty-five villages to be held in co-parcenary or chaharami tenure between them. This decision the Sunti Sikhs were compelled to accept, but they remained on very bad terms with Nabha, and systematically opposed that State in every possible way.*

Documents were undoubtedly in existence which, if genuine, proved that the supremacy of Nabha and their liability to furnish contingents for service had been admitted by the Chiefs ; but these they pronounced forgeries and Sir George Clerk appears to have believed them. It was not however easy to prove the fraud if any existed ; and the Chiefs had certainly for some years, under protest it may be, rendered suit and service, and their obligation to do so had been maintained on many occasions by the British Government, although once, in 1834, it had reversed a decision of the Raja of Nabha in a case of disputed inheritance in Lidhran.

This being the case, the Government of India did not consider it expedient to declare the Sikhs of Sunti and Lidhran altogether independent of Nabha. The complaints which they had made of harassing and perpetual demands for


* Sir D. Octerlony to Captain Marray, 11th November 1815. Sir George Clerk to Sir T. Metcalfe, Agent Governor General, 12 August and 1st September 1836. Original documents containing the agreements of the Chiefs with Nabha. Sir T. Metcalfe to Sir George Clerk, 31st March, and Sir George Clerk to T. Metcalfe 19th April 1837.


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service were nevertheless regarded, and the Raja of Nabha was directed to dispense with their service altogether, except on the occasion of the birth of a son, the marriage of one of his sons or daughters, the death of the reigning Prince, or in time of actual war. The dignity of Nabha was thus duly considered, and the Sunti and Lidhran Sikhs relieved from the oppression of which they had so bitterly complained.*

The Raja offers his services during the Kabul campaign:

The Raja of Nabha offered his services to the British Government at the commencement of the Kabul campaign, and although they were necessarily declined, the Governor General thanked him for the friendly spirit which had prompted the offer.

The death of Raja Jaswant Singh AD 1840

On the 22nd of May 1840, Raja Jaswant Singh, who had been for some time in a declining state of health, died, aged 66, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, Devindar Singh, then in his eighteenth year.§ The character of the Raja has been already described. However grasping and unscrupulous his conduct may have been towards his neighbours and rivals, he had always administered the affairs of his own State justly and well His policy was excellent, and his subjects were contented and had reason to lament his death.


* Secretary to Government to Agent Governor General 25th August 1838, and to Raja of Nabha of the same date. Agent Governor General to Sir G. Clerk, 8th September 1838, and to Secretary Government, 1st June and 11th August 1838.

Despatch No. 10 of Court of Directors 19th March 1840.

† Raja of Nabha to Governor General Governor General to Raja, dated 8th of November 1838, and to Sir G. Clerk of the same date.

§ Sir G. Clerk to Mr. Thomason, Agent Lieutenant Governor, 28th May 1840.


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His marriage

Raja Jaswant Singh married five wives :

  1. Dya Kour. dauhter of Sirdar Jai Singh Lidhran ;
  2. Chand Kour, daughter of Sirdar Ram Singh Dhillon, who has lately died at a great age ;
  3. Ram Kour, daughter of Sirdar Bagh Singh Rallon ;
  4. Harkour, daughter of Sirdar Hari Singh of Jodhpur ; and, lastly,
  5. Dharam Kour, the daughter of Sirdar Sujan Singh of Ghumon.

Of these, Rani Dya Kour gave birth to Ranjit Singh and Rani Harkour to Devindar Singh.

The late Raja had been a faithful ally of the British Government. In 1804 he refused to assist Holkar against the English ; he gave assistance in supplies and carriage during the Gurkha campaign of 1810, and in that of Bikaner, in 1818 ; * and during the northward march of the British army to Kabul in 1838, he advanced a loan of six lakhs of Rupees to the Government.

The installation of Raja Devindar Singh

Devindar Singh was formally installed as Raja on the 5th of October 1840, the Agent of the Governor General being present. This was the first installation that had taken place in Nabha since the English connection with the States, and the Khillat conferred on the occasion was similar to that given to Raja Fatah Singh of Jhind in 1822, consisting of an elephant with jhul or trappings, a horse with a silver saddle, a Khillat of seven pieces, 3 rugums, and a sword and shield.§


* Captain Birch to Raja of Nabha, 20th July 1819.

† Captain Murray to Raja of Nabha, 6th November 1838.

§ Sir O. Clerk to Secretary to Government North Western Provinces 17th September 1840, and to Secretary to Government of India, 28th September 1840.


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His early training and character:

The new Raja's character, the training he had received, and the circumstances of his succession did not promise a wise or successful administration. It was only after he had quarraled with Prince Ranjit Singh that Raja Jaswant Singh married the wife who gave birth to Devindar Singh. As this child grew up, the Raja's hatred for his elder son grew more intense, and his determination to disinherit him and leave the State to his younger and favorite son more confirmed.

This resolution was notorious, and in the dispute between father and son, the neighbouring Chiefs were involved, some taking one side and some the other. Devindar Singh was ten years old when his brother died, and from that time was the recognized heir to the throne. He had thus, from his earliest years, been surrounded by flatterers and parasites who desired to please his father, and, in order to accumulate every pretext for disinheriting Ranjit Singh, the greatest pains were taken with the education of his younger brother. When Devindar Singh became, when still a boy, the reigning Prince, his Brahman tutors, as was natural enough, retained their influence ; and filled his mind with an exaggerated estimate of his power, dignity and importance, till a character, which would otherwise have been distinguished for weakness alone, became repulsive from its arrogance and vanity, while the old feud which had for long existed between the rival houses of Pattiala and Jhind was revived with far greater bitterness than ever.


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Ill feelings between Nabha and states of Pattiala and Jhind:

It has been before explained that Nabha was the eldest branch of the Phulkian family and held the hereditary title of Chaudhri, which had possessed a real meaning when the Chiefs were subjects of the Dehli Emperors. The title of Maharaja granted to the Pattiala Chief had always excited the greatest jealousy on the part of the Raja of Nabha, who was most anxious to obtain the same honor for himself. With Pattiala he had always been at feud, and the Raja of Jhind had generally taken the Pattiala side of the dispute and was in consequence equally obnoxious to Nabha.

The Special cause of quarrel:

But there was another and more recent cause for the bad feeling between these Chiefs. When Raja Sangat Singh of Jhind died without male issue, the principal claimants for the throne were Sirdar Sarup Singh of Bazidpur and his cousin Sirdar Sukhan Singh of Badrukhan, two distant collaterals. The State might justly have been resumed by the British Government as an escheat — collateral succession to Chiefships not being then admitted — but it was determined to make it over to one of the claimants. The discussion as to their respective rights was of long duration ; and the Nabha and Pattiala Chiefs naturally supported the one who bid highest for their influence. Pattiala demanded dependence on herself rather than on Nabha ; and the latter demanded the cession of the district of Sangrur, which had been treacherously conquered from Nabha by Raja Gajpat Singh in 1774. Sarup Singh is asserted to have signed a bond agreeing to surrender this district, if his claim were admitted, but, after obtaining an acknowledgment of his claims from Government, he refused to


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fulfil his promise. Neither party cared to bring such a case before the British authorities, but the existence of the bond was a matter of notoriety, and it was moreover believed that Raja Sarup Singh attempted to destroy it when it was put into his hands at Nabha for perusal. *

The etiquette of Raja’s Court:

The only revenge Raja Devindar Singh was able to take for this breach of faith Was to deny the Jhind Raja any title of honor, pretending to consider him as of inferior birth, being only related collaterally to the late Rajas, and styling him simply Sarup Singh. The Maharaja of Pattiala he would only style Raja ; and he introduced into his Court a rigid and painful etiquette abolishing many customs supposed to be of Muhammadan origin. Devindar Singh was a bigoted Sikh, and was always surrounded with Brahmans, who, after the fashion of their order, flattered the weak-minded prince for their own interest Sanscrit Slokas were recited every evening before him, and the opportunity was taken to exalt his dignity and depreciate that of his neighbours ; while the power of the English was asserted to be on the wane and the day approaching when they would retire from Northern India and Nabha assume the foremost place which was justly her due.

But these open manifestations of disaffection did not show themselves immediately after the Raja's accession. He was then anxious to obtain the title of Maharaja, and endeavoured to win the esteem of the British Government by making large remissions of


* Major Broadfoot to Secretary to Government of India, dated 26th April 1845.


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revenue. He also, finding the Agent of the Governor General took an interest in native education, proposed to establish a College in which English, Sanskrit, and Hindi should be taught, but this laudable intention was not carried out.

Dissatisfaction of Satlej States AD 1842:

In 1842 occurred the Kabul disasters, the effect of which, on the Cis-Satlej Chiefs, has already noticed. It is almost impossible to exaggerate the influence which a catastrophe such as this had upon ignorant and selfish Chiefs, to whom gratitude was an unknown virtue and who had only remained loyal to the British Government, which had loaded them with favors and had taken nothing from them as the price of these flavors, because they believed its power to be invincible. There were in the whole of India no native Princes who had such reason to be faithful to the British Government, and who had received such unmixed advantage from their connection with it, as those of the Cis-Satlej ; but when, as they believed, the British power was materially shaken by the results of the first Kabul campaign, they almost all, the larger States as well as the smaller, wavered in their allegiance, disregarded the orders of the British Agents, and prepared to take advantage of the new order of things which they imagined was about to arrive. Nabha, to the credit of the Raja's intelligence, was one of the first to understand the significance of the successes of the second Kabul expedition and returned to his former attitude of friendship.

The resumption of Kythal:

But this change lasted only a short time. The resumption of the larger portion of the Kythal State, held by the Bhaikian family and connections of the Fhulkians, created great


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dissatisfaction, and the Chief of Nabha, with those of Pattiala and Jhind, used their utmost endeavours to obstruct the Government and to obtain the succession to the whole estate for the nearest collateral. When they perceived that the Government was prepared to support its rights by force, and had sent a detachment to Kythal to restore order, which their influence had chiefly been instrumental in disturbing, they pretended to be as eager to assist as before they had been to oppose ; but, till the last, they remonstrated against the resumption, seeing in the fate of Kythal the probable fate of their own possessions, for the Sikh Ghiefs led lives so debauched that it was a common thing for them to have no children ; and unless the right of adoption or the claims of collaterals were admitted, their estates would lapse, sooner or later, to the paramount power.*

The Nabha Raja was thus disposed to transfer his friendship from the British Government to that of Lahore, which had been careful not to risk a collision with the English when wise and able men presided at its councils, but which now, guided by courtezans and drunkards, was fast drifting into war. The Nabha Baja was, like many other Chiefs, tired of the monotony of the English rule. As they expressed themselves in letters to the Governor General, "the lion and lamb mighty through the benevolence and justice of the British Government, "drink out of the same vessel," but this state of


* Envoy to Court of Lahore to Secretary to Government of India, 27th, 39th, 30th March, and 8th April 1843. From Agent Governor General to Secretary to Government dated 15th February 1644. Letter of Raja of Nabha to Agent Governor General, 7th October 1844. Letter of the Envoy to Mai Sahib Koar of Kythal, 9th April 1843, and from Maharaja of Pattiala to Envoy, 13th April 1843.


