<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>D&#298N&#256 N&#256TH D&#298W&#256N (1795-1857)</TITLE>
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<p class="C1">&#65279D&#298N&#256 N&#256TH, D&#298W&#256N (1795-1857), civil administrator and counsellor of considerable influence at the Sikh court for well over three decades, was the son of a Kashm&#299r&#299 Pa&#7751&#7693it, Ba<u>kh</u>t Mall, who had migrated to Delhi during the oppressive rule of the Af<u>gh</u>&#257n governors of the valley. He was also closely related to D&#299w&#257n Ga&#7749g&#257 R&#257m, head of the military accounts and keeper of the privy seal at Lahore. In 1815, at the instance of D&#299w&#257n Ga&#7749g&#257 R&#257m, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh invited D&#299n&#257 N&#257th to Lahore and offered him the post of <i>mutsadd&#299</i>, or writer, in the department of military accounts. In 1826, when D&#299w&#257n Ga&#7749g&#257 R&#257m died, D&#299n&#257 N&#257th succeeded him as the head of military accounts department and keeper of the privy seal. In 1834, when D&#299w&#257n Bhav&#257n&#299 D&#257s passed away, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 made him the head of the civil and finance office and conferred upon him, in 1838, the honorary title of D&#299w&#257n.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	By his ability and political acumen, D&#299n&#257 N&#257th rose to the highest position of power and influence in the affairs of the State. Lepel Griffin styles him the Talleyrand of the Punjab. D&#299n&#257 N&#257th knew how to keep his ambition in check and was one man in Lahore who made no enemies at the court. In the turbulent days following Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's death, he refused to take sides with R&#257&#7751&#299 Chand Kaur or Ka&#7749var Sher Si&#7749gh. However, Sher Si&#7749gh upon his succession to the throne, reposed his full trust in him. D&#299n&#257 N&#257th retained his position at the court. during the <i>waz&#257rats</i> of both H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh as well as during the regency of Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 Jind Kaur. After the Anglo-Sikh war of 1845-46, the British nominated him a member of the Council of Regency established in Lahore for the minor king, Duleep Si&#7749gh. In November 1847, the title of the R&#257j&#257 of Kal&#257naur, with a <i>j&#257g&#299r</i> worth 20, 000 rupees annually, was conferred upon him.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	After the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, D&#299n&#257 N&#257th served under the British who confirmed him in his <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> worth about fifty thousand rupees annually.</p>
<p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;	D&#299w&#257n D&#299n&#257 N&#257th died at Lahore in 1857.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> S&#363r&#299, Sohan L&#257l, '<i>Umd&#257t-ut &#8211Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u>'</i>. Lahore, 1885-89<BR>
<li class="C1"> Griffin, Lepel, and C. F. Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>. Lahore, 1909<BR>
<li class="C1"> Hasrat, B. J. , <i>Life and Times of Ranjit Singh</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1977<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Har&#299 R&#257m Gupta<br></p><BR>
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