ATAR SIṄGH KĀLIĀṄVĀLĀ (d. 1851), soldier and feudatory chief in Sikh times, was son of Dal Siṅgh Nahernā, a military commander under Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh. Atar Siṅgh's ancestors belonged to the village of Kaṛiāl, in Sheikhūpurā district, now in Pakistan. His great-great-grandfather, Sāhib Siṅgh, had been given a jāgīr by Chaṛhat Siṅgh Sukkarchakkīā. Sāhib Siṅgh's son, Hakūmat Siṅgh, and grandson, Kaur Siṅgh, served the Sukkarchakkīās. Kaur Siṅgh's son, Dal Siṅgh, served with honour in the Kasūr, Multān, Kashmīr and Ḍerā Ismā'īl Khān campaigns. His son, Atar Siṅgh, was sent in 1834 to Peshāwar under the command of Prince Nau Nihāl Siṅgh. While there, Dīwān Hākim Rāi, who was chamberlain to the Prince and a great favourite, won over some of the sardārs under the command of Atar Siṅgh to his camp. On this Atar Siṅgh left the army without permission and came to Lahore to complain to Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh, who ordered him to re-join his regiment, then in Bannū. Upon Atar Siṅgh's refusal to do so, the Mahārājā confiscated all his jāgīrs which were later partially restored by Mahārājā Khaṛak Siṅgh. Mahārājā Sher Siṅgh, on the return to Lahore of Atar Siṅgh after consigning Mahāṛājā Khaṛak Siṅgh's and Prince Nau Nihāl Siṅgh's ashes to the River Gaṅgā, gave him in Piṇḍi Gheb and Mīrovāl jāgīrs valued at over a lakh of rupees, subject to the service of two hundred horse. Atar Siṅgh was made Adālatī (chief justice) of Lahore and the surrounding districts, and received command of the Piṇḍīvālā irregular cavalry which had been first raised by Milkhā Siṅgh Piṇḍīvālā. He took part in the first Anglo-Sikh war. After the treaty of Bharovāl, he was appointed a member of the Council of Regency formed in December 1846 which position he retained till the annexation of the Punjab (1849).

        Atar Siṅgh died in December 1851.

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
  3. Gupta, Hari Ram, Panjab on the Eve of First Sikh War. Chandigarh, 1956
  4. Khushwant Siṅgh, Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab. Delhi, 1971

Jatī Rām Gupta