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things was only agreeable to the lamb. The lion desired concision and war, in which the strong would be the conqueror and the weak the prey, and in an alliance with Lahore the Raja of Nabha fancied he would more easily obtain the objects of his ambition, than by remaining on good terms with the English.

The case of village Mowran

At this time, however, a case occurred which requires notice, as it appeared likely to embroil the Raja with the Lahore Durbar, and certainly was considered by the latter to evince an unfriendly feeling on the part of the British Government, helping to embitter the relations between the two States, which were already becoming uncertain and dangerous. To explain the nature of the case it is necessary to go back some way in Nabha history.

Sardar Dhanna Singh Malwai:

Dhanna Singh,* a zamindar of Mowran, in Nabha territory, left his village about the year 1793, and took service with Sirdar Sahib Singh of Gujrat, who had married Subha Kour, the sister of Raja Jaswant Singh. Later he served under Sirdar Fatah Singh Kalianwala, and, in 1807, entered the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore, and, being a fine soldier, soon rose to favor. In the year 1815, he begged his master to obtain for him the grant of his ancestral village of Mowran, and the Maharaja according preferred his request to Jaswant Singh, who objected to the grant. Ranjit Singh then said that unless the village was given he would resume the lands held, Trans-Satlej, by Subha Kour, the widow of Sirdar Sahib Singh Bhangi, who had died a short time before. This argument was not with-


* Dhanna Singh Malwai. The history of this Sirdar is given in "the Punjab Chiefs", p. 192—196.


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out effect, and after some further delay Jaswant Singh consented to the grant, which was made in 1819, the British Agent, General Ochterlony, knowing nothing about it, although the Nabha authorities declared that he not only was aware of the grant, but insisted that it should be made subject to service to Nabha of which State Dhanna Singh and his father Mal Singh before him had been subjects. This was certainly never done, and no service was ever rendered by Dhanna Singh. He, however, occasionally made to the Raja complimentary presents, till 1830, when he broke off all connection with Nabha, commenced building a fort in Mowran and acted as an independent Chief. Jaswant Singh was very much irritated and wished to resume the village; but this, during the life of the Maharaja, he did not dare to do, although his agent affirmed that, at the marriage of Nao Nihal Singh, in 1837, he asked the Maharaja's permission to resume, and, in reply, was directed to wait till the death of Dhanna Singh who was then a man far advanced in years.

The object of the Nabha Raja was to prove that Mowran was not a grant made by him to Maharaja Ranjit Singh and given by the latter to Dhanna Singh Malwai, but that it was a mere temporary exchange for the village of Manokah, allowed to Rani Subha Kour his sister ; and that when this was resumed on her death, he had a right to resume Mowran. This lady died in 1839, two months before Maharaja Ranjit Singh, by whose successor, Kharrak Singh, her village was resumed.


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The death of Dhanna Singh and demand of the village:

Sirdar Dhanna Singh Malwai died in May 1848, and Raja Devindar Singh at once called on Hukm Singh, the son of the deceased Chief, to surrender the property. Hie circumstances of the grant were quite unknown to Sir G. Clerk, who, in 1839, is said to have sanctioned the resumption under the impression that the village was merely an exchange for that held by Rani Subha Kour ; and, moreover, the Raja produced a letter said to have been written by Maharaja Kharrak Singh, and dated the 6th December 1839, which supported this view of the question and which ran as follows : —

The letter of Maharaja Kharrak Singh:

"As regards releasing or giving up Mowran in exchauge for which Zahura was granted to Mai Subha Kour in the first instance, and Manokah later, which was resumed by me, Ganda Singh* has explained the circumstances. He was told that if any one seized Manokah it should be restored, but he insisted much upon the restoration of Mowran. As there is a friendship between us, be satisfied on this subject and take possession of the village. The case appears to be as follows : — The Maharaja gave Mowran to Sirdar Dhanna Singh, and, as an exchange, first the village of Zahura, and afterwards that of Manokah, was given to Mai Subha Kour : on her death my officials took possession of Manokah. Your officials can now also take possession of Mowran : if Sirdar Dhanna Singh complains, some other village will be given him."


* This Ganda Singh was a relation of Mai Chand Kour, wife of Maharaja Kharrak Singh, and had entered the service of the Raja of Nabha, by whom he was sent to Lahore regarding the Mowraa case.

† Translation by Captain Cunningham, Assistant Political Agent


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The Raja of Nabha takes Moran by storm and plunders:


Raja Devindar Singh, on the refusal of Sirdar Hukm Singh to surrender the village, sent a force against it in August 1843, opened fire without delay and took it by storm, refusing to allow any reference to be made to Hukm Singh or to Lahore. The fort was plundered and a large quantity of valuables, estimated by Sirdar Hukm Singh at more than two lakhs of rupees was carried off.* The Raja's account of the attack was of course different : he asserted that the villagers opened fire upon his troops, and the capture of the fort was in retaliation for this outrage, while no valuables of any description were founder removed.

Maharaja Sher Singh, who had now succeeded to the unquiet throne of Lahore, pretended to be, or really was, most indignant at the violence done to one of his dependents and wrote to the British Government for redress. But before any reply could be given, Sher Singh was assassinated, and several months of anarchy succeeded, during which Mowran was forgotten.

The Letter of Maharaja Dalip Singh:

But, in July 1844, the question was again raised and the nature of the Lahore demands will be seen from extract from a letter of Maharaja Dalip Singh.§ "All the circumstances connected with the village of Mowran are understood by the English, and it is known to them that it belongs to the Khalsa, and you have also ascertained fully the aggression committed


* Letter of Rai Kishan Chand, Agent of the Lahore Durbar, 16th July 1844. Statement of Sirdar Hukm Singh Malwai, dated 25th April 1844.

† Letter from Raja of Nabha to Agent Governor General dated 16th July 1844.

§ Received 10th July 1844.


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"and the deceit practised by the authorities of Nabha. Rai Kishan Chand ( the vakil) informed me that the case would soon be satisfactorily settled, and although it was pleasing to hear this, still, as there has been much delay, I have thought it good to remind you that the right of the Lahore State to the village is proved, and that aggression and deceit on the part of the Nabha authorities have been fully ascertained. The belief is that, considering the friendship of the two States, the case of Mowran will be satisfactorily settled, and all the plundered property will be restored, and that those who have been proved to have committed aggression and practised deceit will be adequately punished."

The importance attached to the case of Sikhs:

The Mowran case having thus become, in the excited state of the Sikhs, of great political importance, a full investigation was made into the merits of the case. The points on which the whole question turned were the validity of the letter of Maharaja Kharrak Singh, the nature of the original grant and the person to whom it was made.

The letter of Maharaja Kharrak Singh permitting the resumption of Mowran was at once pronounced a forgery by the Lahore Durbar. The original could not be produced, and the Raja of Nabha stated that it had been lost when the papers of his minister, Sahib Singh, were seized. But this excuse could not be admitted in the face of the denial of the Lahore officials that such a document had ever been issued. The truth probably was that Ganda Singh, who was sent to Lahore as a Nabha Agent in 1839, persuaded


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his relative, Rani Chand Kour, to induce her weak minded husband Maharaja Kharrak Singh to draft a letter similar to that produced ; that Raja Dhyan Singh, the Lahore Minister, refused his consent to the alienation, and the letter consequently was never despatched. Raja Jaswant Singh later procured a copy of the draft which was produced as genuine and valid, although the original letter had never been officially issued at all. This was to all intents and purposes a forgery.

The original grant was discovered, dated May 1819, in favor of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and on this the Nabha Raja compelled somewhat to change his ground. He admitted that the grant had originally been so made, and stated that the British Agent had been informed of it at the time, but of this assertion there was no proof.

There was evidence, however, to show that the English authorities had no knowledge of the transfer. Mr. Clerk had given the Raja, in 1839, permission to resume Mowran, having no idea whatever that the Lahore State had any legitimate claim.* Colonel Richmond, equally ignorant of the truth, and accepting, as precedents to follow, the orders of Colonel Ochterlony in 1814, and of Mr. Clerk in 1839, told the Raja, when about to march against Mowran, that the village appeared to belong to Nabha and that if the Raja chose to resume it he was at liberty to do so.t The grant to Maharaja Ranjit Singh was not signed by the Raja, but this, which was advanced as a plea against its validity,


* Mr. Clerk to Raja of Nabha, 8th April 1839, and to Colonel Richmond, 16th September 1843.

† Colonel Richmond to Raja of Nabha, l9th August 1843.


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was of little weight, for Sikh Chiefs did not always affix their signatures to documents of such a nature. In any case, the denial of the grant was as foolish as it was dishonest, since the Raja had virtually admitted the Lahore claim by applying there for leave to resume ; while the reason for omitting to sign the document was doubtless that the Raja, when making the grant, had intended some day to deny it either for his personal advantage or to justify himself to the British Government for an illegal transfer of territory.*

The question remained whether the village should be restored to Lahore, which had held possession for twenty-four years under Raja Jaswant Singh's grant. At any other time the British Government would probably have waived their rights and allowed Lahore to retain what had been so long possessed, notwithstanding the original acquisition was irregular, but the Sikh Durbar had showed so hostile and arrogant a temper that any concession might have been misconstrued. That the grant was invalid there can be no possible doubt. The British Government was the paramount power, and no feudatory was competent to transfer territory to another independent power without its consent.

The right of the British Government clear, and the village resumed:

It is true that no definite ruling was given on this subject till 1828, in the case of Raja Sangat Singh of Jhind, but the principle was known and acknowledged, and that it was understood is proved by the secrecy attending the transfer of


* Colonel Richmond to Secretary to Government of India, dated 18th May 1844, and 28th May.


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Mowran to Ranjit Singh.* The village was consequently resumed by the British Government ; the Raja of Nabha receiving a severe reprimand, and being directed to pay Sirdar Hukm Singh the value of the property plundered from the fort.

The indignation caused by this decision at Lahore:

The decision of the British Government excited great ill-feelings at Lahore. There can be no doubt that the decision was correct according to every principle of international law ; but the Sikhs did not understand international law. They only saw the Raja of Nabha commit, under the shield of British protection, a gross outrage against the Lahore Government, plunder the property of one of the most distinguished Lahore Generals, and kill, in his wanton aggression, several Lahore subjects. The rights of the British Government, as far as its feudatories were concerned, they did not care to understand. They only knew that the village of Mowran had been held by the Lahore State for twenty-four years ; that it was seized by violence from Maharaja Sher Singh ; and that the British Government, which had always professed the warmest friendship for the Sikh people, not only did not compel its restoration but took the opportunity to benefit itself by annexing the subject of dispute. This feeling was strengthened by another case which occurred about the same time, and which has been before referred to, namely, the village of Bains, granted by the Raja of Jhind


* Resident at Delhi, dated 12th June, to Government of India, and Government of India to Resident Dehli, 3rd July 1828.

