ARUR SINGH

ARUR SINGH, Maharaja Duleep Singh`s personal attendant and confidant, belonged to the village of Kohali, in Amritsar district. He was one of the five Sikhs who administered pahul or Sikh initiatory rites to Maharaja Duleep Singh at Aden on 25 May 1886. From Aden, Arur Singh accompanied the Maharaja to Europe. In 1887, Arur Singh was sent by the Maharaja to India as his accredited ambassador. He carried with him five letters from Duleep Singh, one of them addressed to the princes of India and another to the King of Oudh.

At Pondicherry, he stayed with Thakur Singh Sandhanvalia. As he reached Calcutta in pursuit of his mission, he was betrayed by a professed supporter of the Maharaja and arrested. He was sent to the Chunar Fort where he was detained for three years. In government reports, Arur Singh was described as a Europeanized Sikh whose hospitality requirements in jail ran to “some ice, brandy, claret and Vichy water.” He was released from prison on 15 December 1890, with permission to return to England if he so wished.

References :

1. Ganda Singh, ed., History of the Freedom Movement in the Punjab, vol. Ill (Maharaja Duleep Singh Correspondence). Patiala, 1977
2. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs. Delhi, 1983