PARTĀP SIṄGH, KAṄVAR (1831-1843), born in 1831 to Prem Kaur, second wife of Mahārājā Sher Siṅgh, to whom he had been married in 1822, after the death of his first wife. He grew up to be a handsome boy, with extremely graceful manners. He had gained good command of Persian by the time he was seven years old. His precociousness was noticed by everyone who met him. He was a great favourite of the French officers at the Sikh court. His father doted on him and could not bear to be parted from him even for a short while. Several foreign visitors to the court have left written account of how they were impressed by his engaging manners and intelligence. His marksmanship and knowledge of all sorts of contrivances for making bulled amazed everyone in the camp of Lord Auckland when the governor general visited Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh in 1838. But the life of the promising young man was tragically cut short in his twelfth year. Both he and his father fell victims to intrigue. Mahārājā Sher Siṅgh was assassinated in the Shālāmār Bāgh by Ajīt Siṅgh Sandhāṅvālīā on 15 September 1843. The shots that killed Sher Siṅgh were a signal for Lahiṇā Siṅgh Sandhāṅvālīā to pounce upon his son, Partāp Siṅgh, then being weighed in a garden near by against grain and silver to be given away in charity. Lahiṇā Siṅgh seized the young prince by the hair and cut him to pieces.