<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>BHA&#7748G&#256 SI&#7748GH (d. 1815)</TITLE>
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<p class="C1">&#65279BHA&#7748G&#256 SI&#7748GH (d. 1815), a prominent <i>sard&#257r</i> of the Karo&#7771si&#7749gh&#299&#257 chiefship, seized in January 1764, after the fall of Sirhind, the <i>parganah</i> of Pehov&#257 along the bed of the River Sarasvat&#299, 22 km west of Th&#257nesar. Later he captured Th&#257nesar leaving Pehov&#257 in the possession of his brother, Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh. Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh and Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh commanded a force of 750 horse and 250 foot. In 1779, Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh aligned himself with the Mu<u>gh</u>al chief, Abdul Ahd <u>Kh</u>&#257n, to recover his territory from R&#257j&#257 Amar Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. In January 1786, Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh along with other Sikh chiefs entered the Ga&#7749g&#257 Do&#257b at the head of 5, 000 horse and ravaged Meerut, H&#257p&#363&#7771 and Ga&#7771h Mukteshvar. In April 1789, Mah&#257dj&#299 Scind&#299&#257, regent of the Mu<u>gh</u>al empire, confirmed Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh's right to <i>r&#257kh&#299</i> or cess levied for protection in some of the areas under his influence. In January 1991, Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh advanced up to An&#363pshahar, a British cantonment on the Ga&#7749g&#257 under the charge of Lt Col Robert Stuart. He captured the Colonel and brought him to Th&#257nesar where he was confined for nine months in the fort before his release in October 1791 at the intercession of Lord Cornwallis, the British governor-general, and some Sikh and Mu<u>gh</u>al chiefs and on payment of sixty thousand rupees as ransom. In 1795 Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh captured Karn&#257l and in 1799 he helped R&#257j&#257 Bh&#257g Si&#7749gh of J&#299nd against the attack of the Irish adventurer, George Thomas. Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh joined hands with Lord Lake in attacking Delhi in September 1803 and was granted some additional territory. In 1806 he accompanied Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh on his return journey from Th&#257nesar to the Sutlej and received from him a village in <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> in Talva&#7751&#7693&#299 <i>parganah</i> between Mog&#257 and F&#299rozpur.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sir Lepel Griffin has described Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh as a man "of a most savage and untameable character, " and as "the fiercest and most feared of all the cis-Sutlej chiefs. " Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh died in 1815 and was survived by his son, Fateh Si&#7749gh, and daughter, Karam Kaur, married to Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Karam Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, and wife, Hass&#257&#7749. Fateh Si&#7749gh died in 1819 without issue, and one half of his territory was confiscated by the British while the other half remained with his mother, Hass&#257n, who signed herself as Bha&#7749g&#257 Si&#7749gh in her correspondence with the British.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel, <i>The Rajas of the Punjab</i>. Delhi, 1977<BR>
<li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of the Sikhs</i>, vol. III. Delhi, 1980<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR>
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