Bhai Maharaj Singh’s real name was Nihal Singh; Maharaj was his pet word, which he used to utter in every converstion; hence his name. Maharaj Singh succeeded Bhai Bir Singh, as the chief of the Dera of Naurangabad, after the death of Bhai Bir Singh in an attack by Lahore Durbar’s Dogra general Hira Sinh, on May 7, 1844. Maharaj Singh came into prominence in 1847, when he joined planning to murder Henry Lawrence, the British Resident at Lahore. He participated in all the battles of second Anglo-Sikh Wars. When on March 14, 1849, the Attariwalas surrendered their arms at Rawalpindi; he decided to continue the struggle for expulsion of the British from the Sikh Homeland. Maharaj Singh established links with the Sikhs in different areas as well as with Dost Mohammed Khan, the Afghan chief. The British announced an award of rupees ten thousand for his arrest. (This is the highest award ever announced for the head of any Sikh). Maharaj Singh was to begin his major operation in the beginning of 1850. On the night of December 28, 1849, he, along with 21 companions, was arrested near Sham Churasi. He was immediately chained. He was sent to Calcutta and then to Singapore. At Singapore, he was detained in a small room in inhuman and unspeakable conditions. Within three years he lost his eyesight. Maharaj Singh died on July 5, 1856.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)