Nahar Singh

Raja Nahar Singh (died 1858) was a Jat Ruler of the princely state of Ballabhgarh in Faridabad District of Haryana, India . He fought The East India Company in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The small kingdom of Ballabhgarh is only 20 miles from Delhi. Nahar Singh Stadium in Faridabad is named after him.
The Raja Nahar Singh metro station in Violet line is also named after him .

History and family

Ballabhgarh Village was a village headed by Tewatia clan. Balram Singh Tewatia was the first ruler of Ballabhgarh State, and Nahar Singh was his descendant. His teachers included Pandit Kulkarni and Maulvi Rahman Khan. His father died in 1830, when he was about 9 years old. Nahar Singh was crowned in 1839.

Liberal ruler

He was an able and secular ruler who promoted communal harmony, his letter (31 July 1857) to Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar says:

He even made a gift of 4 villages to his Muslim court musician Umra Khan of Delhi gharana, a gift that included "the village of melody" Samaypur which is currently a locality of Ballabhgarh town (not to be confused with Samaypur in north Delhi).Bonnie C. Wade, 1984
Khyal: Creativity Within North India's Classical Music Tradition
/ref> Raja Nahar Singh's other court-musicians were famous vocalists Mir Allahbux (known as Ela) and Mir Umrabux (known as Omra), who were the descendants of kalawant Mir Bala.Amala Dāśaśarmā, 1993
Musicians of India: Past and Present : Gharanas of Hindustani Music and Genealogies
/ref>

Role in the 1857 rebellion

During the 1857 uprising, under the "Delhi Agency" there were seven princely states, Jhajjar, Farrukhnagar, Ballabhgarh, Loharu, Pataudi and Dujana. The Chiefs of the last two estates remained loyal to the British and others rebelled. Sir_Chhotu_Ram:_a_political_biography
_Page_9._The_Rajput_rulers_of_Rajasthan_also_kept_out_of_the_rebellion_except_few_like_Kushal_Singh_of_Auwa.html" ;"title="adan Gopal, 1977
Sir Chhotu Ram: a political biography
Page 9. The Rajput rulers of Rajasthan also kept out of the rebellion except few like Thakur_Kushal_Singh_of_Pali,_Rajasthan.html" "title="Kushal Singh of Auwa">Thakur Kushal Singh of Pali, Rajasthan">Pali. British forces were stopped outside Delhi by the forces of Nahar Singh.1985
Organiser
Volume 37. Nahar refused to extend any help to District Collector William Ford, who was collecting forces to curb the uprising. Nahar actively recruited sepoys of the native infantry or cavalry, who revolted against the British, in services of his Ballbhgarh forces with enhanced pay and promotional ranks. Munshi Jeevan Lal writes, ''"by 17 July 1857 the Raja had taken into his service 200 troopers who had lately been in the employ of the English."'' The number continued to swell in the subsequent period. Incidentally, one such sepoy who was granted rank of Naik, appeared as a witness to testify the fact before the British Military Commission, which was established to prosecute Raja Nahar Singh. To further fortify his armed strength, the Raja not only raised new levies but also collected as much as possible latest weaponry and other war material as was revealed from the recovery of large number of horses, bullocks, carts, English rifles and dresses from his fort after the British assaulted it.[Hari Singh Boparai, 2000
Revolt of 1857 in Punjab and role of the Sikhs
Page 48.

He revolted against the British rule, and joined the forces led by Emperor Bahadur Shah. In a letters to Bahadur Shah Zafar dated 22 May and 25 May 1857, Raja Nahar wrote that he had secured the road from Delhi Gate, Delhi, Delhi Gate (Delhi) to Badarpur, Delhi, Badarpur, as well as drove the British away from the parganas of Pali, Palwal and Fatehpur.1859
Accounts and Papers of the House of Commons
Great Britain Parliament House of Commons, Page 32.Fatehpur in Haryana between Jhajjar and Gurugram on Haryana-Delhi
/ref> Raja Nahar Singh of Ballabhgarh supported the Revolutionary Government and faithfully obeyed the instructions issued to him in connection with the maintenance of peace and order, recruitment of forces and collection of funds for the War.Syed Moinul Haq, 1968
The Great Revolution of 1857
Page 238.

