ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MEGH R&#256J (d. 1864)</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 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">&#65279ME<u>GH</u> R&#256J (d. 1864), the third son of Misr D&#299v&#257n Chand, starting as a clerk in Gobindga&#7771h Fort at Amritsar under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, became head of the treasury at Amritsar in 1816. He held this position until the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's death in 1839 soon after which Prince Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh and R&#257j&#257 H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh visited Amritsar to have his accounts checked. The accounts revealed no embezzlement, yet Me<u>gh</u> R&#257j and his brother R&#363p L&#257l were taken into custody, and a fine of 5,00,000 rupees was imposed on them. They remained in captivity until H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh's assassination on 21 December 1844.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the end of the first Anglo-Sikh war in 1846, Megh R&#257j was appointed treasurer of the Lahore Darb&#257r and, after the annexation of the Punjab in 1849, treasurer of the Lahore Division. This post he held till his death on 1 August 1864. Megh R&#257j was honoured with the title of R&#257i Bah&#257dur by the British and made an honorary magistrate in 1862.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Chopra, B.R., <i>Kingdom of the Punjab</i>. Hoshiarpur, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>Panjab on the Eve of First Sikh War</i>. Chand&#299garh, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Griffin, Sir Lepel and C.F. Massy, <i>Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab</i>. Lahore, 1940<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>