Misr Diwan Chand

Misr
Diwan Chand
Painting of Misr Diwan Chand
Born1755
Village Gondlanwala, Gujranwala, Durrani Empire (Present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Died18 July 1825
Lahore, Sikh Empire (Present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Years of service1816 - 1825
RankGeneral
Commands held
  • Diwan of Pakhli
  • Diwan of Dhamtaur
AwardsZafar-jung-Bahadur
Fateh-o-nusrat-nasib
RelationsMisr Sahib Dayal (brother)
Misr Basti Ram (brother)

Misr Diwan Chand (1755 – 18 July 1825) was a famous officer and strong general during the rule of Ranjit Singh. He started as a small clerk but later became the chief of artillery and Commander-in-Chief of the Khalsa Army. He led the armies that conquered Multan and Kashmir and was Commander-in-Chief from 1816 to 1825.[1]

Early life

Diwan Chand was born to a Brahmin shopkeeper in Gondlanwala village, which is now in Gujranwala, Pakistan.[2][3]

Military career

Diwan Chand was given the title Zafar-Jang-Bahadur (Brave Victor of Battles) by Ranjit Singh. He rose from being the Artillery Chief to becoming the Chief Commander of the Khalsa Army in 1816. He stopped the rebellion by the Tiwana Nawab of Mitha Tiwana and made him pay tribute.[4] In 1818, he captured Multan, where governor Muzzafar Khan and his seven sons were killed.[5] In 1819, he led a campaign to Shopian in the Kashmir region and defeated the Durrani governor Jabbar Khan in a short battle. In 1821, he captured Mankera.[6] and also conquered Batala, Pathankot, Mukerian, Akalgarh, Peshawar, and Nowshera.

References

  1. ↑ Sufi, G. M. D.; Sūfī, Ghulām Muhyi'd Dīn (1974). Kashmīr, being a history of Kashmir from the earliest times to our own. Light & Life Publishers.
  2. ↑ Harjinder Singh Dilgeer (1997). The Sikh Reference Book. Denmark: Sikh Educational Trust for Sikh University Centre. p. 373. ISBN 978-0-9695964-2-4.
  3. ↑ Yasmin, Robina (2022). Muslims Under Sikh Rule in the Nineteenth Century: Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Religious Tolerance. Library of Islamic South Asia. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 92. ISBN 9780755640348.
  4. ↑ Singh, Khushwant (2017-04-18). Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab. Random House Publishers India Pvt. Limited. ISBN 978-93-5118-102-6.
  5. ↑ Kaushik Roy (2011). War, Culture and Society in Early Modern South Asia, 1740-1849. Taylor & Francis. pp. 262–. ISBN 978-1-136-79086-7.
  6. ↑ Tony Jaques, ed. (2007). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z. Greenwood Press. p. 938. ISBN 9780313335396. Retrieved 2015-09-14.