DEVA SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR

DEVA SINGH, SARDAR BAHADUR(d. 1872), son of Fateh Singh and a great grandson of Savan Singh, cousin of Sarigat Singh, the leader of the Nishanavali misi, came of a Shergil Jatt family of Mansurval, in Firozpur district. Deva Singh joined service under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1816 at a very young age. After some time, he was put under Lahina Singh Majithia who made him commandant of the regiment of his brother, Gujjar Singh. In 1834, he accompanied the young Sardar to Calcutta on a mission half complimentary, half political. In 1842, he was transferred to the Gurkha regiment to serve in Hazara.

Under the Darbar he was posted at Dera Isma`il Khan in command of the Surajmukhi regiment. At the time of the outbreak at Multan, he left with his regiment to join Herbert Edwardes and General Van Cortlandt with whom he served through out the campaign and earned much distinction and fame. In 1853, when the Punjab Military Police was formed, Deva Singh was selected to raise and command the Seventh Police Battalion at Amritsar. He preserved order in the city and upheld the civil authority on the eve of the revolt of 1857.

He also raised levies for service at Delhi and, during 1857-58, a considerable number of men were recruited and sent down country by him. For his services, Deva Singh was granted the Star of the Order of British India with the title of Sardar Bahadur and a personal allowance of Rs! ,200 per annum. On the reorganization of the Punjab police and disarming of the old force, Deva Singh retired from government service. He received a special retiring pension of Rs 3,000 per annum, and a grant of six hundred acres of waste land with proprietory rights. Deva Singh died in 1872.

References :

1. Suri, Sohan Lal, `Umdat-ut-Twarikh. Lahore, 1885-89
2. Griffin, Lepel and C.F. Massy, Chiefs and Families of Note in the Punjab. Lahore, 1909