Finance minister of the Sikh Empire
Diwan Bhawani Das
|
---|
|
Reign
| 1811-1834
|
---|
Predecessor
| Position established
|
---|
Successor
| Diwan Dina Nath
[1]
|
---|
|
Born
| 1770
(
1770
)
|
---|
Died
| 1834
|
---|
Father
| Diwan Thakur Das
|
---|
Religion
| Hinduism
[2]
|
---|
Diwan Bhawani Das
(1770 - 1834) was a high-ranking
Hindu
[1]
official under
Durrani emperors
,
Zaman Shah
and
Shah Shujah
. He later became the revenue minister of
Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
, ruler of the powerful
Sikh Empire
.
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
Life
[
edit
]
Bhawani Das was born in 1770 and was the second son of Diwan Thakur Das, the revenue minister of the
Durrani emperor
,
Ahmad Shah Abdali
. He was born into a
Khatri
family.
[7]
Bhawani Das served as a high-ranking revenue officer under
Durrani emperors
,
Zaman Shah
and
Shah Shujah
, mostly employed in collecting the custom duties of
Multan
and
Derajat
.
In 1808, disgusted at the way he was treated at the
Kabul
court, he went to
Lahore
to serve under
Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
, ruler of the
Sikhs
. He was warmly welcomed by Ranjit Singh as the
Sikh state
was in need of a proper state treasury and system of regular accounts. His employment proved fruitful- Bhawani Das established an office for pay of troops and a finance office, of both of which he was made the head.
[8]
He set up 12 departments called daftars (offices) to deal with all civil and military accounts. In the districts of different
subahs
, treasuries were established to maintain regular accounts of income and expenditure. In newly conquered territories, settlement officers were appointed to regulate revenue and finance.
[3]
[4]
[9]
His successes impressed
Ranjit Singh
and he was appointed the finance minister in 1811.
[9]
However, Bhawani Das was not an honest man, and had to reprimanded on several occasions.
[10]
Sohan Lal Suri, author of the Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, writes- "His hunchback was full of mischief".
[11]
Bhawani Das was one of
Ranjit Singh
's counsellors at the negotiations with the British envoy,
Charles T. Metcalfe
. In 1810, a huge force under the command of Diwan Bhawani Das was dispatched by the Sikh court at
Lahore
to crush the rebellion of the popular warrior
Mian Dido
in the hills of
Jammu
and capture him. However, he failed in capturing
Mian Dido
despite trying his best and succeeded in only restoring order in
Jammu
town and failed to impose his authority in large areas of Jammu hills.
[12]
[13]
In the same year, Bhawani Das was sent to collect tribute from the rulers of
Mandi
and
Suket
. In 1813, he invaded and annexed
Haripur State
in the
Kangra
hills
[14]
and accompanied Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
for the acquisition of the famed
Koh-i-Noor
diamond from
Shah Shujah Durrani
.
[15]
He was made chief diwan of prince
Kharak Singh
in 1816 and in the same year, he successfully annexed the
Ramgarhia estates
to the
Sikh Empire
.
[3]
He was also present at the
Siege of Multan
, where he was bribed by the Nawab of Multan.
[16]
[17]
He also took part in the expeditions to
Peshawar
and the
Yusafzai
country.
[3]
[4]
He suffered an eclipse in his career when he quarreled with Misr Beli Ram, the treasurer and second son of
Misr Diwan Chand
.
[18]
Misr Beli Ram accused Bhawani Das of embezzlement and Bhawani Das was fined a lakh rupees by
Ranjit Singh
, and was expelled from the
Lahore
court to the hills of
Kangra
. However, his services were too valuable to wasted hence he was recalled and served as finance minister until his death in 1834. He was succeeded by
Dina Nath
as minister of finance.
[3]
[4]
[9]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Yasmin, Robina (13 January 2022).
Muslims under Sikh Rule in the Nineteenth Century: Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Religious Tolerance
. Bloomsbury Publishing.
ISBN
978-0-7556-4033-1
.
- ^
Singh, Rishi (23 April 2015).
State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab
. SAGE Publications India.
ISBN
978-93-5150-504-4
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Diwan Bhawani Das- Sikh Wiki"
.
Sikh Wiki
. Retrieved
7 December
2022
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Griffin, Sir Lepel Henry (1890).
The Panjab Chiefs: Historical and Biographical Notices of the Principal Families in the Lahore and Rawalpindi Divisions of the Panjab
. Civil and Military Gazette Press.
- ^
Events At The Court Of Ranjit Singh, 1810-1817 (1935)
.
- ^
Dilag?ra, Harajindara Si?gha (1997).
The Sikh Reference Book
. Sikh Educational Trust for Sikh University Centre, Denmark.
ISBN
978-0-9695964-2-4
.
- ^
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
.
- ^
Journal of Indian History
. Department of History, University of Kerala. 1926.
- ^
a
b
c
Sheikh, Mohamed (17 March 2017).
Emperor of the Five Rivers: The Life and Times of Maharajah Ranjit Singh
. Bloomsbury Publishing.
ISBN
978-1-78672-095-5
.
- ^
Singh, Khushwant (18 April 2017).
Ranjit Singh: Maharaja of the Punjab
. Random House Publishers India Pvt. Limited.
ISBN
978-93-5118-102-6
.
- ^
Suri (Lala), Sohan Lal (1961).
Umdat-ut-tawarikh ...
S. Chand.
- ^
Jeratha, A?oka (1998).
Dogra Legends of Art & Culture
. Indus Publishing.
ISBN
978-81-7387-082-8
.
- ^
Mohammed, Prof Jigar.
"Mian Dido: The man Jammu must know"
.
The Dispatch
. Archived from
the original
on 2022-12-05
. Retrieved
2022-12-31
.
- ^
"Princely States of India"
.
- ^
Duggal, Kartar Singh (2001).
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Last to Lay Arms
. Abhinav Publications.
ISBN
978-81-7017-410-3
.
- ^
Punjab Revisited: An Anthology of 70 Research Documents on the History and Culture of Undivided Punjab
. Gautam Publishers. 1995.
- ^
Singh, Rishi (23 April 2015).
State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab
. SAGE Publications India.
ISBN
978-93-5150-504-4
.
- ^
"BEL? R?M (d. 1843)"
.
|
---|
Rulers
| |
---|
Military
conflicts
| |
---|
Military forces
| |
---|
Adversaries
| |
---|
Forts
| |
---|
Officials and warriors
| |
---|
Influential families
| |
---|
Treaties
| |
---|