Gulab Singh Of Povindia was born in Sandhu Jat family he was son of Sardar Karam Singh Shahid later he was successor of the Povindia Estate , When Bhatti Jat rulerMaharaja Ranjit Singh Of Lahore conquered the plain country of the Doab, and Gulab Singh retired to his native village of Povind. He then entered Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s service, and received this village in jagir, with the rank of Adjutant. He served with distinction under Misar Diwan Chand at Nurpur and in Kashmir, and on the termination of the latter campaign was made Commandant and received the village of Sidhu in Jagir. After the capture of Multan in 1818 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel;and did such good service the next year at Mankera, that he received the grant of Akbarpur, near Gugera, worth Rs. 500, with an elephant and valuable khilats. Gulab Singh Of Povindia was stationed at Peshawar for some years, and fought in most of the battles against Ali Akbar Khan and Dost Muhammad Khan. In the first Peshawar campaign he dis covered a ford on the Indus, and led his troops over in the van of the army, to Ranjit Singh’s great satisfaction.
In 1826, he received command of three infantry and two cavalry regiments, with a troop of horse artillery; and the same year his son, Ala Singh, entered the service and was made commandant under his father, with an independent jagir. When the regular army was first formed into brigades, Gulab Singh Of Povindia was made General, and held his rank and brigade throughout the following reign of Kharak Singh. In 1837 Gulab Singh Of Povindia was sent to Gujranwala with orders to confiscate the property of Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, who lad been killed at Peshawar, and whose four sons were fighting about the succession.
He drove Arjun Singh and Punjab Singh out of their fortified house; threatened to hang the former, and took possession of all the property and estates. Arjun Singh determined on revenge; and when Sher Singh became King, and everyone had license to avenge his real or fancied wrongs, he attacked and burnt Povind, where Gulab Singh Of Povindia resided. The General, fearing for his life, fed to Jammu, where he remained for some time under the protection of Raja Gulab Singh, till the Maharaja, by advice of Dhian Singh, recalled him and placed him in command of the contingent which was to support the British army during the Kabul campaign. He accompanied Colonel Lawrence to Kabul; and his services and knowledge of the country were of considerable value. Raja Hira Singh, whose family had always befriended Gulab Singh Of Povindia, gave him, on the death of Maharaja Sher Singh, new jagirs to the value of Rs. 7,625; and Colonel Ala Singh received new allowances, in Jagirs and cash, to the value of Rs. 2,000.
Gulab Singh took no part in the Sutlej campaign, his troops remaining in Lahore to protect the Maharaja; and in April, 1847, he was at the recommendation of the Resident, appointed Governor of Peshawar and, being at this time the senior General, placed in command of all the troops at that station. The elevation of Gulab Singh Of Povindia to this important post was a great source of gratification to the Khalsa army, for the brave old man was much loved and respected by the troops. He was created a Sardar; and in a Darbar held at Lahore on the 26th November, 1847, received the honorary title of Bahadur. Sardar, Gulab Singh Of Povindia fulfilled the duties of his new appointment with ability and judgment; and when the Multan rebellion broke out he gave his most cordial assistance to Major G. Lawrence, then in charge at Peshawar, in preserving the peace of the district. For six months, while the insurrectionary movement was spreading more and more widely over the country, the influence of Gulab Singh Of Povindia. His Jagir value was Rs.17000 .He was died in 1854
References :-
- Chiefs and families note in Punjab Vol – 1 By L.H Griffin.