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

Sir Sobha Singh, OBE (1890 – 18 April 1978) was an Indian civil contractor, prominent builder and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

developer of

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. He is the father of Indian writer

Khushwant Singh Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write ''Train to Pakistan'' in 1956 (made ...

Early life

Sardar Bahadur Sobha Singh was born in 1890, in the village of

Hadali Hadali ( ur, ) is a town located in Khushab District in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. The town is administratively subdivided into two Union Councils, including Hadali-Ii. History Khushab District was a forested agricultural region durin ...

Khushab Khushab ( punjabi: خُوشاب) is a town as well as a district of Sargodha Division, located in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The word ''Khushab'' means "sweet water." Khushab city also serves as the headquarters of Khushab Tehsil, an admini ...

Shahpur District Shahpur District was a district in current day Pakistan from 1893, during the British Raj, till 1960. From 1893 to 1914 Shahpur was the district headquarters. In 1914 the district headquarters were moved from Shahpur to Sargodha, although the dis ...

– then part of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now Pakistan). He was the elder of the two sons of Sujan Singh and Lakshmi Devi, the younger one being

Sardar Ujjal Singh Sardar Ujjal Singh (27 December 1895 – 15 February 1983) was an Indian politician who served as the Governor of Punjab (India) (1 September 1965 – 26 June 1966), followed by acting Governor of Tamil Nadu (28 June 1966 - 16 June 1967). Pr ...

, who was a

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

in India from the state of Punjab. After a few years at school in Amritsar, he joined his father's business of civil construction dealing in the laying of railway tracks and the digging of tunnels.

Career

When Hardinge, the

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

, announced the plan to move the British Indian

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

to Delhi was along with the

Coronation Durbar The Delhi Durbar ( lit. "Court of Delhi") was an Indian imperial-style mass assembly organized by the British at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it wa ...

for

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and the Queen Mary, would take place in Delhi in December 1911, Sujan Singh and 22-year-old Sobha Singh, who was then a contractor working on the Kalka-Shimla railroad, shifted base to Delhi as building contractors. Building contracts then being given out. Sujan Singh-Sobha Singh were accepted as senior-grade contractors. Plans for the new city were drawn immediately after the Coronation Durbar. The foundation stones had been laid by the King and Queen. After this the architects,

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

and

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

wanted to change the site from where the foundation stones had been laid to

Raisina hill Raisina Hill ( IAST: ''Rāyasīnā Pahāṛī''), often used as a metonym for the seat of the Government of India, is an area of New Delhi, housing India's most important government buildings, including Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residen ...

and the village of Malcha. Sobha Singh had the foundation stones removed during the night and took them 11 km across the city and replanted them on the new site. The construction of the plans were taken up after World War I (1914–1918). For the

South Block The Secretariat Building or Central Secretariat is where the Cabinet Secretariat is housed, which administers the Government of India. Built in the 1910s, it is home to some of the most important ministries of the Cabinet of India. Situated at ...

and War Memorial Arch (now

India Gate The India Gate (formerly known as the All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, formerly called duty path. It stands as a memorial to 84,000 soldiers of the B ...

), Sir Sobha was the sole builder. He also worked on some parts of the Viceregal House (now

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

) and

Vijay Chowk Vijay may refer to: People *Vijay (name) * Vijay (actor) (born 1974), an Indian Tamil actor * Vijay (director), Kannada film director Fiction * ''Vijay'' (1942 film), a 1942 Indian Hindi film * ''Vijay'' (1988 film), a 1988 Indian Hindi film dir ...