† Agent Governor General to Secretary to Government, 4th August 1844, and Secretary to Government, No. 1,297 dated 11th June 1844, and No. 2,480 of 5th October 1844, to Agent Governor General.


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to Jamadar Khushhal Singh.* That the suspicions of the Sikhs were groundless and childish may be true ; but it is certain that the unsympathetic action of the British Government at this time did irritate the Lahore Government extremely, and was one of the causes of the war which so shortly followed. It may have been well to insist upon the maintenance of a principle the correctness of which there was no reason to doubt, and to refuse to surrender it in favor of any considerations of expediency ; but Governments and individuals who talk of principle are generally about to do something ungenerous or foolish; and statesmanship consists as much in respect for prejudices and tenderness for ignorance, as in the assertion of principles however unimpeachable. This, the English Government, not for the first or last time, forgot, satisfying itself with the excuse, unworthy of a powerful administration, that any concessions to justice or generosity might be mistaken for weakness.

The war of 1845 and conduct of Raja of Nabha

The autumn of 1845 saw preparations for war between the British and the Lahore Government in progress, and there was soon little doubt with which side the sympathies of the Raja of Nabha were engaged. The vanity and arrogance of this Chief had increased to such a degree, that the plea of imbecility, which was urged in his favor after the conclusion of the war, was not an extravagant one. The etiquette of his Court became more and more rigid ; from his courtiers he required prostrations and the most abject servility in speech and manner ; he


* Agent Governor General to Secretary to Government of India, 30th July 1844.

Ante p. 384


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desired to omit all titles due to British Officers, even to the Agent of the Governor General, and his pride would not allow him to meet the Lieutenant Governor of the North Western Provinces beyond his own territories. His subjects had now begun to suffer from his exactions. His father had, on his death bed, commanded him to remits in perpetuity, one-fourth of the taxes levied, which were far heavier than those levied in British territory, although Jaswant Singh had not been an oppressive ruler. This order Devindar Singh obeyed in the letter, but disregarded in the spirit, for he increased the fines, presents and collections, to an amount which more than made up the deficiency in direct taxation.

The intrigues with Lahore:

That Raja Devindar Singh was engaged in intrigues with Lahore, for some time before the Satlej war, there is every reason to believe ; although direct and satisfactory proofs of a treasonable correspondence were not found. One reason for this failure of evidence was the death of Major Broadfoot, the Governor General's Agent, at Firushahr, and the loss of a large number of his papers ; and, secondly, that such communications as were carried on were not usually trusted to writing.

The visit of General Ram Singh to Nabha:

General Ram Singh of the Lahore army, a man notoriously hostile to the English, visited Nabha when the war was in contemplation, and is believed to have had many private interviews with the Raja. The opinion of Major Broadfoot may be seen from a confidential letter to the Nabha Agent of the 15 th of December, in which he wrote as follows : —

" In consequence of the receipt of intelligence between the

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“Raja and General Ram Singh, sent by Jowahir Singh,* and in consequence of other acts unbecoming his position as a ruler, they had before been desired to remonstrate with and restrain the Raja."

The hostile conduct of the Raja during the campaign :

But when the conduct of the Raja during the the most critical part of the campaign is considered, it will appear superfluous to look for treasonable correspondence. All the requisitions for supplies, carriage and information, which were issued to the Nabha Chiefs, are extant, and from them it appears that the first orders and demands of British Agents were treated with silent contempt. On the 3rd, 8th, and 10th of December 1845, stringent orders were issued to the Nabha Agents to provide supplies on the road from Kalka to Khanna, and to make a road from Latalla to Basia. No attention was paid to these directions, and the most serious inconvenience was caused to the troops.

Portion of Nabha territory confiscated:

For this neglect, the estates of Dehraru and Amloh were confiscated on the 13th of December 1845, and two days later Major Broadfoot addressed to the Nabha Agents the letter above referred to, and which concluded thus —

" at this urgent juncture, much trouble and inconvenience have been caused by the Raja's neglect to provide supplies which have only been procurable by force ; he, therefore now, in writing, repeats what he had in the morning verbally expressed to them, that unless the Raja of Nabha come into the British camp on that or the follow-


* Jowahir Singh was at this time Wazir, or Prince Minister, at Lahore.


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“ ing evening he will be considered an enemy to the British ; further that Kanha Mal ( the Raja's agent ) who had been sent on, in advance, to collect supplies and had failed, remain in attendance, under surveillance, and in charge of the supply department ; that the Thannadar who had behaved with disrespect to the Assistant ( Mr. Cust ), and who deserves severe punishment, remain in confinement ; and that Mulvi Zahur-ul-Hak ( another agent of the Raja's ) remain in attendance and be treated with the usual respect ; that in punishment of the present offence, Latalla, with its dependencies, be confiscated, and, to this end, the Rai of Kotla and Rahmut Ali Khan are ordered to take possession, who will be paid from the revenues of the district.”

The orders of Major Broadfoot disregarded:

That these stringent orders were not unnecessary is proved by the inattention paid to them. The Raja did not come into the British camp, but remained at Nabha under the pretence of collecting supplies ; and, the death of the Maharaja of Pattiala occurring a few days afterwards, he took the opportunity to visit Pattiala. After the death of Major Broadfoot the disinclination of the Raja to join the British camp did not abate. Major F. Mackeson, Commissioner of the Cis-Satlej territories, wrote, on the 5th of January, by direction of the Secretary to Government, to the Raja, reminding him of Major Broadfoot's letter of the 15th December, and begging him to come to Firozpur, where he might explain his failure to attend when first summoned.


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Apologies to the Governor General:

To this letter no answer was returned, but, on 12th January, two letters were received by the Secretary to Government and the Governor General, purporting to have been written on the 29th December. The former was in some sort an answer to Major Broadfoot's letter, declaring the loyalty of the Raja, expatiating on the services rendered by the Nabha State, and attempting to explain his connection with General Ram Singh. During the operations of Sir H. Smith's column south of the Satlej, the Raja once sent his officials to Major Mackeson with unmeaning messages, but, not until the 13th of February, three days after the battle of Subraon, did he leave Nabha, in compliance with a special request of Major Mackeson, and proceed to Ludhiana.

No supplies were provided until the British Amy was victorious:

The conduct of the Nabha authorities, with regard to carriage and supplies, was dilatory and suspicious in the extreme. At the time when they were most needed, nothing whatever was provided, though after the battles of Mudki and Firushahr, supplies were sent in abundance ; and after the final victory of Subraon the whole resources of the Nabha State were placed at the disposal of the Government. Previous to the battle of Firushahr and Mudki, only 32 camels and 681 maunds of grain were furnished; while 21,807 maunds and 864 camels were supplied after these actions, though the resources of the State were such that, in the opinion of Sir Henry Lawrence, * it could have furnished early in January all that was supplied eventually, and at least half before the two first battles.


* Report on the Raja’s conduct to Government of India, 18th September 1846.


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The Raja of Nabha excluded from Durbar:

At the close of the war the Raja was not permitted, with the other Protected Chiefs, to attend the Durbar of the

Governor General at Ludhiana, and an investigation was directed to be made into his conduct, the result of which confirmed, in every particular, the account which has here been given. A long and elaborate defence was submitted by the Raja, some points of which must be briefly noticed.

The defence of the Raja of Nabha:

He first endeavoured to prove that Major Broad-foot's order, summoning him to the British camp was illegal, as he was not compelled to visit the Governor General's Agent beyond his own territory. But, in time of war, all ceremony must be waived — those who do not act with the zeal of friends, must be considered enemies ; and, after the battle of Subraon, the Raja made no difficulty about proceeding to Ludhiana at the direction of Major Mackeson.

The services rendered in former years by the Nabha State were then recounted : it was alleged that, during the Satlej campaign, Sirdar Ganda Singh, a Nabha Chief, was placed at Major Broad-foot's disposal, and supplied him with much valuable information, while his son, Lal Singh, was sent to Lahore on the same service. Sir H. Lawrence, however, who succeeded to the Agency, after Major Broadfoot's death, at Firushahr, could find no evidence of any such information having been given ; nor did Ganda Singh or Lal Singh ever furnish him with a single item of intelligence that was worth anything, although the latter passed through the Sikh camp at Subraon a week before the battle.


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The deputation of General Ram Singh to Nabha was explained as being a visit to his native country, where he desired to fix his home, being disgusted with the Lahore service ; that he only paid one complimentary visit to the Raja, presenting his nazr and returning at once to Lahore.*

Supplies had been collected:

Supplies, it was asserted, had been collected as speedily as possible, and the Nabha contingent placed entirely at the service of the English, so that the Raja was compelled to raise fresh troops to provide for the protection of his territory. It is indeed true that a contingent of Nabha troops was present at Mudki and Firushahr, but not a man fought on the side of the English in those or the subsequent actions.

The excuse for disregarding the direction of Broadfoot to join the camp, was that the Raja, on his way to the army head quarters, had reached Malerkotla, when he heard of the death of Major Broadfoot. That he then returned to Nabha, and the death of the Maharaja of Pattiala happening at the


* The character of General Ram Singh Jallawalia was well known. He was high in favor at Lahore, and whatever his visit to Nabha may have signified, he certainly crossed the Satlej with the object of sounding the Protected Chiefs, and discovering how far Lahore might count on their assistance. The information which induced Major Broadfoot to issue the order to the Nabha Chief to attend his camp, was given by a native of position, who had considerable opportunities of knowing the truth, and was, true or false, in considerable detail. He stated that Jowahar Singh of Lahore sent General Ram Singh to Raja Devindar Singh, and that they were closeted together for several hours. Afterwards Munshi Sabih Singh was admitted, and the following plan of operations agreed upon:— They estimated that Nabha, Ladwa, and other disaffected Chiefs in the Cis-Satlej States, could raise 60,000 fighting men who were to be employed, while the Sikh army was engaged with the British, in intercepting the communications of the latter, plundering baggage, and cutting off their supplies. All this having been arranged. General Ram Singh returned to Lahore. This story was very possibly true, but the decision against the Raja was not influenced by it, but by his own acts and omissions only.


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same time, his duties as the head of the Phulkian family compelled him to visit Pattiala and attend the funeral ceremonies. The roads, the Raja more-over stated, were unsafe for travelling.

The truth, however, appeared to be that only the Road which led to the British camp was, to the Raja, unsafe.

The danger was purely imaginary, the road being covered with hackeries and unarmed camp-followers, and the Raja would have had with him a force amply sufficient to protect him had any danger existed. A mere comparison of dates will be sufficient to show the unwillingness of the Raja to attend the summons to the British camp. Major Broadfoot's order was given on the 15th of December, and might easily have been complied with in forty-eight hours. The Maharaja of Pattiala died on the 23rd of December, and it was only necessary, for compliance with Sikh etiquette, that the Raja should attend any time within seventeen days from the death, to pay a visit of condolence to the family, and this too was a mere matter of ceremony, immaterial in comparison with the necessity of proving his devotion and loyalty to the Government. It was moreover necessary for him to be present at the cremation. As Pattiala is only eighteen miles from Nabha, one day was amply sufficient for this visit. But the Raja went three times to Pattiala, remaining there seventeen days : from the 24th to the 27th of December ; from the 4th to the 17th of January ; and from the 16th to the 24th of January, plainly proving that his object was merely to manufacture an excuse to absent himself from the British camp, which, even after this, he never visited at all.


