Sardar Bahadur Sardar Bahadur was a title of honour awarded to native Indian civilians and Viceroy's commissioned officer, Viceroy's commissioned officers during British Raj, British rule in India. It was bestowed upon Sikhs, and was awarded for faithful service ...

Arjan Singh Chahal (1839–1908) was a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

honorary

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

and civil judge who served as the manager of Darbar Sahib and the

Akal Takht The Akal Takht (; ), also spelt as Akal Takhat and historically known as Akal Bunga, is the most prominent of the Takht (Sikhism), five takhts (Seat (legal entity), seats of authority) of the Sikhs. Located within the Golden Temple, Darbar Sah ...

, as a sarbarah appointed by the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

from 1890 to 1896.

Early life

Arjan Singh Chahal was born in village Chahal,

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

to a Jat Sikh family of Chahal clan in 1839. He was seven when his father Javala Singh died in 1846. He held large

jagir A jagir (), ( Hindustani: जागीर/جاگیر, ''Jāgīr''), ( Marathi: जहागीर, ''Jahāgīrá'') also spelled as jageer, was a type of feudal land grant in the Indian subcontinent at the foundation of its Jagirdar ( Zamindar ...

s in the Tarn Taran

tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

and in the

Lyallpur District Faisalabad District (Lyallpur District until 1979) ( Punjabi and ) is one of the districts of Punjab, Pakistan. According to the 2023 census of Pakistan it had a population of 9,075,819, of which 3,691,999 were in Faisalabad City. It is the th ...

, present day

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (, ) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. With a population of over 127 million, it is the Demographics of Pakistan, most populous province in Pakistan and the List of first-level administrative divisions by popu ...

Sarbarah

From 1890 to 1896, Chahal served as the British Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar appointed sarbarah of Darbar Sahib and the Akal Takht. He was appointed president of the 11-member lighting committee set up in 1896 to arrange the installation of electricity in the Darbar Sahib complex.

Honours

He received the title of ''Sardar Bahadur'' in 1894, and was made a

Companion of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (:Knights Grand Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire, ...

in 1906.

Death

Arjan Singh died at the age of 69 in January 1908.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Arjan 1839 births 1908 deaths Punjabi Sikhs Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Sardar Bahadurs People from Punjab Province (British India) 19th-century Indian people