ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>NAU NIH&#256L SI&#7748GH KA&#7748VAR (1821-1840)</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="NAU,NIHL,SIDGH,KADVAR,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">&#65279NAU NIH&#256L SI&#7748GH, KA&#7748VAR (1821-1840), son of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Kha&#7771ak Singh was born on 23 February 1821. According to the official Lahore diarist, Sohan L&#257l S&#363r&#299, great rejoicing took place at his birth and a Persian chronogram &#8212 A bouquet of wisdom's garden &#8212 was coined recording the year of his birth. Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh was the favourite grandson of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Singh who bestowed much personal attention on his upbringing and training. In March 1837, he was married to the daughter of Sham Si&#7749gh A&#7789&#257r&#299v&#257l&#257. The occasion was marked by a display of extraordinary splendour and lavishness. The Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 began entrusting Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh with the command of military expeditions while he was still very young. He was barely 13 when he participated in the Pesh&#257war campaign of 1834. He was then appointed to administer the country in the Attock region. The same year, the province of Pesh&#257war was farmed out to him for an annual payment of Rs 12,00,000. In 1835, he suppressed a revolt in the &#7693er&#257j&#257t and &#7788o&#7749k. In 1836, he accompanied his father, Ka&#7749var Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh, to the borders of Sindh to confront the Talpurian <i>am&#299rs</i>. Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh took part in the operations of the <u>Kh</u>aibar when, in April 1839, he commanded a Sikh army which proceeded to Pesh&#257war to assist Colonel Wade s contingent on its march through the Punjab to K&#257bul across the <u>Kh</u>aib&#257r Pass.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh was at Pesh&#257war when Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh died on 27 June 1839. He arrived at Lahore on 17 September and became involved in court politics. The faction led by the &#7693ogr&#257s &#8212 Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh and Suchet Si&#7749gh &#8212 gained influence over him. This faction resented the growing influence of Chet Si&#7749gh. The Waz&#299r incited the young prince to urge his father to dismiss his favourite which the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 refused to do. A conspiracy was then hatched by R&#257j&#257 Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh to finish off Chet Si&#7749gh. On the morning of 9 October 1839, the &#7693ogr&#257 trinity, accompanied by Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh, forced their entry into the royal apartments. Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh plunged a dagger into the heart of Chet Si&#7749gh in the presence of their royal master. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh was thereafter reduced to a mere shadow. He was virtually placed in confinement by the &#7693ogr&#257s. Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh took into his hands the reins of government. In March 1840, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh fell ill. Contemporary chroniclers indicate that he had been administered poison under Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh's orders. He died on 5 November 1840. The same day, as Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh was returning after the funeral rites, the northern gate of the Haz&#363r&#299 B&#257<u>gh</u> was brought down upon his head. He had suffered only minor injuries, but he was quickly taken into the Fort in a <i>p&#257lk&#299</i> which had been kept ready in advance. Inside the Fort, the prince's head was crushed with stones by Dhi&#257n Si&#7749gh's men. With his death which occurred on 8 November "glory departed from the Punjab, and brightness no longer reflected on the royal presence," bemoans a contemporary Persian chronicler.</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"> Hot&#299, Prem Si&#7749gh, <i>Ka&#7749var Nau Nih&#257l Si&#7749gh</i>. Lahore, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Fane, H.E., <i>Five Years in India 1835-39</i>. London, 1842<BR> <li class="C1"> Honigberger, John Martin, <i>Thirty-Five Years in the East</i>. London, 1852<BR> <li class="C1"> Osborne, W.G., <i>The Court and Camp of Runjeet Sing</i>. London,1840<BR> <li class="C1"> M'Gregor, W.L., <i>The History of the Sikhs</i>. London, 1846<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1984<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>