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 Sundar Singh Majithia (17 February 1872 – 2 April 1941) was a
Punjabi landowner and politician.
Biography
He was born to an aristocratic
Sher-Gill Jat Sikh
Jat Sikh (also known by the more conventional endonym Jatt Sikh) is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab owing to their large land holdin ...
family, the son of
Raja Surat Singh of
Majitha
Majitha is a town and a municipal council in Amritsar district in the Indian state of Punjab. The 2011 Census of India recorded 14,503 people resident in the town.
The renowned Majithia family of ''Sardars'' of the Sher-Gill Jat clan trace th ...
. He was educated at
Aitchison College
Aitchison College ( ur, ایچیسن کالج) is an independent, semi-private boys school for boarding and day students from grade 1–13 in Lahore, Pakistan. It has a tradition of providing an education that uses academics, sports, and co-curri ...
, and
Government College, in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
.
One of the largest landowners in the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
, he was also honorary secretary of the
Chief Khalsa Diwan
The Chief Khalsa Diwan is a 117-year-old Sikh organisation, which is the central Organization of various Singh Sabhas spread across Punjab, India. Unlike the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, the Diwan is an apolitical body and only conc ...
, the representative body of the
Sikh
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
community in
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 ...
, from its formation in 1902 until 1920. He was a supporter of British rule in India, opposed to the activities of the
Ghadar Party
The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the Unite ...
and served on various bodies appointed by the
Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
. He was appointed
Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (GCIE)
#Knight Commander ( KCIE)
#Companion ( CIE)
No appoi ...
(CIE) in the
1920 New Year Honours
The New Year Honours 1920 were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by members of the British Empire. They were published on 1 January 1920 and 30 March 1920 (referred to as the 1920 civil ...
and was
knighted
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
in 1926.
He served as Revenue Member at the first and second legislative councils of the
Punjab Legislative Assembly
The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 members, directl ...
in 1921 and 1926. Following the
Unionist victory in the
1937 Indian provincial elections
Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1935. Elections were held in eleven provinces - Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, A ...
,
Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan
''Khan Bahadur'' Captain Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan, (5 June 1892 – 26 December 1942), also written Sikandar Hyat-Khan or Sikandar Hyat Khan, was an Indian politician and statesman from the Punjab who served as the Premier of the Punjab, among ...
promoted him to the cabinet of his new ministry as Revenue Member. He remained in the position until his death in 1941.
He played a leading part in forming the conservative and loyalist Khalsa Nationalist Party and was a significant contributor to the
Singh Sabha Movement
The Singh Sabha Movement was a Sikh movement that began in Punjab in the 1870s in reaction to the proselytising activities of Christians, Hindu reform movements (Brahmo Samajis, Arya Samaj) and Muslims (Aligarh movement and Ahmadiyah). The movem ...
.
He allegedly invited
Reginald Dyer
Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, CB (9 October 1864 – 23 July 1927) was an officer of the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began serving briefly in the regular British Army before tra ...
to his house for dinner on the evening after the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence ...
, even though he was aware what had taken place.
Personal life
He had two sons, one of which was
Surjit Singh Majithia
Surjit Singh Majithia (1912-1995) was an Indian politician, diplomat and air force officer. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India from the Tarn Taran constituency of Punjab as a member of the Indian Nat ...
. He was also the great-grandfather of
Bikram Singh Majithia. His niece was the artist
Amrita Sher-Gil
Amrita Sher-Gil (30 January 1913 – 5 December 1941) was a Hungarian-Indian painter. She has been called "one of the greatest avant-garde women artists of the early 20th century" and a pioneer in modern Indian art. Drawn to painting from an ear ...
.
See also
*
Majithia Sirdars
The Majithia Sirdars (or Sardars), are a family of Shergill, Sher-Gill Jat ''sardars'' (chiefs) that originate from the region of Majitha in the Punjab. The family is divided into three principle branches, the Dayal Singh branch, Surat Singh bra ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majithia, Sundar Singh
1872 births
1941 deaths
Aitchison College alumni
Knights Bachelor
Indian Knights Bachelor
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Indian Sikhs
Administrators in British India
People of British India
Indian politicians