Alawalpur

Chaudhri Gulab Rai, a Bains Jat of Mahalpur, Hoshiarpur, joined in the Sikh Conquest of the Sirhind province in 1759, and secured for himself the village of Jala, whence the family derives its title of Jald-walia or Jalawasia. He afterwards acknowledged the supremacy of the Naha Chief, who incorporated Jala and other villages seized by Gulab Rai with his own territory. His son, Himat Singh, represented Nabha in the negotiations which led to the Cis-Sutlej Chiefs being taken under British protection. For his services he was granted lands by the Rajas of Patiala and Jind, valued at Rs. 20,000 per annum.

In 1812 he was induced by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to leave Nabha and’ become his Wazir, which office he continued to hold until his death in1826. He and his four brothers were given the Alawalpur ilaqa, in the Jullundur district, forfeited by the Pathans in 1812, with a revenue of Rs. 1,20,000 per annum. This jagir was subsequently increased until the annual value of the holdings reached three lakhs. Himat Singh also received two villages south of the Sutlej from Sardar Fateh Singh Ahluwalia, ancestor of the present Maharaja of Kapurthala. These villages are now in the Ludhiana district, and the widow of Basawa Singh, a grandson of Himat Singh, held a small plot, revenue free, in one of them. Sardar Albel Singh, elder son of Himat Singh, pre-deceased his father. He was killed on the banks of the Jhelum in 1825, fighting for Ranjit Singh. The Maharaja expended Rs. 5,000 upon his samadh, and granted a muaft plot for its maintenance and repairs. On Sardar Himat Singh’s death in 1829, the Alawalpur villages, valued at Rs. 60,000 per annum, were continued to his heirs subject to the provision of one hundred and eighty horsemen. In 1832 the estates were divided between the younger son, Kishan Singh, and the grandson,

‘Achal Singh. The two estates were thereafter known as Alwalpur and Dhogri, both in the Jullundur Tahsil. Sardar Kishan Singh was killed in battle before Kohat in 1841, and adrantage was taken of his son’s minority to transfer the Dhogri jagirs to Sardar Ram Singh, nephew of Himat Singh, a General high in the Maharaja’s farour. On his receiving command of the troops in the Lahore and Gujrat districts, this.

Dhogri jagir was exchanged for one of similar value in Gurdaspur, which, however, lapsed to the State on the death of Ram Singh’s son Alam Singh. Alawalpur was thus all that remained to the family, Achal Singh being at its head. His jagir was reduced on annexation by the deduction of an equivalent for the service of eighty sovars, and was confirmed for his life by Government orders passed in 1847. The sir and a half villages thus left to him were assessed at the regular Settlement at Rs. 9,180, and this revenue was enjoyed by Achal Singh until his death in 1857, when the jagir was resumed, pensions aggregating Rs. 3,000 being granted to his widows and sons. Both Partab Singh and Ajit Singh were forward in their offers of help during the Mutiny. They furnished five sowars and ten footmen, and offered their personal services, which, however, were not required. In 1874 Mr. D. G. Barkley, Deputy Commissioner of Jullundur, applied on behalf of the brothers for a re-consideration of the orders converting the family jagir into a life-pension. His recommendation received the sanction of the Secretary of State in the same jear. Thereunder the cash pension of Sardars Partab Singh and Ajit Singh was commuted to a jagir grant of three-fourths of the village of Alawalpur, valued under the then assessment at Rs. 2,000 per anunm, to be continued after their death to the lineal heirs male of the late Sardar Achal Singh.

Sardar Ajit Singh was better known than his brother Partab Singh, who did not mix much in public affairs. He was appointed Sub-Registrar at Alawalpur in 1875, and Honorary Magistrate in 1881. The title of Sardar Bahadur was conferred upon him by the Viceroy’s sanad of 1888. By his loyal and upright conduct he gained the respect of every official connected with the Jullundur district, and his in-partiality as a magistrate and private liberality and charities made him popular with the people of his neighbourhood. Both Sardar Partab Singh and Sardar Bahadur Ajit Singh were Darbaris.Sardar Partab Singh, who died in 1894, was connected by marriage with the late Sardar Bhup Singh of Rupar, who gave his daughter a’village in dowry. On resumption of Sardor Bhup Singh’s jagir, this daughter was allowed a pension of Rs. 200 per annum in liou of the said village. Sardar Ajit Singh married the daughter of Jai Singh of Sankhatra, Sialkot, and died in 1889. His son, Bhagwan Singh, married a daughter of the late Sardar Thakur Singh Sidhanwalia, who died in exile at Pondichery. Bhagwan Singh died in 1897, and left two sons Gurbachan Singh and Gurcharan Singh who had been born of different mothers.Gurbachan Singh spent his early years under the care of his maternal uncles, Sardar Umrao Singh and Sir Sundar Singh Majithia.Since his release from the Court of Wards in 1916, he has been taking-a very active part in the public life of his district and has invariably placed his services at the disposal of Government in times of political excitement. During the Great War he supplied recruits and subscribed to the War Loan and other funds. In the disturbances of 1919 and later during the Akali agitation his influence was cast on the side of law and order. He became Presidest of the Town Committee of Alawalpur in 1924, and in 1930 rose to be a member of the Provincial Legislative Council. The title of Sardar Sahib was conferred upon him in 1934.

At present he is a Sub-Registrar at Jullundur. Of his second marriage with the daughter of Sir Joginder Singh, he has two sons named Prabh Inder Singh and Maniv Indar Singh.

Gurcharan Singh, like his brother, Gurbachan Singh, was also helpful to the administration during the Great War and in more recent years. He has also been an elected member of the Town Committee of Alawalpur, its Vice-President and Honorary Secretary. He, indeed, is the life and soul of this body and is very popular on that account.

He has four sons, Amarjit Singh, Ranjit Singh, Jagjit Singh and Haumaijit Singh.

Sardar Partap Singh’s son, Sardar Achhar Singh, is at present the head of the family. He served as a Sub-Registrar at Alawalpur until his retirement in 1932. He was granted by Government 10 squares of land in the Montgomery district. His son, Sant Parkash Singh, had a brilliant career at the Aitchison College. In 1920 he was taken in the Indian Police and has since served with distinction. His work in connection with the communal riots in Multan was specially appreciated by the Governor in Council.

The second son of Sardar Partap Singh died in 1982, leaving behind three sons, Mohindar Singh, Harbans Singh and Umrao Singh. The first was educated at the Government College, Lahore, and came to posses about 4,000 acres of land at Kang Khurd in the Jullundur and Amritsar district through his adoption by his maternal grandmother.Sardar Harbans Singh is an LL.B. and was practising as a lawyer at Jullundur. He was the Senior Vice-President of the Jullundur DistrictBoard.