Buddh Singh Sandhanvalia

BUDDH SINGH SANDHANVALIA (d. 1827), soldier and wada-jagirdar (big landowner) in the time of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the son of Amir Singh Sandhanvalia, his two brothers being the more famous Lahina Singh Sandhanvalia and Atar Singh Sandhanvalia. Buddh Singh entered the Maharaja's service in 1811. The first independent command he held was at Bahawalpur where he had been sent to collect tax arrears.

In 1821, he captured the forts of Maujgarh and Jamgarh and received jagirs (licence to land) in reward from the Maharaja. Later, he was sent to the Jammu hills in command of two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. He also commanded a Sikh force in the battle of Tin in 1823. Not long afterwards, he fell from favour and, to keep him away from Lahore, the Maharaja gave him the Peshawar command and sent him into the Yusafzai country against Khalifa Sayyid Ahmad, then preaching jihad against the Sikhs.

Buddh Singh fought against the Khalifa and inflicted on him such a crushing defeat that it took him two years to recover his forces sufficiently to go to battle again. After this victory Buddh Singh returned to Lahore, where he was received with much honour. A few months later, at the close of 1827, he died of cholera. The Maharaja wrote a letter to his family expressing his grief at his death and regretting that so brave a man should have died in bed like a common mortal.

References

• 1. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umdat-ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89
• 2. Griffin, Lepel, Ranjit Singh. Delhi, 1957
• 3. Prinsep, Henry T., Origin of the Sikh Power in the Punjab and Political Life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Calcutta, 1834