ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>LAHI&#7750&#256 SI&#7748GH SANDH&#256&#7748V&#256L&#298&#256 (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="LAHIF,SIDGH,SANDHDVL*"> <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">&#65279LAHI&#7750&#256 SI&#7748GH SANDH&#256&#7748V&#256L&#298&#256 (d. 1843), son of Am&#299r Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257, enjoyed at the court of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh the title of "Ujjal D&#299d&#257r, Nirmal Buddh, Sard&#257r i-b&#257-Waq&#257r (Resplendent presence, pure of intellect, the Sard&#257r with prestige marked) Sard&#257r Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 Bah&#257dur." Like other collaterals of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257, Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh was rich both in wealth and intrigue; he first became a partisan of the &#7692ogr&#257 faction at the court, but changed sides when Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh came to power. When Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh fell out with Col Wade, the British political agent at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh was deputed along with Faq&#299r 'Az&#299z ud-D&#299n to go to Shiml&#257 in September 1839 to call on Lord Auckland and demand Wade's removal from Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257. During the struggle for power between R&#257&#7751&#299 Chand Kaur and Prince Sher Si&#7749gh, Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh, along with Atar Si&#7749gh and Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh, supported the former.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 continued their intrigues against their sovereign despite the latter's offers of conciliation. In March 1841, the Darb&#257r intercepted a letter from Atar Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257, then in British territory, to Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh and Kehar Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257, both of whom commanded troops in Ma&#7751&#7693&#299, to retire with their force to the south of the Sutlej. The troops, apprehending treachery on their part arrested both of them and brought them to Lahore where Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh kept them under surveillance. In January 1842, they were imprisoned under the orders of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 and were set at liberty in September 1842 when he granted Atar Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 and Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 amnesty and allowed them to return to the Punjab from the British territory where they had taken asylum.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 was one of the principal actors in the triple murder on 15 September 1843 which shook the kingdom of Lahore. On the morning of that fatal day, Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh and Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh rode out of their mansion with 150 horse and 300 footmen. Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh hid himself near the garden of Jav&#257l&#257 Si&#7749gh, and Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh went forward to the B&#257r&#257dar&#299 of Sh&#257h Bil&#257val, and shot Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Sher Si&#7749gh dead, pretending to show him the carbine he had received as a gift in Calcutta. The shot was the signal for Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh to rush with his troops into the garden where the young heir apparent, Ka&#7749var Part&#257p Si&#7749gh, was engaged in a ceremony distributing alms and, despite the woeful entreaties of the prince, cut off his head with his sword.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh fastened the severed head of Part&#257p Si&#7749gh to his saddle, and hastened to join his nephew, Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh. Both of them then proceeded towards the Fort, where, after finishing off Waz&#299r Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh, they proclaimed minor Duleep Si&#7749gh as the new Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 and Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257 as his Waz&#299r. The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 army were aroused to anger and, led by H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, son of Waz&#299r Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh they stormed the Fort early next morning (16 September 1843). Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh was shot dead while attempting to escape by lowering himself by a rope from the Fort ramparts. Lahi&#7751&#257 Si&#7749gh, who had hidden himself in a vault, was seized and gored to death. His mutilated body was, at H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh's orders, fastened to a rope and dragged through the streets of Lahore. Later, it was quartered and pieces of flesh were hung on the gates of the city.</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"> Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>, Lahore, 1909<BR> <li class="C1"> Smyth, G. Carmichael, <i>A History of the Reigning Family of Lahore</i>. Patiala, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"> Khushwant Singh, <i>A History of the Sikhs</i>, vol.Il. Princeton, 1966<BR> <li class="C1"> Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, <i>Anglo-Sikhs Relations</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1968<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">B. J. Hasrat<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>