AMĪR SIṄGH SANDHĀṄVĀLĪĀ (d. 1827), a collateral of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh, was born the son of Dīdār Siṅgh Sandhāṅvālīā. In 1784, he, upon the death of his father, succeeded to the family estates which he considerably enlarged. As Mahāṅ Siṅgh and Raṇjīt Siṅgh rose to power, he seized several villages in the neighbourhood of Rājā Sāṅsī. In 1803, however, Amīr Siṅgh fell into disgrace at the Sikh court. The story is that one morning as Raṇjīt Siṅgh came out of the Samman Burj and was preparing to mount his horse, Amīr Siṅgh was seen to unsling his gun, prime it and blow the match. The bystanders accused him of seeking the life of his chief, and Raṇjīt Siṅgh, who believed the charge, dismissed him from court. He took refuge with Bābā Sāhib Siṅgh Bedi of Ūnā at whose intercession the Mahārājā again took him into his favour, and placed him specially under the protection and in the force of Atar Siṅgh Kāliāṅvālā. Amīr Siṅgh accompanied the Mahārājā in the Kasūr campaign of 1807, and in the expedition against the Muhammadan tribes between the Chenāb and the Indus in 1810. In 1809, when on the death of Rājā Jai Siṅgh of Jammū, Raṇjīt Siṅgh seized that country, he made over the territory to Amīr Siṅgh. In 1821, Amīr Siṅgh received Shakargaṛh in jāgīr.

        Amīr Siṅgh died in 1827. His jāgīrs amounting to upwards of rupees six lakhs annually were continued to his sons, Atar Siṅgh, Lahiṇā Siṅgh and Basāvā Siṅgh.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Sūrī, Sohan Lāl, 'Umdāt-ut-Twārīkh. Lahore, 1885-89
  2. Griffin, Lepel, and C. F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909

Sardār Siṅgh Bhāṭīā