KAHN SINGH MAN

KAHN SINGH MAN (d. 1848), son of Hukam Singh, was appointed commandant of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s bodyguard at a comparatively young age. He took part in several campaigns under the Maharaja, rising to the rank of general in 1836, commanding four regiments of infantry and a 10gun derd of artillery. In 1846, after the first AngloSikh war, Kahn Singh was sent at the head of an expedition against Shaikh Imam udDin, the rebellions governor of Kashmir. He succeeded in bringing Imam udDin a prisoner to Lahore without having to fire a shot. Next year, he was appointed by the Lahore Darbar, on the recommendation of the Resident, Henry Lawrence, to the judgeship of Lahore as successor to Ranjodh Singh Majithia.

In March 1848, Frederick Currie, the acting British Resident at Lahore, nominated General Kahn Singh governor of Multan to replace Diwan Mul Raj who had resigned. Reaching Mul tan on 14 April 1848, he recommended to the British officers to take the Fort without delay. On 19 April, as General Kahn Singh Man and the British officers were coming out of the Fort after taking over charge from Diwan Mul Raj, two Multan sepoys attacked and killed two British officers, Vans Agnew and William Anderson. Diwan Mul Raj rebelled and imprisoned Kahn Singh and his minor son, Vasava Singh. When the British army bombarded the Fort, both father and son perished in the prison on 30 December 1848.

References :

1. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umddt-ut-Twankh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909
3. Cunningham, Joseph Davey, A History of the Sikhs from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej. London, 1849
4. Hasrat, BikramaJit, Anglo-Sikh Relations, 1799-1849. Hoshiarpur, 1968
5. Khushwant Singh, The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab. Calcutta, 1962
6. Kohli, Sita Ram, Sunset of the Sikh Empire. Bombay, 1967