JODH SINGH

JODH SINGH (1798-1864), son of Deva Singh whose ancestral village was Rariala in Gujrariwala district. Jodh Singh, who came into the jdgir of Rariala, rose to prominence in the kingdom of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. From 1813 to 1825 he served with the Ghorcharas (special cavalry) of SardarJodh Singh Sowariarivala. In 1831,Jodh Singh participated in Prince Sher Singh`s successful campaign against Sayyid Ahmad Khan. In 1834 Jodh Singh became a trooper in Raja Hira Singh`s derd (army unit) and achieved the rank of commandant in 1836; he remained with the same unit until 1848.

During the unsettled years following Ranjit Singh`s death (1839) Jodh Singh served his country well under Diwan Hukam Rai in Mamdot and Muktsar and later in the Majha where, along with the sowars under his command, he more than once restored order and administered justice. Following the first AngloSikh war (1845-46), Jodh Singh served as the addlii (judicial officer) at Amritsar where, during the second AngloSikh war (1848-49), he kept things peaceful and supported the British. After the British formally annexed the Punjab in March 1849, Jodh Singh remained at Amritsar and entered government service as a trusted extra assistant commissioner.

He assisted the British in a number of important ways as a judicial officer in which capacity, among other things, he handled all cases relating to the Golden Temple. Equally important was his role from 1849 to 1862 as sarbardh (manager) of the Darbar Sahib (Golden Temple): he supervised the Temple`s fiscal affairs and managed the Temple functionaries. Jodh Singh`s tact and skill enabled the new British rulers of the Punjab to oversee from behind the scene the affairs ofSikhism`s premier shrine: a pattern of colonial manipulation that was to continue under subsequent British appointed sarbardhs until the Gurdwara Reform movement of the earlier 20th century.

Jodh Singh retired from government service in 1862. Jodh Singh died in 1864. . JODH SINGH (d. 1874), a colonel in the army of Maharaja Ranjil Singh and the son of Jai Singh, was a descendant of the Man family of Mughal Chakk. This family originated from one Laddha, who, having shifted from Delhi, laid the foundation of a small village of Man in the suburbs of Gujrariwala where he had settled. He was appointed headman of twenty-two villages around it which rank lasted long with the family. Jodh Singh`s grandfather, Sarja Singh, was an ally of Charhat Singh Sukkarchakkia.

The Man family achieved great honour and influence under Maharaja Ranjit Singh and almost twenty-two members of it held trustworthy military posts. During the AngloSikh war of 1848-49, Jodh Singh fought against the British, but before long came back to Lahore. Jdgirs of this branch of the family were confiscated by the British government after the Punjab was annexed. Jodh Singh was, however, granted a pension of rupees seven hundred and twenty. He died in 1874. BIBLIOGRAPHY Griffin, Lepel, and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909 S.S.B.

References :

1. Griffin, Lepel and C.F. Massy, The Punjab Chiefs, vol.11. Lahore, 1890
2. Ken, lan J., “British relationships with the Golden Temple, 18`19-90” Indian Economic and Social History Reiiiew, 21:2, 19M