SAVAN MALL, DIWAN

SAVAN MALL, DIWAN (d. 1844), governor of Multan from 1821 to 1844, was son of Hoshnak Rai, a Chopra Khatri, in the service of Sardar Dal Singh ofAkalgarh. When in 1804, Maharaja Ranjit Singh took over Akalgarh on the death of Dal Singh, Savan Mall was employed as a munshi or clerk and was sent thereafter to Wazirabad as naib tahsildar. A good scholar of Persian and Arabic, he won the appreciation of the Maharaja for his intelligence and administrative skill and. quickly rose to higher positions. In 1818, Ranjit Singh conquered Multan, but the governors appointed by him one after the other proved inept.

In 1821, he sent out Savan Mall, who turned out to be an efficient and benevolent administrator. Under his governorship, Multan attained a high level of prosperity. Robbery and lawlessness were put down; cultivation was extended, commerce, trade and industry flourished and evenhanded justice was dealt out to the rich and the poor alike. The Multan subah was known throughout the kingdom as Dar alAman (the abode of peace). Savan Mall had a tragic end. He was seriously wounded, on 16 September 1844, by an undertrial prisoner and died on 29 September 1844.

References :

1. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umdat ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Mohan Lal, Travels in the Punjab, Afghanistan and Turkistan. London, 1846
3. Hasrat, Bikrama Jit, Anglo-Sikh Relations. Hoshiarpur, 1968
4. Chopra, G.L., The Panjab as a Sovereign State. Hoshiarpur, 1960