Draft:Wazir Ram Singh Pathania

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Wazir Ram Singh Pathania
Last Prime Minister of Nurpur kingdom
In office
16 March 1846 – 11 November 1849
Appointed byJaswant Singh
Preceded bySham Singh
Succeeded byPost lapsed
Personal details
Born(1824-04-10)10 April 1824
Kangra, Punjab, British India
(now in Himachal Pradesh, India)
DiedMoulmein Prison Burma 11 November 1858(1858-11-11) (aged 34)[1]

Wazir Ram Singh Pathania was a prominent revolutionary anti-colonial resistance fighter of the early British colonial establishment in Punjab. Between First Anglo-Sikh War and Second Anglo-Sikh War (1845-1849), Wazir Ram Singh Pathania rose to prominence. By installing the minor heir of Nurpur kingdom on the throne and starting an armed conflict against EIC, he established the legitimacy of his kingdom. He is also remembered as among the first prisoners taken away from India on record, having been exiled from homeland as punishment in the latter part of his life.

Participation in the Second Anglo-Sikh Wars

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  • Siege of Shahpur Kandi Fort (3 September 1848-18 September 1848)

On the night of 14 August 1848, Wazir Ram Singh Pathania with his small Rajput army attacked the fort of Shahpur Kandi which was situated on the bank of river Ravi. The British army inside the fortress was completely shocked by this attack. They were repelled by a strong force headed by John Lawrence from Hoshiarpur, he with his 400 band of men escaped to Gujarat and thereafter participated on 22 November 1848 in the Battle of Ramnagar. [a]

  • Battle of Dullah (16 January 1849)

In the aftermath of the 13 January 1849 at the Chillianwala, he escaped and on 16th January 1849 fought another battle against the British at Heights of Dullah, the Sikh chiefs Sher Singh Attariwalla sent a force of 100 cavalries along with 500 infantry of the Sikh Regiment to help Ram Singh and his Rajput men. In return, the British sent a huge force under the command of Brigadier Wheeler. The prominent British officers who died there were Lt Daniel Christie[2] [b] and Lt. Joseph Peel[3] [c].

Exile

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In 1849 Pahar Chand his close confidant betrayed him at Fort Lakhanpur to the Jammu and Kashmir (princely state).[4] At the trials he admitted being a close aide to Bhai Maharaj Singh and Sikh Khalsa Raj. He was first sent to Allahabad, then to Calcutta, and in 1850, he and Bhai Maharaj Singh traveled to Singapore on the hired ship Mohammad Shah, later he was exiled to Mawlamyaing jail in Martaban Hills of present day Myanmar where he died in 1856. [5] [d]

Tributes

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Memorial

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  • On 8th October 2024 H.P Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla inaugurated golden statue of Wazir Ram Singh on a horse outside Nurpur fort.[6]
  • Every year on August 17, a festival honouring him is held in Dhauladhar, near Shahpurkandi, Pathankot, where the sword and armour of the lionheart, Ram Singh Pathania, are on display.[7]
  • In 2017 Government renamed Nurpur Chaugan & a new stadium Fatehpur as Shaheed Wazir Ram Singh Pathania Stadium[8]
  • Since 1972, Wazir Ram Singh Government College Dehri in the realms of Arts, Science, and Commerce[9]

Notes

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  1. ^ According to official documents, Wazir Ram Singh confessed during his trial that in 1848, Maharani Jindan Kaur despatched messages to different princely states of the hills, to which Nurpur, Kangra, Jaswan, Datarpur, and Paramanand (equivalent to Hoshiarpur in Punjab) replied. In his own confession, he describes how he was asked to work with Bhai Maharaj Singh. Ram Singh met Bhai Maharaj Singh in Jhang and was given large quantities of money with instructions to wait and prepare for the battle.
  2. ^ Lieutenant Daniel Christie - 7th Bengal Cavalry - killed in action - 16th January 1849. Tablet at St. Luke's Church, Jullundur (originally placed at Hoshiarpore) - "Sacred to the memory of Lieut. Daniel Christie 7th Regt Bengal Cavalry who fell at the age of 24 in the assault on the heights of Dullah on the 16th Jany 1849 pierced to the heart by a matchlock ball as an officer he was of the best and bravest generous intellectual honorable and as friend respected and esteemed by his brother officers this sorrowful tribute is dedicated to his memory."
  3. ^ Lieutenant Joseph Peel - 37th Bengal Native Infantry - killed in action - 16th January 1849. Tablet at St. Luke's Church, Jullundur (originally placed at Hoshiarpore) - "In memory of Lieutenenat Joseph Peel of the 37th Bengal Infantry who after serving with distinguished gallantry in the campaigns of the Sutledge and Punjab, fell whilst gallantly leading his men to the assault on the heights of Dullah on the 16th of January 1849 aged 24 years 4 ms. this tomb is erected by his brother officers as a tribute of affectionate respect to his private worth and as a memorial of his gallantry as a soldier he was generous honourable and brave."
  4. ^ The correspondence dated 19 November 1856, wherein the Commissioner of Punjab is updated about the death of Wazir Ram Singh on 11 November 1856 in the jail of Burma

References

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  1. ^ "Wazir Ram Singh". Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Daniel Christie".
  3. ^ "PUNJAB CAMPAIGN". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  4. ^ "Brief History of District Kangra". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Wazir Ram Singh Pathania, and the memory of Shahpurkandi". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  6. ^ "Governor unveils statue of Wazir Ram Singh". The Tribune. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
  7. ^ "Pathania". Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  8. ^ "Nurpur Chaugan now Shaheed Wazir Ram Singh Stadium". Retrieved 31 October 2024.
  9. ^ "WRSGC". Retrieved 31 October 2024.