Sandhawalia is a

Jat The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...

clan of present-day India and Pakistan.

History

The members of one particular Sandhanwalia

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 ...

family occupied important positions in the

Sikh Confederacy The Sikh Confederacy was a confederation of twelve sovereign Sikh states (each known as a Misl, derived from the Arabic word مِثْل meaning 'equal'; sometimes spelt as Misal) which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the n ...

. The progenitor of this family was Choudhary Chanda Singh, who settled at the Sandhu wala village in present-day Pakistan, and consequently, came to be known as Sandhanwalia. His sons migrated to

Rajasansi Rajasansi is a town, near Amritsar city and a nagar panchayat in Amritsar district in the Indian state of Punjab. Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (Amritsar International Airport) is located in Rajasansi village on Ajnala-Rajasansi ...

. The names of some of the Sandhawalia brothers included Lehna Singh, Basawa Singh, Budh Singh, Attar Singh, and Jaimal Singh.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839) was the founder and first maharaja of the Sikh Empire, in the northwest Indian subcontinent, ruling from 1801 until his death in 1839. Born to Maha Singh, the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl ...

, the

ruler of

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 ...

, has been described as "Jats" in records. This has led to the view that he belonged to the

. According to

W. H. McLeod William Hewat McLeod (1932–2009; also Hew McLeod) was a New Zealand scholar who helped establish Sikh Studies as a distinctive field.J.S. Grewal (2010), ''W.H. McLeod and Sikh Studies'', Journal of Punjab Studies, 17 (2010): 1-2, pages 115–1 ...

, however, it is more likely that he belonged to the

Clan ''got'' as the Sandhanwalias. Author Preminder Singh Sandhawalia believes that Ranjit Singh shared lineage with the Sandhawalias, although he did not share a direct line of descent with them. Both the Sandhawalias and Sukerchakias share a common ancestor, Budh Singh. Budh Singh was survived by two sons,

Naudh Singh Naudh Singh, also spelt as Nodh Singh (died 1752), was a Sikh leader and founder of the Sukerchakia Misl. Biography Naudh Singh inherited a territory consisting of a few villages and surrounding areas paying ''Rakhi system, rakhi'' tribute ...

and Chanda Singh. Naudh Singh would succeed Budh as head of the Sukerchakia family. Meanwhile, Chanda was the progenitor of the Sandhawalia family of

. After the assassination of

Nau Nihal Singh Kunwar Nau Nihal Singh (9 March 1821 – 5 November 1840) was the third maharaja of the Sikh Empire, ruling from 1839 until his death in 1840. He was the only son of Maharaja Kharak Singh and his consort, Maharani Chand Kaur. He was known as ...

, the Sandhawalia clan supported

Chand Kaur Chand Kaur (1802 – 11 June 1842) was the regent of the Sikh Empire, proclaimed as Malika Muqaddisa (lit. Queen Immaculate) on 2 December 1840. She was born to Sardar Jaimal Singh of the Kanhaiya Misl. In 1812, she was married to Crown Princ ...

to become the ruler. But, when

Sher Singh Sher Singh (4 December 1807 – 15 September 1843) was the fourth Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He was elder of the twins of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, founder of the Sikh Empire and Maharani Mehtab Kaur. His reign began on 18 January 1840 followi ...

forced Chand Kaur to abdicate the throne, Sandhawalias felt cheated and refused to accept his rule. Sandhawalias were banished from the Khalsa empire and fled to Calcutta in British India. Sikh chieftain

Ajit Singh Sandhawalia Ajit Singh Sandhawalia was a Sikh chieftain from the Sandhawalia Jat clan who assassinated Sher Singh, the ruler of the Sikh Empire, on 15 September 1843. Biography Ajit Singh was the son of Basava Singh Sandhawalia, a sardar from Rajasansi. ...

, who had served as Prime Minister first for Ranjit Singh then for Sher Singh's brother Kharak Singh and Karak Singh's son Nau Nihal, assassinated on 15 September 1843 Sher Singh,

Maharaja Maharaja (also spelled Maharajah or Maharaj; ; feminine: Maharani) is a royal title in Indian subcontinent, Indian subcontinent of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and Medieval India, medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a pri ...

Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a regional power based in the Punjab, Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. It existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahore, to 1849, when it was defeated and conquered by the East India Company, Br ...

, his son and heir apparent Pratap Singh and Sher Singh's wazir (prime minister)

Dhian Singh Raja Dhian Singh (22 August 1796 – 15 September 1843) was the longest serving wazir of the Sikh Empire, during the reign of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, and the brief rule of four of his successors over four years. He held the office for twenty fiv ...

. Sher Singh was killed as he was asked to inspect a new shotgun brought by Sandhawalia. Sandhawalia then pulled the trigger and later beheaded the wounded Sher Singh with his sword.

Notes

References

{{Authority control Jat clans Punjabi tribes Jat clans of Punjab