ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>H&#298R&#256 SI&#7748GH &#7692OGR&#256 (1816-1844)</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="H*R,SIDGH, OGR,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279H&#298R&#256 SI&#7748GH &#7692OGR&#256 (1816-1844), prime minister of the Sikh kingdom of Lahore from 17 September 1843 to 21 December 1844, was born the eldest son of R&#257j&#257 Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh in 1816 at R&#257mga&#7771h, about 25 km from Jamm&#363. Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh, an influential courtier, introduced his son to his patron Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh who took very favourably to the young boy. He treated him with great generosity from the very beginning, bestowing upon him the title of R&#257j&#257 in 1828 and, then, proclaiming him Farzand-i-<u>Kh</u>&#257s, i.e. the favoured son. He granted him numerous <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> which totally amounted to nearly five lakh of rupees annually. When after the assassination of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh and R&#257j&#257 Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's five year old son, Duleep Si&#7749gh, was proclaimed Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of the Punjab on 17 September 1843, H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh assumed the office of prime minister. But he failed to consolidate his position. What earned him unpopularity was the appointment of Pa&#7751&#7693it Jall&#257 as his deputy. He confiscated the fiefs of the Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 <i>sard&#257rs</i> who were responsible for the murders of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh Ka&#7749var Part&#257p Si&#7749gh and R&#257j&#257 Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh. H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh had Bh&#257&#299 Gurmukh Si&#7749gh, a revered Sikh divine, and Misr Bel&#299 R&#257m murdered for their having opposed his father's proposal to crown him Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 after the death of Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh. He also put in jail Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh, brother of Queen Mother, Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 Jind Kaur, and exiled from Lahore his own uncle, Suchet Si&#7749gh &#7692ogr&#257, both of whom were considered rivals to his position. At the instance of his uncle Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh &#7692ogr&#257 who helped him concoct some false letters, he confiscated the lands of Ka&#7749var Kashm&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Ka&#7749var Pashaur&#257 Si&#7749gh, two of the surviving sons of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh. He also sent a force against them under Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh. This assault on the princes caused much resentment among the troops who turned against the &#7692ogr&#257 prime minister and forced him to restore their <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> and release Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh from captivity. H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh's intrigues reached their culminating point in his designs against B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh, a soldier turned a religious saint, who had set up his own <i>&#7693era</i> in a small village, Naura&#7749g&#257b&#257d in Amritsar district, secluded from courtly machinations. He was a true well-wisher of the dynasty of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and was deeply grieved at the disaster which had overtaken it through the envy of the courtiers. His personal influence greatly perturbed H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh who sent troops to attack his citadel in the village, where Prince Kashm&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh and Atar Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 had taken asylum. The attack upon B&#257b&#257 B&#299r Si&#7749gh and a subsequent attempt by H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh's favourite, Pa&#7751&#7693it Jall&#257, to poison Mah&#257r&#257&#7751&#299 Jind Kaur aroused the ire of the Sikh army. H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh abandoned Lahore with 4,000 of his trusted troops and several cartloads of gold and silver removed from the treasury, but a Sikh force led by Jaw&#257har Si&#7749gh and Sham Si&#7749gh A&#7789&#257r&#299v&#257l&#257 overtook him on the way, killing him along with his adviser, Pa&#7751&#7693it Jall&#257, on 21 December 1844.</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&#257ri<u>kh</u></i>, Lahore, 1885-1889<BR> <li class="C1"> Smyth, G. Carmichael, <i>A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore</i>. Calcutta, 1847<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, B J., <i>Anglo-Sikh Relations</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Fauja Singh, <i>After Ranjit Singh</i>. Delhi, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab</i>. Calcutta, 1962<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sukhdev Si&#7749gh Charak<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>