JODH SIṄGH RĀMGAṚHĪĀ (d. 1815), soldier and feudatory chief in Sikh times, was the eldest son of Jassā Siṅgh, the celebrated Rāmgaṛhīā Sardār. Raṇjīt Siṅgh bound himself in a pledge of friendship with Jodh Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā before the Gurū Granth Sāhib at Darbār Sāhib, Amritsar. The Mahārājā had great reverence for him and used to call him Bābājī. He was always seated next to the Mahārājā in the royal darbār. Jodh Siṅgh was Raṇjīt Siṅgh's ally in his earlier campaigns. In 1802, he helped him to seize Amritsar from Māī Sukkhāṅ, widow of Gulāb Siṅgh Bhaṅgī. In 1807, he accompanied the Mahārājā to Kasūr with all his force against Qutb ud-Dīn, who surrendered after a month's resistance. The Faizullāpurīā possessions were annexed to Raṇjīt Siṅgh's domain by Dīwān Mohkam Chand and Jodh Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā in 1810-11.

         Jodh Siṅgh was a deeply religious person. He built the Rāmgaṛhīā Buṅgā on the Golden Temple premises, and supplied pieces of perforated marble that served as parapets on both sides of the causeway leading to the sanctuary. He also brought many pieces of mosaic work from Delhi and Āgrā. He built the first two storeys of Bābā Aṭal, the eloftiest building in Amritsar, near the Golden Temple.

        Jodh Siṅgh died at Amritsar in August 1815.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. Sūrī, Sohan Lāl, 'Umdāt utTwārīkh. Lahore, 188589
  2. Prem Siṅgh, Bābā, Khālsā Rāj de Usraiyye. Hoti Mardan, 1944
  3. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
  4. Seetal, Sohan Singh, The Sikh Misals and the Punjab. Ludhiana, n.d.
  5. Ramgarhia, Sundar Siṅgh, The Annals of the Ramgarhia Sardars. Amritsar, 1902

Sardār Siṅgh Bhāṭīā