Death

Nahar Singh, the Raja of Ballabgarh was 32 years old when he threw his small army into the fray against the British during the 1857 uprising. Refusing an offer to save himself by acknowledging British supremacy, he was hanged in Chandni Chowk on 9 January 1858 and his estate was forfeited.L. C. Gupta and M. C. Gupta, 2000
Haryana on Road to Modernisation
/ref> He was charged by the colonial rulers for assisting rebellion with money, provisions and arms and by sending troops to Palwal, for taking it from the British Government in India. British sentenced him to ''"be hanged by neck until he be dead and further to forfeit all his property and effects of every description."''Kripal Chandra Yadav,1977
The Revolt of 1857 in Haryana
Page 98. His state was taken over by the British and thus sun set on the state of Ballabhgarh.Vīrasiṃha
their role & contribution to the socio-economic life and polity of north & north-west India, Volume 3
Suraj Mal Memorial Education Society. Centre for Research and Publication. Gulab Singh Saini, Bhura Singh Valmiki the commander of Raja Nahar's forces led the Ballabhgarh army against British. Gulab was hanged in Chandni Chowk on 9 January 1858 along with Raja Nahar Singh.Ranjit Singh Saini, 1999
Post-Pāṇinian systems of Sanskrit grammar
Parimal Publications.

Aftermath

After Nahar's property was ceased by British and his estate was abolished. A political pension of Rs. 6,000 a year was settled upon Nahar's heir-apparent and adopted son who was his nephew, Kushal Singh. Kushal left Ballabhgarh for good and sought shelter with his wife's people at Kuchesar.Kailash Nath Katju, Valmiki Katju, Markanday Katju, 2006
Life and Times of Doctor Kailas Nath Katju
Page 222. Kushal Singh and his descendants continued to rule the Kuchesar Estate till 1948 when they were abolished.Sir Roper Lethbridge, 1893
The Golden Book of India: A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary
p559. Kushal's son Giriraj Singh, and his descendants, continued to rule the Kuchesar State with the title of "Rao".

Former Indian Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh's ancestors were the kinsmen Raja Nahar Singh. In order to escape the oppression which the British Government let loose on the Raja's followers, Charan Singh's grandfather "Chaudhry Badam Singh" moved eastward along with his family to a village called Bhatona far beyond the Yamuna in Bulandshahr.Charan Singh, 1986
Land Reforms in the U.P. and the Kulaks
Page 1.

For their participation in 1857 rebellion, three main chiefs of Haryana were tried and hanged at Kotwali in Chandani Chowk of Old Delhi. Nahar Singh, the Raja of Ballabhgarh, was hanged on 9 January 1858. Abdur Rehman, Nawab of Jhajjar, was hanged on 23 January 1858. Ahmad Ali, Nawab of Farrukhnagar, was hanged on 23 January 1858. The Chaudharys and Lambardars of villages who participated in rebellion were also deprived of their land and property, including 368 people of Hisar and Gurugram were hanged or transported for life, and fine was imposed on the people of Thanesar (Rs 2,35,000), Ambala (Rs. 2,53,541) and Rohtak (Rs. 63,000 mostly on Ranghars, Shaikhs and Muslim Kasai). Satish Chandra Mittal, 1986
Haryana, a Historical Perspective
p58.

When the mutiny was suppressed, the Mughal Emperor and other Nawabs were all awarded different types of punishments and ousted from their kingdoms. Before the mutiny, the Indian Army mostly consisted of men from East and South India. After the Mutiny the British began to recruit soldiers from North India.M.K. Singh, 2009
Encyclopaedia Of Indian War Of Independence (1857–1947) (Set Of 19 Vols.)
/ref>

Legacy

Raja Nahar Singh was a hero of India's First War of Independence (1857. 9 January, the day in 1858 that he was hanged by the British, is celebrated in Haryana as Balidan Diwas (The Day of Sacrifice).Vinod Mehta, 2006
Delhi and NCR city guide
Outlook Publishing, p443. ‘Shaheed Maharaja Nahar Singh Marg’ near Wazirpur Depot in Delhi is a road named after him.1989
Data India
Page 674. India Post issued a postal stamp in his honor.Nahar Singh legacy
Haryana HSSC GK.

The Raja Nahar Singh Kartik cultural festival is held annually at his 18th century Nahar Singh Mahal palace, since 1996 by the Haryana Tourism, around November during the bright and auspicious autumn month of Kartik as per Vikram Samvat calendar.1998
Rashtriya Sahara
Volume 6, Issues 7–12, Page 126.

See also

* Bharatpur State
* Deeg
* Loharu State
* Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur, unrelated to Nahar Singh

References

External links

Raja Nahar Singh's letters to Bahadur Shah Zaffar

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Nahar
1858 deaths
Faridabad district
Indian independence activists from Haryana
People executed by British India by hanging
Revolutionaries of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Year of birth unknown