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After a consideration of the evidence against the Raja and the explanation urged in his defence, no reasonable doubt can be entertained he had intrigued with the Court of Lahore previous to the war ; that he was thoroughly disaffected, though too timid to actually join the enemy as the Raja of Ladwa had done ; that he made no effort to supply carriage or food for the troops ; that he disregarded the most direct orders to attend the army in person ; that he waited till the very last, after the battles of Firushahr, Mudki and Aliwal, in the hope that the last battle on the Satlej would be a defeat for the English, in which case he would, without hesitation, have declared against them.*

Raja Devindar Singh deposed and one quarter of territory of Nabha confiscated:

The Government of India came to the same conclusion with regard to the conduct of the Raja of Nabha as the officer who had investigated the case.

Raja Devindar Singh was ordered to be deposed, and his eldest son, then a boy of seven, to be placed on the throne, under the guardianship of his step grand-mother, Rani Chand Kour, aided by three of the most respectable officers of the Nabha State. These four persons were to be responsible to the British Government for the educa-


* The correspondence regarding the conduct of the Raja of Nabha daring the war is very voluminous. The documents on which this account is founded are chiefly — the defence of the Raja prepared by his Diwan, Kahn Chand, and submitted to the Agent Governor General 31 St April 1846. The original letters, parwanas, and kharitas sent to the Raja and his agents by Mr. Currie, Mr. R. Gust, Major Broadfoot, Major Mackeson, and Major Lawrence, with the replies, and abstract of supplies furnished, the report of Mr. B. Gust to the Superintendent Cis Satlej States, dated March 7th 1846, the reports of Major Mackeson, C. B., to Agent Governor General dated 17th and 27th July, the report of Captain Mills, Assistant Agent to Governor General to Major Mackeson, dated 1st February 1846, and the final report and recommendation of Major H. Lawrence, dated 18th September 1846.


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tion and safety of the young Raja ; all transit duties, estimated at Rs. 12,200 per annum, the customs of the town of Nabha, amounting to Rs. 4,500, excluded, were abolished. One-fourth of the Nabha territory, the districts of Pakowal, Dehraru, and Rori, less a portion worth Rs. 12,200, was confiscated, and territory valued at Rs. 28,766 a year, was to be retained by the British Government in lieu of a contingent of 100 horse and 133 foot. The remainder, being lands worth Rs. 71,224, was to be divided equally between the Maharaja of Pattiala and the Raja of Faridkot, in reward for services performed during the war. A pension of Rs. 50, 000 was allowed to Raja Devindar Singh for life from the revenues of Nabha, on condition of his residing peacefully at any British station south of Dehli or Mehrut.*

The ex-Raja retires to Mathra:

The Ex-Raja selected Mathra for his residence, where he remained till 1854. But his misfortunes had taught him nothing, even supposing him intellectually capable of profiting by any experience whatever. He gave as much trouble as he could, not only to the English authorities, but to his own family at Nabha, to which he bore an unnatural hatred. Notwithstanding his splendid allowance, he fell deeply into debt, and was supposed to sign bonds in the hope that the Nabha Government would be compelled to pay. At Mathra there were many unscrupulous persons who encouraged him in this reckless course, advancing money at exorbitant rates of interest on such security.


* Secretary to Government of India to Agent Governor General, No. 459, dated 17th November 1846, and Agent Governor General to Secretary to Government 18th September 1846.


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His conduct there and his removal to Lahore:

His behaviour, at length, became so outrageous, that the authorities of the North Western Provinces considered that he should be either placed under restraint or removed to some other locality where a more complete watch could be maintained over him, and the Supreme Government, in January 1855, sanctioned his removal to any place not in the neighbourhood of Nabha, where the Magistrate would be able to control, in some measure, his extravagances.*

Thanesar had been suggested as the new residence of Devindar Singh, but the Government considered this place unsuitable, as it was not more than 60 miles from Nabha, whither the Ex-Raja Might, without difficulty, find his way, and where his appearance would be the signal for disturbance. Even should be fail in exciting disorder, he would probably be able to form a party at Nabha and carry on intrigues dangerous to the administration of the State. Jalandhar or Hoshiarpur were then suggested for his residence, but it was finally determined to remove him to Lahore, where he arrived on the 8th December 1855, the palace of Maharaja Kharrak Singh being assigned to him.


* Commissioner Cis-Satlaj States to Government Punjab, Nos. 231 and 281 dated 9th October and 2nd December 1854. Commissioner Agra to Commissioner Ambala, No. 724, dated 6th November, with enclosures. Government Punjab to Government of India, No. 1061 dated 13th December 1854. Government of India to Government Punjab, No. 440 dated 26th January 1855.

† Government North Western Provinces No. 298 dated 28th March with enclosures, to Government Punjab. Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, No. 195 dated 28th August Government Punjab to Government of India No. 206 dated 10th March. Government of India to Government Punjab 1450, dated 20th April 1855. Commissioner Lahore, No. 66 dated 25th April 1857, to Government Punjab.


Death of Raja Devindar Singh, AD 1865

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Raja Devindar Singh died at Lahore in November 1865. He had married four wives:

Raja Bharpur Singh

Rani Man Kour was the mother of two sons, Bharpur Singh and Bhagwan Singh, who became successively Rajas of Nabha. The elder of these was born in 1840, and the second two years later.

The arrangements for carrying out the Administration at Nabha:

Major Mackeson, Commissioner of the Cis-Satlej States, visited Nabha in January 1847, to install the new Chief, Bharpur Singh, then an intelligent boy, seven years of age. His step-grandmother, Rani Chand Kour, the surviving widow of Raja Jaswant Singh and a lady of great ability, was appointed his guardian, and three of the oldest servants of the Nabha State, Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh, Fatah Singh, and Behali Mal, were selected to form the Council of Rogeucy.*

Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh the Council of Regency:

Gurbaksh Singh, who was appointed to the duty of superintending the education of the young Prince, had been in the service of Raja Devindar Singh, but, previous to the war, had been banished to Thanesar by his eccentric master. He was in exile when Colonel Mackeson called him to Nabha to assume the presidency of the Council.


* Agent Governor General to Government of India, No. 184, dated 18th September 1846, and No. 210, dated 17th December 1846, to Major Mackeson.


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Munshi Sahib Singh:

Munshi Sahib Singh had been the minister of Raja Devindar Singh at the time of the Cis-Satlej war, and is understood to have advised the Chief to evade compliance with the demands of the British authorities, and wait the progress of events before declaring to which side he would adhere. Major Mackeson excluded him from all interference with the administration of the Nabha State;

Rani Chand Kour:

but he was a favorite with Rani Chand Kour, and in a few years recovered much of his influence in Nabha and labored to overthrow his rival Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh. In this attempt, through the haste of the Prime Minister to get rich, he entirely succeeded, and, on complaints being preferred against Gurbaksh Singh in 1857, an investigation was directed by the Chief Commissioner, the result of which was that the Minister was proved to have abused his position to enrich himself, and to have filled all offices of importance with members of his own family. He was dismissed from office, his jagirs were resumed, and both he and his family were prohibited from re-employment in the Nabha State.

Munshi Sahib Singh, then, without any special authorization from Government, succeeded the exiled Minister as President of the Council.*

The case of village Bhai Rupa:

The most important case which occurred during the minority of Raja Bharpur Singh, related to the village of Bhai Rupa.

It will be remembered that this


* Government Punjab to Commissioner Cis-Satlej States No. 293 dated 28th March, Nos. 412 and 427 dated 27th April and 1st May 1857. Commissioner Cis-Satlej States No. 88, dated 17th April 1857.


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village was held in shares by the Chiefs of Pattiala, Nabha, Jhind, Bhadour and Malod and afforded a fair presumption that these families were originally independent of each other.* It is by no means easy to determine the early history of the village, but there is no doubt that the site was first selected by Bhai Rup Chand, the guru, or spiritual adviser, of Tilokha and Rama, the sons of Phul, and that he obtained their permission to found a village. He died, however, before carrying out his project, and some time later, his grandson, Bhai Dhanna Singh, built the village on the selected spot, calling it Bhai Rupa after the name of the Guru.

The land occupied by the village was taken from the adjacent lands of Phul and Kangar, that taken from the former being allowed to the Bhaikians or descendants of Bhai Rupa, rent free, they making their collections from the zamindars without interference from the Phul Chaudhris. In the Kangar division of the village, the Bhaikians had a smaller share, but, after the death of Rai Bakhtyar, who managed the collections of this patti or share, the Bhaikians obtained more land, for which they paid a small acknowledgment to the Miani Jats, owners of Kangar. Subsequently the village of Kangar came into the possession of Nabha, the tribute to the Mianis ceased to be paid, and, in 1805, the Raja of Nabha took the administration of the Kangar patti of Bhai Rupa into his own hands. After the death of Tilokha and Rama, the Phulkian patti was held in equal shares by Gurditta, Sukhchen, Ala Singh, Man Singh, and Chuhr Singh, the ancestors of the houses of Nabha, Jhind, Pattiala, Malod and Bhadour. The Police management


* Ante p. 389.


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remained with Nabha, as Bhai Rupa was adjacent to that State. This arrangement was for mutual convenience, and although, in 1841, the other sharers denied the right, Nabha had always exercised Police control. This village and the rights therein belonging to the several Chiefs was a fruitful cause of dispute, and gave the greatest trouble to the Political Officers. Each State considered it a point of honor to maintain its position in the village, supporting its claims by any means, however unscrupulous, and it was not till 1851, that the disputes were finally adjusted and the boundaries fixed. *

The mutiny of 1857:

Raja Bharpur Singh attained his majority a few months after the breaking out of the mutiny of 1857, At this critical time he acted with the utmost loyalty and intelligence, and his services were as distinguished as those of the other Phulkian Chiefs.

The conduct and services of Raja Bharpur Singh

At the commencement of the mutiny the the Raja was directed to hold himself in readiness for service, and, on the 17th of May, was placed in charge of the important station of Ludhiana, which he occupied with 350 horse, 450 foot, and 2 guns, remaining there for six months, and, during his occasional absences, leaving his brother in command. He furnished an escort of 300 men for the siege train ordered from Philor to accompany the Commander-in-Chief to Dehli. The Nusseri battalion had been appointed for this duty, but they refused to march, and Nabha troops were alone available for


* Voluminous vernacular records of 1834, 1841, 1844. W. Wjnyard, Esq., to Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, No. 420, dated 9th September 1848, enclosing report of R. U. Greathed, Esq., of the 6th September. H. Davidson, Esq..Settlement Officer, to Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, No. 344, dated 7th November 1851.


