ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BEL&#298 R&#256M (d. 1843)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="BEL*,RM"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279BEL&#298 R&#256M (d. 1843), head of the royal <i>tosh&#257<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257</i> at Lahore, was the second of the five sons of Misr D&#299v&#257n Chand, a general in Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's army. He joined the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's treasury in 1809 and within seven years rose to occupy the highest position in it. Besides, he received numerous <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i>, including that of Ra&#7749gha&#7771 Na&#7749gal worth 30, 000 rupees a year. Bel&#299 R&#257m maintained strict discipline. He annoyed R&#257j&#257 Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh, the prime minister, by declining him to show a rare piece of jewellery in the <i>tosh&#257<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257</i>, royal treasury, without the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's permission. When during his last illness, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257, on the astrologers' suggestion, desired the famous Koh-i-N&#363r diamond to be sent to the Jagann&#257th Pur&#299 temple. Bel&#299 R&#257m refused to accede to the royal wishes declaring that the diamond was not the property of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 but that of the State. He made an enemy of Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh by disallowing him entry into the <i>tosh&#257<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257</i> without a written order from the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257. In January 1840, Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh fined Misr Bel&#299 R&#257m 5, 00, 000 rupees and imprisoned him along with his five brothers. When Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh ascended the throne, Misr Bel&#299 R&#257m and his brothers were restored to their old positions. When H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh &#7692ogr&#257 became the prime minister after the assassination of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh, he had Misr Bel&#299 R&#257m and his brothers arrested. Bel&#299 R&#257m was handed over to Shai<u>kh</u> Im&#257m ud-D&#299n, who kept him in chains in his stables, before strangling him to death on 17 September 1843. Bel&#299 R&#257m had three sons, R&#257m D&#257s and &#7788h&#257kur D&#257s born to his Br&#257hma&#7751 wife, and <u>Kh</u>urram R&#257i to his Muslim wife. R&#257m D&#257s escaped to F&#299rozpur, and others to Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257. They returned to Lahore after H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh's death on 21 December 1844. After annexation, R&#257m D&#257s got from the British a pension of 2, 000 rupees per mensem. Bel&#299 R&#257m's wives Gul&#257b Dev&#299 and Misr&#257&#7751&#299 Begam received a pension of 1, 387 rupees each.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> S&#363r&#299, Sohan L&#257l, '<i>Umd&#257t-ut-Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u></i>. Lahore, 1885-89<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhagat Singh, <i>Maharaja Ra&#7751jit Singh and His Times</i>, Delhi, 1990<BR> <li class="C1"> Chopra, B. R. , <i>Kingdom of the Punjab</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1969<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Har&#299 R&#257m Gupta<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>