AJĪT SIṄGH, RĀJĀ, ruler of Lāḍvā, was born the son of Gurdit Siṅgh who had acquired territory around Thānesar after the conquest by Sikhs in 1764 of the Mughal province of Sirhind. Gurdit Siṅgh, who belonged to the same clan as Raṇjīt Siṅgh, originally came from the village of Veīṅ Poīṅ, about 15 km south of Amritsar, and was a member of the Karoṛsiṅghīā misl or confederacy. In addition to his other acquisitions, Gurdit Siṅgh received in jāgīr from Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh the village of Baddovāl, near Ludhiāṇā. After Gurdit Siṅgh's death, Ajīt Siṅgh succeeded him as ruler of the Lāḍvā state. Ajīt Siṅgh, like his father, continued to be an ally of Raṇjīt Siṅgh in his campaigns of conquest and received favours from him. He built a bridge over the River Sarasvatī at Thānesar, and received the title of Rājā from Lord Auckland, the British governor-general of India. In the first Anglo-Sikh war, Ajīt Siṅgh fought on the side of the Sikhs against the British. He along with Raṇjodh Siṅgh Majīṭhīā crossed the Sutlej at Phillaur with a force of 8, 000 men and 70 guns. In rapid marches Ajīt Siṅgh and Raṇjodh Siṅgh seized the forts of Fatehgaṛh, Dharamkoṭ, and Baddovāl, and stole into Ludhiāṇā cantonment, setting many of the barracks on fire. In the action fought on 21 January 1846 at Baddovāl, Sir Henry Smith's column was attacked and more than 200 of his men were slain. But Ajīt Siṅgh suffered a defeat in the action fought in 'Alīwāl after a week (28 January) and fled the battlefield. Ajīt Siṅgh's estates were confiscated by the British in 1846 and he was arrested and detained at Allāhābād. He, however, contrived to escape after killing his keeper and after long wanderings is supposed to have died in Kashmīr.