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the duty. When the Jalandhar mutineers reached Philor, the Deputy Commissioner took a detachment of 150 Nabha troops, and, destroying the bridge, opposed the passage of the enemy. The troops behaved well, a great number of the mutineers were killed, and several of the Nabha men were killed and wounded.

Raja Bharpur Singh was anxious himself to march to Dehli at the head of his troops, as the Raja of Jhind had done. This was not allowed. He was very young, and such service was more onerous than could be fairly asked from him. A detachment, however, of his force, about 300 in number, did good service at Dehli under Sirdar Didar Singh, throughout the siege.

In addition to this, the Raja enlisted many hundred new troops ; he furnished supplies and carriage ; arrested mutineers marching through his State ; and performed every service required of him with the utmost loyalty and good- will. At a time when money was urgently wanted, he advanced to Government a loan of two and a half lakhs of rupees.*

The rewards recommended for his services:

The Commissioner of the Cis-Satlej States, after the disturbances were over, recommended that the following rewards should be conferred upon the Raja : —

  • (1). A grant of territory taken from the Ludhiana or Firozpur districts and not exceeding in value Rs. 30,000 per annum, to be given to him and his male heirs in perpetuity.
  • (2). That his khillat from the Governor General should be increased from seven pieces to fifteen,

* Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, No. 69, dated 4th March 1858. With statement of services of the Raja of Nabha.


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to place him on the same footing as the Raja of Jhind.
  • (3). That he should be received with a salute of nine guns on visiting any of the large military stations, or at the Durbar of the Governor General.
  • (4). That his visit to the Governor General should be returned by the Foreign Secretary.

The Government, however, on further consideration, bestowed upon Raja Bharpur Singh rewards far more valuable than those originally proposed. The divisions of Bawal and Kanti, in the confiscated Jhajjar territory, were made over to him, worth Rs. 1,06,000 per annum, on condition of good behaviour and service, military and political, in times of general danger and disturbance. His khillat was increased from seven to fifteen pieces ; a salute of eleven guns was granted him ; his visit to the Governor General was directed to be returned by the Foreign Secretary, and his honorary titles were increased. *

The right of adoption and capital punishment conferred:

In addition to these honors, there were conferred upon him those privileges which he, in common with his kinsmen of Pattiala and Jhind, had asked from Government in their Paper of Requests in 1858 : the power of life and death ; the right of adoption ; and the promise of non-interference of the British Government in the domestic affairs of the family and the internal management of the State, t


* Government Panjab to Government of India, No. 135 of 12th March and 202 of ISth April 1858. Government of India to Government Punjab, No. 1549 A, dated 2nd Jane, and to Raja of Nabha of the same date.

t Paper of requests submitted by the three Phulkian Chiefs For details vide, Pattiala History. Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, to Government Panjab, No. 149, dated 20th May 1858. Government Panjab to Government of India, No. 104, dated 16th Jane. Government of India to Government Panjab, No. 3047, dated 25 May 1859. Secretary of State Government of India, No. 64, dated 1st December 1859.


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The Sanad of 1860:

A Sanad was granted to Raja Bharpur Singh, in May 1860, confirming to him his estates ancestral and acquired, and conferring independent powers and privileges, similar to those granted to the Chiefs of Pattiala and Jhind. The right of adoption which had been so earnestly desired by all these Chiefs was included in this Sanad.*

The Durbar of 1860:

On the 18th of January I860, Lord Canning, Viceroy and Governor General, held a Durbar at Ambala, at which

* Translation of the sanad given to the Rajah of Nabha, His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General

Simla, 5th May 1860.

Since the establishment of British supremacy in India, the present Rajah of Nabha and his ancestor, Raja Jaswant Singh, have given various proofs of their loyalty to the British Government. More recently, the present Chief of Nabha has surpassed the former achievements of his race, by the constancy and courage he evinced during the mutiny of 1857-58. In memory of this unswerving and conspicuous loyalty, His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General of India has conferred additional honors and territory upon the Rajah for himself and his heirs for-ever, and has graciously acceded to the Rajah’s desire to receive a Sanad or Grant under the hand and seal of the Viceroy, guaranteeing to the Rajah the free and unreserved possession of his ancestral territories, as well as of those tracts bestowed on the Rajah by the British Government.

Clause 1.— The Rajah and his heirs for ever will exercise full sovereignty over his ancestral and acquired dominions, aocording to the annexed list. All the rights, privileges, and prerogatives which the Rajah enjoys in his hereditary territories, he will equally enjoy in his acquired territories. All feudatories and dependants of every degree, will be bound to render obedience to him throughout his dominions.

Clause 2. Except as provided in Clause 3, the British Government will never demand from the Rajah, or any of his successors, or from any of his feudatories, relations or dependants, any tribute on account of revenue, service, or any other plea.

Clause 3. The British Government cordially desire to see the noble house of Nabha perpetuated, and in this spirit confers upon the Rajah and his heirs for ever, whenever male issue may fail, the right of adopting a successor from among the descendants of the Phoolkeean family. If, however, at tiny time the Rajah of Nabha should die without male issue, and without adopting a successor, it will still be open to the Maharaja of Pattiala and the Rajah of Jheend, in concert with the commissioner or Political Agent of the British Government, to select a successor from among the Phoolkeean family ; but in that case a nazuranah or fine equal to one-third of the gross annual revenue of the Nabha State shall be paid to the British Government.


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all the Cis-Satlej Chiefs were present, and addressed the Raja of Nabha in the following terms : —

The Viceroy’s address to the Raja:

“Raja of Nabha —

" You have been equally forward and equally earnest, with other Chiefs of your ancient race, in your support of the authority of the British Government. Clause 4. — In 1847 the British Government empowered the Rajah to inflict capital punishment after reference to the Commissioner. It now removes the restriction imposed by this reference, and invests the Rajah with absolute power of life and death over his own subjects. With regard to British subjects committing crime, and apprehended in his territory, the Rajah will be guided by the rules contained in the Despatch of the Honorable Court of Directors, to the Madras Government, No. 3 dated 1st June 1836. The Rajah will exert himself to execute justice and to promote the happiness and welfare of his people. He engages to prohibit Suttee, Slavery, and Female Infanticide throughout his territories, and to punish with the utmost rigor those who are found guilty of any of these crimes.

Clause 5. The Rajah will never fail in his loyalty and devotion to the Sovereign of Great Britain.

Clause 6. If any force hostile to the British Government should appear in this neighbourhood, the Rajah will co-operate with the British Government and oppose the enemy. He will exert himself to the utmost of his resources, in providing carriage and supplies for the British Troops, according to requisitions be may receive.

Clause 7. The British Government will not received any complaints from any of the subjects of the Rajah, whether maafeedars, jageerdars, relatives, dependents, servants or other classes.

Clause 8. The British Government will respect the household and family arrangements of the Rajah, and abstain from any interference therein.

Clause 9. The Rajah, as heretofore, will furnish, at current rates through the agency of his own officers, the necessary materials required for the construction of railroads, railway stations and imperial roads and bridges. He will also freely give the land required for the construction of railroads and imperial lines of road.

Clause 10. The Rajah and his successors, &c., will always pursue the same course of fidelity and devotion to the British Government, and the Government will always be ready to uphold the honor and dignity of the Rajah and his house. Schedule of the Territories belonging to the Rajah of Nabha.

Ancestral Possessions.

Pergunnah Nabha Khas.
Umloh.
Bhadsun.
Kapurgurh.
Dhunowla.
Phool with Dyalpoora.
Jeylokee.
,, Sotbuddee.

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“ The assistance which you gave to the Queen's army in the transport of its heavy artillery from the Satlej to Dehli was a signal and valuable service.

“Your loyalty and zeal have, as in the case of your fellow Chiefs, been marked by rewards and honor, which will assure you of the high esteem in which your conduct is held by the Government.

" Additions have been made to your possessions, and the grant will be formally confirmed to yourself and your descendants. If these should fail you, your adoption of an heir from amongst the members of the Phulkian house will be gladly recognized.

" It is the desire of the Queen's Government that the power and dignity of your loyal family should endure and flourish." *


Share of Bhaee Roopa, with right of jurisdiction, and right over all subordinate rent free holders residing therein.

Acquired Possessions.

Pergunnah Kantee and Bawal, By letter from Secretary, Government of India, dated 2nd June 1858; No. 1549 A.

Feudatories and Tributaries.

The Sikhs of Sonthee.

The Sikhs of Ram Dass Boongguanwalla.

Sodh Kurreea Goomteewalla.

* Government notification, No. 122, A. dated Ambala, 20th January 1860. A Sanad of adoption was granted, conferring the right supplementary to the general Sanad of I860.

To Furzund Arujmund Ekeedut Pyebund Dowlut-i-Englisha Burarbinu Surmour Rajah Bhurpore Sing Mohender Bahadoor of Nabha,

Dated 5th March 1862.

Her Majesty being desirous that the Governments of the several Princes and Chiefs of India who now govern their own territories should be perpetuated, and that the representation and dignity of their houses should be continued, I hereby, in fulfillment of this desire, repeat to you the assurance which I communicated to you in the Sunud under my signature, dated 5th May 1860, that on failure of natural heirs, your adoption of an heir from amongst the members of the Phoolkeean house will be gladly recognized and confirmed; and that if at any time the Rajah of Nabha should die without male issue, and without adopting a successor, it will still be open to the Maharaja of Pattialla and the Rajah of Jhind in concert with the Commissioner or Political Agent of the British Government, to select a successor from among the Phoolkeean family,


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His expression of thanks to her Majesty the Queen:

The rewards and honors bestowed upon the young Raja of Nabha were well deserved. His loyalty, was hearty and genuine, and his gratitude for the generous recognition of his services by the British Government was sincere. As this tune he forwarded an address to Her Majesty the Queen, a translation of which may be recorded here as a specimen of oriental complimentary composition.

“To the sublime presence— brilliant with grace and light — the fountain of munificence and honor — Lord of the Universe — famous as Alexander — puissant as Jamsher - the Queen of England (may her Empire endure for ever.)

" Your lowly petitioner,Bharpur Singh, placing the sign of humility on the forehead of sub-mission, and bending his head in dutiful obeisance, ventures to present this humble address.

" At a joyful time when the hearts of men were refreshed and gladdened by the mercy of God, and like a meadow were made green and succulent by the bounteous rain of heaven, the key that unfolds the desired treasure of your tributaries arrived in the charge of your Majesty's gracious Proclamation, accompanied by a letter from his Excellency, lofty in rank, pure in spirit, the Kight Honorable the Governor General, and spread a grateful shade over


but in that case a Nuzzaranah or fine equal to one-third of the gross annual revenue of the Nabha State shall be paid to the British Government.

Be assured that nothing shall disturb the engagement thus made to you so long as your house is loyal to the Grown and faithful to the conditions of the Treaties, grants pr engagements which record obligations to the British Government.

(Signed) CANNIMG.


