SĀHIB SIṄGH BHAṄGĪ (d.1811), son of Gujjar Siṅgh of the Bhaṅgī clan, one of the numerous principalities into which Punjab was divided during the latter part of the 18th century, ruled over the territory of Gujrāt in central Punjab. He was married to Rāj Kaur, daughter of Chaṛhat Siṅgh Sukkarchakkīā, the grandfather of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh. On the eve of the first invasion, in 1794, of Shāh Zamān, grandson of Ahmad Shāh Durrānī, it was estimated that Sāhib Siṅgh's state yielded an annual revenue of thirteen lakh rupees. He owned twelve forts and had a body of 2,000 horse in permanent employ, besides a big gun called Shāh Pasand. In June 1797, Sāhib Siṅgh joined Raṇjīt Siṅgh in his campaign against Hashmat Khān, the chief of the Chaṭṭhā tribe, whose possessions lay on the left bank of the River Chenāb. At the time of the last invasion of Shāh Zamān in 1798, Sāhib Siṅgh, along with Raṇjīt Siṅgh, attacked him with 500 horse. On the withdrawal of Shāh Zamān from the Punjab in January 1799, Sāhib Siṅgh under instruction from Raṇjīt Siṅgh led a force towards Kashmīr, and in 1806 accompanied him on his expedition into the cis-Sutlej region. As his own position became vulnerable in consequence of the hostility of the surrounding Sikh chiefs, Raṇjīt Siṅgh ended Sāhib Siṅgh's authority by annexing his country. In 1810, the Mahārājā, upon the intercession of Māī Lachhmī, mother of Sāhib Siṅgh, granted him a jāgīr worth one lakh of rupees which he held until his death the following year. On Sāhib Siṅgh's death, Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh married by the customary rite of chādar ḍālnā, two of the former's wives, Dayā Kaur and Ratan Kaur, who were real sisters, celebrated for their beauty. Dayā Kaur gave birth to Kashmīrā Siṅgh and Pashaurā Siṅgh and Ratan Kaur to Multānā Siṅgh.

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. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, vol. I. Princeton, 1963
  4. Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, Life and Times of Ranjit Singh. Nabha,1977
  5. Giān Siṅgh, Giānī, Twārīkh Gurū Khālsā [Reprint]. Patiala,1970

Sardār Siṅgh Bhāṭīā