Early life He was born in the 1790's in the town of Attari (a few kilometres from the border of Indian and Pakistani Punjab in India),
Amritsar, in the
Majha region of Panjab, India. As a child he was educated in Gurmukhi and Persian.
Military career When Ranjit Singh became the Maharaja of Punjab, he got Attariwala's services at his disposal.
Ranjit Singh made him a 'Jathedar' of 5,000 horsemen. He participated actively in many campaigns, notably the campaign of Multan, campaign of Kashmir, campaign of the Frontier Province etc. Sham Singh Attariwala is famous for his last stand at the
Battle of Sobraon. He joined the Sikh military in 1817 and during the
Afghan–Sikh Wars participated in the
Battle of Attock,
Battle of Multan,
Battle of Peshawar, and the
1819 Kashmir expedition.
Administrative career Sham Singh Attariwala was a prominent courtier at the Lahore Darbar during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and till the ascendency of
Duleep Singh. He was part of the delegation led by the crown prince,
Kharak Singh, sent by Maharaja Ranjit Singh to felicitate
Lord William Bentinck on 25 October 1831 at the
Ropar Meeting. He was the
jagirdar of
Pasrur,
Sialkot, now in Pakistan. When the boy Duleep Singh became the Maharaja, Sham Singh served on the
council of regency.
Family Sham Singh's daughter
Nanaki Kaur Attariwala, later Kunwarani Nanaki Kaur, was married to
Prince Nau Nihal Singh and upon his accession to the
throne became the Maharani of the Sikh Empire.
Death During the
Battle of Sobraon, unlike the traitors,
Lal Singh and
Tej Singh, Sham Singh refused to abandon the battlefield and died a patriot's death. ==References==