AMIR CHAND

AMIR CHAND, son of Misr Ram Kumar of the village of Dalval, in Jehlum district, joined service in Maharaja RanjitSingh`s toshakhana or treasury in 1830, soon becoming superintendent of Bela To shakhana, i.e. the treasury for charitable purposes. In June 1832, he was appointed to collect arrears of land revenue from the zamindars of Jalandhar and Rahon and was assigned to Kashmir on similar duty in 1838. In 1839, he accompanied Kanvar Nau Nihal Singh to Peshawar as custodian of the treasury.

After Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s death, Amir Chand was sent to Haridvar to trace and recover the treasure of Jamadar JKhushal Singh`s son, Kishan Singh, who had it secretly transferred to the British territory. He also served as agent of the Lahore Darbar at Ludhiana, and as governor of Gujrat and Find Dadan Khan. After the first Anglo Sikh war (1845-46), John Lawrence, the British Resident at Lahore, dismissed him from service for defalcation of funds and his jagirs were confiscated.

References :

1. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umdat-ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
3. Gupta, Hari Ram, Punjab of the Eve of First Sikh War. Chandigarh, 1956
4. Khushwant Singh, Ranjit Singh: Maharajah of the Punjab. Bombay, 1962