Diwan Dina Nath (1795 – 1857), was the son of Bakht Mall, a Kashmiri Brahmin. He began his career with a job at Delhi. Ganga Ram, a senior officer of the court of Ranjit Singh, recommended the latter to call Dina Nath from Delhi to Lahore. In 1815, he joined in accounts office of Ranjit Singh. In 1826, when Ganga Ram died, he was promoted as the head of the department and was given the charge of privy seal. In 1838, he became Diwan and was also given the title of Raja. Diwan Dina Nath was a shrewd person. During the war of succession between Chand Kaur and Sher Singh, he refused to side with either of them. He remained in the good books of (Maharaja) Sher Singh, Hira Sinh Dogra, Rani Jindan, her brother Jawahar Singh and almost every one. In 1845-46, he was a member of the Council of Regency, established for minor-king Dalip Singh. He co-operated even the British. After the annexation of the Punjab, in 1849, when almost all the senior officers were affected, he remained intact. He was a trusted man of Henry Lawrence, the British Resident, who granted him the title of Raja of Kalanaur, in November 1847. Dina Nath had a grant of rupees 46460 per year. He died at Lahore in 1857.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)