Early life Sawan Mal was born into a
Hindu Khatri family of the
Chopra gotra originally from
Gujranwala, the region where
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's
Misl, the
Sukerchakias held sway.
Career Along with
Hari Singh Nalwa, he was a top commander in
Maharaja Ranjit Singh's army. As a general under Ranjit Singh, he assisted in wresting the
subah (province) of Multan from the
Durrani governor
Nawab Muzaffar Khan,
in 1818. After a series of incompetent governors, Sawan Mal was appointed as the
Diwan of the region. Diwan Sawan Mal successfully cultivated indigo in the Multan area through an early, plentiful, and constant source of water realized by irrigation canal construction, which was tied to commercial cash cropping. Diwan Sawan Mal promoted the chakdari system and invited Hindu settlement in the region, with canal-building arrangements being centered around wells. Sawan Mal died on 29 September 1844 due to wounds inflicted upon him by an under-trial prisoner. ==References==