Sir Sobha bought as much land in Delhi as he could. He bought several extensive sites at as little as Rs 2 per square yard, freehold. There were few other takers, and he came to be described as ''adhi dilli ka malik'' (the owner of half of Delhi). He constructed many residential and commercial buildings, including the Connaught Place market complex, as well as the Chelmsford, A.I.F.A.C.'s Hall, Broadcasting House (

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

), the National Museum, Dyal Singh College, T.B. Hospital, Modern School, Deaf and Dumb School, St. Columba's School, Red Cross Buildings and Baroda House. Outside Delhi, he built the High Court and Government Medical College at Nagpur and the Pasteur Institute at Kasauli. Sir Sobha Singh was a person of modest education but his success as a builder made him one of the wealthiest persons of Delhi; also, a prominent member of the social elite. He also became the first

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n president of the

New Delhi Municipal Council New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is the municipal council of the city of New Delhi, Delhi, India. It covers an area of 42.7 km2 under its administration, which is commonly referred as Lutyens' Delhi. The only owner is Government of In ...

and held the post four times, in 1938, 1942, and 1945-46. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire ( OBE) in the 1938 Birthday Honours, he was subsequently appointed a member of the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

He was knighted in the 1944 Birthday Honours. He also built ''Sujan Singh Park'', near

Khan Market Khan Market, is a shopping district and retail market in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1951 by the newly constituted Republic of India's Rehabilitation Ministry to give economic opportunities to refugees of the Partition of India, ...

New Delhi, New Delhi's first apartment complex, which only had bungalows till then, in 1945, designed by

Walter Sykes George Walter Sykes George Order of the British Empire, CBE, Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA, ARCA, FIIA, FIFA (1881–1962) was an English architect active in India during the first half of the 20th century, most known for being part of ...

and named after his father. Sir Sobha Singh died in

on 18 April 1978.

Legacy

Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha left a large part of his private estate to a charitable trust, the Sobha Singh Trust, which maintains homes and hospices for the terminally ill and aged all over the country, most recently it built, a

dharamsala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. Th ...

, within the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital complex, in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

in 2005 He also presided over some institutions funded by it like the Deaf and Dumb School and the Modern School. Among his last grants was one for

Bhagat Puran Singh Bhagat Puran Singh (4 June 1904 – 5 August 1992) was an Indian writer, environmentalist, and philanthropist. As a young man he decided to dedicate his life to humanitarian work, and in 1947, he established Pingalwara, a home for the sick and ...

Pingalwara Pingalwara is a house for destitutes in Amritsar in northern Indian state of Punjab. It is housed in a three-storey building near the main Amritsar bus stand on the National Highway no. 1, also known as G.T. Road. In this house all the handic ...

home for the destitute in Amritsar. In 2006, India International Centre (IIC) organized the first ''Sir Sobha Singh Memorial Lectures'', in which the inaugural lecture titled, "My father, the builder", was given by his son, writer

Testimony against Bhagat Singh

Sobha Singh's public image was marred by his sketchy testimony against

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian national ...

Personal life

The younger brother of Sir Sobha Singh,

(1895–1983), later became a parliamentarian, and

governor of Tamil Nadu The governor of Tamil Nadu is the head of state of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the president of India at central level. They exist in the state appointed by t ...

(1966–71).Welcome to Memorable relics
/ref> Sir Sobha was married to Sardarni Vira Bai (Varyam Kaur, Lady Singh). They had four sons: Bhagwant Singh,

(journalist and author), Brigadier Gurbux Singh and Daljit Singh, and a daughter, Mohinder Kaur, who was the mother-in-law of

Rukhsana Sultana Rukhsana Sultana (born Meenu Bimbet) is an Indian socialite known for being one of Sanjay Gandhi's close associates during the state of Emergency in India between 1975 and 1977. During this period she became known for leading Sanjay Gandhi's ...

(her son Shivinder Singh Virk’s wife) and grandmother of Indian film actress Amrita Singh.

References

External links

"Sir Sobha Singh (1890-1978)"
All About Sikhs. * Jahagirdar, Archana (13 October 1997)
"Khushwant Singh"
''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, an e-mail and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook.com, a web mail service from Microsoft * Outlook on the web, a suite of web applications ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Sobha 1890 births 1978 deaths Date of birth missing Place of death missing Knights Bachelor Indian Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Indian Sikhs People from Delhi Punjabi people Businesspeople from Delhi Members of the Council of State (India)