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" your petitioner. Your servant was overwhelmed with the mighty honor this missive conferred, and his heart was overjoyed at the pearls of grace which every sentence disposed, and especially with your Majesty’s gracious assurances to the Princes and Chiefs of India, that your Majesty would secure the foundations of their power, and confirm all treaties and obligations made by the Honorable East India Company, and also respect, with generous magnanimity, the rights, privileges, and ancient customs of the natives of this country. Your petitioner, and his ancestors before him, have always been steady in their loyalty to a Government whose fame is as wide as the heavens above. In commemoration of the happy news, your servant to show his boundless joy, convened a Special Durbar, and having collected all the Ministers and servants of the State, as well as the rich and poor, he announced the gracious terms of the proclamation to all present in an audible voice ; constellations of fireworks were let off, and the streets of the City were illuminated, and your servant's people were intoxicated with happiness and joy. How great is the goodness of God, and how great is the favour of your Majesty : such was the thought and exclamation of every one at the Durbar, who, on hearing the gracious words of the Proclamation, broke forth in praises of the Almighty and of His servant the Queen. As God in His wrath had afflicted the people of this country and crushed them in the press of calamity by raising up rebels and traitors, so now by means of Your Majesty's gracious demercy he has restored them to peace and favor. The whole population unites its voice in one hymn of thanksgiving, among the foremost in gratitude


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" are the Princes of India. Your petitioner has always clung to the skirts of Your Majesty's protection, and is well assured that his interests will improve as the fortune and wealth of the British Empire advance. With these reflections your servant blows the trumpet of congratulation on your Majesty's accession with a loud and cheerful blast. If every hair of his body was turned into a tongue, he could never finish the peal of praise at Your Majesty's fixed intention to uphold ancient treaties. Your petitioner's ancestors placed themselves under British protection in 1808, and from that time they have never swerved from their loyalty, and have found their reward in ever-increasing treasures of honor and favor. Their fidelity to the State has been proved and confirmed by the letters of Lord Lake and other eminent English officers. Your petitioner will follow reverently in their steps, being assured that his prosperity, both present and future, is inseparably bound up with that of the British Empire. Finally, may God Almighty destroy your Majesty's enemies, as the sun rising with the day drives beasts of prey to their noisome dens : and may the Star of your Empire be always in the ascendant, diffusing light over the world, the symbol of victory,"*

The Nabha loan paid off by a grant of confiscated territory:

It will be remembered that the Raja of Nabha had, at the commencement of the mutinies, given a loan of 2-1/2 lakh of rupees to the Government. In addition to this there remained due to Nabha seven lakhs, from the 5 per cent loan of 1848, making a total of nine and a half lakhs. When Raja Bharpur


* This letter was answered by the Secretary of State by command of Per Majesty, 30th September 1859. The Maharaja of Pattiala and the Raja of Jhind who had also addressed Per Majesty, received, at the same time, most gracious replies.


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Singh and the Maharaja of Pattiala understood that the British Government was not anxious to retain the Pargannahs of Kanoudh and Budwanah, forming part of the confiscated territory of Jhajjar, they applied for it to be given to them, at 20 years purchase, proportional to the amount of their respective loans. The proposal was agreed to, and Kanoudh villages, worth about Rs. 48,000 per annum, were given to the Raja of Nabha on the same terms as the ancestral and acquired lauds had been confirmed to him a short time before.*

Twenty years purchase of these villages amounted to about Rs. 10,000 in excess of what was due to the Raja, but the surplus was deducted from the interest still due to him. t


*Translation of a Sunud or Grant of portions of the Pergunnahs of Kunoudk and Booehoanah, District Jhujjar, bestowed on the Rajah of Nabha hy His Excellency Earl Cannings G. C. B. Viceroy and Governor General of India,

Preamble: Whereas the devotion and loyalty of the Rajah of Nabha and of his ancestor, Raja Jaswant Singh, have always been conspicuous since the establishment of British supremacy in India. His Excellency the Viceroy and Governor General being desirous of marking his high appreciation of these qualities, has been pleased to bestow upon the Rajah portions of Pergunuahs Kanoudh and Boodwanah, of the District of Jhujjur, containing forty two (42) villages, according to a Vernacular list annexed, assessed at a yearly revenue of forty seven thousand five hundred and twenty five (Rs. 47,535), and to accept from the Rajah a Nuzzuranah of nine lakhs fifty thousand and five hundred (Rs. 9,50,500). It is accordingly ordained as follows < —

Article 1.— 'The territories above mentioned are conferred upon the Rajah of Nabha and his heirs for ever.

Article 2. — The Rajah and his successors will exercise the same rights, privileges and prerogatives in these newly acquired territories as he at present enjoys in his ancestral possessions, according to the terms of the Sunnud, dated 5th May 1860, and signed by his Excellency Earl Canning, Viceroy and Governor General of India.

Article 3.— The Rajah and his successors will continue to maintain the same loyal relations with the British Government, and to fulfill the same obligations with regard to this newly acquired territory, as were imposed on him by the terms of the Sunnud, dated 5th May 1860, relating to the Rajah’s ancestral possessions.

t Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, No. 87 dated 23rd May 1860.


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Reforms inaugurated by Raja Bharpur Singh:

Raja Bharpur Singh, on obtaining his majority, evinced great earnestness in improving the character of his administration. Early in 1859, the Agent of the lieutenant Governor had made an investigation which resulted in the dismissal of some of his ministers. This beginning the Raja followed up by many reforms, undertaken at the suggestion of the Maharaja of Pattiala or the Commissioner of Ambala. It had been the policy of the Raja's advisers to estrange him from the Maharaja of Pattiala, who, being a Prince of ability and related to Nabha by blood, would be likely to give him good advice and discourage their intrigues ; but Raja Bharpur Singh was intelligent enough to perceive that his interest was bound up with that of the Maharaja, and he maintained a friendship with him only terminated by death.*

His character and intelligence

The evils which result from minorities in the Native States have been noticed in the history of the Jhind State : t Raja Bharpur Singh was a remarkable exception to what is unfortunately a very general rule. The excellence of his disposition and his natural intelligence were such as to enable him to resist the deteriorating influences which surrounded him, and he gave promise of being one of the most liberal Princes in Northern India. A taste for learning is rare among the Sikhs, but the Raja was


Government Panjab to Commissioner No. 806, 947 dated 2nd July, and 2nd of August. Government of India to Government Punjab, No. 1977 dated 14th June 1860. Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, No; 187 dated 22nd September 1860;

* Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, No. 92, dated 24th March 1859. Government Punjab to Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, No. 366 dated 2nd April 1869.

t Ante, p. 860


[Page-475]

of a studious disposition. He had thoroughly mastered the Indian vernaculars and studied English three or four hours a day, whenever the duties connected with the administration of his State allowed him leisure.

The rules drawn up for disposition of his time:

The work of all Departments he supervised himself, and a private memorandum, drawn up in English and containing rules for the disposition of his time, was a very remarkable document, showing how earnestly he was resolved to neglect no opportunity for self-improvement and to govern for the good of his people. It concluded with these words : —

" In conclusion, I invoke a blessing from the Almighty, and from the Durbar Sri Suth Gurdial, to preserve me steadfast in the discharge of these my duties, and to enable me so to pass my life, that, under the Almighty's shadow and protection, I may live to his glory, and be a blessing to others.”

Nominated a Member of Legislative Council by Lord Elgin:

In September 1863, Lord Elgin, the Viceroy, offered Raja Bharpur Singh a seat in the Legislative Council : the honor of the Star of India having been assigned to the Raja of Jhind-. This honor was gratefully accepted by Bharpur Singh, who looked forward with great pleasure to his visit to Calcutta in the following January. But the Raja was destined never to take his seat in Council.

His illness and death

From June 1863, he had suffered severely from fever. His illness was, in the first instance, brought on by fatigue and excitement at an entertainment, given by his aunt, Sirdarni Mehtab Kour, widow of Sirdar Arjan Singh, Rangar Nanglia, on the occasion of the


[Page-476]

marriage of her son Attar Singh. This entertainment took place on the 23rd of June, and the Raja, after his return, was attacked with fever which he was unable to shake off for nearly two months, when his physician, knowing his inveterate dislike to quinine, contrived to conceal this medicine in pills, and administer it to his patient, who became entirely convalescent and took the bath of health, in accordance with Hindu custom. That same day the Raja's illness returned more severely than ever. He had taken unusual exercise on the day in question ; had walked to the Gurdhwdra four hundred yards distant, and from his house to the top of the castle, a building of great height, and had changed his sleeping apartment, of the heat of which he complained. At night the fever returned and never again left him. From a remittent character with ague, it became continual and acute. The great natural delicacy of his constitution and his nervous temperament increased the difficulty of treatment, and his illness became a rapid decline from which he died on the 9th of November.*


The heir to Nabha throne.

Raja Bharpur Singh left no son, and it was for the other Phulkian Rajas, in concert with the Political Agent of Ambala, to select a successor from among the members of the Phulkian family, in accordance with the terms of the Sanads of 1860 and 1862.


* Agent to Lieutenant Governor Cis-Satlej States, No. A. dated 10th November 1863, to Government Punjab. Government Punjab to Agent, No. 820, dated 23rd November 1863. Dispositions taken at Nabha of Ghulam Murtaza, Physician to the Maharaja of Pattiala, and Muhammad Baksh, Physician to the Raja of Nabha.


[Page-477]

The documents provided that should the Chief die without male issue and without adopting a successor, a fine,


or nazzrana, of one-third of the gross annual revenue of the State should be levied en the next succession. The Phulkian Chief desired to save Nabha from the payment of this fine, and the Maharaja of Pattiala and the Raja of Jhind, on being addressed by the Political Agent, Sir Herbert Edwardes, on the subject of the succession, wrote replies precisely similar in character, to the effect that the proper, heir was Prince Bhagwan Singh, the younger brother of the late Raja; that it was well known that Raja Bharpur Singh, having no children, had always recognised his brother as his heir and had always treated him with the greatest confidence and affection ; that on the night of the Raja's death, according to the statement of the Nabha officials, he sent for his brother, and, in full possession of his senses, confirmed the Prince as his successor, exhorted him to follow his example of loyalty to the British Government ; to carry on the administration of the State for the good of the people, and to heed the counsels of the trusted officials, whom, moreover, he commanded to obey and serve his brother as they had served him.

This confirmation the Phulkian Rajas stated they considered as proof that Bhagan Singh had been regularly adopted ; that the intention of the Raja, previous to his illness, that his brother should succeed him was acknowledged, and that, under the circumstances, it would be in accordance with the dignity of the British Government to consider the


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Prince as the regularly adopted Successor and to waive the right to the fine conferred by the third clause of the treaty of 1860.

The request to excuse nazrana was irrational:

The request of the Chief, though prompted by kindly feeling towards Nabha, and possibly by a hope that their good offices would be, at some future time, returned under similar circumstances, was nevertheless absurd. The British Government had yielded everything to the Phulkian Chiefs except the right, as paramount and sovereign, to a fine in case of death without heirs or without adopting a successor. No Government in the world has ever been so generous before to its feudatories ; but the concessions granted only induced the Chiefs to endeavour to evade compliance with the only condition by which they were still bound.

