Nidhan Singh Chugha (June 1855 – 6 December 1936) was a

Ghadarite The Ghadar Movement or Ghadar Party was an early 20th-century, international political movement founded by expatriate Panjabi s to overthrow British rule in India. Many of the Ghadar Party founders and leaders, including Sohan Singh Bhakna, we ...

leader. He was considered one of the most dangerous and prominent Ghadarites by the British authorities.

Biography

Early life

Nidhan Singh was born in 1855 in the village of Chugha in modern-day

Moga district Moga district is one of the twenty-three districts in the state of Punjab, India. It became the 17th district of Punjab state on 24 November 1995, being cut from the Faridkot and Firozpur districts. Moga district is among the largest produc ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

to a father named Sundar Singh. One source states he was born earlier in 1851.

Move to China

In 1882, Nidhan departed India for

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, where he was employed as a watchman and later became the treasurer of the local gurdwara. He had helped construct the local gurdwara. Whilst in China, Nidhan Singh married an ethnic Chinese woman according to Sikh religious rites, having one son with her whom they named Bijay Singh. Nidhan Singh married the Chinese lady in August 1909 on a Sunday in Shanghai at the Dongbaoxing Road Gurdwara. His Chinese bride was a native of Pootung (

Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...

), had a well-known desire to convert to Sikhism that was known to the Indian community, and she was very happy to be married. This Chinese woman converted to Sikhism and was baptized as Gursharan Kaur whilst Nidhan was baptized as Jagjit Singh in an ''

Amrit Sanchar Amrit Sanskar (, pronunciation: , lit. "nectar ceremony") is one of the four Sikh Sanskaars. The Amrit Sanskar is the initiation rite introduced by Guru Gobind Singh when he founded the Khalsa in 1699. A Sikh who has been initiated into the ...

'' ceremony. The wedding ceremony itself was an ''

Anand Karaj Anand Karaj () is the Sikh wedding ceremony, meaning "Act towards happiness" or "Act towards happy life", that was introduced by Guru Amar Das. The four ''laavaan'' (hymns which take place during the ceremony) were composed by his successor, Gur ...

'', where the bride was led by the groom four times in a circumabulation around the Guru Granth Sahib, with a bow given before the scripture after every revolution. A large amount of local Sikhs attended the interracial Sino-Sikh wedding, including 20 women. This was the first interracial Chinese-Sikh wedding to take place at the Dongbaoxing Road Gurdwara. Nidhan Singh resided in Shanghai for a number of years before eventually moving to the United States.

Settling in the United States of America

Around the time Nidhan Singh moved to U.S.A., the Ghadar Party was established by

Indian nationalists Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was f ...

. Nidhan became a member of the Ghadar Party and was elected as a constituent of the executive committee of the party. In April 1914, Nidhan was elected as the president of the Khalsa Diwan Society of

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom * Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk * Stockton, Chi ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Preparations for instigating an anti-British rebellion

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Nidhan, alongside other high-ranking Ghadarites, returned to India for the purpose of instigating an armed uprising against the British. With the intention of ultimately returning to India, he first embarked aboard the ''S.S. Korea'' in San Francisco on 29 August 1914, disembarking at

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

alongside Piara Singh (of Langeri, Hoshiarpur) and three others, and moving further onward to Shanghai, China, where he collected money for the Ghadarite cause. Some of the funds that Nidhan collected in Shanghai had originally been donated for those aboard the '' Komagata Maru'', however due to the ship not being given permission to land in Shanghai, the funds for its cause were allocated to Nidhan Singh instead for his own Ghadarite agenda. Whilst in Shanghai, Nidhan Singh sent a telegram to the Ghadarites who landed in Manila, warning them that the authorities at Hong Kong were going to stringently search the vessel for weapons and seditious literature. Due to this warning, the Ghadarites on the other ship threw all their seditious literature overboard and their revolvers and ammunition had been given to the Ghadarite leaders to possess. Nidhan Singh paid a visit to his Chinese wife and infant, mixed-race son whilst he stayed in Shanghai during this time. Nidhan Singh left Shanghai aboard the ''Mashima Maru'' with this monetary sum and 600 rounds of ammunition, with the ''Tosa Maru'' carrying some of his Ghadarite affiliates. Both of the ships landed in

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

around the same time as each-other, with the Ghadarites on-board being held by the British henceforth. After Nidhan's detainment in Malaya, he attempted to win-over the troops and getting weapons but he was unsuccessful. Nidhan Singh was part of a group of the Ghadarites that appealed to the governor of Malaya to allow the two boats to proceed to their destination, which was successful.

Return to Punjab

Nidhan arrived in

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

, Punjab on 7 November 1914, where he was assigned the task of creating an armed rebellion in the area. Thus, he set-forth having factories manufacture explosives like bombs for the insurrection. These bomb factories were located at Jhabewal and Lohat Baddi. A scheme was devised to launch a surprise attack on the

Firozpur Cantonment Ferozepur Cantonment, also known as Firojpur Cantonment and Firojepur Cantonment, is a cantonment town in Firozpur district in the state of Punjab, India. It is located to the south of the city of Firozpur. The cantonment played a key role for ...

on 30 November 1914 but it never materialized.

Arrest

Nidhan Singh, alongside Rur Singh of Chuhar Chak, was arrested by the British on 29 April 1915 whilst he was in incognito as a roaming mendicant. In the resulting first conspiracy case of Lahore, Nidhan Singh was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

. However, his death sentence was later commuted to

penal transportation Penal transportation (or simply transportation) was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies bec ...

Later life

After serving his sentence, Nidhan Singh spent the rest of his years in Punjab and became respected as a religious man. Nidhan Singh formed part of the ''

Panj Piare Panj Pyare (, ', the five beloved ones) refers to a gathered ad hoc quintet of five baptised (''Amritdhari'') Khalsa Sikhs who act as institutionalized leaders for the wider Sikh community. Function The Panj Pyare are convened for pressing ma ...

'' quintet that laid the foundation stone of the Harimandar at Panja Sahib on 14 October 1932. Nidhan Singh served as the president of both Gurdwara Lohgarh (Dina) and the Gurdwara Singh Sabha (Moga). Nidhan Singh died on 6 December 1936 in Moga.