Colonel Hardit Singh Of Retgarh, the younger brother of General Raja Gurdit Singh rendered excellent service in the Bhatinda District. Drought related crop failures led to famine and the farmers were in no position to meet the revenue demands from the Patiala authorities. The task of revenue collections from the poor farmers created discontent and problems for the authorities. Colonel Hardit Singh was dispatched with his soldiers to the area to bring the unruly farmers under control. Because Hardit Singh’s father Daya Singh had already served in the area during the Mutiny of 1857, many old Sikhs of the area paid their reverence to Hardit Singh and informed of the farmer’s plight due to the famine conditions. He sympathized with the farmers and came up with a compromise solution acceptable to farmers where they paid half the revenue that was overdue and the rest was repaid in installments over a period of three years. He and his brother Gurdit Singh were fond of wrestling and many wrestling competitions at their residences with one annual at Gharachon village. He was a religious man, generous, donated heavily to charities but died issueless.