The story of the acknowledgment of the Prince, Bhagwan previous to tho Raja's last illness, was a pleasing fiction. Raja Bharpur Singh a very young man and there was every reason to hope that he would have children of his own to succeed him; at any rate, the adoption or acknowledgment of his brother as heir had never been notified to the Political Agent or to Government, and, consequently, had not received such confirmation and recognition on the part of the British Government, as, under the terms of the sanad of the 5th of March 1862, were necessary to its validity.*


* Letters of the Maharaja of Pattiala and Raja of Jhind to Sir Herbert Ed wardes, dated 12th December 1863. Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, No. 309, dated 16th December 1863. Government Punjab to Government of India, No. 478, dated 19th December 1863.


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The story of the death-bed scene ; the confirmation of the succession to his brother ; and the commitment of the officials and the State to his care, was a pure fiction, invented by the Nabha officials to save their State from payment of the fine. The Prince was present certainly for a short time while his brother was dying, but no conversation whatever passed between them nor was a word spoken to the officials regarding the succession.*

The Government allow Bhagwan Singh’s claim, but deny his adoption:

In the opinion of the Phulkian Rajas that Prince Bhagwan Singh should succeed his brother the Government entirely concurred. But they rejected altogether the assumption that the nomination of Bhagwan Singh as heir, was in any sense an adoption, and the claim to exemption from payment of Nazrana, as one of right, consequent on that alleged adoption. The construction of the Sanad of the 5th of May 1860 was perfectly clear, and the State was liable to the payment of Nazrana — " if at any time the Raja of Nabha should die without male


* There was no means of proving this statement false at the time ; but, the following year, an investigation was conducted at Nabha. regarding the death of Raja Bharpur Singh. The depositions of every one connected with the Court, of opposite parties, were taken, but there is no mention whatever of the circumstances detailed in the letters of the Maharaja and Raja of Jhind, although, every word spoken, and the minutest details connected with the Raja’s death were all scrupulously recorded. The following are extracts from the depositions bearing on the only interview the Prince had with his brother on the night of his death.

Sirdar Gurbaksk Singh, Prime Minister-“All time the Raja complained of no pain, but complained of being very dry in the throat. I thought it necessary to have him removed to the lower storey. He was carried down, and offered an elephant and other offerings. Raja Bhagwan Singh and Behali Mal, Munshi Narayan Singh and Mahammad Husaain Khan, then came on being summoned. I saw no one else. No one expected the event. It was at night, and only a few could attend, the Mai Sahiba, his mother, then asked to come. At first he objected, as she would weep and distress him ; but she came at last, and every one went out and left them alone. The Mai Sahiba remained with her son about half an hour. The present Raja was not present at the in-


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" issue, and without adopting a successor”. Prince Bhagwan Singh was, it is true, the legitimate successor of his brother, but this right did not in any way lessen the obligation which the late Raja imposed upon the Nabha State to pay a fine under certain circumstances, and in return for the privilege of adoption which the British Government conferred upon him, but which he failed to exercise.

The installation of Raja Bhagwan Singh, AD 1864

The payment of the Nazrana was consequently demanded, * and the installation of the new Chief took place on the 17th of February 1864, in presence


" interview, he was in another room. Bhagwan Singh had no private interview with his brother before the latter’s death ; but he was with us. The brothers did not speak to each other. When told the Kour Sahib (Bhagwan Singh) was there, he said "well; let him comfort himself (tasalli rakha) and he Bhagwan Singh was crying or shedding tears”. After this nothing more passed, and the Raja soon became insensible.

Jiun Singh, Nafar or House servant: - " They took him (the Raja) down stairs. I went to inform the Kour Sahib (Bhagwan Singh) and he came and met his brother coming down etairs. He got worse every moment. I went to the Mai Sahiba’s ante-chamber (deorhi) and gave the news, she came to her son. After she left he became worse: he was senseless for two hours before death."

Bukshish Singh, Servant of the Raja,-“ They brought him (the Raja) down at about midnight, but I don’t recollect. The Kour Sahib met us at the bottom of the stairs. He remained in the Janpan in which he was brought down. He did not speak to the Kour Sahib, who was crying : and people put him aside lest he should disturb the Raja."

Many other depositions might be quoted containing proof, direct or implied, that the Raja held no conversation with his brother at all on the night of his death ; that the question of the succession was not even mentioned ; and that the story of the Nabha ministers, related to the Maharaja of Pattiala of the Raja of Jhind, and repeated in their letters, was a fiction from beginning to end. Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh, the Prime Minister, and Manowar Ali Khan, another Minister, calling on the Political Agent on the 17th December, repeated to him the story of the Raja formally nominating his brother on the night of his death in the presence of the Ministers ; but at the subsequent investigation at Nabba, the account of Gurbaksh Singh was quite different, as has been shown, while it is certain that Manowar Ali Khan was never present at all on the night of the Raja’s death.

* Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, No. 312 dated 17th December 1863. Government Punjab to Government of India, No. 480 dated 21st December 1868. Government of India to Government Punjab, No. 54 dated 15th January 1864.


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of the Maharaja of Pattiala, the Raja of Jhind, the Nawab of Maler Kotla, and a great number of the Cis-Satlej Chiefs. The Raja of Faridkot arrived after the enthronement. In addition to Sir Herbert Edwardes, Agent of the Lieutenant Governor, Lord George Paget, C, B., Commanding the Division, and a number of English Officers were present, and the ceremony was conducted with great splendour. On the part of the British Government, a Khillat was presented consisting of 15 trays, 3 jewels, 2 arms, a horse, and an elephant.*

Troubles at Nabha:

Troubles of the most terrible kind soon surrounded the new Chief. His Court was divided between two parties : one favoring the interests of Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh, and the other those of Munshi Sahib Singh, and their intrigues for power resulted in the gravest consequences for Nabha, involving the Court and even the Raja in the suspicion of a great crime.

Suspicions as to the manner of Raja Bharpur Singh’s death:

The circumstances of the death of Raja Bharpur Singh were not in themselves such as to raise any doubt but that it was due to natural causes. He had always been delicate, and his death was the result of long continued illness which had thoroughly exhausted his feeble constitution and induced the rapid decline which terminated his life. He was, moreover, much loved by his people and servants, and it was difficult to say that any party would obtain a direct advantage from his death. But the violent party feeling which prevailed in Nabha, as in most other Native States, was in itself sufficient


* Commissioner Cis-Satlej States to Government Punjab, Nos. 26, and 36, dated 1 stand 19th February. Government Punjab to Government of India, No. 106 dated 4th March 1864. Letter of the Viceroy to Raja of Nabha, dated 30th March 1864.


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to account for circulation of rumours that the death of Bharpur Singh was suspicious, and these rumours at length took shape in the assertion that the Raja had died of poison.

Another case confirms these suspicions:

Another case, which tended to confirm in some sort these suspicions, had occurred shortly after the death of Raja Bharpur Singh.

The murder of Sirdarni Mehtab Kour:

On the fourth of January 1864, Sirdarni Mehtab Kour, one of the widows of Sirdar Arjan Singh and aunt of the Raja of Nabha, after whose entertainment, it will be remembered, Bharpur Singh first fell ill, from the effects, it was asserted, of a magical potion which had been administered to him, was murdered in the court-yard of her private residence at Rangar-Nangal, in the Amritsar district, by men who made no attempt to rob the lady of her jewels, but who, having killed her with blows of a sword, immediately absconded. No trace could for some time be found of them, though popular rumour declared that the murderers were men from the south of the Satlej, who had been seen lurking about the village of Rangar-Nangal, and that the crime had been prompted by powerful parties at the Nabha Court.

The murderers traced to Nabha:

The Police at length succeeded in tracing the murderers to Nabha, and four men were arrested, one of whom, Hira Singh, turned Queen's evidence and confessed ; and it appeared clear that the crime had been actually committed by a man named Mehtdba, a resident of Jyton, in Nabha territory, who had been released from jail, where he was undergoing imprisonment for theft, before the term of his sentence had expired. This circumstance was in itself

[Page-483]

very suspicious, and Raja Bhagwan Singh was directed to use his best endeavours to dear up the mystery ; to bring the real criminals to justice, and to remove, in this manner, the stigma which attached to his Court.

The Raja investigates the case and accuses Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh:

In the month of April following, the Raja held a judicial enquiry, the result of which was to fix the release of the prisoner Mehtaba and the instigation of the murder of Sirdarni Mehtab Kour upon the Prime Minister, Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh.

His counter charge:

This man was not, however, disposed to fall without dragging down his rivals with him, and protested his absolute innocence, asserting that the trial, which had pronounced him the instigator of the murder, was a mock one, conducted and prompted by his enemies who had determined to ruin him ; that the opposite party at Court, headed by Munshi Sahib Singh, had committed the murder in order to silence a dangerous accomplice, of whose discretion they could not be certain, on the subject of the murder by poison and necromancy, of the late Raja Bharpur Singh.

An enquiry directed at Nabha into the charges:

These accusations, so circumstantial and grave, could not be allowed to pass unnoticed, although they were but the despairing efforts of a desperate man to escape the consequences of his own actions, and an investigation was directed to be held into their truth at Nabha by an English officer. The question to be determined was whether the death of Raja Bharpur Singh was due to poison, and, if so, by whose instrumentality and instigation adminis-

[Page-484]

tered; and, secondly, who were the persons implicated in the murder of Mehtab Kour.

The Nabha investigation:

The enquiry commenced on the 3rd of November 1864, and lasted three weeks. The Maharaja of Pattiala and the Raja of Jhind were present throughout the whole investigation, and every person connected with the Nabha Court, or who could be supposed to be possessed of any information was examined on oath and with the utmost care.

The conclusion of the Commission:

The conclusion at which Major Cracroft, the officer appointed by Government to investigate the case, arrived, was that there was no reason to believe that Raja Bharpur Singh had died of other than natural causes ; and that Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh was justly accused of having, with other officials at Nabha, instigated the murder of Mehtab Kour.

The death of Raja Bharpur Singh by Poisson, disproved

With regard to Raja Bharpur Singh, the story of death from poison was shown beyond all doubt to be absolutely without foundation.

No insinuation is more commonly made in Native States than that the death of a Chief is due to poison ; for the simple reason that the charge is most difficult to disprove. With Hindus, cremation follows shortly after death, and however grave the suspicions of foul play that might exist, a postmortem examination would be objected to by the whole Durbar on religious grounds ; so that the danger of detection which is, in the present state chemical science, almost certain for European poisoners, if suspicion of foul play be once

[Page-485]

Aroused, has little weight among Hindus. This consideration, Which might be supposed to make crime more safe, also encourages false and malicious accusations, which a great part of the world would believe to be true simply because it was impossible to prove them false. The charge of the poisoning of a Chief is, moreover, one which can be used with fatal effect against any party which may be supposed to have an interest in the Chief's, death. Even if unsupported by a shadow of evidence And opposed to all the probabilities of the case, the charge still has its effect. It clings to those against whom it is made, and benefits those who are unscrupulous enough to make it. These considerations will explain the frequency of the charge in Native States ; but there is no reason whatever: to believe that the crime is one frequently perpetrated. On the contrary, it would be easy to adduce instances in which the charge has been loudly asserted, while it has been known to be absolutely without foundation, the cause of death being undoubted and certain.

