NICHOLSON, JOHN (1821-1857), political assistant at Firozpur (1844-45), was born in Dublin on 11 December 1821, the son of Dr Alexander Nicholson. He obtained cadetship in Bengal Infantry in 1839 and in December the same year was posted to the 27th Native Infantry at Firozpur. In 1844, he became political assistant at Firozpur in which capacity he was found indulging in intrigues against the Sikh State and Lord Hardinge felt inclined to remove him from the frontier.
CHET SINGH, military commander, engineer and a kardar, i.e. a revenue officer, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1831 he became engineer in charge for constructing a bridge over the River Sutlej for the Ropar meeting between Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Governor General William Bentinck. He constructed another bridge at Harike in 1837 to enable the British commanderin chief to cross over the Sutlej for his visit to Lahore. Earlier in 1833 he was appointed kardar of the cisSutlej estates of the Maharaja. In 1835, he was deputed to Anandpur to settle the dispute between the local Sodhi factions.
NIHAL SINGH SODHI (d. 1859), son of Megh Singh, entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army in 1819, and was, five years later, made commandant of 100 horsemen in the Charyari corps. He fought for Maharaja Sher Singh during the siege of Lahore in January 1841. Under Sher Singh`s successor, Nihal Singh was sent in command of 1,000 horse to administer the area of Dhanni which was in a state of insurrection. He shot the leader of the insurgents dead and by his vigour and severity soon reduced the country to submission.
CORTLANDT. HENRY CHARLES VAN (1814-1888), son of Colonel Henry Clinton Van Cortlandt of the British army, by an Indian wife, was born at Meerut in 1814, and was educated in England. In 1832, he returned to India and joined Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s army on a monthly salary of Rs 250, subsequently raised to Rs 800, with a monthly stipend of Rs 800 for his wife. Cortlandt participated in various campaigns including the battle of Jamrud in which the famous general, Hari Singh Nalva, was killed.
DAL SINGH (d. 1845), son of Santokh Singh, a follower of Kanhaiya misi under Jai Singh, and of village Talvandi in Gurdaspur district, fought in most of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s campaigns. He inherited Talvandi and some neighbouring villages. Dal Singh was killed in the first AngloSikh war in 1845 and his estates were resumed by the British.
GILBERT, SIR WALTER RALEIGH (1785-1853), divisional commander of the British army under Lord Hugh Gough in the first and second Anglo Sikh wars, son of the Rev Edmund Gilbert, was born in Bodmin, England, in 1785. In 1801, he joined the Bengal infantry as a cadet. He rose to be a major general in 1841, and lieutenant general in 1851. He commanded a division of the army under Sir Hugh Gough in the first Anglo Sikh war, in the battles of Mudki and Ferozeshah in December 1845, and at Sabhraori on 10 February 1846. Hugh Gough eulogized Gilbert`s services in his despatches.
GOBINDJAS, RAI (d. 1846) served, like his father Rai Anand Singh, as a vakilor agent of the Sikh kingdom, first at Ludhiana and then at Delhi. His despatches from Ludhiana contain reports concerning various political matters such as the Indus navigation scheme, the Ropar meeting, Alexander Burncs` mission to Kabul, the Tripartite treaty, Lord Auckland`s visit to Firozpur, and the passage of British troops across the Punjab to Kabul. He was one of Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s most wellinformed counsellors on Anglo Sikh affairs. Gobind Jas died in 1846.
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