Naudh Singh Shukarchakia
Sardar Budha Singh, was an affluent Jatt (farmer) of the village of Sukarchak in the Majha tract of the Punjab, was one of the first ancestors known to history of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. His original name was Desu. He was born in 1670. He possessed 25 acres of land, three ploughs and a well. On this land he had built a couple of houses for his family and cattle. The place was named Sukarchak- sukar means small and narrow and chak signifies a petty tract of land it also used to mean a village, in the Punjab many people took the name of their village as a second name. (Compare this to Leonardo Da Vinci / ie Leonardo from Vinci village) Desu began to be called Sukarchakia. According to another tradition, Sukarchak is assumed to be from its being founded on Friday (Shukarvar). Sukarchak was situated near Gujranwala, 70 kms, north of Lahore. (District of Gujranwala is known to be the home of all Sandhus and Maharaja Ranjit Singh was of Sandhu clan of Jatts.)
It is said that in his early days Desu sometimes indulged in cattle-stealing. Once Desu carried off some good cattle from the village Narkhona. After a few days he met an old woman in tbe jungle who asked him if he knew of Desu's whereabouts. She told him that Desu had taken away her buffaloes and a pair of oxen and she was going to get them back! He told her that Desu was a man of fierce nature and he would maltreat her, to which she replied, that when he knew of her miserable condition he would take pity on her. She could not find Desu in the village but on return to her place she was surprised to find all her cattle had been returned and tied up safe and sound.
One of Desu's ancestors was initiated into Sikhism by Guru Gobind Singh in 1692. His name was Budha Singh and he was said to be a daring adventurer who had taken part in the battles of Guru Gobind Singh and Banda Singh Bahadur. The success, which attended his exploits, won him the reputation of being one of the boldest and the most resolute of the Sikhs of the Panjab. He built a fortress like haveli at his village and was always held in high esteem by the Sikhs.
He used to ride a piebald mare called after him as Desi which had crossed with its rider the rivers of Jhelum, Ravi and Chenab fifty times. It is said that sometimes Budha Singh covered on his mare's back a distance of over one hundred miles a day. The brave and courageous Budha Singh, who was a giant in strength, is said to have received during his life time some forty sword cuts and nine matchlock wounds, without his physical strength failing him., in the words of Carmichael Smyth, Budha Singh "was distinguished for the most intrepid courage; for his sagacity and shrewdness which bore him successfully through all his schemes, and for his ready wit and good humour. He was also famed for his regard to the rights and property of the poor. He was very kind and sympathetic to the faqirs, the poor and the travellers. He died of apoplexy in 1716.
On his death, Budha Singh left behind two sons, named Naudh Singh and Chanda Singh, the latter being the ancestor of the Sandhanwalia Sardars of Raja Sansi. Naudh Singh grew up into a healthy and handsome youngman. During the time of drought he used to bring his cattle to graze to the Majitha village in the present Amritsar district. Gulab Singh, a baptised Sikh of Majitha, married his daughter Lali to Naudh Singh in 1730, on the condition that he should get himself duly baptised. Gulab Singh was a devoted follower of the Khalsa Panth. Under the inspiration of his father-in-law, Naudh Singh joined the Dal Khalsa under the command of Kapur Singh Faizullapuria. He left his home and moved about in the inhospitable jungles along with his companions. He came into prominence when along with Kapur Singh, he relieved Ahmad Shah Durani of his baggage and heavy booty in 1749.
Sultan Khan Chatha, Pathan of Rasulnagar, forcibly converted six Sikhs to Islam- Naudh Singh and Chanda Singh attacked Rasulnagar, plundred Sultan Khan's property and brought back the Sikhs and baptised them again. Shahab-ud-Din of Firozwala captured a few Sikhs of village Earyala and removed the hair of their heads and beards. Naudh Singh and Chanda Singh plundred his village and put Shahab-ud-Din to death.
In 1749, Naudh Singh was wounded by a gun-shot in the head while fighting against the Afghan invaders. The wound did not prove fatal but he was incapaciated and he lingered on for 43 years without participating in the Sikh movement in the Punjab and died in 1792.