Raja Bharpur Singh died of natural causes:

In the case of Raja Bharpur Singh there is no manner of doubt whatever that he died from natural cause alone; consumption, induced by great natural delicacy of constitution and a long and wearing illness, and the story of poison may be pronounced an unmitigated falsehood, unsupported by a particle of evidence. The symptoms which were noticed at the death of the Raja forbid absolutely the supposition that he died from the effects of arsenic, which was the poison the accusers declared had been used. But there is also no doubt that Raja Bharpur Singh, who was of a very superstitious dis-

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position, was worked upon by some of those about him to believe that he was suffering from the magical arts of Sirdarni Mohtab Kour and others. The part which magic plays in the investigation at Nabha is a very important one. The belief in the power of magic is universal in India, and the idea that he was the object of unholy arts, may, probably enough, have had a very injurious influence upon a man so nervous and excitable as Bharpur Singh. The imagination has much to do with the health or illness of persons of a highly susceptible temperament, and it would be rash to assert that the belief that he had been bewitched did not have a most unfavorable influence on the recovery of the Raja; but the idea of poison must be altogether rejected.

The instigator of Mehtab Kaur’s murder:

With regard to the murder of Sirdarni Mehtab thore was little doubt that Gurbaksh Singh had been the instigator of the murder, and that other members of the Court had either actively assisted or had been cognizant of the crime. He appears to have believed, with the Baja, that the magical arts of Mehtab Kour had caused the illness and death of Bharpur Singh, and determined to avenge both it and some private grievances of his own against the lady, who was of a notoriously bad character. He was responsible for the release, in an informal manner and before the term of his sentence had expired, of the murderer Mehtaba, and his turning upon his rivals and enemies in the State and endeavouring to implicate them in the double crime of the murder of the Raja and Mehtab Kour was not only natural, but what might have been predicted with almost absolute certainty beforehand

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The Government of the Punjab and the Government of India considered the conclusions at which the Nabha Commission had arrived to be correct, and directed the prosecution of Mehtaba for murder, and of Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh for instigating the same.

Mehtaba, the murderer sentenced to death:


The former was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, though this was later commuted to transportation for life. Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh was placed before the Magistrate of Ludhiana, on the 25th of July 1865, on the charge of having abetted the murder of Sirdarni Mehtab Kour, and, after an investigation which lasted seven days, was committed to take his trial before the Sessions Judge of Ambala.

Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh acquitted:

The trial commenced on the 5th of September and closed on the 18th, when Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh was acquitted. This result was only to be expected. The great length of time that had elapsed since the commission of the crime; the doubtful nature, from a judicial point of view, of much of the evidence ; the position and influence of Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh and his friends and relatives, combined to render his conviction all but impossible.

The Indian and Home Governments found, however, no reason to doubt the correctness of the conclusions of the Court of Enquiry. Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh, Ausaf Ali, Minister of Justice, and Bulwant Singh, step-son of the murdered Mehtab Kour, were banished from Nabha territory ; and Raja Bhagwan Singh, acquitted of all complicity in the crimes which had been attributed to or committed by his intriguing officials, was restored to his posi-

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tion among the Princes of India which he had temporarily lost, while charges so grave were under investigation.

These painful cases, which formed the subject of both political and judicial enquiry, have been recorded as briefly as possible, with the desire to wound as little as possible the feelings of persons, however innocent, who were implicated in them ; but it would have been an injustice both to the present Raja of Nabha and to his Court to have failed to notice what may be called the most remarkable enquiry which has taken place in the Cis-Satlej States since their connection with the British Government, seeing that the investigation entirely exculpated the Raja, while the infamous charges advanced recoiled upon those who first gave them existence.*


* It cannot be said that the investigation at Nabha arrived at the whole truth of the story connected with the murder of Sirdarni Mehtab Konr. The intrigues, the plots, and counterplots which were then discovered, implicating, in a greater or less degree, almost every one at the Nabha Court, would fill a volume; and all the motives for the murder, and the persons concerned in it or cognizant, of it, will never be known in this world. But that the conclusions reached may be accepted as generally correct, may safely be inferred. The writer of the present work, then Personal Assistant to the Judicial Commissioner of the Punjab, was deputed to Nabha to assist Major Cracroft in the investigation of the case. He can testify to the painful care and minuteness of the enquiry. Every possible hypothesis was examined, and nothing but the conclusion at which the Commission arrived would agree with the evidence recorded, and with the probabilities of the case. The acquittal of Gurbaksh Singh, in a Judicial trial, was expected, and was, indeed, unavoidable. But nothing in that trial in the smallest degree shook the correctness of the conclusion of the Commission of Enquiry. If those conclusions were wrong, then Sirdarni Mehtab Kour was never murdered at all : that the Government of the Punjab, the Government of India and the Secretary of State accepted those conclusions as correct, after most careful consideration, is at least a guarantee that they were reasonable.

With Sirdar Gurbaksh Singh it was impossible not to feel some sympathy. He was a very fine specimen of an old Sikh gentleman, with commanding presence and Irreproachable manners ; and although his previous history shows him to have been both avaricious and greedy of power ; yet he had undoubtedly a strong affection for Raja Bharpur Singh, and his actions, however reprehensible or criminal, were prompted


The case of the Sunti Sikhs

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Since the investigation of 1864, few cases of any political importance have arisen with regard to the Nabha State. The chief refers to the Lidhran and Sunti Sikhs whose relations with Nabha were determined, it will be remembered, by the Government of India in August 1838. That decision was not altogether satisfactory. The Raja did not cease his endeavour to coerce the Sikhs, and they, having obtained greater consideration for their grievance than they perhaps deserved, did not cease to complain of his encroachments.

The dispute with the Sunti Sikhs referred to the division of the revenue of certain villages shared between them and and the Nabha State. A long discussion had been carried on with regard to this pointy and at length the quarrel assumed such dimensions, that, after every Political Officer in the Cis-Satlej States had attempted vainly to settle it by compromise, Lord Canning, Viceroy and Governor General, directed that an authoritative settlement should be, if possible, made. The points to be determined were the value of the shared villages; the amount to be deducted from the Sunti share on account of the Nabha right to escheats, commutation for loss of service, and deductions on account of confiscated and restored territory.


more by love for his master than by any personal feelings, which still were not without their influence.

The correspondence in this case is so voluminous that it is only necessary to note the principal papers as a clue to the remainder.

Report of Major J. E. Cracroft, to Government Punjab, dated 16th December 1864. Government Punjab to Government of India, No. 11, 16, dated 4th January 1865. No. 291, dated 8th June, No. 497, dated 19th October 1865. Government of India to Government Punjab, Nos. 257 and 926, dated 30th June and 4th November 1865.

Despatch of Lord DeGrey and Ripon. Secretary of State for India, No. 44, dated 30th June 1866.


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An arrangement was effected by the Commissioner of the Cis-Satlej States, in communication with the Maharaja of Pattiala and the Raja of Jhind, and approved by the Government of India,* by which Rs. 5,000 a year was allowed to the Sunti Sikhs from the Nabha treasury, free of all deductions; but this award the Sunti Sikhs refused to accept and appealed their case to the Secretary of State, who accepted the appeal, pointed out that the arrangement was unjust to the Sikhs, who would, under a fair estimation of the value of the villages, be entitled to Rs. 10,641, or more than double what they had received. The case was consequently re-opened, and after a long investigation, extending over some years. General Taylor, Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, submitted a final report, the conclusions of which were accepted by the Government of India.

His award:

The Commissioner found that the value of the shared villages was Rs. 46,085-2-9, of which, however, the Nabha Government only collected Rs. 36,638-1-9, the balance having been remitted as a charitable grant by Raja Jaswant Singh. The Sunti Sikhs objected to this remission being calculated as against their share, and the point was eventually yielded by the Nabha Government, and a share in other cesses collected was also allowed them, making the total value of the thirty-seven shared villages Rs. 47,000. The value of new villages was in the same manner fixed at Rs. 9,000, and the total value of both was thus Rs. 56,000 per annum.

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The Sunti share of this was admittedly seven annas or 7/16ths, and the Nabha share nine annas or 9/16ths. The amount due to the Suntis would thus be Rs. 24,500.

But from this the Nabha State claimed certain deductions.—

  • Escheats of the shares of 9-5/8ths horse-men, ... ... Rs. 3,368 110
  • Compensation for the loss of service of 60-3/8ths horsemen, at 5 annas per diem, ... ... ... „ 6,792 30
  • Deduction of 1/4th on account of confiscation of 1/4th of the Nabha territory by the British Government, „ 6, 12500
  • Total, Rs. 16,285 140
  • Leaving balance due to the Sunti 8,214 20


With reference to the two first items, it has before been stated that the Sunti Sikhs were bound to render service of seventy horsemen to the Nabha State, though, in the year 1838, the amount of this service had been considerably reduced, while the third item had reference to the confiscation of Nabha territory after the first Sikh war, a portion of which loss the Sunti Sikhs were justly bound to bear as well as their co-sharers.

It would be tedious to relate the methods employed by the Commissioner to reach a satisfactory decision. His final proposals were that from the Sunti share of Rs. 24,500-0-0, the following items might be justly deducted : —

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  • Escheats of 9-5/8ths horsemen, .... Rs. 3,368 110
  • Commutation for loss of service of 60-3/8ths horsemen at Rs. 7 per mensem, ... „ 5,071 80
  • Deduction of one-eighth on account of confiscated territory, „ 3,062 80
  • Total, ... Rs. 11,502 110
  • Balance due to the Sunti Sikhs, Rs. 12,997 50


This decision was accepted by the Government of India. It is true that it was but a compromise at the best ; but every effort had been made to arrive at the truth, and it was hopeless to expect that any farther investigation would arrive at results more just or more satisfactory.

The Lidhran Sikhs were not included in this decision. Their position was very different from the Sikhs of Sunti : their district was not included, at the time of confiscation, in the Nabha territory and Nabha had never exercised Police jurisdiction there.*

The Nabha territory has an area of 863 square miles, and a population of about 300,000 souls. The revenue is nearly the same as that of Jhind, between Rs. 6,00,000 and Rs. 7,00,000 per annum. A Military force of 1,500 men is maintained, of which a contingent of 50 horsemen is due for service to the British Government. Nabha is the only town of importance in the State.


* Report of General Taylor, Commissioner Cis-Satlej States, No. 438, dated 11th December 1868, with every voluminous annexures. Secretary to Government Punjab, No. 3—6, dated and January 1869, to Government of India. Secretary Government of India to Government Punjab, No. 302, dated 2nd March 1869.


End of The History of the Nabha State

Go to Index of the Book
The Rajas of the Punjab by Lepel H. Griffin