SĀHIB DIĀL (b.1801), second of the five sons of Misr Ralīā Rām, entered the Sikh service as a munshī (clerk) in the Customs Department under his father. In 1832 he was transferred to the Paymaster's office of the regular army and in 1839 was made chief of the customs at Jalandhar which appointment he held until the end of the first Anglo-Sikh war. After the separation of the large district of Jhaṅg from the province of Multān of which it formed nearly a third in 1846, Sāhib Diāl was appointed to revise its system of imports. In September 1847, the whole customs network of the country was placed under his superintendence. Sāhib Diāl helped the British during the second Anglo-Sikh war as well as during the revolt of 1857. To reward him the British granted him several jāgīrs and created him a Rājā. In February 1864, Sāhib Diāl was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of India.

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