Explore the legacy of Faqir Aziz Uddin, physician, diplomat, and foreign minister, pivotal in 19th-century Sikh foreign relations under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
CHIRAGH DIN, FAQlR (d. 1851). son of Faqir Aziz udDin, foreign minister to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was governor of Jasrota. a small principality in the Sivalik hills, and was shortly afterwards placed in attendance on Prince Kharak Singh. In 1842, he succeeded his brother, Shah Din, as the Sikh ruler`s envoy (vakil) at Firozpur and continued in the same position with the Council of Regency formed after the first Anglo Sikh war under the treaty of Lahore of 16 December 1846. Chiragh Din had five sons, the eldest of whom, Siraj udDin, became the chief minister at Bahawalpur where he met with a tragic end. Chiragh Din died at Lahore in 1851.
IMAM UDDIN, FAQIR (d. 1847), second son of Ghulam Mohly udDTn and younger brother of Faqir `Azi/ udDin, foreign minister to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was Qiladar or garrison commander of the Gobindgarh Fort at Amritsar, where the bulk of the Sikh crown jewels was kept in deposit. Capable and scholarly. Imam udDin was entrusted with multifarious duties by the Maharaja. He virtually acted as the chief treasurer of the kingdom, authorizing payments on behalf of the Darbar and carrying out commercial transactions through casli and hund is for the purchase of grain.
NUR UDDIN, FAQIR (d. 1852), third son of Ghulam Mohy udDin and the youngest brother of Faqir `Aziz udDin, was one of the prominent Muslim courtiers serving the Sikh sovereign Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his successors. In 1801, when Ranjit Singh assumed the title of Maharaja, Nur udDin was appointed hakim or physician to the court and put in charge of dispensaries in the city of Lahore. He also performed protocol duties on behalf of the State. Foreign travellers such as Moor craft, Jacquemont, Burnes, Wolff, Hugel and Fane, whom he received on behalf of the Maharaja or whom he otherwise met on State occasions, have paid tributes to his outstanding abilities.
Explore the life of Faqir Shah Din, a trusted diplomat of the Sikh court who fostered ties with British agents and promoted trade in the 19th century.
